Abstract
There are six “honden” or old villages founded before middle age, around the elevated delta of Hokura Riverr in Niigata Prefecture. In this paper the writerr is going to describe the Honden of Katatsu, as reports on the other five villages have been written in his other papers. Katatsu is an old village along a formerr lagoon, and at the beginning of modern age (1593) consisted of eight houses and 12 chobu of fields. The seats of rice fields of this village in those days seems to have been selected at the bottom of small valleys dissecting elevated delta. These valleys are about 50m. wide and 2-3m. deep. The surface of elevated delta in those days had no resources of irrigation water, while the valley bottoms could take advantage of rain and underground water, howeverr not abundant, hence the development of rice, fields. Like other five honden villages it used natural water for irrigation, and characteristics are seen in the way of land divisions etc.
The surface of elevated delta was coloninzed in the early part of modern age, when long canals of irrigation were led into this region and many “Shinden” or newly colonized villages were established.
