石垣イチゴ地域にみる農村空間の商品化

静岡市増集落を事例として

抄録

One of the most significant elements of rural change in developed countries is the transition from an economy based on production to an economy based on consumption. This transition is considered as the commodification of rural spaces. This paper depicts the process of commodification of rural spaces through a case study of the Kuno stone-wall strawberry region in Shizuoka City. The Kuno area is a narrow belt on the south side of Udo Mountain and faces the water of Suruga Bay. The study area，Zo，is a village located in the eastern part of the Kuno area. At present Zo village leads the production of stone-wall strawberries in the Kuno area. According to our interviews in June 2007，the number of farm households in Zo was 30，of which 29 were producing stone-wall strawberries. Mr.Seisaku Ogiwara started stone-wall strawberry cultivation in 1908 and played an important role in the development of stone-wall strawberry industry. These berries，grown in the off-season of the traditional field strawberry，were shipped from November to April to the markets of Tokyo-Yokohama，and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto，and became the main source of income for Kuno villagers. The stone-wall strawberry industry reached its pre-World War II peak in 1939. Although there was an interruption during World War II，the full recovery of stone-wall strawberry production occurred by 1958. In the 1960s the stone-wall strawberry industry expanded because of the introduction of plastic green house production，the construction of a new irrigation facility，and the adaptation of new strawberry varieties. The middle of the 1960s was the peak of the post-war stone-wall strawberry production for the metropolitan markets. During the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960s the strawberry producers in Zo tried to find additional income sources because the Kuno area's monopoly of winter strawberries in urban markets started to collapse with the spread of green house production and the demand for u-pick farrns increased greatly. Thirty-five strawberry growing farrners in Zo organized an association to manage a community-based u-pick operation, which started in 1965. In 1984，te n member producers decided to leave the community operation and operate independently or retire from the u-pick business. As of June 2007，the community farm had only ten members but it continued to run relatively well. In addition，six independent u-pick farms have also been operating successfully and have supplemented their u-pick operations by selling strawberries and other farm products directly to customers. At present villagers in Zo depend on the income from tourists purchasing products from the local strawberry industry. The village landscape has many components of this tourist industry, such as signboards, u-pick farm offices, parking lots, strawberry venders, and coffee and ice cream shops. We argue that the present rural spaces in the Kuno area are based on consumption and that the commodification of rural spaces has taken place. Through an analysis of websites supplied by the u-pick farms in Zo, we can find descriptive themes for these rural tourist attractions, such as (1) the amazing landscape of the stone-wall climbing up the steep slope of Udo Mountain; (2) the scenic steep slopes facing Suruga Bay and mild winters; (3) the long history of the cultivation of stone-wall strawberries; (4) a family-oriented place, which suggests safety, peace, and comfort; and (5) fresh strawberries, strawberry jam, ice cream, and other rural products. These themes are common to the five themes identified by Cloke (1993), which illustrate commodified rural spaces through a study of brochures for rural tourist attractions from tourist information centres in Wales and southern England.