歴史地理学

50−3（239）1〜14 2008. 6

The Redevelopment of Farmland and theCreation of New Villages in the Aizu Region in
the 18th and 19th Centuries
HASHIMOTO Naoko
Ⅰ. Introduction

tion wrought by the development of farmland

Ⅱ. Objective and Method

include the potential rice yield surveys by the

Ⅲ. Region Overview

Bakufu and Meiji governments ( Table 1) .1）

Ⅳ. Development and the Emergence of Aban-

This remarkable development of farmland dur-

doned Farmlanding the 275 years of the Edo period is known

Ⅴ. Development and Deterioration of Hattano

as shinden kaihatsu, or new rice field development (Kikuchi 1986).

Village
Ⅵ. Redevelopment of Abandoned Farmland
and “New Villages”

New rice field development in the Edo period advanced in the 17th century and peaked in

Ⅶ. Topographical Constraints on Redevelopment, and Developing Farmers

the first half of the 18th century. In the second
half of the 18th century, less farmland was de-

Ⅷ. Conclusion

veloped. Accordingly, it is generally thoughtthat development stagnated, but much is still
unknown about the reasons for the decline and

Ⅰ. Introduction

the circumstances at the time (Kimura 1964).

In the 17th through 19th centuries, which
was the Edo period in Japan, there was a substantial increase in the amount of farmland

Table 1throughout the country.

Japan’s cultivated land area and yield in
the 17th through 19th centuries

Japan has only limited historical records

Year

Yield（koku）

showing the amount of farmland. The oldest

Cultivated landarea（cho）

1598

2,043,520

18,590,043

farmland statistics are in the mid-10th-century

1645

24,553,757

Wamyosho, whose figure is about 1,040,000 cho

1697

25,876,392(1 cho ＝ 0.992 ha). The 1598 Taikokenchi gives

1834

about 2,040,000 cho, and the 1873 land tax re-1873

form by the Meiji government found about
4,100,000 cho. Statistics on agricultural produc-

30,558,917
4,096,960

32,008,292
Source: Kimura 1983
units: koku（≒160 kg）
units: cho（＝0.9917 ha）

Key words: Aizu Basin, new rice field development, farmland abandonment, redevelopment, new villages─ 1 ─The achievements of rural history research2）

offer us a valuable perspective.

small amount of land of low productive capacity

Starting inand conditions making for instability? It also

the second half of the 18th century, many

follows that abandoned farmland was subject tofarmers suffering under onerous tax burdens

some kinds of topographical constraint. In thisleft rural districts and flowed into the cities.

article, I tried to clarify the constraints that

This resulted in a large amount of abandoned

natural environment imposed on human at-

farmland and greatly lowered agricultural pro-

tempts to alter the land with showing concrete

ductive capacity. Referring to this situation ascases, by considering the analysis of geograph-“deterioration”, the Bakufu and feudal lords

ical constraints in addition to the technique ofcalled upon the services of Ninomiya Sontoku

the history study based on historical materials.

and other agricultural leaders and set to workon revitalizing rural communities. These lead-Ⅱ. Objective and Method

ers tackled abandoned farmland with projects

The objective of this paper is to throw lightsuch as making irrigation channels and reorga-on the redevelopment of farmland in the Aizu

nizing farmland. Then, having obtained a com-region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Re-

mitment from the feudal lords to grant tax

search into the local history has found that

reductions and exemptions, they called upon

farmland development in this region was con-the farmers who had left their villages to re-centrated in the 17th century. This develop-

turn, and urged them to resume farming. As ament took a form called kirizoe or mochizoe,

result, populations and productive capacity inwhich meant expanding existing farmland onto

these regions were both clearly tending toward

contiguous land (Takegawa 1965). Through ac-recovery in the first half of the 19th century.

cumlation of such small developments, theUnderstood from this research is the need

Aizu Clan, which controlled the domain at theto appraise development from the second halftime, raised productive capacity by about 30%of the 18th century onward, not in terms of(Hashimoto 1978). In the latter half of the 18th

quantity but quality. That is to say, it can be

century, the problem of te-amari-chi, or aban-

hypothesized that the development of farmland

doned farmland, arose because of tax increases

in Japan since the 18th century involved put-

induced by a financial crisis in the Aizu Clanting more effort into the maintenance of exist-(Yoshida 1982).

