Japanese Journal of Human Geography

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The dispersed settlements in Japan are developed on the Sho-Gawa, the Hii-Gawa and Oi-Gawa fans etc., and they have been investigated by some historical or rural geographers who have presented many arguments. But their origins and development have not been fully clarified. This paper deals with the dispersed settlements on the Oi-Gawa fan, and the purpose of this study is to research the land exploitation on this fan in the Edo era.
The results of this research are summarized as follows.
1) The dispersed settlements are developed on the fan, but not totally scattered. They take the form of the hamlet or Weiler rather than the isolated farmstead. Most of them occupy the higher places on the fan.
2) In the Edo era there were more than 90 floods. The Keicho flood (1604) was the greatest of all. After this disaster, many settlements were newly established or reconstructed. But it was in late medieval times that the cultivation on this fan was set about. At that time there was a manor (Hatsukura-no-sho) between the Oi- and Tochiyama Rivers. According to the cadastre of the Hatsukura-no-sho manor, the arable lands were far smaller and scattered within the extensive unutilized lands. These scattered arable lands are related to the isolated farmsteads. Comparing this cadastre with other materials in the early Edo era, it is found that the exploitation reached its limit at least in the early Edo era and settlement patterns of the early isolated farmstead were transformed into hamlet or Weiler.
3) In the other areas, particularly in the districts along the Tochiyama River, the exploitation was delayed a little more than in the districts of Hatsukurano-sho, and it was about the middle of the Edo era that the cultivation reached its limit. The increase of the farmsteads shows this. After this the holdings became more and more fragmented and the landowner system was established. The rural community was organized for flood control.
4) The last exploitation on this fan was that of the Kyuichi-shinden (the reclaimed land in the Edo era). It had the character of the chonin-ukeoi-shinden, the capital of which was invested by the merchants in the towns. But the Kyuichi-shinden consisted of independent peasants and was very small.

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