Page 292 - 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. 292
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
flooding. Flooding would bring new fertile soil, which is especially effective
for mono-crop practices, such as the commercialised production of indigo
along the Yoshino River (Kitahara 2006, 192).
Takahama, facing the East China Sea, had insufficient arable land suit-
able for paddy fields. Takahama’s population was 3,413 people in 1816 (Bun-
ka 13) and the village kokudaka was only 611 koku, amounting to merely
0.18 koku per capita. In comparison, Niremata, a rice-producing village in
middle-west Japan with a population of 672 persons in 1812 (Bunka 2) had
a village kokudaka of 1,570 koku, almost unchanged since 1623 (Genna 9)
(Narimatsu 2000, 3–7), equivalent to 2.34 koku per capita. Niremata is lo-
cated in an extraordinarily fertile but disaster-prone area, with high flood
risks in the downstream area of the three major rivers, the Kiso, Nagara
and Ibi Rivers, which constitute the Nōbi Plain. Unlike Niremata, Taka-
hama could not survive as an agricultural village and its subsistence was
guaranteed only by the development of a complex commercialised econ-
omy of sea transportation business and exporting ceramic stones. “Tax-
es moreover were not the unique cause of peasant distress. Usury, floods,
droughts, immoderate spending for weddings and funerals, adverse price
movements, and deeper involvement in the money economy all contrib-
uted to poverty for many” (Smith 1988b, Land Tax, 70). Floods were not
unique to areas such as the Nōbi Plain embracing three major rivers, but
also often brought serious damage in small river areas such as the Takaha-
ma River.
3. Disasters and population change in Takahama
and a neighbouring village, Sakitsu
The shoya in Takahama kept diaries dealing with the governance of a vil-
lage community. The Ueda house archive contains 88 diaries. Of these, we
were able to investigate those kept by Ueda Yoshiuzu,6 who served as shoya
for 30 years (1789–1818). Our research project has digitised these diaries,
making available a total of 1,849 pages and more than one million cha-
racters in book format. This digitisation has allowed us to use the diari-
es analytically, because we can access the information easily and systema-
tically. Diaries were not intended to preserve memories, but functioned as
documentation, manuals for administration, and evidence for the gover-
nment in order to sustain a village community safely and peacefully.
6 In accordance with Japanese custom, the names of individuals are provided in the order of
surname, given name. Hence, Ueda is the surname, and Yoshiuzu, the given name.
290
flooding. Flooding would bring new fertile soil, which is especially effective
for mono-crop practices, such as the commercialised production of indigo
along the Yoshino River (Kitahara 2006, 192).
Takahama, facing the East China Sea, had insufficient arable land suit-
able for paddy fields. Takahama’s population was 3,413 people in 1816 (Bun-
ka 13) and the village kokudaka was only 611 koku, amounting to merely
0.18 koku per capita. In comparison, Niremata, a rice-producing village in
middle-west Japan with a population of 672 persons in 1812 (Bunka 2) had
a village kokudaka of 1,570 koku, almost unchanged since 1623 (Genna 9)
(Narimatsu 2000, 3–7), equivalent to 2.34 koku per capita. Niremata is lo-
cated in an extraordinarily fertile but disaster-prone area, with high flood
risks in the downstream area of the three major rivers, the Kiso, Nagara
and Ibi Rivers, which constitute the Nōbi Plain. Unlike Niremata, Taka-
hama could not survive as an agricultural village and its subsistence was
guaranteed only by the development of a complex commercialised econ-
omy of sea transportation business and exporting ceramic stones. “Tax-
es moreover were not the unique cause of peasant distress. Usury, floods,
droughts, immoderate spending for weddings and funerals, adverse price
movements, and deeper involvement in the money economy all contrib-
uted to poverty for many” (Smith 1988b, Land Tax, 70). Floods were not
unique to areas such as the Nōbi Plain embracing three major rivers, but
also often brought serious damage in small river areas such as the Takaha-
ma River.
3. Disasters and population change in Takahama
and a neighbouring village, Sakitsu
The shoya in Takahama kept diaries dealing with the governance of a vil-
lage community. The Ueda house archive contains 88 diaries. Of these, we
were able to investigate those kept by Ueda Yoshiuzu,6 who served as shoya
for 30 years (1789–1818). Our research project has digitised these diaries,
making available a total of 1,849 pages and more than one million cha-
racters in book format. This digitisation has allowed us to use the diari-
es analytically, because we can access the information easily and systema-
tically. Diaries were not intended to preserve memories, but functioned as
documentation, manuals for administration, and evidence for the gover-
nment in order to sustain a village community safely and peacefully.
6 In accordance with Japanese custom, the names of individuals are provided in the order of
surname, given name. Hence, Ueda is the surname, and Yoshiuzu, the given name.
290
