In recent years, energy constraints are discussed from a historical point of view. This study aims at examining the copper industry’s energy use in Japan from the Meiji period to the time of WWI and clarifying the process of, and reasons for, the energy source selection. This study considered not only energy use in the large-scale mines but also energy use in the small-scale mines and miners’ homes. As a result, it was clarified that the mines changed into a space that is based on a diverse combination of energy depending on differences in location (access to energy), natural conditions, financial power, the required amount and price of energy, energy use technologies, ore quality, and end-product (usage).