Page 217 - Changing Living Spaces

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

at this time was changing from a tribute economy to a specialty econo-
my. This movement is considered particularly noteworthy in non-staple
grain-producing areas where paddy fields did not support the agricultur-
al economy (Saito and Takashima 2016). Thus, the economic changes and
growth in the proto-industrial period may have had a greater synergistic
effect due to the intentions of the rulers.

Conclusions
This chapter reports on the changes in the area and use of arable land,
and increase in production in pre-modern Japan, both at the macro and
regional levels. In pre-modern Japan, the main cultivation areas for the
staple grain, mainly rice paddies adapted to geographical and climatic
conditions, were the first to develop economically. Historically, rice was
considered an important tribute commodity since ancient period, and the
natural conditions suitable for its production were the decisive factor for
economic development. However, with the promotion of commercial crop
cultivation, this pattern of economic growth changed. As a result, the ag-
ricultural production of commercial crops as well as the production of
staple grain through the cultivation of paddy fields influenced econom-
ic growth. The reason for this was the institutional promotion of the cul-
tivation of special products in the non-paddy fields to exchange for cash,
in addition to the production in the paddy fields, which formed the basis
of government taxation.

Acknowledgement
This study is the result of the project, which is funded by a Grant-in-Aid
for Early-Career Scientists (19K13755), supported by the Japan Society
for the Promotion of Science from April 2019.

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