Pit Workers in the Old Days #2 (A Migrant Miner from Hiroshima)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #2 (Hiroshima kara no Dekasegi Kofu)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #2 (A Migrant Miner from Hiroshima)]
21.1 x 30.3 cm Ink Painting

There were many migrant pit workers from Hiroshima in K Coal Pit around 1897. They were non-professional pit workers but they persevered patiently, working hard. One of such workers as a hewer (sakiyama) hit silicified wood (matsuiwa) in his coalface with his pickax one day and was very astonished to see sparks fly out. He asked what it meant to his underground boss (toryo). Each of the bosses supervising pit workers mining underground was called a toryo or kogashira.
Note: The inclined and dipped sides of a slope were called the kata and fuke respectively.

Hiroshima no Hito: Toro san (Toryo san), toro san! Kiriha no muko kara hi ga deyanshita ga.
Nanzo, haa, ningen ni waza wa shinsarumeh kaa.
Kogashira: Naanda? Kono fuukee ga!
Hiroshimajin: Fuuke ja gansen. Kaataa de gansu.

Man from Hiroshima: "Boss, boss! Sparks flew out from the coalface. I wonder if they can hurt us."
Kogashira: "What? You fuukee [fuuke: a regional word for funuke (coward)]!"
Man from Hiroshima: "It's not the fuuke (fuke or the dipped side), but the kaataa (kata or the inclined side)."

I do not know if this joke was fabricated by some miner in the pit to tease newcomers from Hiroshima or if it was a real story. It was a very popular joke among pit workers at that time and they often enjoyed it.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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