A is a type of
litter used as a means of human transportation by the non-samurai class in
feudal Japan
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inven ...
and into the
Meiji period
The is 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 colonization ...
(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 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
Japanese culture
Japanese words and phrases
{{Vehicle-stub