The works of Sakubei Yamamoto
Disasters and Lynchings

Tortures Used in the Mid-Meiji Era (1868-1912) #1 (Hanging Spider)
1964 - 1967

Meiji Chuki Rinchi #1 (Sagarigumo)
[Tortures Used in the Mid-Meiji Era (1868-1912) #1 (Hanging Spider)]
38.1 x 54.2 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

Text on the Right
Torture was carried out in the check house (kaikoba) or station for miners' regulators (torishimariin) in front of the pit mouth. Exemplary punishments (miseshime) which occurred only in the pits (yama) were used to dominate the miners. Regulators at that time were unfit for the post if they did not have a lot of nerve to control miners. If they had been made light of by miners on the contrary, the pit would have become disordered.

(Torishimaricho: "Koyatsu wa zubuteezo. Unto doyase!")
(Torishimariin: "Haa. Kon chikusho!")

(Chief Regulator: "This man has a lot of nerve. Beat him harder!")
(Regulator: "Yes, sir. You bastard!")

Those who tried to leave the pit without permission (ketsuwari), robbers, adulterers and adulteresses, lazy miners, those who fought with each other or gambled in the pit, and others were punished by regulators. Those who were found to have come from other pits to try and hire miners away were the most cruelly punished and left half alive, suffering hell on earth.
This shown torture was called sagarigumo (hanging spider). The regulator slung up the lawbreaker so that his feet did not touch the ground and beat him many times and so hard that his arms went numb.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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