Geographical analyses were conducted to identify regional conditions of the villages which have many farmers who sell in the periodic markets in the Echigo Plain. The distribution of such farmers was first identified. As the villages of these farmers were characterized by a predominance of dry fields, the fields were then historically analyzed. Finally, the relationship between the commercialization of dry field crops and the development of periodic markets was discussed.
Current farmers who sell in the periodic markets are distributed heavily in the Kubiki and Kambara Regions. In the case of Kambara, many such farmers reside in the villages on the natural levees of the Shinano and Nakanokuchi Rivers. The distribution of the farmers who sold in Sanjo Town in the Kambara Region in 1879 showed a similar pattern. Because the villages along the Lower Shinano River have large acreage of cultivated land between the levees, the land use of the area between the levees was analyzed by villages. As a result, it became evident that dry fields and orchards predominated in the villages with many farmers who sell in periodic markets.
The land use of Kuribayashi in Sanjo-shi was closely examined as an example of such villages. The area between the levees is national government property under the administration of the Ministry of Construction. Most of the land is currently used as dry fields. The survey lines were drawn perpendicular to the river. The analysis of the 1889 cadastral map revealed that this land had already been developed in the early Meiji Era and that the present land use pattern was formed before that period.
The common grassland between the levees in Kuribayashi was developed from the middle Edo Era. Each villager, even a small peasant, had an equal right to use the development land. The development of the dry fields corresponded to the expansion of cash crop production. Kuribayashi villagers sold rice, soybeans, barnyard grass, hemp, cotton, tobacco, rape, and rushes as cash crops in the Kyoho and Genbun Eras of the Edo Period. The proliferation of periodic markets in the Genroku Era was related to the growth of cash crop production. The use of the dry fields was directed to the production of nursery tress, flowers, and fruits as well as vegetables in the late Edo Era. These crops form today's typical products in the lower Shinano Valley.
