A very interesting share certificate of the Kokaido Kozan Kabushiki Kaisha, a mining company operating deposits in the Korean province of Hwanghae-do (黄海道 — Kokaido in the Japanese reading) during the Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula (1910-1945). Share capital of 1,015,000 yen divided into shares of 50 yen, issue registered on 5 December 1935 (Showa 10). Certificate number 508, bilingual Japanese/English. The navy-blue design is splendid: an Art Nouveau border with Western-inspired stylized foliage, but with a central inset photograph of authentic Korean miners working the vein at the bottom of the mine, lamp on their forehead — a rare and precious detail for world mining scripophily. Red hanko seals (印鑑) of the president and the company, a miner's lamp watermark in the lower left corner. A document bearing witness both to the industrial expansion of the Japanese Empire into Korea, the exploitation of the continent's natural resources, and a material heritage that disappeared after 1945 (nationalization by North Korea for Hwanghae-do). A sensitive but essential historical piece for understanding the pre-war East Asian economy. Excellent overall condition.