Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha Sugar Mill, Industrial ruins in Songsong, Northern Mariana Islands, US.
The Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha sugar mill is an abandoned factory complex with brick structures and an underground concrete tunnel system running beneath the site. The most visible remains include the concrete tunnel and connected chambers that show how the mill once processed sugarcane.
The mill was built and operated by a Japanese company starting in 1921 during Japan's administration of the region. Operations ceased with the end of World War II, when Japanese control over the islands ended.
The mill reflects how sugar production reshaped land use on Rota Island during the early 1900s, with farming practices that dominated the local landscape for decades. Walking through the site today shows the traces of this agricultural transformation that visitors can still observe in the terrain.
The ruins are located near Songsong on the north side of Rota Island and are relatively easy to access from the village area. The concrete tunnel remains the most intact structure on the grounds and should be your main focus when visiting the site.
The concrete tunnel is the only remaining brick structure from the Japanese colonial period in the Northern Mariana Islands and a rare architectural relic. Its underground design was typical of the manufacturing methods of that era and shows an interesting example of early industrial engineering.
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