Page 130 - Changing Living Spaces

Taro Takemoto

Moreover, such statistics do not provide information on the vegetation
that lies between forests (area with trees) and wilderness (area without
trees). Similarly, previous studies have examined grassy mountains in the
early modern period1 and provided an overview of their use in each study
area, but these data are unfortunately not detailed.
In Japan, the first Forest Act was enacted in 1897 (Meiji 30), estab-
lishing the system of conservation forests, primarily to conserve water
sources and prevent landslides through logging regulations and manage-
ment requirements. A well-known reason for this was the severe damage
caused by floods, which were common in many areas at the time. At the
same time, the River Act and the Sabo (landslides prevention) Act were
also enacted (Ohta 2012, 122–4). Although rapid modernization changed
not only the legal system but also society and the economy, rural people
still needed grassy and bushy mountains for agriculture and daily life.
The materials traditionally collected by rural residents from the grassy
and bushy mountains are called koshiba-shitakusa (Takemoto 2021a, 416).
These include kaya, karishiki, firewood and fallen leaves. Kaya is Japanese
silver grass that has been used as manure, fodder for cattle and horses
used in ploughing and other agricultural work, and as roofing material.
Karishiki, the budding branches of broad-leaved trees that sprout in ear-
ly spring, were trampled into rice nurseries and rice paddies as green ma-
nure. Firewood was used as fuel for boiling, cooking and heating. The ash-
es after burning were used as fertilizer. Fallen leaves were also used as
compost in the fields.
The sanrin from which these resources needed for daily life were ob-
tained often took the form of iriai commons, which were jointly adminis-
tered by the commoners. However, when the Meiji government clarified
ownership of the sanrin for tax purposes, these iriai commons were also

1 There are a few detailed studies about sanrin resource utilization by residents.
Mizumoto (2003) clarified the vegetation of mountains in Iida, Nagano Prefec-
ture in the seventeenth century as follows: grass and twigs, 63.9%; mix of grass
and pine and deciduous trees, 8.2%; deciduous trees, 10.9%; mix of deciduous and
coniferous trees, 11.4%; and bare mountains, 6.2%. However, according to Toko-
ro (1980), in Kinsei ringyo shi no kenkyu, karishiki, utilization in the Chikuma area
in the 18th century drawn from hamlet records was 15–35 da of karishiki for 0.1
cho of rice paddies (25 da on average), and 15 da of karishiki for 0.1 cho of fields
were needed. Tokoro also estimated that 20 da was needed for 0.1 cho of rice pad-
dies and fields. Additionally, he mentioned 5–6 se of rinya was needed to collect 1
da of karishiki. From this data, the necessary rinya area was 10–12 times that of
the paddy and field area. The consumed quantity of firewood was also 20–30 da/
year/household. See also Furushima (1974, 111–25).

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