ing far mland and the redevelopment of

I can elicit two questions from this research.

abandoned farmland than into new farmland

First, in what areas was this abandoned farm-development.

land located? And second, how did people set

However, I noticed that the perspectives ofabout redeveloping abandoned farmland, and togeography and environmental studies arewhat extent was this accomplished? The sec-

missing from this hypothesis. If the develop-

ond question must be considered in conjunc-

ment of farmland languished in the latter halftion with the shinson, or new villages. Shinsonof the 18th century, one would expect the rea-refers to new farming villages created by theson to be that such development had reached

Aizu Clan from the late 18th century throughits limit. If that is so, could it not be assumed

the first half of the 19th century, but it is un-that land developed at the time included not a

known what they were actually like.

─ 2 ─

First we shall review the topographical envi-

documents, we investigated the entireronment and process of farmland development

process from the appearance of aban-in the Aizu region. This is followed by an ex-

doned farmland to the establishment ofamination, through a monograph on a single

new villages.5）

village, of the entire process of redevelopment,
beginning with the emergence of abandoned

Ⅲ. Region Overview

farmland to the establishment of new villages.

The Aizu region, which is located in the

Finally, we will shed light on the significance ofwestern part of present-day Fukushima Prefec-

the new villages in Aizu region farmland devel-ture, is positioned at the southern end of theopment. The main geographical area to be ana-

Tohoku-Uranihon valleys. It is a shallow rift

lyzed is Yoda-gumi in the eastern part of thebasin that measures 32 km north to south andAizu Basin. In particular for the Aizu region,

13 km east to west. In the south, the eastern

many newly founded villages (shindenson) ap-

and western ends are cut by a fault cliff; in thepeared in this area as a result of much farm-

north, the basin’s western edge is on a weakl a n d d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e 17t h c e n t u r y ;anticlinal axis, while the eastern edge is madeabandoned farmland and new villages wereof volcanic sediment. The basin floor is about

concentrated here in the 18th century and

200 m above sea level and covered with fertile

thereafter.

soil. Rivers running from the south into the

There are two parts to the method of thispaper:

basin are the Aga River, Miya River, and Tsurunuma River; from the north are the Oshio(1) To obtain insight into the development

River, Tatsuke River, and Nigori River; andprocess in the studied region, Shinpen

from the east is the Nippashi River and Ses-

Aizu Fudoki (Local history of Aizu), a

enagi River. The rivers form a gently sloping

local history compiled by the Aizu Clancompound alluvial fan (Figure 1).

in the 19th century, was used to check

Developing farmland on the compound allu-

when main villages, new rice fields, andvial fan requires bringing water from the fan

new villages were created.

3）

These

head to irrigate the entire fan. The first weir

were plotted on old topographical maps

(Kitsune zeki) was built on the Nippashi Riverof the area made between 1914 and 1917

in 1392, followed by weirs on the Miya River

with scales of 1 : 50,000 and 1 : 25,000 to

and Aga Rivers to obtain irrigation water (Muto

ascertain the correlation between to-1978). Farmland development in the Aizu Ba-

4）

pography and settlement siting.

sin proceeded from the higher ground on the(2) From among monograph historical re-basin’s periphery to the river flood plains on

cords of Yoda-gumi, we used those re-the basin’s bottom, and by the 16th century

maining in the family of a headman ofmost arable land was being cultivated. Most of

Hattano Village, for which there remain

the settlements in the basin had appeared bymany old documents (historical records)

the first half of the 17th century. It follows thatwhich provide information on the state

settlements established in the 17th century

of farmland and family composition. By

and thereafter, which were the “new villages”,

laboriously reading and analyzing thesewere subject to various topographical con-─ 3 ─

Figure 1

New Rice Field Concentration Area in the Aizu Basin
Souce: Prepared from piots of settlements on old topographical maps.

straints.

awashiro at an elevation of 514 m. Despite the

The 40 villages of Yoda-gumi analyzed heredifficulty of digging irrigation channels withare situated on the eastern edge of Aizu Basin.

large elevation differences in the mudflows

Volcanic ejecta from the Mt. Oguni and Mt.

