Abstract
An examination of the areas indicated in the Chôsokabe Cadastral Books (1588) and Meiji (1868–1912) cadastres based on the land plots in cadastral maps resulted in the discovery that western Okô-shinmachi was actually located farther south than where it is generally considered to have been situated. A review of the river channel showed that the land guesstimated to be Okô-shinmachi partially overlaps the current river. The reason is that the Kokubu and Kasano River channels guesstimated in the cadastral survey in 1588 were different from what they are now.
Traditionally, historicogeography has often depended on archeological excavation to determine whether the reconstruction of old landscapes is accurate. Examination of roads, dykes, ditches, and other remains through excavation research and chronological speculation on the periods in which unearthed items existed usually lend validity to historical landscape reconstruction. This study, however, is based on the idea of reconstructing sophisticated old landscapes even without excavation results.
The comparison of the Chôsokabe Cadastral Books and Meiji cadastres examined in both this study and a previous one (Kataoka 2009) showed that the Chôsokabe Cadastral Books were highly accurate in land measurement. Examining the land segmentation and areas in each land plot may provide this study's concept of reconstructing historical landscapes with high probability.
The land segmentation on Meiji cadastral maps as historical materials on the reconstruction of historical landscapes was created in multiple periods. The methodology used in this paper can be considered a method to reconstruct old landscapes and one possible method to speculate on the last period of land segmentation on the basis of historical materials. The comparison of materials specifying the area of each land plot before the Meiji period and the area of each land plot on cadastral maps enables rough calculations of the last periods of those segments in accordance with the years in which the materials were compiled. This study shows that the land segmentation of Higashi-machi in Okô-shinmachi reflected landscapes in the late 16th century, and the land segmentation remained up until the Meiji period.
