Pit Workers (Yamabito) in the Old Days: Repairs and Tools
April 1965

Mukashi no Yamabito: Shikuri to Dogu
[Pit Workers (Yamabito) in the Old Days: Repairs and Tools]
38.0 x 54.3 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

It was rare for repairers to have the whole collection of repair tools. At small-scale coal mines, repairers could do their work well enough with saws, axes, clamps, long clamps, measurement ropes, and hammers. Most repairers did not have any hashira-mawashis (big hooks used to move legs of support units in narrow places) and kobiki-kugis (long nails).
Figure 1: This frame is called a ma-waku. It was inserted between old shabby frames to reinforce them.
Figure 2: This frame is called a ningyo-waku. It was stood between other support units without digging hitch holes called wakuashianas or wakugamas to insert its legs.
Figure 3: This frame is called a sashikomi-waku. One end of the beam was inserted into a hole dug in a wall and the other end was supported with one leg.
(The thick long clamp shown was also used for digging wakugama holes (ashiana) to fix the feet of the frame. Steel tips were put on this tool's sharp ends.)
An atoyama (helper) also needed to carry an ebi (ebijoke: bamboo winnow) and a ganzume (four-bladed rake) in addition to the above tools.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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