283 years under the Sumitomo, with tunnels down to a thousand metres below sea level.
One of the three great copper mines of Japan, run by the Sumitomo family without interruption from 1691 to 1973: 283 years that laid the foundations of the modern Sumitomo group. The tunnels reached a total length of about 700 km and, at the deepest point, more than 1,000 metres below sea level. The Tōnaru district, with its stone ruins on steep terraces, is nicknamed ‘the Machu Picchu of the East’; the Hashiba theme park, opened in 1991, includes a small train on mine railway track and a tourist tunnel.
A mining site in the hinterland of Niihama, recognised in 2007 as part of Japan's heritage of industrial modernisation (近代化産業遺産).
ℹ️ The Besshi Dōzan Kinenkan (別子銅山記念館), 愛媛県新居浜市角野新田町3-13, is open 9:00–16:30, closed on Mondays, public holidays, 29 December–3 January and 17–18 October. Mine Topia Besshi (マイントピア別子), the park with the small train and the tourist tunnel, has a different address (立川町707-3): they are two separate facilities on the same mining site, and this entry refers to the memorial museum. Ticket price to be checked on the official website.
🚉 生子橋 · 2 min walk
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