Rice Riots at Coal Pits (Yama) and Occurrences Thereafter #16: The End
August 1965
Yama no Kome-sodo to Sonogo #16: Owari
[Rice Riots at Coal Pits (Yama) and Occurrences Thereafter #16: The End]
38.1 x 54.0 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink
In 1918, Japan experienced two series of bad events; the rice riots and what we call the Spanish flu. In our country, people call the flu "bad cold" or "influenza." It quickly spread through the country. Especially among densely built coal miners' houses in our area, the flu became widespread and many people suffered or died from it. An average of one person suffered from the flu every day in S Coal Pit, which was a small-scale coal pit with about 300 workers. The flu spread throughout the world, and people in the world were greatly shaken by it. In 1918 and 1919, there were about 600 million cases and 21 million people died in the world. In Japan, there were 23 million cases and 390,000 deaths.
Until the middle of the Taisho era (1912-1926), more flags were used than big flower wreaths in funerals. Mourners put a canopy on the coffin and also laid the footwear of the deceased on it upside-down. They held a pair of ornaments with dragon-shaped heads, a pair of square lanterns, and a pair of paper flags, which were flown at the front of the funeral procession.
In the beginning of the summer of 1919, there was a man who died from too much drinking. Because of the boom in the coal mining industry, he must have earned good money then. People said that his body was strongly built like a sumo wrestler and he worked twice as hard as others. Also he was a hard drinker. He had drunk 72 liters of sake in 7 days before the day he died. He must have been happy drinking his fill. At that time, normal sake cost 1 yen per sho (1.8 liters.), and a high-grade sake cost 1 yen and 20 sen (1.2 yen) per sho. At the mine store in a pit run by Nittetsu, some high-grade sake cost 75 sen (0.75 yen) per sho in the end of the Taisho era.
Text in Blue Ink above the Inset (except the last sentence written in red ink)
At coal pits, many flags were seen in funerals of executive level employees, but no flags were used in those of ordinary employees.
The night after a funeral, more than one family member of the deceased visited the mourners to give thanks with paper lanterns in their hands. Funerals were also held at night.
This custom was abandoned around 1937.
[Translators Notes: The swastikas on the canopy attached to the coffin and the paper lanterns hanging on the tops of the bamboo poles held by two men do not represent Nazism, but symbolize the good omens on Buddha's body, which show his great charity and virtue.]
Lettering on the Paper Pasted on the Wooden Barrel
Seishu: refined sake
Donsui: brand name of the sake, "Intoxication"
Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro
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