A study of folklore and environment history on field crops and management of wild animals as the utilization technology of forest resources

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520994
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology/Folklore
• Research Institution: Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University
• Principal Investigator: OKA Keisuke 東北文化学園大学, その他の研究科, 教授 (90301697)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 森林資源 / 北上山地 / 焼畑 / 採草地 / 放牧地 / 野生動物保護管理 / モンキードッグ / 救助犬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the villages on the Kitakami Mountains, livelihood maintenance activities which are in large part self-contained have transformed the forest environments, which have been utilized as burnt fields, fields, grasslands, rangelands, and fuelwood forests. A hearing survey was conducted on the process of the transformation, which was investigated with observation and literature. The result of the survey clarified that the biodiversity has been maintained around the villages and the forest environments easily reused for livelihood maintenance activities have been developed and maintained.
Japanese deers and boars have expanded their distributions on the Kitakami Mountains, where damages to agriculture and forestry are increasingly serious. However,the animals who have inhabited there since the Meiji era, so it is a re-expansion of their habitat ranges. This survey revealed the fact that they had been actively utilized as the resources for clothing, foods, and tools in the mountain villages.

Free Research Field

民俗学