Livelihoods and Community Networks in Mountain Villages in the Mid- to Late-Meiji Era: Introduction and Republication of Minatoke Monjo Archives in the Former Akita Domain

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  • 明治中～後期山村の生業と地域ネットワーク : 旧秋田藩領荒瀬村肝煎・湊家文書の解題と翻刻

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to publicize the republication of the Minatoke Monjo archives and, based on analysis of these archives, to elucidate the historical development of livelihoods in mountain villages in the midto late-Meiji Era. In the Arase village (upper reaches of the Ani river in Akita Prefecture), which is the field site for this study, there are a number of influential families known as oyakata ("bosses"). In addition to one oyakata family, the Minato family, that lives in the central area of the village known as arase-honson, there are oyakata who live scattered in hamlets surround the village (called shigo-buraku). In this study, we analyzed the role played by oyakata with respect to the local livelihoods from the late 1880s to the late 1890s. The following main points were yielded by the study: First, during this period, although a small number of oyakata were engaged in the production of forest products, the scale of this production was decreasing. Some oyakata started coal mines and business supplying the coal to mines. Second, in the late 1880s to late 1890s, the oyakata established full-scale mining operations of their own. These oyakata formed long-distance relationships with influential individuals in distant villages in intermediate and downstream reaches of the Ani River and created opportunities to earn money in the village. Third, in the early 1900s, the oyakata in Arase village formed cooperative networks, and in line with national government policy, began engaging in new livelihood activities such as sake brewing and horse breeding. They promoted the development of horse breeding operations by, for example, establishing a system for collective ownership of horses imported from abroad. In this manner, oyakata families brought about changes in local livelihoods and played an important role by facilitating the smooth introduction of new livelihoods. They developed both far-reaching networks and territorial relationships.

Journal

  • 筑波大学農林社会経済研究

    筑波大学農林社会経済研究 34 1-44, 2018-12-31

    Domain of Agricultural Economics and Sociology, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

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