Abstract
The example above is found in the lowland valley formed as the result of the erosion of a diluvial table-land in the Kwanto Plain. The lower part of the valley consists of thick formation of peat, and the upper part, of soil. The former has become paddy-field relying upon the water supply by rain alone. In view of the fact that these paddy-fields have been under satisfactory natural irrigation, they mast have been reclaimed since old times. At the beginning of the Tokugawa Era (namely the Tensho Period), we may suppose, there had been farms near the paddy-fields that is, around the valley and also some houses in the neibourhood. Since the Tokugawa Era, about half of the villages gave moved to the table-land to the west, simply because new farms have been reclaimed, there.
The reason why the villages are considerably conservative is due to the fact that the conditions of the arable land, especially its location, its area, its methods of irrigation and of cultivation have not been changed since long ago. The basic cause of the above fact is that the valley has beer favoured with sufficient wetness from rain water, though there is no stream available.
