ダルマ自転車 / Bicycle imitated the ordinary type

3D Model

前輪を大きくして速度が出るようになったこの型の自転車は、1870年頃に西洋で生まれ、1880年代に日本にも渡来し普及した。日本ではダルマを横倒したような形からダルマ自転車と呼ばれ、優れた技術を持ちながら仕事を失っていた鉄砲鍛冶職人らによって国産化もされた。

This type of bicycle, with a larger front wheel for greater speed, was born in the West around 1870 and came to Japan and became popular in the 1880s. In Japan, it was called “daruma-bicycle” because of its shape like an overturned dharma doll, and it was domestically produced by gunsmiths who had lost their jobs despite their superior skills.