History of Stock Raising in Modern Japan from the Viewpoint of Domestic Animal Deposition Custom : Domestic Animal Possession as a Life Security Function and Transformation into an Idea of Stock Raising(Symposium-2014- A Modern History of the Relationship between Humans and Domestic Animals: New Trend in Historical Studies of Japanese Livestock Husbandry)

Abstract

In this article, a few issues related to the history of stock raising in modern Japan were evaluated through a study of domestic animal deposition custom. Even in the modern era, domestic animal raising in Japan is not conducted as a form of modern industry. Domestic animal raising was conducted as a "custom," which functioned as a life security for rural community members. Because the wealth generated from domestic animal raising was not subject to taxation traditionally, a unique idea on the domestic animal ownership based on the life security function of domestic animal raising was formed. This idea of ownership seems to have transformed into an individualistic one in the process of modernization. The history of domestic animal raising in modern Japan comprises several specific aspects. By pursuing each specific aspect consciously, we can find relationships with various other historical phenomena and can construct a broader history of domestic animal raising.