Rural Settlement based on Consanguineous “Maki” Bands in Echigo during the Edo Period

Abstract

How have rural settlements or communities been established? Rural communities have been investigated by rural of historical geographers, rural sociologists and socioeconomic historiographers, and many arguments have been presented by them. But the origins of rural communities and original patterns of settlements have not been clarified.This paper deals with a village in Minamiuonuma-county of Echigo (Niigata Prefecture). Consanguineous maki bands (affilated bands) have remained there up till the present. Even now, they fulfill their function in yearly events and some ceremonial occasions in the village. They have been organized between a head family, makigashira, and its branch families.The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of establishment and structure of the settlements based on the consanguineous bands (the groups of affiliated members in the village) during the early years of the Edo period.The results of this research are as follows:1) According to the materials during the early years of the Edo period, there were about 20 houses per 1km2 on the Utazawa-gawa alluvial fan in Minamiuonumacounty, and the numbers of farmhouses in the individual villages were also less than 20, far smaller than at present. The settlement form of these villages was loosely concentrated or scattered.2) In 1874 (the early part of the Meiji era), Kamihara village on the Utazawagawa alluvial fan consisted of 5 maki groups (consanguineous bands), and each group had 2-14 constituents (branch families). The total number of houses in Kamihara village was 30.Of these houses, 19 can be traced back to 1683 (the early part of the Edo period). It is presumed that 5 consanguineous bands (affiliated bands) were already in existence, and each had two or several families. One of them was a head family and the others were its branch families.It is assumed that the structure of Kamihara village in the Meiji era which was based on the affiliated band had been completed by that time (1684).Furthermore, the land utilization pattern of Kamihara village during the early years of the Edo period were retained until the Meiji era. Namely, half of the fields of Kamihara village were rice fields, and in the rest, hemp, soy-beans and mulberry plants were cultivated.Thus, the fundamental structure of Kamihara village had been established by the early years of the Edo period. It is assumed that a pattern such as that of Kamihara village, base on an affiliated band, can be traced back to the medieval period.