with their hard gravel, construction began in

Bandai volcanoes to the north is depositedthe 1610s, and by the mid-17th century two

widely over this region from Lake Inawashiro,channels called Tonokuchi and Nippashi were

elevation 500 m, to the Aizu Basin, elevation

completed. Twenty-six of the 40 villages in Yo-

200 m. This landscape, known as the Okinashima

da-gumi were newly founded villages which

mudflows, consists of many semi-circular mud-owned their existence to these irrigation chan-flow mounds and the mudflow depressions be-nels (Figure 2).

tween them, for a very hilly topography. The

A word is needed about the region’s climate.

mounds were forested and the depressions

Yoda-gumi stretches over an area between thewere swampy, making both inappropriate for

Aizu Basin and Lake Inawashiro with an eleva-

cultivation. But starting in the 17th century

tion difference of about 300 m. A document

the depressions were developed, and plans

written in 1740 says that cold water was usedwere made to draw water for irrigation fromdirectly for irrigation.6） This region is higher

the Nippashi River, whose source was Lake In-

than the Aizu Basin and also gets snow, there-─ 4 ─

Figure 2

Distribution of villages of the Yoda-gumi
Source: Settlements as recorded in Shinpen Aizu Fudoki and Kawahigashi choshi Jokan
were marked on an old 1 : 25,000 topographical map. Aizu Hirota, 1910.

by presenting harsh climatic conditions for the

koku, which over the 64 years up to 1707 in-growth of crops.

creased to a total of 49,486 koku. But over the
next 77 years up to 1784 there was an increase

Ⅳ. Development and the Emergence ofof only 16,779 koku, which confirms the stag-

Abandoned Farmland

nation of farmland development (Table 2).

In concert with a nationwide trend, farmland

Meanwhile, already at the start of the 18th

development in the Aizu region was pursued

century farmland was being abandoned. The

mainly in the 17th century. This process is un-

Kasei-jikki called this age-denchi. The Chroni-

derstood from a comparison showing the in-cles of Aizu Wakamatsu City explain that farm-crease in potential rice yield ( koku-daka ) , a

land was abandoned by farmers for reasons

numerical measure of village agricultural pro-including illness, disasters, and desertion ofductive capacity used in early modern times.

their farms. However, there were actually two

According to Kasei-jikki, the official history ofsituations in which farmers abandoned their

the Aizu Clan compiled in the 19th century, inland. One was that they could not continue

1643 when the Aizu (−Matsudaira ) Clan wasworking the land due to family illness, and theformed, the developed potential yield duringother was that they quit farming owing to thethe past 16years under Katoh clan was 13,947

burden of excessive taxation.

─ 5 ─

Table 2

ond reason for farmers abandoning their land.

Aizu Clan development figures
PeriodI understand from these facts that the prob-

Potential Yield
increaselem of age-denchi arose from the Aizu Clan’s

1627 to 1642

13,947

1643: Aizu Clan established

10,7561643 to 1688

10,552on the fact that much of the abandoned farm-

1669 to 1680

12,466land was land developed in the 17th century.

1681 to 1707

15,712

One must approach the problem of farmland

1708 to 1725

8,633

1726 to 1755

6,346

abandonment from the perspectives of the top-

1756 to 1784

1,800

Total

tax-increase policy, but I see a need to focus

ographical conditions of the developed land andits redevelopment.

80,212

units: koku（≒160 kg）
Source: Hashimoto 1978
Notes: Aizu-Matsudaira clan enforced crop
investigation on her villages in 1643, when she wasestablised, and her potential yield was defined.

Ⅴ. Development and Deterioration of
Hattano Village
Here we examine the case of Hattano Village
regarding the detailed course of farmland development, abandonment, and redevelopment

Volume 5 of Aizuhan-gunsei-ikkan observesin the Aizu region. Hattano Village was one ofthat age-denchi first emerged in 1707 because

40 villages in Yoda-gumi, where abandonedof a tax increase in 1704, that the amount offarmland (te-amari-chi) and new villages weresuch farmland increased year by year, and thatconcentrated, and it is located in the approxi-

the rural population started declining in 1719.

mate center of the Okinashima mudflows.

