Changes in ear-Trapping in Miomote the Asahi Range

DOI IR HANDLE Web Site 2 Citations

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 朝日連峰の山村・三面におけるクマの罠猟の変遷
  • アサヒ レンポウ ノ サンソンミオモテ

Search this article

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the development and the cause of trapping black bears (Selenarctos thibetanus japonicas) in the late Edo period. Miomote in Niigata Prefecture was famous for the hunting settlement where bear hunting is economically and religiously important to village life. The hunting activity, the number of bears caught, and the spatial structure of the trapping areas were researched.<br>The present writer interviewed the old people of Miomote about the practice of bear-trapping in the early Showa period, and mapped the distribution of trapping areas of that period by his observation of stones remaining on rides which used for trapping.<br>The results can be summarized as follows.<br>1) There were two methods of bear-trapping. The Oshi technique used a bait, but the Oso or Hiraotoshi technique did not. The latter was used by mountain villagers in Tohoku and Hokuriku facing the Japan Sea. People had exclusive trapping rights in particular areas of nationally owned forests.<br>2) The trapping areas were distributed on the ridges along the valleys of the Miomote, Iwaimata, Saruta, and Doromata Rivers. Hunters guess the movement of bears in accordance with the circumstances of landfom and vegetation in each place, and trap. There are two main hunting activities, first setting the bear traps, and then going around to check their catch. Each family can catch one bear per year on the average. The hunting area for each family was determined by mutual tacit agreement in which one person wouldn't intrude into another's space.<br>3) The present writer examined the relationship between changes in the number of houses and in the trapping areas. Bear hunting was very successful in those days. A lot of bears were caught and they supported the Murakami-han in the form of bear galls (a kind of medicine) and sedge mats, and the Yonezawa-han officials ordered the villagers to produce the galls and skins under the policy of encouragement of side jobs.

Journal

Citations (2)*help

See more

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top