Page 155 - Changing Living Spaces

Horses in Early Modern Japan

Figure 8
Distribution
of Horses and Cattle
in 1880 (Cattle / Horses)
(by Miyuki Takahashi,
Data Source: Kyōbuseihyō
(1880a; 1880b)

in the Meiji period, horse-drawn carriages were imported from overseas,
so horses, which traditionally carried loads on their backs, now pulled
carriages.
A consideration of the distribution of cattle and horses in 1880 shows
that horses were found mainly in the eastern regions of Japan and cat-
tle in the western regions (figure 8). The distribution of ‘eastern horses
and western cattle’ was already mentioned in the Kokugyūjūzu written by
Kawahigashi Bokudoneinonaomaro in 1310.
There are three possible reasons for this distribution: (1) in the eighth
century, the government in the Kinai region took the initiative to cre-
ate pastures, but much of western Japan had already been developed and
eastern Japan was selected for extensive pastures; (2) plough cultivation
became popular in western Japan, so cattle were used there, while in east-
ern Japan, where plough cultivation was not as developed and the rice
planting season was longer, horses were used because of their flexibility,
and (3) in colder regions, it was important to collect horse manure, which
was warmer than cattle manure.3

3 Details can be found in Ichikawa (2010).

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