Historical Geographical Study on Environmentally Adaptable Agriculture : The Case Study of Slush and Burn in Kinai and Sansai Gathering in Northern Tohoku

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This research is an attempt to elucidate the actual condition of environmentally adaptable agriculture from ancient to medieval period through the case study of slush and burn as well as sansai gathering agricultural practice. The result can be summarized as follows.1. The character, 畑, recorded in the historical documents in the ancient and medieval periods means slush and burn agricultural practice in the mountanous areas while the character, 畠, means an agricultural field on the plains. Mr. Hideo Kuroda has interpreted that the above two terms were clearly used differently. Although his thesis has been widely accepted, this research reveals that the difference of the two terms' usage was not so clear and concludes that we need to approach this problem through careful field work and analysis based upon each historical record.2. As for the river basin of Kinokawa in the country of Kii, this research reveals that the Koyasan Temple holds numerous historical record on slush and burn from ancient to medieval period. In principle Koyasan prohibited this agricultural practice which might set fire to the temple ; however, it is suggested that the farmers actively practiced it.3. Regarding sansai gathering in Tohoku, this research confirms the historical records for the mid-Edo period, the 1700s. As the volume was exceedingly large, the future research is expected to fully analyze them.