Page 289 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 289
disaster management and integr ated economy in early modern japan
A “farm diary of the Noguchi family of Kyushu, running from 1847 to
1865” reports “a saga of struggle against weather. Far from being entranced
by nature’s rhythms, the Noguchi were ever fighting to overcome its ir-
regularities: flood one year, drought the next, too much rain early in the
summer, too little later” (Smith 1988a, 208). This can be related to Taka-
hama, where historical sources reveal similar struggles against nature-in-
duced disasters.
2. Takahama’s economy in traditional Japan
Until the end of the Tokugawa era, Japan had no significant overseas tra-
de and had sustained a population of around 32 million by relying mo-
stly on domestic resources. The formulation of the principles of the Toku-
gawa economy and the performance of actual economic activities had been
assumed by each peasant and sustained by village autonomy, as the village
was a communal taxpayer. Under this system, Japan achieved steady eco-
nomic growth and relatively low economic inequality compared to Europe
in Early Modern times (Saito 2005, 40–4).
Food, shelter, and energy scarcity are often understood to be economic
issues, but in Early Modern Japan, natural constraints and conditions, to-
gether with political and religious ideology concerning “communal village
autonomy” sustained by a small peasant economy, determined the forma-
tion of villages and agricultural-commercial settings. Reclamation tech-
nologies and commercial capital were limited, and thus aspects of the nat-
ural environment (such as the characteristics of rivers and the water supply
for irrigation systems) had decisive effects on the village inhabitants’ inter-
ests, demands and commons.
The demands and desires of the people in traditional Japan were not
always focused exclusively on market-oriented consumer goods, but were
also centred on the continuity of households, families and villages. This
was rooted in common living principles and moral reasoning.
The pursuit of a family business was the social norm in Japan. It was
not the effort of individuals but the professionalised capability of the family
that was responsible for the lives of family members and also for the wealth
of the village. This was not only the social norm, but also the prevalent
approach to business management, which could establish and change the
constellation of kinship and non-kinship relations. Family members also
constituted the taskforce for business. Intimate relations within the family
were private matters that were not revealed. The division of family proper-
287
A “farm diary of the Noguchi family of Kyushu, running from 1847 to
1865” reports “a saga of struggle against weather. Far from being entranced
by nature’s rhythms, the Noguchi were ever fighting to overcome its ir-
regularities: flood one year, drought the next, too much rain early in the
summer, too little later” (Smith 1988a, 208). This can be related to Taka-
hama, where historical sources reveal similar struggles against nature-in-
duced disasters.
2. Takahama’s economy in traditional Japan
Until the end of the Tokugawa era, Japan had no significant overseas tra-
de and had sustained a population of around 32 million by relying mo-
stly on domestic resources. The formulation of the principles of the Toku-
gawa economy and the performance of actual economic activities had been
assumed by each peasant and sustained by village autonomy, as the village
was a communal taxpayer. Under this system, Japan achieved steady eco-
nomic growth and relatively low economic inequality compared to Europe
in Early Modern times (Saito 2005, 40–4).
Food, shelter, and energy scarcity are often understood to be economic
issues, but in Early Modern Japan, natural constraints and conditions, to-
gether with political and religious ideology concerning “communal village
autonomy” sustained by a small peasant economy, determined the forma-
tion of villages and agricultural-commercial settings. Reclamation tech-
nologies and commercial capital were limited, and thus aspects of the nat-
ural environment (such as the characteristics of rivers and the water supply
for irrigation systems) had decisive effects on the village inhabitants’ inter-
ests, demands and commons.
The demands and desires of the people in traditional Japan were not
always focused exclusively on market-oriented consumer goods, but were
also centred on the continuity of households, families and villages. This
was rooted in common living principles and moral reasoning.
The pursuit of a family business was the social norm in Japan. It was
not the effort of individuals but the professionalised capability of the family
that was responsible for the lives of family members and also for the wealth
of the village. This was not only the social norm, but also the prevalent
approach to business management, which could establish and change the
constellation of kinship and non-kinship relations. Family members also
constituted the taskforce for business. Intimate relations within the family
were private matters that were not revealed. The division of family proper-
287
