Some Notes on the Changing Process of Village Territories in the Early Meiji Era

Abstract

It is usually said that modern administrative towns and villages of Japan were brought into existence by the amalgamation of towns and villages in the 22nd year of Meiji (1889). But, by that time, the local government system had already undergone a great change and the division or amalgamation of towns and villages had been carried out on a large scale, little of which is known to the general public. If we treat this fact lightly, we will be apt to have a wrong opinion that hanseison (feudal village in Tokugawa Era) means oaza. But the fact is, this mistaken idea seems to be widespread among many geographers even now.In this paper, the author trys to clarify this division or amalgamation of towns and villages in the early Meiji period quantitatively. Moreover, he demonstrates the following facts: in Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures (esp. the former Chikuma Prefecture) in which there were many cases where oaza was larger than hanseison, but on the other hand in the Kinki District, there existed a few cases where hanseison was larger than oaza.From the seventh to the nineth year of Meiji, through both Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures, the amalgamation of towns and villages was enforced. After that, each of the former villages was called “Kumi” in Yamanashi Prefecture and “Kochi” in Nagano Prefecture. Though new administrative towns and villages were born in the amalgamation, yet in reality “Kumi” or “Kochi” formed a rural community, and the rural community, as usual, managed irrigation, communal forests, village festivals and so on. In this paper, the author takes up Toyoshina-Gun in Nagano Prefecture and Fujimi-Gun in Yamanashi Prefecture as samples of rural community, and analyze their structure closely.