Re-integration and Disorganization in a “Mura”

Abstract

This article describes the processes of community restructuring in a “buraku” following the land reform around 1946 and analyzes the present significance of these changes.
The “buraku” which was studied is a scattered village in a single crop region in Akita Prefecture. Prior to the land reform, almost all of the “Buraku” s' land was owned by the Ikeda's or village leader F. With the exception of F's supporters, the tenants were discontent with the tenure-system of land control.
The redistribution of land and the conversion of most tenants into owner-cultivators caused both community re-integration and community disorganization. Community re-integration has been reflected in (a) the farmer's cooperation with the “buraku-kai”, (b) their preference for a consultative rather than a centralized system of farm management, and (c) their support of the increase of village independence from government administration. Community disorganization has been reflected in (a) the diffuse leadership, (b) the development of a system of independent farm management freed from village control, and (c) the lessening of community influence on the economic lives of the villagers.
Because of the community disorganization, the villagers get to be more independent and the “buraku” seems to have little importance as a social unit. Close analysis, however, reveals that the community re-integration has, in many ways, reinforced the influence of the “buraku”. It is still the main basis for the farmers' interaction with administrative agencies and with each other, and it still strongly influences the daily life of the community.