An Outline on Geographical Studies of Postwar Reclamation in Japan

Abstract

Many geographers have been interested in the study of the areas of postwar reclamation. The subject has been changed in accordance with the development of the farming in such areas.In the first stage, from 1945 to 1948, the studies were mainly focused on methodology, the distribution of the newly-cultivated areas, and the role of geography. In the second stage, from 1949 to 1955, the studies were characterized by case studies of newly-cultivated areas, and a new tendency appeared aiming to show the farming types and the division of such areas. A symposium was organized by the Association of Japanese Geographers in 1955, and papers were contributed relating to physical conditions of newly-cultivated areas, the relation between pioneers and landownership, agricultural forms, and effects of clearing. Since then, the studies of the individual areas were inspired, and at the same time more extensive regions, embracing many newly-cultivated areas, came into the subject. This trend may suggest the possibility of classification of the areas into types with differentiated characters, based on the elements influencing the farming.Since 1958, cultivation by mechanical power was put into operation, and the study of pilot-farms and the study of farming types became the subjects of the geographical study of newly-reclaimed areas.