noun
night soil collector
Historical occupation; refers to a person who collected human waste for use as fertilizer. Now obsolete in modern Japan, but may appear in historical contexts or colloquial references.
江戸時代には、汲み取り屋が町の排泄物を集めて農家に売っていた。
In the Edo period, night soil collectors gathered waste from the town and sold it to farmers.
Compound of 汲み取り (くみとり, 'collecting night soil') and 屋 (や, 'person or shop'). The exact historical derivation is straightforward; the term is now largely historical.