Page 240 - Changing Living Spaces

Satoshi Murayama, Hiroko Nakamura, Noboru Higashi and Toru Terao

Collapsed banks and flooded areas were described in an accurate sur-
vey (i.e. figure 10). All communal water management sites were shown
and the measured lengths of the structures were also drawn on the map
in their correct locations. The shapes and locations of rivers, trails, and
roads approximated their actual sizes and locations. After an accurate
and rapid survey and its mapping, the village was able to secure the sup-
port of the local government. The support funds arrived on July 1 of the
following year, 1804.
In June 1803, an emergency plan was put into effect to prevent the
spread of damage after floods. From February of the following year,
namely 1804 (Kyowa 4), the restoration of particularly damaged paddy
fields and the improvement of riverbanks and river gates began. During
the 27 months from June 25, 1803 (Kyowa 3) to September 10, 1805
(Bunka 2), about 11,317 person-days (figure 8) were mobilized. However,
there were other challenges during and after the reconstruction process.
On September 18 and October 2, 1805, Takahama was again hit by a high
wave and a tidal wave, respectively. Although the mouth of the Takahama
River was a port for merchant ships and thus a fairly important part of
the village’s infrastructure, shore protections suffered repeated damage
and had to be repaired again and again. The village head’s diary contains
records of the reconstructions and repairs of the river mouth that took
place in 1807 (Bunka 4) and 1814 (Bunka 11).
The villagers who were engaged in restoration work, especially in
March 1804, were paid by the local government. This was a successful pro-
posal of the village head, who, together with his colleagues, had calculat-
ed and mapped the flood damage in 1803. Although the villagers harvest-
ed almost nothing from the rice fields in this area in the year of the flood,
they managed to successfully repair the fields the next year before sow-
ing the rice crops. The crucial point was that after the extreme destruc-
tion caused by the freshwater and saltwater floods in 1803, they were able
to harvest a normal crop in 1804.

Discussion and Concluding Remarks
Japan is located in the East Asian monsoon region (figure 3). The Amakusa
Islands of Kyushu are located in southwestern Japan and belong to a rel-
atively warmer region of Japan. They are frequently hit by typhoons and
heavy rainfall. However, in terms of agricultural damage, we were able to
confirm that there was no flooding during the peak typhoon season, but
that heavy rain, especially during the rainy season, caused tremendous

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