A Realistic Account of Housing Improvements in Prewar Reclamation Projects: Techniques and concepts for improvement linked to education for rural leaderstion in the Edo era

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K06693
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Architectural history/Design
• Research Institution: Tokai University
• Principal Investigator: Ozawa Asae 東海大学, 工学部, 教授 (70212587)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 長田 城治 郡山女子大学, 家政学部, 講師 (70734458)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 開墾地移住奨励 / 移住家屋 / 農林省 / 農村中堅人物養成施設 / 農村住宅改善 / 今和次郎

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates the initiatives and techniques used by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for housing improvement in prewar land reclamation projects and rural leader education, and examines its progressiveness and significance. In particular, we clarified the mechanism and delivery status of the settlement relocation incentive system founded in 1920 to promote relocation to areas of reclaimed land, and grasped the actual situation in 13 districts using application documents and surveys. Since 1929, this system has shifted its policy to ensure “quality” in terms of the durability of migrant homes, and in each area, the size and construction cost of migrant homes was improved and the floorplans were made uniform through guidance. At the rural leader training facilities supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry from 1934, four schools were constructed as “model farmhouses” to raise awareness of rural housing improvements by housing trainees.

Free Research Field

日本建築史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

開墾地移住奨励制度については、従来農地開墾に関する制度として地理学分野で扱われていたが、仕様書・予算書・平面等の提出による移住家屋の改善指導、公会堂・共同作業所等の共同建造物の普及と共同体形成に直接的に寄与したことを明らかにした。また、農村中堅人物養成施設の「模範農家」の居住体験や一般公開は、早期例と指摘される農林省積雪地方農村経済調査所「雪国試験農家家屋」（1938）等に先行する農村住宅改善の先進的な取り組みであり、農村更生を担う指導者層への体験的教育による普及啓発は、展覧会や雑誌を媒体とする都市部の住宅改善と異なる農村独自の手法と評価できることを明らかにした。