"Mutual Aid Systems in the Pit" Used from around 1897 #1
1964 - 1967

Meiji Sanjunen Koro yori "Yama no Kyusaiho" Sono Ichi
["Mutual Aid Systems in the Pit" Used from around 1897 #1]
38.2 x 54.1 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

Main Text
There was no welfare facility in the pit until the Showa era (1926-1989). If a miner was occupationally injured, the pit owner helped him/her to some extent. However, as the pillar of his family, when the husband was ill in bed, all the family members were thrown into a miserable state. Since most bosses controlling miners (nayagashira) were poor, miners had no other way than to borrow money from their mining company, but the money they could borrow was limited. The situation was the same for miners directly controlled by the company. Therefore, the volunteers called kaoyakus in the pit made every effort to raise money. They collected donations by visiting every miner's row house with subscription books or by hosting the shows to raise money. Any tips raised by the performers (ohana gikin) were donated to the fund.
This painting shows a performance by the famous saimon-katari popular reciter, Mr. Saemon Yasuhei from Nogata. He recited stories in an odd singsong tone called okare bushi but also called tsukkiri bushi. During his performance, he trembled his lower jaw, and shook a shakujo (an about 20-cm-long metal stick with a heart-shaped moving head in his right hand) to make deeply moving touching ringing sounds. His specialties were Taikoki (a story of one of the Japanese conquerors in the 16th century, Hideyoshi Toyotomi) and Ako Gishi Den (a story of the forty-seven loyal samurai of the Ako Clan) which were popular at that time. Also a shamisen (three-stringed banjo-like instrument) player supported him. There were other saimon-katari popular reciters, such as Ipponsha in Iizuka and one in Akasaka.
A passage from the preface of Mr. Yasuhei's performance was like this. He repeated "Ochite kasanaruu, ochite kasanaruu" about 20 times and ended with "ushi no kuso," which means "What falls and heaps, what falls and heaps... is cow dung."

Text at the Bottom Left
The doubled sum of each tip was written on the paper to show the audience. Sometimes the sum was tripled if the tip was from some distinguished person.
The show was performed in the large room for unmarried male miners of an o-naya boardinghouse. It was scheduled for and presented on the eve of a holiday.

Lettering on a Piece of Paper Exhibited behind the Performer
Ohana: tip
Ichi Kin Ichi En: 1 yen in cash
Oshima-sama: Mr./Ms. Oshima


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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