Abstract
The followings are the characteristics of the irrigation along the Tojo River in Osaka Prefecture in Japan.
1. The streams and brooks from the hills and mountains near-by supply us with such plentiful water that the irrigation system in this locality has developed remarkably, making many dams here and there and long waterways down to the lower part of the river. The waterways are usefully called “iji”, but their lowest part is forced to use underground water, to make up for the shortage of water-supply by the river.
2. As to the irrigation system, old traditional customs have been prevailing among the villages concerned-among those are the contracts of hour-restricted water-supply and getting water from others without any charge. The latter is not so difficult to some villages, for they have only to ask for water-supply; it need much labour and is rather expensive, because so many guards have to be requested to keep the water not to be stolen or missed to other fields. Other villages in the lower part, however, are not so easy to get water most of them have only few rights for that.
3. With regard to the water utilization and irrigation, there are many classes and ranks among the villages according to the old customs and traditions of each locality, and consequently they own different rights and duties, different gains and losses, different fees and pays-namely, we find there many different rankings, even along the same river.
