Adaptation to Resource Depletion in 18th century Tsushima(対馬)

2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 15530248
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic history
• Research Institution: Kurume University
• Principal Investigator: ETO Akihiko Kurume University, Department of Economics, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (30140635)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NISHIKAWA Yoshiaki Kurume University, Department of Economics, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (80290641)
• Project Period (FY): 2003 – 2004
• Keywords: resource limitations / demand for firewood / forest resource depletion / population pressure / slash and burn farming / environmental disruption caused by mining

Research Abstract

Background. Tsushima, an island that locates just south of Korean Peninsula, experienced rapid economic growth during 1660's and 70's owing to foreign trade with Korea and "silver rash". The population growth began, and especially the population of the capital, called Huchu(府中), grew rapidly with the big inflow of merchants and workers who rushed to Tsushima beyond the sea. But the domestic food supply was not enough to feed those increased population. The import of rice from mainland and Korea covered the shortage. In 1690's, when the foreign trade with Korea began to decline, Tsushima had to seek the way to survive on its own capacity of supplying food. Many reforms were done for that purpose, and as a whole they have been evaluated as a program to transform extensive agriculture of Tsushima into intensive one. Aims and method. To reexamine the background of these reforms from more multiple viewpoints, we checked the documents, dated from 1671 to 1735, of an office that governed the rural area.
Results. We found that the most important and basic problem the office of rural area faced in this period was the depletion of forest resource, which caused not only by domestic use but also by the demand for firewood from mainland, and its side effect like flood or landslide. But to reduce the firewood export was not an easy task, because the farmers depended upon selling firewood to ships coming from mainland to get cash.
Conclusions. The reforms made by the office of rural area from 1690's to 1720's aimed to resolve these problems as a whole and were designed to improve the condition of forest finally. We evaluate it as a program to adapt resource depletion caused by rapid economic growth in the middle of 17th century.