Refers to a person who tends a fire, especially in a boiler or furnace setting. The term is somewhat specialized and may be encountered in historical or industrial contexts.
On old steamships, the stoker kept the fire going by shoveling coal.
Standard modern kanji spelling.
Old-style kanji spelling using 罐 (kyūjitai of 缶). Rarely seen in modern writing.
缶 here is read かま and means a boiler, an older spelling also seen as 罐. With 焚き, it denotes a person who tends or stokes a boiler fire.