Page 234 - Changing Living Spaces

Satoshi Murayama, Hiroko Nakamura, Noboru Higashi and Toru Terao

1,3

0,975

0,65

0,325

0
May(4) June(5) July(6) August(7)

Good Harvest 1798 Good Harvest 1804
Figure 7 Monthly Averages of the Weather Index of Good Harvest Years:
1798 and 1804
Source Original digitised database from Amakusa-cho Kyoiku-iinkai (1985–1998);
UkM, Ueda Yoshiuzu Diaries.

Comparing the average rainfall index (= average monthly rainfall
points) in 1798 and 1804, when relatively good rice harvests occurred, fig-
ure 7 shows that the two curves are shaped similarly to oblique N curves.
Thus, the optimal seasonal weather conditions for rice cultivation are (1)
sufficient but not excessive rain in June, (2) sunny weather in July, and (3)
moderate rainfall and fair weather in early August and late August and
September until the harvest.
Peasants and village leaders wished for rain to improve the situation
of rice cultivation. In this sense, it was possible to determine the relation-
ship between rainy days and prayers for rain. We compared 1798, a rel-
atively good harvest year, with 1799, a year of drought. Figure 8 shows
the changes in monthly averages for both years. As shown in table 2, the
number of dry days in June 1799 was much higher than in June 1798.
In July, the inhabitants performed rain rituals four times. However,
drought damage was recorded in the diary on July 23 (June 19 of the lu-
nar calendar). This indicates that the possibility of buying grain for tax

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