A Study on the Maintaining Community Livelihoods in a Low-vegetation Environment: A Case Study of the Lake Biwa Region in the Early-modern to Modern Times.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01184
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University of Advanced Science (2021-2022); Lake Biwa Museum (2018-2020)
• Principal Investigator: WATANABE Keiichi 京都先端科学大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (80454081)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 低植生環境 / 資源管理 / 植生 / 柴山 / はげ山

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In recent years, an image of degraded low vegetation has been presented in pre-modern Japanese forests, but there have been few research results based on fieldwork. The purpose of this research is to elucidate the actual conditions of areas with low vegetation.
As a method, we selected two villages from Kosei (Kitahira, Otsu City) and Koto region (Minamitsuda, Omihachiman City), and Okishima island (Okishima-cho, Omihachiman City), which have contrasting vegetation environments, and compared the history of vegetation use and management in these villages. As a result, we positioned the problem of resource depletion and overuse as a form of so-called "satoyama" in pre-modern and modern Japan. Although the forms of utilization of shibayama (mountain for collecting firewood) and hageyama (treeless mountain) are not sustainable, it has become clear that they are not regionally unique and exceptional cases.

Free Research Field

環境民俗学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、いわゆる里山における植生利用が「持続的な利用」とは異なる形態の不安定なものであったこと、同時にそれは地域的に特殊で例外的な事例ではないことを明らかにした。一般に里山といえば、日本の自然環境の原風景を示すものとして牧歌的に受け止められやすいが、その現実は過剰利用によって荒廃した山林で構成されていたという事実は一定の社会的意義を有する知見であると考えられる。さらに石材採取にともなう低植生の問題、山地の荒廃にともなう災害のリスクに対応する在来知の生成など、新規の研究課題が数多く見出された意義も小さくないと考えられる。