Migratory Thatchers (Kayate) in Fukushima Prefecture

Abstract

There are two different regions in the migration of thatchers (Kayate) in east Fukushima Prefecture: Nakadori (Abukuma River Basin), where they come from Konan, Tamura, Adachi, Shintatsu and Yanagawa, and Hamadori (Coastal lowland) where they come from coastal upland.
In the original areas of thatchers, generally speaking, the farmers suffer low productivity in agriculture, and some of house holders must hold a side-job as thatcher to earn their living.
Except those in Yanagawa, they have inherited the skill from Nishiaizu in Fukushima Pref. Thatchers in Yanagawa have been greatly affected in their skill from Echigo (Niigata Pref.) or Shonai (Yamagata Pref.).
The Fukushima Basin is an overlapped area of the thatching techniques from Nishiaizu and from Echigo or Shonai.