treadwheel; treadmill
Historical term for a human-powered wheel used to pump water or perform other work, often in agricultural settings.
Farmers in the Edo period used treadwheels to draw water into the rice paddies.
Standard kanji spelling for this historical device.
Variant spelling; less common than 踏み車.
Compound of 踏み (fumi, 'stepping') + 車 (kuruma, 'wheel'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term transparently describes a wheel turned by stepping.