Pit Workers in the Old Days #12: Things Which Were Hated in the Pit (Miners Who Migrated from Pit to Pit; Cut Flowers or Rootless Plants)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #12: Konai de Imu Mono (Hagama Kofu; Ne no Nai Hana)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #12: Things Which Were Hated in the Pit (Miners Who Migrated from Pit to Pit; Cut Flowers or Rootless Plants)]
25.4 x 35.6 cm Ink Painting

Nobody knows who named miners (kofu) who migrated from pit to pit hagama kofus. In the age when pig iron was used, cooking pots were stable with three legs. However, rice cooking pots with a brim (hagama) were easy to roll and unstable without putting them on a special stand because they had no legs. They had what we call a restless bottom (shiri [bottom] ga ochitsukanu [restless]). So, "hagama kofu" was a nickname given to a restless miner who did not work at a pit for a long time. Such a miner made it a habit to move to other pits, saying, "I must cool my bottom at other pit because it's always on fire here."
Secondly, miners disliked decorating the slope with cut flowers (rootless plants) (probably because these reminded them of Buddhist funerals). Additionally, they hated entering the pit in Japanese clogs (geta) (probably because this act meant uncleanliness).


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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