2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A History of the Interaction between Human Activity and the Ecosystem in the Edo Period : Horse-breeding, Soya Bean Agriculture and Animal Plagues in Northeastern Honshu
| Project/Area Number |
12610342
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Japanese history
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| Research Institution | Miyagi Gakuin Women's University |
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Principal Investigator |
KIKUCHI Isao MIYAGI GAKUIN WOMEN'S COLLEGE DEPT. OF LIBERAL ARTS, PROFESSOR, 学芸学部, 教授 (20186191)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2002
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| Keywords | horse-breeding / soya-bean agriculture / Wild Boar Famine / boar damage / wolf damage / Ando Shoeki / bird-chasing |
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| Research Abstract |
This study examines how land development changed the way in which humans interacted with the natural environment, and what problems this entailed. In particular, this project looks at the famine of 1749 that occurred in Hachinohe Domain, which straddled the border between modern Aomori and Iwate Prefecture.
This famine was known as the "Wild-Boar Famine," as one of the major causes behind it was the damage done to crops by these animals. An examination of the reasons behind the abnormal increase in numbers of wild boar that caused this damage, leads one to the changes wrought in the environment by a marked increase in soya-bean agriculture and horse-breeding during the 17th century.
Virgin forest areas in hill lands were opened up to provide dryfields for soya bean crops, which in turn provided a windfall of fodder for wild boar. Moreover, the single greatest obstacle to horse-breeding in the area was the damage wrought by wolf packs to the breeding herds. However, the wolves were also the only natural predator of the boar, and the extermination of the local wolves by humans lead to an uncontrolled increase in boar numbers. This study therefore concludes that the "Wild Boar Famine" of 1749 was a classic example of human development and production leading to a disruption of the ecosystem.
As other examples of the relation between human activity and the environment, this study also examined corvee service levied to prevent damage by birds to crops, and how the actual experience of famine influenced the formation of the thought of Ando Shoeki, a thinker noted for his concern for environmental matters.
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