Page 203 - Changing Living Spaces

Wet-Rice Agriculture and Economic Growth in Pre-Industrial Japan

Table 4 Percentage of Paddy Fields in the Ancient Period, 730–1150 (in %)
Region 730 950 1150
East Japan East Tōhoku — 1.2 1.1
West Tōhoku — 1.4 2.3
East Kantō — 10.1 9.9
West Kantō — 5.7 6.4
Tōsan — 2.5 1.4
Mid Japan Niigata and Hokuriku — 3.3 4.2
Tōkai — 2.9 3.4
West Japan Kinai — 8.8 7.5
Around Kinai — 4.7 4.9
Sanin — 3.3 3.4
Sanyō — 3.5 4.9
Shikoku — 2.5 2.6
North Kyūshū — 4.4 4.3
South Kyūshū — 1.7 1.4
East Japan — 3.1 3.1
Central Japan — 3.1 3.9
West Japan — 3.7 3.8
West Japan (incl. Mid Japan) — 3.5 3.8
Total 2.5 3.3 3.5
Sources and notes Takashima (2017). No regional data were available for 730; only
estimates at the national level are available.

uncultivated wasteland in eastern Japan. Therefore, it is believed that the
development of paddy fields in eastern Japan was difficult in ancient pe-
riod when civil engineering technology was limited. Moreover, the lord of
the shōen in Kyoto entrusted the local clans and powerful farmers with
the administration of the shōen, and their control was dispersed through-
out the archipelago. Under these circumstances, the main concern of
the shōen ruler was to obtain a stable income, i.e. the share of the annu-
al tribute. Therefore, their commitment to the shōen was low. Conversely,
large-scale development of arable land, as occurred through river irriga-
tion, required the exercise of political control over a large area; this pow-
er reached its peak in the early phase of the Ritsuryō regime (Kinoshita
2014).
This is also true for the ratio of paddy fields by region (table 4).
Nationwide, there was an upward trend in the proportion of rice paddies
during the ancient period, with the increase most pronounced in the late
ancient period. In the latter half of the ancient period, the proportion of
paddy fields levelled off in eastern Japan.

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