Former Hokutan Yubari Coal Mine Tenryu Pit Man-Car Incline Portal

A Stately Brick Mine Portal of 1900

The Former Hokutan Yubari Coal Mine Tenryu Pit Man-Car Incline Portal (旧北炭夕張炭鉱天龍坑人車斜坑坑口) is a stately brick portal with a pointed stone keystone and wings spreading to both sides of 1900 in Takamatsu, Yubari City, Hokkaido, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 18, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a brick portal 11 metres wide; registration number 01-0071.

A Portal with Wings

The man-car incline portal of the Tenryu Pit, about 65 metres north of the Takamatsu Overpass, is a brick portal of 1900, one of the entrances to a brick-lined incline first called the No. 3 incline (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Man-cars carried miners down such inclines.

Its half-round arch, 4 bricks thick and 2.5 metres across, has a keystone of stone piled up in a pointed form. Wings spread to both sides of the wall, which carries pilasters and a cornice, giving it a stately presence (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.

What to Look For

At the man-car incline portal, look for the pointed stone keystone and the wings on either side of the wall (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The owner is not listed in the Agency record. The mock tunnel and the Tenryu pit portals lie in the grounds of the Yubari Coal Mine Museum; according to its official site (checked November 2026), a real Tenryu pit portal survives at the exit of the mock tunnel. The museum is closed for winter from November 4, 2026 to late April 2027. The Hokkaido Tourism Organization gives its hours as 10:00 to 17:00 (April to September) and 10:00 to 16:00 (from October), closed on Tuesdays, with an entry fee.