Page 141 - Changing Living Spaces

Utilization of Grass and Wood in Common-Use Imperial Land

Table 4 Estimated Quantity of Wood Collected from the 36-hamlet CIL
Type of wood Tana Shakujime Kan Rate
Timber 163,35 992,10 82.675 0,05
Firewood 1.960,20 11.761,20 980.100 0,60
Brushwood 326,70 1.960,20 163.350 0,10
Twig (moya) 821,75 4.930,50 410.875 0,25
Total 3.267,00 19.602,00 1.633.500 1,00
Total without twigs 2.445,25 14.671,50 1.222.625 0,75
Source Yamanashi prefecture (1903c, 69–71).

out horses. Those with horses could collect 40 kan per day and those with-
out horses could collect 15 kan per day, for a total of 400,000 and 450,000
kan, respectively. For the 600 households with less frequent use, the to-
tal amount collected by those with and without horses was 160,000 and
300,000 kan, respectively. Together with 10 percent of the residue at the
time of harvest and unit conversion, this amounted to 2,882 tana.
In the latter four villages, the utilization rate of the 36-hamlet CIL was
low, 20 percent in Ashiyasu and 10 percent in the other three villages, due
to the other mountains from which the wood was obtained. They main-
ly collected firewood, with each household consuming four tana/year in
Ashiyasu village and 3 tana/year in the other three villages. Multiplied by
the number of households, the firewood consumption was 386 tana/year
in the four villages from the 36-hamlet CIL.
Table 4 illustrates the volume of harvested wood by type: timber, fire-
wood, brushwood, and twigs (moya). The term ‘moya’ was limited to this
region and was commonly called koshiba. Moya was harvested from grassy
mountains rather than forests, and the sprouts of broadleaf trees, gener-
ally at least three years old, were used as firewood. Excluding moya, the
amount of wood collected was 2,445 tana, about 24 times the 100 tana paid
to the BIe. The amount of moya collected was also 13 times the amount
paid to the BIe.

Amount of Karishiki and Grass Collected and the Area of Grassy
Mountains Used by Residents
Initially, seven villages used karishiki and grass from the 36-hamlet CIL
(table 5). For each of these villages, the total area of rice paddies, fields, and
nurseries was examined, and for each of these areas, the rate of use of ka-
rishiki and grass and CIL was also examined to determine the area of rice
paddies, fields, and nurseries that were supplied with karishiki and grass
from the CIL. Rice paddies accounted for 166.2 cho, or about 20 percent of

139