Civic group leads efforts over 1942 undersea mine disaster

UBE, YAMAGUCHI PREF. – A Japanese civic group is leading efforts to collect the remains of those who died in the 1942 flooding accident at the Chosei undersea coal mine in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The Japanese and South Korean governments have begun DNA analysis of remains collected from the site after the group requested such research.

“We’ve managed to reach the stage of DNA analysis through the efforts of citizens,” said Yoko Inoue, 76, who represents the group to record the coal mine accident.

“We want the Japanese government to make a decision to lead the searches and recovery of remains from now on,” she added.

The Chosei coal mine, which opened in 1914, was submerged after an abnormal inflow of water about 1 kilometer from the entrance Feb. 3, 1942, during World War II. The accident killed 183 people, including 136 from the Korean Peninsula.

Its entrance was closed with the bodies of the victims left inside.

The civic group, established in 1991, has conducted underwater investigations as the government failed to meet its request for probes inside the mine on grounds that remains could not be located.

The group collected funds mainly online and conducted its investigations, cooperating with divers.

In August 2025, divers who went underwater from an exhaust and drainage shaft successfully collected bones including a skull. The civic group requested the government to conduct joint DNA analysis with South Korea.

In a summit in January this year, the two countries’ leaders agreed to cooperate in identifying the remains. They also agreed to advance related procedures in May.

Members of the Japanese Foreign Ministry and a South Korean expert organization visited Yamaguchi to bring back samples of the remains and are conducting analysis.

But the group halted its investigations after a Taiwanese diver died in an underwater probe during a memorial ceremony in Ube in February. The group decided not to discuss restarting its investigations until the next memorial ceremony, scheduled for late January 2027.

The group is planning to fix the shaft as part of a project to build a peace park around the site of the former coal mine.

“We want to preserve (the site) as a cultural property and make it a historical place,” Inoue said.