The Pickax and the Smith
1958 - 1963

Tsurubashi to Kajiya
[The Pickax and the Smith]
21.1 x 30.3 cm Ink Painting

Text on the Right Side
Improved Pickax
The improved pickax appeared around the middle of the Taisho era (1912-1926) (and became popular in the beginning of the Showa era [1926-1989]). It was convenient that a coal hewer could do his job with only one pickax by changing the tip of its pick head when it went dull. However, the tip was pulled out after removing the securing pin (by driving a taper cotter) in the same way as removing one used for fastening the drill of a drilling machine. Since the mechanism was a utility model patent, not everyone could make the pick head freely.

Text on the Left Side
Until the above pickax appeared, the hewer had entered and withdrawn from the pit with 5 or 6 pickaxes on his shoulders and the smith had sharpened the tip of each pickax by skillfully turning the pick head 90 degrees with his left hand. Welding the tip of a pick head (hagane-tsuke) cost 2 sen 5 rin (0.025 yen) and quenching it (suyaki) cost 5 rin (0.005 yen) in the Meiji era (1868-1912).


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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