Utilization of Night Soil and the Treatment of Human Waste

• YUZAWA Noriko

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• 「下肥」利用と「屎尿」処理
• 近代愛知県の都市化と物質循環の構造転換
• Urbanization and Structural Transformation of Material Circulation in the Modern Aichi Prefecture

Abstract

This paper examines fertilizer material circulation through the analysis of fertilization technology in everyday life and presents some insights into its usage in different parts of society. With the advent of the modern era, rapid modernization, and population explosion, night soil usage and human waste treatment facilities exist side by side. The circulation of fertilizer from farm villages to urban areas and back to farm villages was accomplished in four phases. In the first phase, in 1900, the government began to participate in the treatment of human waste. As a result of this, farmers could no longer get free night soil. However, farmers continued to restore night soil to agricultural land. In the second phase, the city of Nagoya began to process human waste into ammonium sulfate because of the city’s expansion and innovations in chemical fertilizer processing plants. But, as this business did not produce a profit, the plant was closed because of the noxious odors it produced. However, there was an increasing demand for night soil in order to recover its nutrients to produce fertilizer for year-round vegetable cultivation. Also, advances in technology, storage, and human waste fertilization were made possible by vast scientific improvements. In 1921, with the third phase, Nagoya again started to treat human waste. No longer did the human waste market lose value because of the increase in population and the resultant surplus of human waste. On the other hand, in farm villages, utilization of night soil reduced the amount of money expended for agricultural fertilizer expenses. It stabilized the farmers’ economy. Nagoya, in the 1930s, again tried to build a sewage treatment plant. However, because of the financial panic, the demand for a self-supplied fertilizer increased again, and the sewage treatment plant ran into difficulties. So, the use of night soil in farming areas was reestablished and the process came full circle.

Journal

• The Journal of Agricultural History

  The Journal of Agricultural History 51 (0), 23-38, 2017

  The Agricultural History Society of Japan

Details

• CRID: 1390282680780944896
• NII Article ID: 130006603122
• DOI: 10.18966/joah.51.0_23
• ISSN: 24241334
• ISSN: 13475614
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed