Study of Towns-and-Villages Amalgamation

Abstract

In our country there were two different types of towns and villages when they were first formed in 1889 (the 22nd year of Meiji). One was complete administrative towns and villages, and. the other was incomplete ones, (or “associative” towns and villages), that is, those which have left their modernization half-way under various circumstances. In Tottori prefecture there were lots of the latter type.Therefore it may safely said that what has been called “towns and villages amalgamation” in this prefecture really means that towns and villages in the modern sense have been established by dismembering such associative towns and villages. This happened in the last years of Meiji and in the Taisho Era.The chief reason why such semi-feudal towns and villages as associative ones had to be dismembered was financial difficulties. The difficulties were by no means caused by towns and villages themselves, but by the financial policy of the state.With the coming of the Showa Era, however, “towns and villages amalgamation” has shown a development in its modern sense. The fact is shown in the enlarged scale of towns and villages thus formed and in their merging with municipal districts.Since the war came to an end, the importance of the amalgamation in this sense has been cried for nation-wide, and this prefecture is taking the lead in advancing such amalgamation.