People at Coal Pits in the Old Days #9 (Faults)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #9 (Danso)
[People at Coal Pits in the Old Days #9 (Faults)]
21.1 x 30.3 cm Ink Painting

Text and Words on the Right Side
Miners called the fault (danso) the "kuichigai," "gakkuri," or "domagure."
Cutting through the fault became more difficult as the gap between the coal beds on both sides of the fault face grew larger. Faults were the cancer of coal pits. There were some different stages in the scale of faults, depending on the pit (Some pits had no faults). Each fault face grew thicker, more variable and greater from top to bottom. Therefore, miners had to drive more diagonal slopes and branches than usual, but in the end had to cut through each fault at about two points. Beyond a fault line, the coalface usually could be found beneath the layer of the coalface before the fault. However, some coalfaces lay above the ones preceding the fault line.

(Creator's Additional Notes for People Reading about Coal Mines for the First Time)
Since most coal beds in the Chikuho Coalfield descend eastward, most of the pit mouths pointed west. Slopes from pit mouths that did not point west were curved inside. Large-scale guide rollers (surase), guide rails (hako-uke), and rope guides were needed in such slopes. Each coal bed had a thickness and inclination (bangayari) different from others. Coal beds with the inclination of 10 to 15 degrees were easy to mine. Each coal pit gave their coal beds their own names. Hundreds of names were given to various coal beds, such as the sanjaku (coal bed 3 shaku or about 1 meter thick), shakunashi (coal bed about 60 cm thick), nakagumi, hasshaku (coal bed 8 shaku or 2.4 meter thick), obinashi, koishi, chirimen, goshaku (coal bed 5 shaku or 1.5 m thick), and so on.

Words on the Right Side
tenjo bota: roof rock
"Bota ga deta!": "A rock wall has appeared!"
ban bota: floor or bottom rock

Text and Words on the Left Side
No pit had a manway slope in the past even if it had a return air way. Many middle and large-scale pits had another pit mouth only for workers.

tenjo bota: roof rock
tanso: coal bed
haiki: return air way
honsen oroshi : main slope
jindo: manway (slope)
mukashi no jindo: old manway (slope)
danso: fault


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

<<Last pictorial record    Next pictorial record>>

<<Last 10 items  11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18｜19 | 20 |   Next 10 Items>>

18／585