When farmland was abandoned, the Aizu Clan

Kawahigashi Cho-shi Hensan Iinkai ed.:ordered other villagers to continue working

Kawahigashi Cho-shi (History of Kawahigashi

that land together, but when even that could

Town ) provides information on the potential

not keep the land under cultivation, it wasrice yield of Hattano Village showing that incompletely abandoned. That land was te-amari-1594 it was about 405 koku, in 1643 about 527

chi.

koku, in 1667 about 997 koku, and in 1729

Volume 94 of Kasei-jikki is the earliest

about 1,406 koku, for an approximate 3.5-foldsource in which one finds that the amount of

increase over a 135-year period. Between 1628

age-denchi corresponded to 2,916 koku in 1709.

and 1660, three new villages were founded:

Yoda-gumi accounted for about 40% or 1,290

Namai in 1628, Tokahara in 1639, and Urush-koku of this total. Kasei-jikki expresses con-izawa in 1660.7）This can be seen as an achieve-

cerns that age-denchi rose to 20% of the farm-

ment of the development that had continued

land developed in the 17th century, and that it

since the second half of the 17th century.

would become te-amari-chi because there were

Next we examine the population dynamics

no farmers who wanted to cultivate it. In 1711,

of Hattano Village. Villagers under the Aizu

it observed that much of the age-denchi was

Clan were divided into two statuses: hon-found among land of low productive capacity,

byakusho ( “full farmers” ) , who were regularand that getting farmers to work it would re-villagers who paid an annual land tax in kind,quire reduced taxation, which points to the sec-and mizu-nomi ( “landless peasants” ) , who─ 6 ─worked under the control of the full farmers.
The households of full farmers and landlesspeasants in Hattano Village numbered, respec-of 10,500 koku.
Ⅵ. Redevelopment of Abandoned Farmland
and “New Villages”

tively, 65 and 12 in 1667, 83 and 21 in 1691,
and 112 and 5 in 1735.8）

A survey undertaken by the Aizu Clan in

Total village population peaked at 506 in

1760 found that the te-amari-chi confirmed at

1719, and fell to 284 in 1762. We can surmisethat time was about 25% of the farmland thatfrom this change that many full farmers left

had been developed in the early 18th century.

Hattano Village in the mid-18th century. It is

This abandoned farmland was most widely dis-also evidence which shows directly that thetributed along the northern shore of Lake Ina-

village lost its farming population.

washiro, which was 500 m above sea level, andThe first cases of age-denchi and populationin the Okinashima mudflows area. In response

loss in Hattano Village that can be confirmed

to this situation, in 1756 the clan adopted awere in 1707 : 9）program of encouraging cultivation by lending(1) Rokubei: Because five of eight family

seed rice, and in 1758 it launched a policy

members had gone into domestic ser-which had farmers relocate from other areas invice using land as security, about one-order to secure people to cultivate the land.

third of the family’s land could not be

In 1763, a farmer named Yaichiuemon fromworked and was taken over by Shoue-

Koriyama Village in Yoda-gumi applied to rede-mon.

velop te-amari-chi in Hattano Village. Yaichiue-(2) Chozaemon: Because half of the family

mon set forth two conditions for development:

had gone into domestic service, land

the farmer Tozaemon from Echigo Province

was taken over by the landless peasant(present-day Niigata Prefecture) would relo-

Hachirobei.

cate to work the land, and that Yaichiuemon’s(3) Jirohachi: Because of illness, wife went

post-redevelopment tax burden would be sub-into domestic service using land as se-

stantially reduced. The Aizu Clan consented tocurity, so nine other villagers divided up

both.

the land and continued working it.

In 1764, Tozaemon moved with his six fami-

However, in 1733 there were cases in which

ly members to Hattano Village. The land he

all the members of farming households left

was to redevelop was rice fields at a place

the village for domestic service, and there

called Takanoshita, in the mountains over 4

was no one to take over cultivation, result-

km from the village, which had not been tilled

ing in te-amari-chi.

since 1636 due to their remoteness. In 1767,

Starting in 1730, the Aizu Clan found itself

three of his siblings moved to Takanoshita, fol-in chronic fiscal straits. Clan leaders were di-lowed by another 13 people, including rela-

vided on whether to attribute the increase intives, in 1768. In 1767 and 1768, Tozaemon

te-amari-chi to poverty among the farmers or

asked the Aizu Clan for financial assistance. In

to the penetration of the commodity economy

six years he succeeded in redeveloping about

into rural areas. Due to unfavorable weather in

1.2 ha of rice fields yielding 11 koku.10）

1747, te-amari-chi in 1749 was the equivalent─ 7 ─Judging by this example from Hattano Vil-lage, this redevelopment policy can be ap-

430 m elevation. Its poor soil and lack of water

plauded for achieving a certain degree offor irrigation made it an inferior location. For

success. Yet, this policy was unable to do any-that reason the Aizu Clan provided financial

thing about 10% of the te-amari-chi. Even insupport to the farmers for redevelopment.

