Archaicwater: The role of a legend in constructing the water management heritage of Sanbonkihara, Japan

Abstract

Until the end of the nineteenth century, agriculture formed the basis of cultural identity in the many parts of Japan where land and water were locally maintained, managed, and sustained (Wigen 1995; Toyama 1993). This chapter expands the Japanese idea of heritage beyond the question of beauty to include agricultural social systems and water management, exploring the long-term interactive relationship between water resources, the riverine landscape, and local people (Soja 2003). It does so by unraveling the formation and transformation of the legend of the irrigation pioneers. Tsut¯o Nitobe, a samurai of the Nanbu clan, is legendary for his pioneering water resource management and land reclamation in Japan’s Sanbonkihara region in the nineteenth century (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 2018). After his death, his irrigation project was the pride of the region; part of the legend is that subsequent irrigation projects inherited the spirit of his work (Northeast Agricultural Administration Bureau 2018). The legend changed over time: TheMeiji government and postwar governmental officials developed the nation in Nitobe’s name; and today Land Improvement Districts (LID), or water user associations, and agricultural bureaus exalt Nitobe as the spiritual symbol of agricultural society and its cultural landscapes. However, in on-site research, we discovered that many untold people put together these projects. This chapter shows that the tangible heritage of the irrigation project is inseparable from the area’s historical identity or intangible heritage.