明治前期農村の農民層分解に対する土地担保金融の影響

抄録

This study examines how many farmers obtained land collateral loans, why they obtained loans, who provided the loans and what influence the loans had on the polarization of farmers in a silk-raising village of the South Tohoku region in the teens (1877‒1886) of the Meiji Era (1868‒1912). Ninety percent of farmers obtained land collateral loans in ten years and sixty percent of them obtained loans during the inflation period in the first half of the decade. Land mortgages, which were more convenient, were preferred to the conventional pledges. The typical debtors were owner-tenant farmers. Under the steep rise in raw silk prices, they obtained loans to spend money or to establish other businesses. The consequences from the loans were devastating. As a result of the deflation during the teens, two thirds of the debtors or 80 percent of the owner-tenant farmers lost their land due to foreclosures. The majority of the lenders were villagers. Villagers including from landowners to tenant farmers obtained loans and sold land, while they provided loans and purchased land. Through the turbulent economic fluctuations during the teens, the polarization at all strata of farmers in the village proceeded. The decisive factor that triggered polarization was the loans provided by a wide range of farmers. The land collateral loans were decisive in polarizing farmers during the teens.