Pit Workers in the Old Days #4 (Restless Miners Called Hagama Kofus)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #4 (Hagama Kofu: Shiri no Ochitsukanu Kofu)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #4 (Restless Miners Called Hagama Kofus)]
21.0 x 30.2 cm Ink Painting

I wonder who nicknamed the miners who changed pits frequently "hagama kofus."
The cooking pot in the past had three legs on its bottom to stabilize it. However, the hagama rice cooking pot with a round bottom and a brim around it had no legs. It was shaky and unstable if it was not put on a stand after being removed from a cooking stove called a kuro (normally kudo) or kamaro (normally kamado). Therefore, unstable and unsettled miners who moved from pit to pit were nicknamed hagama kofus. Additionally, such a miner not only did not settle long in the pit, but also usually said, "I must move to another pit to cool my bottom because it is always on fire here."
The hagama made of pig iron is hardly seen today. Aluminum or stainless-steel cooking pots used today have no legs. They will not overturn because their bottoms are not spherical. However, the electric rice cooker today has legs.
[Translator's Notes: "Kofu" means a "miner."]


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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