Coal Miners

This print from the Showa Shokugyo Emaki turns from artisanal trades to industrial labor, depicting tanko workers in one of the coal pits that fueled Japan's wartime economy. Coal miners are typically shown with blackened faces, carbide head-lamps, and the characteristic short jackets and loincloths worn underground in the cramped seams of Kyushu and Hokkaido pits. Wada's treatment refuses both heroic glorification and political critique, presenting the miners with the same compositional respect he extends to dollmakers and coopers elsewhere in the cycle. The palette tightens to grays, blacks, and the dim ochres of lamp-lit rock, with carving that uses solid color masses rather than fine line work to convey the weight of subterranean space. The inclusion of coal mining alongside traditional crafts is significant: Wada's series documents Showa occupations in their entirety, recognizing that modern industry had become as integral to Japanese working life as the inherited handicrafts.