SURFACE CONFIGURATION AND FARM DWELLING IN THE DISPERSEN SETTLEMENTS OF KANTO PLAIN

Abstract

On the Kanto lowlands, dispersed settlement is found as well as agg. lom-flerated types. On the poorly drained portions of this delta plain, the loca tion of dwellings is severely restricted by natural conditions. In order to dete rmine the precise reasons for the dispersion which exists, the natural environ ment was studied and the reclamation process, which dates from. the earliest settlements, was investigated. The following conclusions were reached: I. Each farm residence, erected on, a rectangular ground plan, has a main house with a south or southeast exposure; the home site is surrounded by a ditch (Kamae-bori). The farmhouse is enclosed by tall hedges. Upland (dry) fields are in front of the farmhouse. A flagstone path leads from the dwelling house. Dispersed settlements in this region are not always situated in the midst of the farixier's own fields. Sincean individual's farm plots are scattered, rather than concentrated, in many cases, no generalizations about ownership of land around the farm dwelling can be made. 2. The settlers have selected as the site of their homes, the island-like embankments which are slightly higher than the paddybed and consequently more favorable for buildings. The early settlers occupied the largest and highest of these embankments in order to protect their farmsteads from flood waters. They reclaimed the land in the vicinity of their dwellings and reta inld these fields for generation after generation but with some changes in ownership. 3. The families of the community may be divided into two groups on the basis of origin of settlement; a head family and a branch family. The dwe lling site of a branch. family is usually apart from that of the head family as the head family retained the fields adjacent to the dwelling site and yielded the more distant fields to the branch family. However, the branch family often found it impossible to find a suitable building site on their farm lots and, instead, chose any elevated site regardless of remoteness from its farm properties occassionally, the branch family was forcedd to locate on the eleva ted site of the head family. If a family feel it necessary to locate in the midst of its own fields, the building of dwellings adjacent to those of others was avoided and an isolated dwelling was the rule. The about facts show the relationship between surface configuration (the elevated island-like lots) and the dispersed character of settleirtent in the Icanto Plain. 4. Farmsteads were protected froze floods by the reising of the ground and from winds by the planting of trees as windbreaks, . 5. Figure 6 shows the relation between the far3-nsteads and the dry islandlike lots. in cross-sections. Table 1 and 2 clarify this relationship by classifying the lots by acreage after examining the farmsteads on every lot. Table 3 also shows this relationship by the proportion of elevated ground to paddy fields. 6 Concerning the origin of dispersed settlement, the policy of. the feudal. lords is unknown becauce historical records have not been consulted. However, even if such policy had affected the situation, the influence of surface configuration would undoubtedly still have been felt.