Women at Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days #9 (Temporary Coal Storage: Woman Filling a Bamboo Winnow with Coal While Waiting for an Empty Mine Car)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi Yama no Onna #9 (Kabudashi: Hako o Matsu Aida ni Ebu ni Sekitan o Ireru Onna)
[Women at Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days #9 (Temporary Coal Storage: Woman Filling a Bamboo Winnow with Coal While Waiting for an Empty Mine Car)]
20.8 x 29.2 cm Ink Painting

When a mine-car-load of coal was piled up at the temporary coal storage (kabudashiba), the coal was scooped up with a bamboo winnow into an empty mine car which was taken from the nearest landing and pushed into the level by the carrier (who was commonly a woman). When empty cars were not sent down for a long time because of the lack of mine cars (hako-nagure), the carrier piled up as many mine-car-loads of coal as she could at the storage. The quicker she finished loading a mine car with coal, the earlier she could take another empty one. Carriers were so competitive in loading mine cars with coal that they tried to fill them as quickly as they could. Therefore, if a woman carrier used a rake (ganzume) more than once in filling a bamboo winnow (ebu) with coal, she was regarded as an inexperienced helper and was disliked.
Additionally, mining masses of coal was encouraged at pits run by Mr. Aso and their carriers lined the edge of each mine car with large masses of coal to load more lump coal than a normal load within the fence created by the large masses (tachigure). Therefore, their mine cars were each loaded with about 100 kg of additional coal above the edge, and if a car was only loaded up to the edge, the load of the mine car was regarded as only 80 % of a full load.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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