A Pharmaceutial Millstone Driven by a Treadwheel at the former Wachusanhompo

"Ohsumi residence" in Ritto City, Shiga prefecture was called "Wachusanhompo" in the Edo period, and it manufactured and sold the crude drug, Wachusan (stomach medicine). The “pharmaceutical millstone,” installed in 1831(Tenpo 2), was used for producing Wachusan. The turning force generated by two people walking inside a carriage (approximately 4.3 m in diameter) is transmitted through wooden gears to rotate the millstone that grinds herbs.
 The pharmaceutical millstone of the former Wachusanhompo also served as an advertising medium at the time, showing the processing process at the storefront.