On the Socio-economic Structure of an Upland Field Village in the Edo Period

Abstract

The present study is mainly concerned with the changing structure of the upland field villages which had no paddy fields.In the previous paper (1976), the author investigated the peddling activities by farmers and their agrarian bases in the upland field villages on the Midaigawa alluvial fan in Yamanashi Prefecture. It was clarified that a large number of farmers, especially of the low class, were depending on the peddling activities to cover up their money shortage problem. In that paper, however, the scope of study was mainly limited to the lower class farmers, so the whole social and economic structures of the villages were not necessarily explained.Therefore, in this paper, the author intends to clarify the problem by analyzing the agricultural management and commercial activities by the landowner, the Sajibei family, in the Nishino village on the Midaigawa alluvial fan.The main results are summarized as follows:The early Edo period (the 17th century): The Nishino village consisted of about 30 Honbyakusho (independent farmers) and many subordinate farmers called Kakaeya (kinship with Honbyakusho), Kadoya (non-kinship), Fudaigenin (non-kinship, most intensely subordinate) and Genin (apprentice). The high class Honbyakusho, like the Sajibei family, who owned comparatively large lands, had control over these four types of subordinate farmers. On the other hand middle or low class Honbyakusho had control over Kakaeya. But it is worthy to note that every Honbyakusho had subordinate farmers.The mid Edo period (from the beginning of the 18th century to the first decade of the 19th century): During the second half of the 17th century, Kakaeya had positively reclaimed waste lands and increased their lands more than ever. In 1709, they could become independent of Honbyakusho not only for their economic base but also for their social position. As a result, the number of Honbyakusho increased greatly, while the number of Kakaeya decreased sharply (Fig. 6). The pattern of family composition had also changed. Only the high class Honbyakusho had apprentices, while the others lost subordinate farmers.For the new Honbyakusho it was not easy to depend on agriculture, because its productivity was very low in those days. Therefore, necessarily, they had to supplement their income with non-agricultural economic activities. Hence, they began to peddle agricultural products, but they could not sufficiently earn at that time. After all, they had to pawn their lands to high class farmers in order to pay the tax.The Sajibei family had been engaging in the wholesale business of tobacco from the beginning of the 18th century. It gathered tobacco from producers, brokers and wholesale merchants, and sold them to peddlers and wholesale merchants both in Kai (Yamanashi Prefecture) and other districts, especially in Edo (Tokyo). It could earn much money and afford to lend money to low class farmers. It had gained plenty of lands during the latter half of the 18th century. Many new Honbyakushos lost their lands and became Kosaku farmers (tenants).The late Edo period (from the second decade of the 19th century): The Sajibei family began to do the agricultural management as a landowner of rental farms in the latter half of the 18th century. But it could not earn much money by this management work because the income was only slightly more than the expenses. Therefore, it did not expand its management. Its Kokudaka holding decreased to 21 Koku (1 Koku=180 liters) in 1851 as compared to 128 Koku in the first decade of the 19th century, mainly due to the division of property by inheritance.