Hattano Village, about 50% of all farmland

Pains were also taken to see that the farmers’

stood abandoned at the end of the 18th centu-

productive capacity was uniform to ensure thatry. In 1799, the village’s population was 273,

they would not abandon their fields. Thanks toan approximate 54% drop from 1719.

this, Hattano Shinson’s population had in-

To deal with this increasing te-amari-chi, theAizu Clan adopted a new restoration policy at

creased to 146 by 1871, and there was no dropin potential rice yield.

the outset of the 19th century. This consisted

Here we use the change in potential rice

in relocating farmers to areas in villages where

yield to confirm the effect on Hattano Village ofte-amari-chi was concentrated, creating new

the redevelopment policy in the latter half ofvillages, and having the farmers redevelop thethe 18th century and the establishment of the

farmland. These were the shinson, or new vil-

new village in the early 19th century (Figure

lages.

3) . From 1799 to 1868, the potential yield of

In 1831, a new village, Hattano Shinson, wasHattano Village as a whole declined by about

created within the area of Hattano Village with

250 koku, which is because much te-amari-chi

a potential yield of about 250 koku. In conjunc-

was split off when Hattano Shinson was creat-tion with this, the Aizu Clan relocated 86 farm-ed. This led to a decrease of about 468 koku in

ers from Echigo Province and created a

te-amari-chi, but an increase of about 190 koku

settlement of 20 homes that consisted of 3

in cultivated land. This proves that progressgroups (numbering 3, 11, and 6 homes). Politi-

had been achieved in the redevelopment ofcal administration, however, was the same forfarmland, and shows that the establishment ofboth the main and new villages. While the

Hattano Shinson and the Aizu Clan’s farmland

main village had an elevation of about 350 m,

restoration policy were successful.11）

the new village was in a hilly area at 400 to

Figure 3

Trends Hattano Village farming productSource: Calculated by N.Hashimoto according to analyses of Hatta family documents and tax bills.

─ 8 ─

Ⅶ. Topographical Constraints on Redevelopment, and Developing Farmers

farmers quickly abandoned cultivation becauseof the heavy tax burden they faced in the 18th
century.

This case study of Hattano Village has taught

People applying to develop new villages inus that the establishment of new villages bythese areas were not village farmers, but Aizu

the Aizu Clan within the early 19th century

Clan samurai or people of means from nearby

made a major contribution to redevelopment invillages. Some of the reasons for the successthe Aizu region. Twenty-six of the 40 villagesof development are that abandoned farmlandin Yoda-gumi were newly founded villages

was separated from its former cultivators,( shindenson ) that were created in develop-

which alleviated the burden on the village; thatments that had started in the 17th century, andnew cultivators were found for redevelopment;

new villages (shinson) were established in 12

and that taxes were lowered for and financialof those (Table 3). The earliest new villages

assistance provided to the new cultivators.

founded were Yoda-shinson and Koriyama-

Thanks to redevelopment by the new village

shinson in 1790, and the latest in the Aizu Ba-

in Hattano Village, about 21% of the abandoned

sin was Nakakayatsu Shinson of Ushizawa-gumi

farmland that existed in 1787 had been re-in 1835.

stored 30 years later in 1817. While the area of

Based on this study, there are two types ofrice fields in Hattano Village in 1849 was aboutplaces in the Aizu region where the topograph-

87 ha, only about 60% of that or about 53 ha

ical features led to much te-amari-chi (aban-

was actually being cultivated. Hattano Shinson,

doned farmland).

on the other hand, had a total rice field area of(1) Mountainous areas above the Aizu Basinabout 12 ha, which was all under cultivation.

at 200 m with cold irrigation water and suscep-

The Aizu Clan assessed all of its farmland bytibility to frost and snow damage, and (2) areas

having either “good” or “poor” fertility. Basedin the Aizu Basin near rivers and tableland aton these two categories, Hattano Village had

the basin’s edge. These are the areas where

about 22 ha with good fertility and about 34 ha

newly founded villages appeared through de-with poor fertility, while Hattano Shinson hadvelopment in 17th century. New villages wereabout 2 ha with good fertility and about 19 ha

also concentrated in this area. There are places

with poor fertility. From this we see that thein the mountains where no vestige of the newnew village had unfavorable production condi-

villages can be found at all. In the Aizu Basin,

tions, but that redevelopment proceeded well

the new villages were concentrated in Aizu

in spite of those conditions.

