475 Yama no Kyusaiho2: MonbikiGikin[Mutual Aid Systems in the Pit #2: Lottery Sheets]

In this contribution to the sick and wounded who were suffering from non-occupational diseases or wounds, a few influential volunteer men (kaoyaku) in the pit (yama) visited miners from house to house to sell each family one of the pictures of crests printed on a sheet of paper for lottery, which was called mon-biki-gami paper. A picture was sold at 10 sen (0.1 yen) or 15 sen (0.15 yen). The mon-biki-gami was as wide as one and a half or two sheets of Japanese calligraphy paper and twice as thick. A sheet of mon-biki-gami had about 50 to 100 pictures of crests printed on it and was sold at more than 10 sen. Three small rolled pieces of paper were pasted on each sheet of mon-biki-gami, which were unrolled after all pictures were sold. On the three rolled pieces of paper, winning figures from the first to third prizes were hidden. Small presents, such as Japanese socks or face towels were given to the winners. This lottery sheet was also used by fresh fish retailers in order to sell big fish. In this case, the lottery was called a fukubiki.
Miners were relieved from worries about doctor’s fees after the national health insurance system was introduced in 1927. However, some miners (yamabito) hesitated to join the system at first, wondering what it was or how useful it was for them, and hating that some percent of their wages was deducted. They later realized how useful the system was. However, this system was not applied to brain diseases and neuralgia.