Abstract
This article is an analysis of the ecological balance of the lagoon. The writer has chosen, as an example, Ochi Lagoon at the Ochi Trough, Noto Province.
In Chapter One various natural conditions of the lagoon are surveyed to see how the land is affected by them, especially by flooding and low tide.
Chapter Two deals with the backgrund of history, specifically the development of newly reclaimed rice-fields since the Tokugawa Era. The reclamation process has also been affected by conditions of nature. Moreover, because the lagoon was a commonage from the beginning, newborn rice-fields would present complicated problems of ownership. The complication once led to the so-called Anei Case, which in turn resulted in the Land Reclamation Law.
Chapter Three deals with the modern history of the lagoon. Prewar partial land reclamation under prefectural sponsorship proved a failure, so that after the last War total reclamation has been under way, sponsored by the national government. This postwar method of reclamation has raised the question of allotment of reclaimed land. One reason why the question has caused so much trouble is the deep-rooted custom of commonage, which should be regarded rather as an instinct of the native inhabitants to maintain their supremacy, than as a left-over from the feudal age.
When the lagoon disappears, the ecological balance of the neighboring district will naturally be destroyed and a new balance will have to be created. This is to my thinking the heart of the matter.
