Pit Workers in the Old Days #15 (Guardian Deities of the Pit)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #15 (Yama no Shugojin)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #15 (Guardian Deities of the Pit)]
21.2 x 30.4 cm Ink Painting

It was said that the guardian deities of the coal pit were two mountain gods called Oyamazumi-no-mikoto (sic: normally Oyamatsumi-no-mikoto) and Oniwanushi-no-mikoto. However, people in the old days regarded their mountain and pit deity as a goddess. They considered the goddess as Oyamatsumi-no-mikoto's daughter, Konohanasakuya-no-hime. It was probably because she is enshrined in Sengen Jinja shrines near Mt. Fuji (in Kamiyama, Higashiyatsushiro County, Yamanashi) or in Hakone (together with other gods and goddesses), etc.
It was said that this mountain goddess washed her clothes with the morning dew on the 24th day of the 12th month by the lunar calendar used in the Meiji era (1868-1912), and all pit workers took a day off and did not go out on this day. Farmers also did not go to the mountains on this day. All of them were afraid of meeting the goddess, believing that they would lose their sight or be killed by her if they saw her.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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