～Ashibumi Dakkokuki: The Foot-Powered Thresher～
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Simply put, this is a machine used to separate rice grains from the rice stalks.
Invented around the end of the Meiji era, this machine was a major breakthrough. Before its arrival, farmers used a comb-like tool called a senbakoki (thousand-tooth thresher), running the rice stalks through the metal teeth and pulling with all their might to strip the grains away. The introduction of this foot-powered machine made the entire process incredibly faster and much less tiring.
The machine features a large, rotating cylinder with wired loops. Here is how it works:
1. Step on the pedal
Much like operating an old-fashioned sewing machine, you pump the pedal at the bottom with your foot.
2. The drum spins
As you pump the pedal, gears set the spiky metal drum into motion, making it spin at an extremely high speed.
3. Hold the rice stalk against it
You then take a bundled rice stalk and hold it against the spinning drum.
4. The grains pop off!
The wire loops on the spinning drum catch and strip the rice grains away, separating them from the stalks in the blink of an eye.
