農地改革期の耕作権移動 : 長野県下伊那郡伊賀良村の事例

This paper aims to clarify aspects of rural communities in post-war Japan through an examination of transfers of farmland tenancy rights during land reform. This paper examines Igara Village, a rural district next to Iida City, the central part of Shimoina District. From Shimoina District, many emigrants were sent to Manchuria during the Sino-Japanese War in the period from 1937. There were 214 emigrants sent from Igara Village, about two-thirds of whom came back after World War Two. The treatment of these returnees and also of demobilized troops and refugees from other domestic cities was a difficult problem for Igara Village. Some of them resettled to other prefectures, but others remained in Igara Village. This paper focuses on Osegi District, a district of Igara Village, and clarifies how rural communities (e.g. families, neighbors, and Osegi District) accepted those people who returned to farming in Osegi District through an examination of two types of transfers of farmland tenancy rights: transfers between existing farming households, and transfers from one farming household to newly-established farming households. Firstly, each existing farming household transferred farmland in its own neighborhood association (kouseikumiai) to adjust an imbalance between the size of each plot of cultivated land and the size of each household, which took place mainly against the background of the above inflow of returnees, demobilized troops and refugees. This transfer of farmland corresponded to the change of landowner-tenant relations brought about by Land Reform through which landowners learned to lease farmland to tenants in the same association. Secondly, most people who came back to farming obtained farmland solely from their own families, in-laws and neighbors to establish new farming households. However, a few new farming households were established when the owner-cultivator gave his farmland to his children or siblings, perhaps demobilized veterans or returnees from Manchuria, while his tenants in the same neighborhood association also gave some of their own tenanted and cultivated farmland. Additionally, in some cases Osegi District redistributed unused farmland owned by the District to demobilized veterans, or the jobless obtained farmland from the farm households from outside of Osegi District, although with much difficulty. Finally, owner-farmers were created through these transfers of farmland tenancy rights and constituted rural communities in postwar Japan.