Relationships between Land Grant Processes of Government-ruled Pasturelands and Transformation Processes of Land Use after the Modernization in Shimousa Plateau, Japan

Abstract

This research aims to identify relationships between land grant processes of government-ruled pasturelands from Edo era (1603-1867) to Meiji era (1868-1912), and transformation processes of land use after modernization. The study identified that from 1672 to 1868, 9,480ha (57.45%) of pasturelands were granted to farmers. Then after the abolishment of government-ruled pasturelands in 1869, 3,350ha (20.3%) of pasturelands were granted to farmers and 3,700ha (22.4%) of pasturelands were taken over by the Meiji Government from the government in Edo. Large scale developments including apartment complexes, industrial parks, new towns, golf courses and parks, occurred on granted woods and farmlands as the lands were granted to a limited number of farmers in the area and thus the aggregation of lands were rather easy. In contrast, small scale developments occurred on farmlands taken over by the Meiji Government as the lands were cut into rather small allotments and distributed to farmers by the agricultural land reclamation corporations after the modernization.