THE COTTON CULTIVATION IN THE YAMATO BASIN IN THE LATE OF THE EDO ERA

Abstract

Cotton was cultivated at various places in Japan in the Edo era. The cotton cultiva-tion in Japan started in the Yamato and Yamashiro basins, and was extended to the out-skirts of Osaka and then to most parts of Japan with the progress of the exploitation of 'shinden'. Commercialization of cotton cultivation influenced the rural economy con-siderably. In consequence, the old type upper class farmers were gradually decreased in number, but on the other hand the middle class ones and zaigo-shonin (merchants living in the country) who played a major role in the development of cotton cultivation upgraded their economic position. But the development of cotton cultivation later reached a limit and after that the cotton cultivation began to decline. At the beginning of the Meiji era the middle class farmers and zaigo-shonin lost their importance in the rural economy. In place of them, the large scale landowner system was established by the merchants of the cities. In this context this paper deals with the cotton cultivation and the development of the rural economy by the cotton industry in the Yamato basin. The cotton cultivation there has peculiar circumstances. Namely, cotton was cultivated on the rice fields alternatively with rice every other year. Free extention of the fields for cotton cultivation was restricted because of the irrigation system controlled by the rural communities. Major results of the research are as follows (1) According to the documents at the beginning of the Meiji era, the cotton cultiva-tion in the Yamato basin declined, resulting in 1 /2 or even 1 /3 of the flourishing period in area. The declining rate was even all over the basin in general. In some places, however, the cotton cultivation did not suffer from a sharp decline. It seems to be a character of the cotton cultivation in the Yamato basin that the landowner system was not developed very extensively. (2) i) Minami-Katsuragi (the southernmost part of the Yamato basin), the cotton cultivation was very prosperous at the middle to Edo era. It was not because of the shortage in water that cotton was grown, for the fields for cotton cultivation were restricted only to the fields which were suited best for rice cultivation which needs water. In Nagara-mura, cultivated fields were divided into 4 districts in accodance with the irrigation system and the fields of each peasant were usually dispersed in the 4 districts. This was another reason for the fact that free extention of the fields for cotton cultivation reached a limit. Cotton cultivation there declined after the time of Bunka-Bunsei (1804_??_1830). ii) Development of the trade (cotton) and industry (spinning and weaving) was quite conspicuous in Nagara-mura. This advantage was well taken by the zaigo-shonin and their economic status was further upgraded in the late Edo era.