A is a type of
litter
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...
used as a means of human transportation by the non-
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
class in
feudal Japan
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...
and into the
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
(1868–1911).
Description and use
The basket of a was roughly long, and attached to bamboo uprights which were suspended by a large overhead single crossbeam. A roof of some type covered the top and screens could be used to cover the sides as protection from sun or rain. A would be carried by a team of four men, who would take turns carrying the on their shoulders; five or six miles could be traveled in one hour. One man would support the weight of the large overhead pole at each end and walked until he tired and switched with a rested carrier. The should not be confused with the more elaborate , which were used by the samurai class and wealthy individuals.
''Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa culture observed''
Authors Engelbert Kaempfer, Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey, Editor Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey, Translated by Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey, Edition illustrated, Publisher University of Hawaii Press, 1999, P.246
References
External links
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Human-powered vehicles
Culture of Japan
Japanese words and phrases
Vehicles of Japan
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