Study of hazard migrations caused by the great tone river flood in 1910, gunma prefecture

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify hazard migrations caused by the great Tone River flood in Gunma prefecture in 1910 using official documents of the prefecture. The most afflicted areas were along upper streams in Gunma prefecture, which had still not undergone river development programs by the time of the great flood in 1910. Because serious damage occurred in Oura, Sawa, and Tano counties where the main stream of the Tone River connected to feeder streams and Gunma and Agatsuma counties had some bilateral feeders, 280 people died and 24 were missing in the prefecture.Migrations to Hokkaido, Korea, and Manchuria were fewer traditionally than from other areas because there was a demand for agricultural labor to produce numerous commercial crops in Gunma prefecture. The number of migrants from Gunma prefecture gradually increased around 1900. There were migrations to Korea from Tano county due to significant damage caused by the great flood in 1910. Information on migrant recruitment to Korea was obtained from newspapers because Toyo Takushoku Company did not become large enough to provide publicity in Japanese. Migrations to Hokkaido took place in accordance with the conservation policy of the prefectural government and at the invitation of the previous governor, Kusakabe Sozaburo, who had left Gunma prefecture. Because Hokkaido actively accepted migrations caused by the great flood, it decided to set up an association of migrants to Hokkaido to alleviate hardships in flood-affected villages. Hazard migration after the Tone River flood of 1910 tended to displace people because otherwise they would only be able to eke out a living in counties where, although few people died, extensive farmland and many dwellings were submerged by the great flood.