also: べんこ
night-soil vault; clay pot for collecting feces in an outhouse
Refers to a traditional container placed under a squat toilet or outhouse to collect human waste, historically used for fertilizer. The reading べんつぼ is standard; べんこ is a less common variant.
In old-style pit toilets, waste was collected in a night-soil vault.
農家では便壺の内容物を肥料として使うこともあった。
Farmers sometimes used the contents of the night-soil pot as fertilizer.
Standard kanji spelling for the reading べんつぼ.
Alternate reading べんこ; less common than べんつぼ.
Compound of 便 (ben, 'excrement') and 壺 (tsubo, 'pot, jar'). The reading べんこ is a variant with the older reading こ for 壺.