Bange-machi, and on the basin periphery in

The foregoing discussion illustrates the real-

the former Kawahigashi-machi. The former

ity of redevelopment in the Aizu region and thearea is the former river channel of the mainsignificance of establishing the new villages. Itriver (the Aga River), while the latter is theis possible to model with a Image diagram the

Okinashima mudflow region. These areas areinternal configuration of village areas in whichmore susceptible than surrounding lands to

new villages had been created (Figure 4). But

flooding and freezing damage, and land produc-

there were individual differences between thetivity is lower. It is thought that for this reason

situations of the new villages. In the case of─ 9 ─

Table 3

Establishment of New Rice Field Villages (shinden) and New Villages (shinson) in Yoda-gumi
Village name№

Potential
Yield
in 1818

Potential
Yield
in 18711

Yoda

737.315734.478

2

Koriyama

1228.751

1225.540

3

Shima1103.942

1164.170

4
5
6
7

Okayaｊi‐shinden
Kamoda-shinden
Kitakouya-shinden
Fuyukizawa-shinden

160.36180.45489.977562.429160.444100.892
126.424556.385

8

Fujikura

422.001

584.658

9
10

Takabatake
Kyode

319.735240.668

325.870242.893

11

Tabakari

950.631756.934

12

Oowada519.098639.289

13
14

Doujima-shinden
Chausumori-shinden

46.66178.07972.19878.105

15

Kumanodou

1097.873

1226.022

16

Shioniwa

492.980

464.950

17

Komaita

502.871599.488

18
19
20

Sakai-shinden
Toukahara-shinden
Urushizawa-shinden

196.823240.638
354.402140.078230.266
328.750

21

Azano

768.376617.952

22

Nakabayasi-shinden

38.26066.41323

Minami Kouya

631.018875.004

24
25
26
27
28
29

Shinyashiki-shinden
Yokobori-shinden
Shioniwa-shinden
Komaita-shinden
Namai-shinden
Nagayachi-shinden

84.049104.29671.36455.950183.337225.071161.535
108.995
72.42365.814150.927207.729

30

Hattano1401.960

1432.810

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Kitayama-shinden
Tsutsumi-shinden
Harada-shinden
Sawame-shinden
Hara
Rokucyohara
Tsukinokibashi-shinden
Fujikura-shinden
Kuramichi-sinden
Kowashimizu-shinden

233.30785.366170.284306.489219.564315.564521.625
57.247
256.702211.350236.333
83.117161.624
37.369226.898
323.542522.136
57.436254.387
390.782

Details

Remarks

410.533
91.698232.247900.603324.934
880.487
283.683

Main village
Yoda-shinson
Kitabatake‐bun
Main village
Koriyama-shinson
Main village
Nishiyashiki Village

415.044101.366
69.248

Fuyukizawa
Main village
Naniwano-bun
Kaganiyama-bun

630.640
126.294526.865
112.424

Main village
Tabakari-shinson
Main village
Machiwada Village

1016.890
209.132
385.664
79.286489.612109.876

Main village
Kondo-bun
Main village
Hayashi-bun
Main village
Furukawa-bun

567.005
50.947

Urushizawa
Azano
Azano-shinson

632.222242.782

Main village
Higashi Kouya-bun

1082.340
100.449
250.016Main village
Kounoshita-bun
Hattano-shinsonYearestablished
1790
1790
1783
1770
1621
1634
1636

1791
1826

1791
1622
1637
1793
1791
1792
1624
1639
1638
1810

1827
1598
1624
1629
1627
1660

1764
1831
1622
1632
1622
1636
1605

Tsukinokibashi
1667
Kuramichi
1660
units: koku (≒160 kg)

Source : Fukushima-Ken 1967; Kimura 1979; Kawahigashi Cho-shi Hensan Iinkai. 1979; Hashimoto 1986
Notes : Potential yield data in 1818 are based on Fukushima-Ken-Shi and those in 1871 are based on Kyudaka Kyuryo
Torishirabe-Cho.

