明治後期〜第一次世界大戦期における川越地方の肥料市場 : 伊藤長三郎家を中心に

抄録

The purpose of this article is to study changes in the fertilizer market of the Kawagoe area and its distribution routes during the period 1905-1918, through a case study of the family of ITO Chozaburo, a local wholesale merchant in the town of Kawagoe. During this period, there was a rapid increase in fertilizer consumption in this area as a result of the spread of bean cake and chemical fertilizers, in addition to traditional fertilizers such as rice bran and fish. During the 1900s, the ITO family mainly obtained these fertilizers from wholesale merchants in Tokyo, which was the established distribution center for fertilizers, or from importers in Yokohama. But in the 1910s, they began to use the rail network to obtain fish fertilizers from merchants in Hokkaido and Hokuriku and established direct links with Dai-Nihon Jinzo Hiryo, a producer of superphosphates. Bean cake and imported ammonium sulfate, however, were still supplied by wholesale merchants and importers in Tokyo and Yokohama. These findings indicate that when confronted by changes in the fertilizer market, local merchants played an important role in the reorganization of fertilizer distribution systems.