I analysed one village that had suffered disaster as the result of repeated floods and examined the relief efforts that I observed from the perspective of a borrower. The help or protection, "osukui", was not managed or intended to provide relief for a single individual but rather was applied to a village and intended to provide relief for a large number of people as members of a unit, in this case, a village. In addition, while it is possible to explore relief efforts through cooperation with neighbouring villages, the relief provided through borrowing assumes that the village itself remains a single unit and that relief is thereby autonomously distributed at the village level rather than at the individual level. However, it is also assumed that a relative group of 5 farmers from the village receives relief and provides returns for the relief, while a borrower must repay in principle for borrowing. Additionally, I address the concept of the duty of the principal and the interest on the return to a feudal lord, as well as the reciprocal relationship. Limits on the relief provided by "osukui" are also clarified.

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This paper studies impact of Great Tempo Famine (1833-1839) and people's countermeasure in rural area of South Kantoh, Japan. We use records of a rural community, named Kaminaguri-kogumi, to analyze mortality, people's damage and several kinds of aids for "Starving People" during the famine. We find that mortality in Kaminaguri-kogumi was relatively low (35‰) even in the peak year 1837 comparing with data of other areas. The aid by "Rich People" of the community, including the community head Eijiro Machida, and the official aid by Tokugawa government, actually financed by "Rich People" of the community, were done in December 1836 and March 1837, respectively, shortly before and after the mortality peak in February 1837. The records also shows that some of "Rich People", including a "Starving" household, were not able to finance the official aid by Tokugawa government and they needed support of the community head Eijiro Machida to fullfil obligation. The results suggest that there were no epidemics during famine period, and aids by "Rich People" were done at appropriate moments. But some of "Rich People", who were expected to help "Starving People", might be under steress, that they could not satisfy expected role without Machidas' support because of the damage.

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The aim of this paper is to examine how natural disasters affected policies for farming villages in prewar Japan by looking at the reconstruction of community storehouses by the government after poor rice harvest due to cold weather in Iwate Prefecture in 1934. In contrast to economic development and tenancy disputes, natural disasters in modern Japanese history have not attracted historians' attention in Japan. From a historical perspective, however, natural disasters always highlighted the mutual help in farming communities, which was based on traditional "mura" or hamlet relationship in Japanese rural areas. The "mura" relationship was used by the government for mobilizing rural communities to its total war system, which is characteristic of Japanese rural policies in 1930's. This paper analyzed the reasons why and the process in which the government reconstructed community storehouses in affected areas after the 1934 disaster. It has been found that the function of community storehouses that the government had hoped for most was not only stockpiling of rice for a future lean year but also rice loan from the storehouse to poor farmers who run short of food before harvest of each year. This also suggests that the government, especially the Naimusyo or the Interior Ministry, recognized the function of "mura" as a traditional mutual help, changing its long-time negative attitude toward the "mura" relationship into a positive one, realizing its availability.

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The Great Hanshin Flood Disaster took place on July 3rd to the 5th, 1938. It hit the south side of the Rokko Mountains, and the violent torrential rain caused by the Baiu front triggered massive landslides and flood. There are some books on the Great Hanshin Flood Disaster compiled by the local governments. These books have been prepared from the records of the disaster and the recovery and reconstruction process. The affected areas have the same type of soil, and therefore, they had the same kind of damage from the landslide caused by the heavy rain. The strong impacts greatly influenced these societies. I believe that the behavior of these local governments can be clarified by looking at the special features of each local government. The purpose of this study is to examine the behavior of a local government, the "Kobe Ward Joint Neighborhood Association", by analyzing the book Kobe Ward, a Record of Flood Disaster Restorations. Firstly, I explain the background of the disaster, the geographical circumstances of Kobe Ward, the disaster history of the Hanshin-region, historical materials and the "Kobe Ward Disaster Recovery Association" which was established by the "Kobe Ward Joint Neighborhood Association". Secondly, I describe the disaster situation of Kobe Ward, followed by a summary of the emergency recovery operations of roads. Thereafter, I describe the planning process of restoration plans of rivers Kitano and Koi in Kobe Ward. Finally, I present some of the original ideas and activities of Kobe Ward. The "Kobe Ward Disaster Recovery Association" supported affiliated neighborhood associations and coordinated actions between the public administration and the community. To begin with, they had established the "Kobe Ward Joint Neighborhood Association" and had already some good leaders. Secondly, the objective of this book was not providing a memorial book of this disaster, but rather, it was giving the inhabitants of the ward an upsurge of sentiments and a sense of accomplishment. Finally, since the modern business area had no neighborhood association, the "Kobe Ward Joint Neighborhood Association" helped them to establish one.

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This paper examines the agricultural administration of the government of the Ryukyu Islands (GRI) during the United States' rule period, by focusing on the conflicting needs for rice importation and domestic rice production in the early 1960s. Rice was the staple food of the people in Okinawa, and Okinawa imported rice from other countries as the land and climate of Okinawa was not necessarily suited for rice production. Yet, the domestic production of rice was deemed crucially important for Okinawa because the price and amount of imported rice were unstable and unreliable. GRI set the Law Concerning Provisional Rice Demand and Supply Adjustment to support the price of domestic rice. The results of the study are as follows. First, as the amount of imported tasty rice increased, the consumer price of domestic rice and the producer price of that decreased. The system of the price support of domestic rice did not work well. The Account of Provisional Rice Demand and Supply Adjustment did not have enough financial resources because it was a self-supporting accounting system. Second, the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) did not permit GRI to have a strong protection for domestic rice like Food Control System in Japan. USCAR agreed with the Law Concerning Provisional Rice Demand and Supply Adjustment on condition that it was affective for three years and its account was separated from general account. GRI's aim to protect domestic rice from imported rice was hindered by the USCAR which pushed on the liberalization policy.

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This paper is concerned about "imperial science" in Karafuto, one of the colonies of the Japanese empire. This paper is one kind of techno-cultural history studies which is concerned about not technology itself but the relationship between technology and society. The geographic characteristic of Karafuto as one of the colonies of the Japanese empire was that it was impossible to produce rice crop there generally. It was quite different from other colonies, such as Korea and Taiwan. The characteristic of "imperial science" in Karafuto under the development regime (1905-1937) has been already clarified on the paper written by NAKAYAMA Taisho in 2011. Therefore, this paper focuses on the characteristic of "imperial science" in Karafuto under the wartime regime in which every natural resource was mobilized for the war. This paper aims to clarify the four points. The first is the relationship between the technology of Saghalien Central Experiment Station (Karafuto-cho Chuo-Shikenjo) and the wartime regime. The second is the relationship between the ideology of Saghalien Central Experiment Station and the wartime regime. The third is the relationship between the process from the development regime into the wartime regime, and the technology and ideology of Saghalien Central Experiment Station. The forth is the activities of the staffs of Saghalien Central Experiment Station after the war. The history of Karafuto referred in this paper are divided into three periods; the first period began at Marco Polo Bridge Incident which occurred on July 7th 1937 and ended just before the incorporation into the Japanese mainland (naichi) of Karafuto on March 1943. The second period began on April 1943 and ended on August 1945 when the USSR army occupied Toyohara, the capital of Karafuto. The third began just after the occupation.

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