Japanese: 石抱き / 算盤責
Ishi (石): Stone
Daki (抱き): Embrace
“Ishidaki” (lit. “stone hugging”) is a form of Edo period torture where one places weight on a persons legs while kneeling on a “soroban” (shin torture board).
The punished person is bound and placed in a kneeling position, on top of a ridged board (soroban), with stone weights placed on their lap.
Typical loads placed on the legs seem to be in the range of 250kg (~550lbs) and go up from there.
Also called ishi-zeme (石責) “stone torture”, Sorobanzeme
See also: Soroban
Hi Max, The value is a guestimation from values I have found around the web on English language sites mentioning Ishidaki. If there are sources that can be considered (more) correct I will gladly adjust the text 🙂
Thank you very much for the swift reply! I’m sorry if my question was misleading: I did not mean to suggest that your text is wrong.
Hi Bob,
Just one question concerning a minor detail, namely how much weight was used: you mention the typical load to be at least 250kg, while other sources (eg the Japanese wiki) say that up to four stones of 45kg each were applied, so at most 180kg (of course still a lot!). Maybe different weights were used, for example depending on the gender of the prisoner? Or perhaps the standard load has changed over the years?
Kind regards, Max