Abstract
Land improvement was first carried out extensively about 1900 and the aspect of agricultural lands and the structure of farm villages began to change here and there.
The Kojima Bay polder land, whose study I took up, is an example. The land in this area has been improved twice since 1912. I studied the relations between the reclamation and the increase of agricultural production and threw light on the change of production in a farm village.
(I) Conditions before reclamation
The total acreage of the agricultural lands of the area of my study is 242 ha. 33 reclamations of beaches on a small scale carried out between 1800 and 1870, have resulted in the present stretch of vast agricultural lands. The productivity of the newly reclaimed land was very low due to the lack of irrigation water and also as the lands were divided into small pieces. There were old dikes which were no longer needed and the pools of water, which could be developed into agricultural lands.
About 1919 the Land Owner System was established and the land owners started the improvement of land for the purpose of increasing the production, and ultimately raised the land rent.
(II) Progress of reclamation
The irrigation water was secured and the waste lands were developed into agricultral lands between 1912 and 1915 but the exchange and consolidation of lands and land adjustment were not carried out. Such improvements as the land adjustment and consolidation are absolutely necessary for increasing the labor productivity of agriculture but the land owners were rather indifferent to these improvements because their aim was to raise the land rent by increasing the yield of unit acreage.
About 1920, the Land Owner System began to decline and the farmers began to gain strength. The land adjustment and consolidation were started in 1922 through the demand and cooperation of the farmers. Thus the farmers pushed forward the improvement of lands and the rationalzation of agriculture by their own efforts.
(III) Result of reclamation
The land adjustmant and consolidation which were carried out since 1922 in spite of the restrictions originating in the Land Owner System, were very effectve in raising labor productivity. The mechanization of farming may be menotioned as another factor which raised the productivity.
In this way the aspect of agricultural land changed; the lands are consolidated into a regular form and the modern machines are in motion in the lands. But the reclamation were carried out amidst the restrictions of Land Owner System. Naturally the consolidation has not been effected to our satisfaction.