─ 10 ─

Figure 4

An Image of Typical Shinson Placement within a deteriorated Village

Hattano Village, nearly all the abandoned farm-mental constraints, and was lacking in produc-

land, including that in the new village, was re-tive stability from the outset. Hence, it isstored to what had been before. But in the casepossible to discern the significance of the poli-of Fujikura Village, in 1826 two new villages

cy of new village creation by the Aizu Clan inwere created on remote wasteland, and devel-

the alleviation of the burden on preexisting

opment was carried out on a larger scale thanfarmers by separating abandoned farmland

before. And in 1783 in Koriyama Village a newfrom preexisting villages. The clan also had

village was created by aggregating all the

farmers relocate to the new villages, andwasteland existing throughout the village area,

granted tax reductions and exemptions. Thisand the potential rice yield recovered to its for-paper found that these policy measures played

mer level.

a major role in the restoration of abandoned
farmland subject to poor production conditions.

Ⅷ. Conclusion
Rural population decline and an increase inAcknowledgments

abandoned farmland proceeded throughout theThis paper reexamines the findings of a pre-18th century in the Aizu region. In response,

vious paper, “Redevelopment in latter Earlyin the early 19th century the Aizu Clan estab-Modern Japan and shinson ( new villages ) ”

lished “new villages” within existing village(Hashimoto 1986) from the perspective of his-areas which had abandoned farmland, and en-

torical geography. When writing that previous

couraged redevelopment. This paper’s objec-

paper I benefited from guidance provided bytive is to shed light on the reality of thisthe late Kimura Motoi, Professor Emeritus ofredevelopment.

Meiji University, on approaching this subject

The research found that most of the newfrom Japanese village history, and from thevillages were concentrated in the areas devel-

guidance of the late Ooya Masahiko, Professor

oped in the 17th century and thereafter. This

Emeritus of Waseda University, on matters

paper sought the reason for this in the fact

pertaining to natural geography. When writingthat the abandoned farmland was in areas

this paper I sought the assistance of Associate

which were subject to considerable environ-

Professor Haruyama Shigeko of The Universi-

─ 11 ─

ty of Tokyo Graduate School. On-site studies

Wakamatsu City in a municipal merger.

for this research were conducted from 1980

6）Hatta family documents include a huge amountthrough 1982. When performing those studies

of records called Shogan Shohikae-cho ( Records of Requests), which are copies of docu-

I benefited greatly from the help of the latements submitted to the clan by the village.

Mr. Suzuki Tsuruta and Ms. Sanuki Mayumi of

The following quotes are from these docu-

the Town History Office of Kawahigashi Town,

ments.

Fukushima Prefecture.

7）Records of Requests, 1768.
8）To determine population, the author analyzed

Notes

bungencho (legal status records), which corre-

1）Kokudaka expresses the total productive ca-

spond to modern-day family registers andpacity of farmland by assigning it a numericalwere prepared for each household.

value designating potential rice yield. It is an9）Records of Requests, 1707.

index of productive capacity calculated by

10）Records of Requests, 1762–1784.

multiplying the land area by a previously as-11）According to analyses of Hatta family docu-

signed ranking value. One koku is equivalentments and tax bills.

to about 180.39 L or about 160kg, which is theaverage annual consumption of one person. A

References

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─ 13 ─

18−19世紀会津地方における耕地の再開発と新村の成立
橋本直子

会津地方では、18世紀を通じて、農村の人口減少と「手余り地」＝耕作放棄地の増加が進行した。これに対して会津藩は、19世紀初頭に、耕作放棄地を持つ村の内部へ「新村」を設定して耕作者を移住させ、その再開発を実施した。「新村」は、17世紀以降の開発地域である「新田」地域に集中して見られた。その理由は、「新田」が自然環境上の制約を大きく受ける地域に広く展開し、開発当初から生産面で安定を欠いていたからである。したがって会津藩による「新村」の設定は、耕作放棄地を村から分離することで従来の農民の負担を軽減する意義があり、劣悪な生産条件の下にあった耕作放棄地の復興に大きな役割を果たした。
キーワード：会津盆地，新田開発，耕作放棄，再開発，新村─ 14 ─