A Study of the Spatial Structure of Rural Society at the Southern Foot of the Mt. Yatsugatake in the Edo Period

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose a model that could explain traditional rural society from a spatial approach. Furthermore, I think that the traditional rural society should be discussed from the standpoint of the spatial forms or spatial design of the village people. To study the subject the author first of all investigated the structure of spatial forms that are regarded as the arrangement of the constituent elements on the rural space, including the patterns of settlement, arable land and forest land. Moreover, I have clarified the formation of social groups and their role within the rural space. Therefore, objectives of this analysis are (A) to describe the evolution process of the life-space and (B) propose a model to exlain the spatial structure of the traditional rural society. In order to explain the subject, the author deals with a hanseison, Gochoda in Koma-gun of Kai (Yamanashi Prefecture) that is located on the southern side of the Mt. Yatsugatake.
The results of this study are summarized as follows:
(A) The evolution process of the life-space.
(1) The first stage: from the latter Middle Ages until just prior to the Kanbun Era (1661). The homesteads of the period were loosely concentrated or scattered on a ridge of gentle slope. In this stage early pioneer families or head families (nakee), of the consanguineous maki bands were scattered on a ridge. Cultivated lands as productive space were not sufficiently reclaimed and the wasteland still occupied about 20% of the total land area.
(2) The second stage: from the Kanbun Era (1661) to the Horeki Era (1751-). Rural population increased markedly and consequently, within a hanseison (administrative village) several hamlets or Weiler emerged. It is assumed that these hamlets would correspond to the consanguineous maki bands, which (organized into a head family with its branch families) were already in existence and organized by this period.
Analyzing the distribution of arable lands, it becomes evident that each farmer was given rights to specific arable land, that is to say, a furlong. The domain of the hanseison, Gochoda was demarcated by the Land Survey in 1666 (Kanbun Kenchi). Several hamlets were integrated into a hanseison through the irrigation association.
(3) The third stage: from the Horeki Era (1751-) to the last days of the Tokugawa regime. Rural population had already reached the limits of the agricultural productivity of those days. The consanguineous maki bands had been weakened by the end of the Tokugawa Period, while small territorial groups, goningumi, lost their administrative significance but strenghtened their economic or social functions more and more. Dosogin organization, which seemed to fulfill the integral function of the mura (natural village), had gradually been established. Disputes with surrounding hanseisons had broken out by the land reclamation of common land (i. e. communal land, forest land etc.) at the southern side of the Mt. Yatsugatake.
(B) Spatial structure of the rural settlemants at the foot of the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, the topographical conditions spread out with ridges of gentle slope alternating between valleys with streams. Generally, hamlets were located on the ridges which were disadvantageous for paddy fields. The population size was affected by historical factors as well as by the extent of ridge. In particular, rural settlements along the main traffic route might have become the center of a hanseison.
Arable lands as productive space (i. e. a paddy field, an upland field, etc.) were divided into several furlongs according to the complexity of ridges and especially the uplands were located at the periphery of the hamlets or in places which lacked irrigation water.