Towing a Basket Coal Sled
1958 - 1963

Sura Hiki
[Towing a Basket Coal Sled]
21.3 x 30.5 cm Ink Painting

Saturated coal mined from descending coalfaces (oroshi kiriha) was pulled up in bamboo baskets (bara) with sleds (sura). Each sled was loaded with about 100 kg of coal. Small hollows used as footholds were dug into the slippery bottom of each haulage way without wooden ladder-like footholds called koro. The koro were rarely laid on haulage ways because of their high cost.

Lyrics of "Gotton Bushi" Song at the Bottom Right
Karatsu gezainin no sura hiku sugata Edo no ekaki mo kakyakiranu. Gotton!

Even painters in Edo (old name of Tokyo) can't paint us ex-convicts from Katatsu towing coal sleds. Gotton (Clang)! (Interjected chant)

[Translator's Notes: Gezainin stands for ex-convict. Some miners were real ex-convicts but other miners also sometimes humbly called themselves this.]


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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