Some problems of the jōri system in the iga province

Abstract

There are many subjects to make clear the agrarian system of the ancient Japan. It is still the first problem to reconstitute this old system called Jōri in detail. Encouraged by such a motive, the authors have researched into the Jōri system of the Iga province which was adjacent to Yamato as the cultural and political center of the ancient Japan. The results obtained are as follows: 1) One can find the agrarian landscape of the ancient Jōri system in the Iga and Nabari basins which constituted the Iga province. This system was executed in the paddy field of the alluvial plain more than 135 meters above the sea level, avoiding the very marshy land. However, it was not continuous by reason of the undulating landform and the direction of the Jōri typed land division was not fixed. 2) In the district where the Jōri landscape can be seen, the paddy field is very dominant, usually can raise two crops a year and its productivity is very higher than any other districts. 3) The authors reconstituted the method of allotment of “Tsubo” according to the Jōri system, which belonged to the serial pattern as well as the township in United States. But it is to be regretted that they could not succeed in the complete reconstitution for every case of the ancient counties. © 1964, The Human Geographical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.