大和高取町の賣藥

歴史的地方都市の変貌

抄録

The military class which had ranked a higher stratum of society during the feudal age of Japan, lost the foundation of living after the Meiji Restoration, and in the new social system it gradually declined in prosperity. In order to make a living in the post Restoration days, the warriors had to find out some means of living. A marked tendency of their turning from warriors into producers or trademen was a social phenonon widely seen throughout the country after the Restoration. As a practical example of this social phenomenon, I am to take the trade of medicine in Yamato-Takatori-cho, Nara Prefecture.
In the southern part of Yamato basin, there is a long, narrow valley formed by the Takatori river and the Kurumagi river which flow through the foot of Mt. Takatori of strategetic importance; and Takatori-cho is a typical Strassendorf situated in the bottom of this valley. Although it was once prosperous as a castle-town, it went downhill after the Meiji Restorarion. However, upon the warriors' settng about the trade of medicine, which was rising at that time, the consumptive town of Takatori-cho gradually became a productive one. At present, the number of trademen in this line here comes up to twenty-one, standing first in the Prefecture, and it accounts for 30% of the total in Takaichi-gun to which Takatori-cho belongs. Moreover, as to the income of Takatori-cho (Showa 26, 1951), 63.5% of it depends on medicine manufacture. This fully explains that it is medicine manufacture that is the life on Takatori-cho.
The following three are given as the reason why Takatori-cho thus developed into a town of medicine. Firstly, from the standpoints of both geographical position and social surroundings, trade of medicine was a most suitable calling for the wrecked military class. Secondly, many peddlers of Yamato Momen (cotton textile) turned to be drug-peddlers, and the market for medicine was enlarged. Lastly, there was in the vicinity a well-known herbal garden from the oldest times.
Takatori-cho, a historical provincial town, has managed to save its honour in this way, while many other similar towns. have already fallen into decay. This is attributable to the fact that the wrecked military class positively supported the trade of medicine, a peculiar industry suitable to the district.