江戸時代北関東における食と農

下野国の主穀の生産・流通・消費を事例に

抄録

This paper investigates the food and livelihood of farmers in the Shimotsuke Province during the Edo Period, particularly with regard to rice cultivation, and giving consideration to the market economy, it serves as an inquiry into the transformation of the consciousness and behavior of farmers towards food. From the late seventeenth century, farmers in the rice-producing regions of Shimotsuke Province labored to grow rice crops not just for paying taxes to land owners or for personal consumption, but also as a commodity intended for commerce. This rice was sold across a wide-ranging area that included large markets in Edo, neighboring castle towns, villages, river ports, and mountain villages, and even far off port cities in Hitachi Provence. There was also a demand for rice from surrounding areas for use in alcohol and confectionary production. Eventually, a demand also grew for inexpensive rice for consumption among the farming class. Landowners put effort into collection and distribution, working to meet private sector demands and bearing the responsibility of distributing the rice product over a wide area. With the advent of rice being produced as a commodity came a significant change to the food and rice-cropping agricultural practices of farmers. They became sensitive and flexible toward market variations resulting from low or abundant increased crop yields brought about by periods of cold and warm weather, respectively, and responded to them proactively. In the early nineteenth century, when warmer climate conditions led to abundance in rice crops and subsequently, a recession from the decreased price of rice, farmers adjusted by reducing or even giving up their farming work, transitioning to doing various other occupations, thus being able to buy and eat rice and other extravagant foods. However, as this way of living progressed, farmers were seemingly forgetful of the Tenmei no Kikin famine in the 1780s; they did not take the necessary precautions against famine, creating a state of vulnerability for heavy damage in the case of an eventual food shortage. A short time later, there came another a period of famine from the 1830s (called Tenpou no Kikin) during the final period of the Tokugawa Shogunate. During this famine, the price of rice suddenly increased, leading farmers in rice-producing areas to return to the fields and resulting in their return to their former lifestyle with ample food.