Page 294 - 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. 294
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
ure,” appear every three years or so, amounting to six times over the twen-
ty years covered in the available diaries. In serious cases of harvest failure,
the shoya tried to receive tax reductions from the regional government. The
Takahama shoya also strived to plant sweet potatoes in the village in order
to ensure a sufficient sweet potato harvest as a precaution against potential
epidemics and other disasters.
There were no serious harvest failures during the governance of the
shoya Ueda Yoshiuzu, who played a decisive role in nourishing the villag-
ers by developing the village economy by putting forth initiatives to foster
fisheries and the ceramic stone industry and to establish a complex com-
mercialised economy. Hence, Takahama’s village economy changed re-
markably from the end of the 18th to the 19th century. Two large commercial
ships (nine-masted and six-masted) were introduced together with a large
number of smaller commercial boats, which would later support the com-
mercialised village economy. Fishing and foraging shellfishes and seaweed
increased during these decades, and thus the number of fishing and sea-
weed-harvesting boats increased from 12 in 1789 to 58 in 1838. Substantial
reinforcement of other modes of transportation also occurred; for example,
the number of horses increased from 117 in 1789 to 758 in 1838.7 The marked
enhancement of transportation is also an implication of the commerciali-
sation of Takahama. High-quality stones for ceramic production were lo-
cally mined – a practice that continues today – and exported from Taka-
hama to areas in Kyushu renowned for the production of ceramics such as
Arita-Yaki through connections with Nagasaki.
In contrast to Takahama, Sakitsu, a village situated close to Takaha-
ma, suffered dramatic population losses as a result of three outbreaks of
smallpox in 1801, 1813 and 1834. A fishing port whose continuity tended to
rely on its commercial network, Sakitsu experienced changes in its pop-
ulation, which was 850 in 1690, increased to 2,466 in 1808, decreased to
1,252 in 1864, and then increased again to 1,414 in 1872. Studies of the im-
pact of smallpox breakouts have shed light on the vulnerability of isolated
Early Modern villages, such as Sakitsu, which suffered repeated breakouts
of smallpox, which destroyed the commercial network that it was depend-
ent on and thus induced rapid population decline (Murayama and Hi-
gashi 2012). This observation proves that the foundations of life during the
7 These data are derived from village registers: Ueda House Archive 4-4, -5, -7, -10, -12,
-14, -19, 7-78, 12-22, 4-additional-1-2.
292
ure,” appear every three years or so, amounting to six times over the twen-
ty years covered in the available diaries. In serious cases of harvest failure,
the shoya tried to receive tax reductions from the regional government. The
Takahama shoya also strived to plant sweet potatoes in the village in order
to ensure a sufficient sweet potato harvest as a precaution against potential
epidemics and other disasters.
There were no serious harvest failures during the governance of the
shoya Ueda Yoshiuzu, who played a decisive role in nourishing the villag-
ers by developing the village economy by putting forth initiatives to foster
fisheries and the ceramic stone industry and to establish a complex com-
mercialised economy. Hence, Takahama’s village economy changed re-
markably from the end of the 18th to the 19th century. Two large commercial
ships (nine-masted and six-masted) were introduced together with a large
number of smaller commercial boats, which would later support the com-
mercialised village economy. Fishing and foraging shellfishes and seaweed
increased during these decades, and thus the number of fishing and sea-
weed-harvesting boats increased from 12 in 1789 to 58 in 1838. Substantial
reinforcement of other modes of transportation also occurred; for example,
the number of horses increased from 117 in 1789 to 758 in 1838.7 The marked
enhancement of transportation is also an implication of the commerciali-
sation of Takahama. High-quality stones for ceramic production were lo-
cally mined – a practice that continues today – and exported from Taka-
hama to areas in Kyushu renowned for the production of ceramics such as
Arita-Yaki through connections with Nagasaki.
In contrast to Takahama, Sakitsu, a village situated close to Takaha-
ma, suffered dramatic population losses as a result of three outbreaks of
smallpox in 1801, 1813 and 1834. A fishing port whose continuity tended to
rely on its commercial network, Sakitsu experienced changes in its pop-
ulation, which was 850 in 1690, increased to 2,466 in 1808, decreased to
1,252 in 1864, and then increased again to 1,414 in 1872. Studies of the im-
pact of smallpox breakouts have shed light on the vulnerability of isolated
Early Modern villages, such as Sakitsu, which suffered repeated breakouts
of smallpox, which destroyed the commercial network that it was depend-
ent on and thus induced rapid population decline (Murayama and Hi-
gashi 2012). This observation proves that the foundations of life during the
7 These data are derived from village registers: Ueda House Archive 4-4, -5, -7, -10, -12,
-14, -19, 7-78, 12-22, 4-additional-1-2.
292
