Miike coal mine (三池炭鉱, Miike Tankō^?), also known as the Mitsui Miike Coal Mine (三井三池炭鉱, Mitsui Miike Tankō^?), was the largest coal mine in Japan, located in the area of Ōmuta, Fukuoka and Arao, Kumamoto, Japan.

Mining began in the region during the Kyoho era, with the Miike mine being under the control of the Tachibana clan.

The mine was nationalised in 1872 by the Meiji government. The Mitsui zaibatsu took control in 1899.

The mine closed in 1997, with devastating effects on the local economy.

From 1960 to 1962 the mine was involved in a much-reported labor dispute which divided the workers and involved violent strike-breaking actions.

In 1963 an explosion resulted in the deaths of 458 people, 438 of whom died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a "colliery". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.

Coal mining has had a lot of developments over the recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open cut and long wall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines, trucks, conveyor, jacks and shearers.

Coal mining can have a large environmental impact and needs to be managed. Many mines are required by government to rehabilitate the area that was mined.

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the 18th century, and later spread to continental Europe and North America, was based on the availability of coal to power steam engines. International trade expanded exponentially when coal-fed steam engines were built for the railways and steamships. The new mines that grew up in the 19th century depended on men and children to work long hours in often dangerous working conditions. There were many coalfields, but the oldest were in Newcastle and Durham, South Wales, Scotland and the Midlands, such as those at Coalbrookdale.

Sir Neil Cossons OBE FSA FMA FRGS (born 15 January 1939) is Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art, of which he has been a Governor since 1989. From 1986 to 2000 he was the Director of the Science Museum, London, UK, the National Museum of Science & Industry (NMSI). (The NMSI includes the National Railway Museum, York and the National Media Museum, Bradford (Previously the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television)) He was the first Director of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust from 1971 and then at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich from 1983. From 1989 to 1995 and 1999 to 2000 he was an English Heritage Commissioner. In 2000 he took over as Chairman of English Heritage, a post he held to 2007.

The son of a Nottinghamshire headmaster, Neil Cossons studied historical geography at university.