A Hydraulic Lock and a Floating Steam Crane in Miike Port

The Port of Miike in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, was built in 1908 as a coal port for Mitsui Miike Coal Mine. This is a lock-type port, very unique in Japan, adopted by engineers at that time, including Takuma Dan (Chairman of later Mitsui Gomei Kaisha) to allow large ships to travel to and from the Ariake Sea where is a significant tidal range. In addition, the steam-driven floating crane ‘Dai Kongo Maru’ is in service in the inner harbor. This is an extremely precious site where mechanical engineering technologies of the coal industry that made a great contribution to the modernization of Japan in the Meiji Era and thereafter remain.