The works of Sakubei Yamamoto
Disasters and Lynchings

Exemplary Punishments #6 (Four Figures of Torture)
April 1965

Miseshime #6 (Rinchi Yon Tai)
[Exemplary Punishments #6 (Four Figures of Torture)]
38.0 x 54.1 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

Text on the Right
It was said that these were the tortures used in Takashima Coal Pit and Matsushima Coal Pit, but similar tortures might have been used in some pits in the Chikuho region.

1. It was said that two sand bags weighing 50 kilograms (more than 80 kin) each were put on a stubborn man's thighs and two pieces of oak 60 millimeters square and 60 centimeters long were laid under his shins.

2. Hashiradaki (Pillar Holding): It was a very painful torture because the victim's hands were tied behind his back so that the pillar was encircled by his arms. His legs were tied to the pillar so that they did not move. However, his arms could be moved up and down.

3. Kukurizaru (Bound Monkey): This torture was also very painful because the victim was hung with ropes with his wrists and ankles tied together behind his back. This was a kind of torture called chochinmage or chuzuri (hanging).

4. This torture looks similar to the above. However, the victim was hung with a rope tied only around his wrists, and his ankles were tied with another rope to his wrists with a piece of wood inserted between his calves and thighs.

It was said that there were other various kinds of tortures, but I cannot paint them because I do not know what they were.

Lettering Surrounded by the Insets
Rinchi: exemplary punishment/torture; this word originated from the English word "lynch"

Text at the Top Left
It was said that there was a variant of torture 1, in which the victim's head was inserted between his thighs and two more pieces of oak were put on his back to be tied with another rope to the other two under his shins and he was squeezed with the rope and wood.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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