日本の村落についてのノート

共同体理論の発展に向けての諸説の検討

抄録

　　　　In this paper, several studies on The Village Community in Japan are reviewed for the purpose of developing a theory of Community. Special attention was paid to studies on the self-governed villages by Hitoshi Saito and Keiji Ushiyama, a study on communities which have centered around the rice irrigation system by Yoichi Tashiro, who thoroughly criticizes the above-mentioned studies by Saito and Ushiyama, a study on Chinese rural village societies by Michitaka Kaino, and studies on villages in early modern Japan based on the theory of a socially stratified society in the early modern age, which has been dominant since the 1980s.
　　　　From the viewpoint that the village communities in Japan are historical and change with time, the present paper criticizes the irrigation village theory for its nonhistorical view and for giving exaggerated importance to the disharmony between the ‘Oaza’ （historically designated units within a community）and the ‘Nogyo Shuraku’ （rural community）. On the other hand, with regard to the self-governed village theory, present paper argues that a tradition in the caste system of early modern society, namely, an aspect of status society in rural villages, which is overlooked in the self-governed village theory, has become an important factor for sustaining modern and contemporary villages without changing their inherited structures or losing the autonomous functions which are pointed out in the self-governed village theory.
　　　　As a whole, this study tries to develop a community theory based on the self-governed village theory through its adjustment, and to clarify the framework of the study for modern and contemporary villages in Japan.