Pit Workers in the Old Days: Miners Who Changed Pits Frequently
March 1965

Mukashi no Yamabito: Hagama Kofu
[Pit Workers in the Old Days: Miners Who Changed Pits Frequently]
38.1 x 54.3 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

I wonder who nicknamed miners (kofu) who would not settle down in a pit hagama kofus. The cast-iron cooking pot in the past had three legs and was stable. However, the rice cooking pot with a brim and a round bottom (hagama) was easy to roll and unstable without a stand when it was removed from a cooking stove dialectally called a kuro or kamaro (normally a kudo or kamado). Therefore, miners who always moved from pit to pit after staying for 2 or 3 months were called as shown above. Not only did such a miner not settle down in a pit, but also habitually said, "I must cool my bottom at other pit because it's always on fire here."
Today (1955-1965), electric or gas rice cookers became available and cast-iron rice cooking pots were abandoned. However, every rice cooker has three legs. Cooking pots nowadays have no legs, but they seem safe because they have flat bottoms.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

<<Last pictorial record    Next pictorial record>>

<<Last 10 items  21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29｜30 |   Next 10 Items>>

29／33