Abstract
The area reported in this paper lies on the west coast of Kii Peninsula, Honshu Island, which projects itself into the pacific ocaen. The feudal lord of this area in the early modern age was the Kishu-Tokugawas.
It is generally believed that the administrative village at the time were, as a rule, composed of one settlement. However, it is not correct. The fact was, several settlements were grouped into one village from the administrative point of view.
Generally speaking, villages in the plain area were smaller in area than those in the mountains. This is because the villages in the plains were composed of a few settlements while the villages in the mountain area were composed of considerably many settlements, in addition to the fact that the distribution of settlements in the plains was denser than those in the mountains. Nevertheless, the former were better off than the latter.
Some villages were composed of a plenty of wealthy settlements. They had large areas and were wealthy. The villages which were composed of a few poor settlements are also found. They had smaller areas and were poor. These villages can be said to have had an intermediate character between the plain type and the mountain type. They are found in the intermediate zone between the plains and the mountains.
After the Meiji Restoration there was a change in the village oomposition. In most cases new villages were formed, combining several villages of feudal times. Some of the villages, however, remained unchanged as before. Many of them are the wealthy villages of the above-mentioned intermediate type.
