Page 210 - Changing Living Spaces

Masanori Takashima

Table 9 Increase in Agricultural Output from the Pre-Modern to the Early Meiji Period,
1605–1873 (in %)
Region 1605-1644 1644-1697 1697-1831 1831-1873
East Japan East Tōhoku -0.48 0.56 0.30 0.63
West Tōhoku 0.27 0.29 0.10 1.13
East Kantō 0.27 0.26 0.09 0.38
West Kantō 0.39 0.31 0.07 1.12
Tōsan -0.01 0.17 0.16 2.54
Mid Japan Niigata and Hokuriku 0.22 0.24 0.14 0.37
Tōkai 0.10 0.18 0.07 0.50
West Japan Kinai 0.14 0.10 0.03 1.41
Around Kinai 0.07 0.04 0.07 1.13
Sanin 0.16 0.19 0.07 1.05
Sanyō 0.08 0.25 0.26 0.83
Shikoku 0.05 0.21 0.17 1.91
North Kyūshū -0.12 0.14 0.12 1.15
South Kyūshū 0.00 0.02 0.04 1.37
East Japan 0.11 0.33 0.15 1.07
Central Japan 0.17 0.22 0.11 0.42
West Japan 0.04 0.12 0.11 1.22
West Japan (incl. Mid Japan) 0.08 0.15 0.11 1.01
Total 0.09 0.21 0.12 1.03
Sources and notes Table 8. The figures denote the rate of increase in the agricultural
output.

ever, it can be said that the Japanese archipelago developed a degree of
resilience to shocks from the natural environment and began to grow
sustainably.
The period from 1831 to 1873 is the period from the latter half of the
early modern period to the beginning of the Meiji period, that is, the
transitional period of industrialisation. Interestingly, the growth rate
of production in all regions was much higher than in the past. In east-
ern Japan, production increased 1.6 times in 40 years, while in western
Japan, including central Japan, it increased 1.5 times. Although the rate
of increase was high in each region, it was particularly striking in the
Tōsan region, where the rate was outstanding at 2.54 percent; production
increased by about three times. Tōsan was a major producer of sericul-
ture in Japan, which was an important industry in the proto-industrial
period. Raw silk became Japan’s most important export due to the open-
ing of ports in this modern transitional period. It is easy to imagine that
the increase in production of such commodity crops also contributed to
growth in other areas.

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