Four decades of protection for the domestic coal mining industry are nearly at an end as the government moves to procure stable and more economical supplies from abroad.
The government's ninth coal policy, which lasted from fiscal 1992 through fiscal 2001, ends on March 31. It will be replaced by a new five-year policy in April that will promote the use of Japanese coal mining technology overseas.
The shift to marketing technology officially spells doom for Japanese coal miners.