Pit Workers in the Old Days (Tabooed Rice Soaked in Miso Soup)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito (Kirawareru Shirukake Meshi)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days (Tabooed Rice Soaked in Miso Soup)]
21.2 x 30.3 cm Ink Painting

Once a new recruit who tried to eat his rice for breakfast after pouring his miso (soy bean paste) soup over it was surrounded and beaten by many other fellow workers. No matter how hard he tried, his fellow workers did not accept the new recruit's excuses that he did not know it to be a taboo.
The pit workers were very superstitious about every trivial thing. Though they did not beat anybody to death, at any rate they hated to eat rice soaked in miso soup very much. "Miso tsukeru (to put miso on something)" means "to spoil something," and they supposedly hated to eat such rice for breakfast because it reminded them of tumuli. Pit workers also could not thoughtlessly utter other ominous words, such as ana (hole), mabu (pit), or shi (death) before entering the pit.

Words in the Inset
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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