Dispersed Settlement and lts Relation to the Surface Configuration on the Deltaic Plain of Kanto

Abstract

For the approach to the reasons of dwelling dispersion, it is fundamentally necessary that the settled order should be made clear by tracing back to the early stage of the reclamation and throughout the progress. From this point, the writer researched into the dispersed settlement on the deltaic plain between two rivers, the Edo and the Furutone, Kanto lowland. The following conclusions were reached:1. The pioners located their homes apart from one another and rarely adjoined besides the line villages. This dispersion of the pioneers resulted from selecting the highest island-like embankment in order to secure their farmsteads from flood waters. When the embankment was too lower to avoid flood, the dweller still more raised up the ground artificially.2. The community in this region is chiefly organized with the relation of head and branch, so the reasons for the dispersed dwelling can be attainable through the branching of the families. Distinguishing the families in the same lineage and ranging them in settled order, and then drawing them on the map, the settlement growth and especially where the branch families select as the house sites are made clear. These distribution types are classified as follows; (A) scattering type of branch families, (B) adjoining type of a branch family to its head family, (C) adjoining type of a branch family to another.3. Classifying the own-fields of the dispersed branch families by distribution, two types are recognized; (a) concentrated type around the house site or stretched type in front of his house site, and (b) remote type. The latter is subdivided into three types; (1) scattered type, (2) distant and yet concentrated type, (3) two groups type in front and at a distance. Each of these types is exemplified in Fig. 3, 4 and 5. When the dwelling is located in the center of the own-fields the most convenience of farming is given. In this region, however, some of the dispersed branch families have the fields in type of remoteness and scattering, because they can not get at will the favorable elevated house site everywhere.4. The adjoining type of a branch family to its head family has also two distribution types of the own-fields; (a) stretched type in front of both families in their way, (b) remote type in the branch family's fields. The latter is classified into the same three types as the case of the dispersed branch families. The examples are given in Fig. 6 and 7.5. The adjoining type of a branch family to another makes the distribution types of the own-fields as follows; (a) contrated type adjacent to the house site in each family or stretched type in front of both families in their way, and (b) remote type in the later settler. This dwelling type and the distribution types of fields are based on taking the elevated dry lots for the house sites.6. Subsequently some farmers removed from other places and they also settled in the types of adjoining and scattering. In that case, the settlers mostly looked for the elevated dry lots and consequently the same dwelling types were shaped.7. The ruined sites were scarcely resettled and were usually changed to the fields and even the lots leaved to the overgrowth with trees and grasses turned out. The inhabitants seem to have evaded such ruined sites psychologically.8. In Tab. 3 the elevated island-like lots are classified by size and are compared with the existence of dwelling. Inspecting this, the greater the lot area becomes, the more dweller it stands, conversely, the smaller lots are entirely used as the fields. By every size of the elevated lots, averaging the area of the house sites possessing on each, the home site areas increase in proportion to the elevated lot areas. This proves that the locating of the dwelling is adapted for the elevated lots. The changes of the landuse follow even the artificial changes,