Industrial Heritage and Memory : A Case Of Miike Coal Mine

In recent decades a new gaze has appeared upon architectural remains of modern ndustry This gaze makes it possible to turn these remains into cultural heritage, or more precisely, industrial heritage. Architectures such as factory, dockyard and coal mine pit which used to be symbols of modernity has turned, after changes of economic structure, into symbols of degeneration of local towns which had depended on these industries. Industrial heritagization is a way of revitalization favored by these towns.

Through the process of heritagization, ths past of modern industry is reconstructed from the point of view of new perspective. Reconstructed ndustrial heritage assume public memory of the place. On the other hand, these remains used to be the places not only of labor, but also of conflicts and tragic accidents whose painful memories last long upon local people such as ex-workers and their families. It happens that local people have their own view about the past of the place of their labor different from the gaze of industrial heritage.

  In this presentation I will discuss this cultural gap between industrial heritage and lived memory. How are modern industries’ remains heritagized through reconstruction of the past ? How local people remember the past of their labor, especially tragic moments ? How the perception of the present heritagization is different as a function of the the past experiences ? I will adress these questions through considering a case of Miike coal mine, which exists in Kyushu, western Japan.