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1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Change of subsistence activities and egalitarianism in small communities of rural areas : A research based on life histories

Research Project

Project/Area Number 06451059
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field 文化人類学(含民族学・民俗学)
Research InstitutionKobe Gakuin University

Principal Investigator

TERASHIMA Hideaki  Kobe Gakuin University, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Professor, 人文学部, 教授 (10135098)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) SHINOHARA Toru  National Museum of History and Folklore, Department of Folklore, Professor, 民俗研究部, 教授 (80068915)
HAYAKI Hitoshige  Kobe Gakuin University, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Associate Professor, 人文学部, 助教授 (60228559)
ITANI Junichiro  Kobe Gakuin University, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Professor, 人文学部, 教授 (10025257)
Project Period (FY) 1994 – 1996
Keywordssubsistence activity / ecosystem / modernization / life history / ethno-history / egalitarianism / Miuchi / Kudaka
Research Abstract

The field survey was conducted mainly in two small communities of rural Japan. One was a village called Miuchi located in a mountainous area of Hyogo Prefectuye, and the other was Kudaka, a small island of Okinawa Prefecture. Data on the subsistence activities of the past and the present were collected through interviews of life histories and direct observations and also from literature. Both in Miuchi and Kudaka, there was a subsistence activity system well adapted to the natural environment. Miuchi was famous for charcoal production and "konnyaku" (Amorphophallus rivieri var.konjac) cultivation on the steep sloops of surrounding mountains. Kudaka islanders lived mainly on small-scale fishing on the coral reefs around the island using various mathods. And it has become clear that egalitarianism playd an important social role in such small communities for keeping harmony and solidarity of the village and making the exploitation of natural resources sustainable. Especially in Kudaka, subsistence activities, social life and ritual performance were deeply interrelated depending on egalitarianism. From the beginning of Showa era to the present, however, both villages have experienced large social and economic changes which also influenced subsistence activities of local people very much. One of the results of such changes is the decline of collectivity and the increase of individualism in subsistence activities as well as social relationship. The villages also suffer from the migration of young people to the large towns. In former days egalitarianism contributed to the maintenance of sustainable exploitation of natural resources, but now the problem of over exploitation has become serious. The relationship between man and nature reflects the relationship among the people. People have to search a principle that can replace egalitarianism in the past to adapt to new social and economic situation.

  • Research Products

    (16 results)

All Other

All Publications (16 results)

  • [Publications] 寺嶋 秀明: "環境の持続的利用のイデオロギー" 『環境の人類誌』(岩波書店). 107-132 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] TERASHIMA, Hideaki: "Honey and Holiday:Interaction mediated by honey between Efe hunter-gatherers and Lese farmers in the Ituri Forest" African Study Monographs. supple.vol.25. 123-134 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 伊谷 純一郎: "競争と共生" 霊長類研究. 13(2). (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 伊谷 純一郎: 『月報・開発と文化』. 3. 183-186 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 篠原 徹: "人間社会における動物の位置" 『動物と人間の文化誌』(国立歴史民俗博物館編)吉川弘文館. 4-15 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 篠原 徹: "『北小浦民俗誌』と佐渡" 『日本海と佐渡』高志書院. 107-135 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 寺嶋 秀明: "共生の森" 東京大学出版会, 226 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 篠原 徹: "アフリカでケチを考えた" 筑摩書房, 206 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] TERASHIMA,Hideaki: ""Honey and holiday : Interaction mediated by honey between Efe hunter-gatheres and Lese farmers"" African Study Monographs. suppl.Vol.25. 123-134 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] ITANI,Junichiro: ""Competition and Symbiosis" (in Japanese)" Primate Research. Vol.13 (2). 183-186

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] TERASHIMA,Hideaki: "Ideology of sustainable use of natural environment" (in Japanese), In : Man and Environment. Iwanami Shoten, 107-132 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] TERASHIMA,Hideaki: Symbiotic Cultures in the Ituri Forest (in Japanese). University of Tokyo Press, 226 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] ITANI,Junichiro: "The deterioration of the tropical forest" (in Japanese), In "Monthly letter--Development and Culture", vol.3. Iwanami Shoten, 1-4 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] SHINOHARA,Toru: "Animal's place in human society" (in Japanese), In (National Museum of History and Folklore ed.) Cultural History of Man and Animals. Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 4--15 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] SHINOHARA,Toru: "Kitakoura Ethnography" and Sado Island, In The Sea of Japan and Sado Island. Koshi Shoin, 107-135 (1997)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] SHINOHARA,Toru: Thinking Economy in Africa. Chikuma Shobo, 206 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より

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Published: 1999-03-16  

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