Several Problems concerning the History of Besshi Copper Mine

The Besshi Copper Mine was opened in 1691 and was closed in 1972. Throughout the Tokugawa and the modern periods, the Besshi Copper Mine had kept the representative position among the copper mines in Japan. From beginning to end, the Besshi Copper Mine had been under the management of Sumitomo and its family companies. It is a well known fact that the Besshi Copper Mine was the resources which, directly or indirectly, enabled Sumitomo to establish and to develope various businesses in the modern period. In the present paper, several noticeable problems concerning the history of mining of the Besshi Copper Mine will be treated.