Developments and Characteristics of Farming Villages from the Middie Ages to the Edo Period, in Kitaechigo

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The lrobe Almanac, published during the Eiroku Era (1558-70) at Kitaechigo-koizuminoshou, is a valuable historical reference material. The medieval Shoen archives from this same period have been compiled into the "Irobe Historical Collection." Investigative research for this year has been focussing on three items which have appeared in these two historical materials : 1) problems associated with the transition of farming villages caused by floods and rice field development, especially during wartime, 2) the process by which the regional market of the Iwafune-kata coast became centered around the town of Iwafune, and 3) the pattern of existence of Buddhist stone tablets found in religious ruins dating from the Middle Ages to the present. In addition, the results of research conducted on archives from the Middle Ages have been published as the Shoke Letters Collection (Shoke Bunsho-shu). Field studies have been able to shed light on the wartime intake of water from the Arakawa River and the canal building from the Iwafune-kata coast which led to the widespread development of farmlands in this region and the establishment of a resident manor lord system for the confederation of villages which emerged during this development. Furthermore, the study of religious ruins has been able to provide information on this region's Kumamo Monastery, the conditions of its development, its relationship with the Mt.Dewasanzan Monastery, and the historical development of this relationship. Finally, our study of the archives of the "toshiyori" Handa family of Iwafune has allowed us to learn conditions since the middle of the 17th Century of town autonomy, the movement of people and homes, and the flow of goods, and we have been able to collect numerous historical records of cargo ships from the early Meiji Period.