A10] VILLAGE: AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN JAPAN That‘s for the Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN“ STATE UNIVERSlTY Daniel D.- 'Whifn'ey 19.6.3 fi-Issrs LIBRARY Michigan State University AIOI VIIMCE: AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGE IN JAPAN By Daniel D. “11th ATHESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial mlfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociologr and Anthropology 1963 lg; 4 {23" fig; .‘1" "//f‘l“;$ ACKNWDGMENTS I am indebted to Drs. John D. Donoghue and Iwao Ishino for their stimulating ideas and constructive criticisms in the design and preparation of this thesis. Dr. Donoghue. my committee chairman. was especially encouraging in the final stages of'writing and rewriting. I also thank Drs. Hans woirr and Bernard Gallin for serv- ing on my thesis committee, and Mrs. Kay Steensma and Sharon Duncan for typing services. Finally, to my wife, Hiroko, for her perseverance and moral support during the past three months. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. IIrtrodIlction O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O 0 O O 0 1 Purpose of the Study The Data The Method Implications of the Study Limitations of the Study Organization of the Study II. The Role of Communities in National Development . . . . . 11 Price Support and Easy Credit Balanced.versus Unbalanced Growth The Villager in the City Information Flow III. A Decade of Change: The Structure . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Setting Shikoku Island Population Land and Climate Agriculture Animal Husbandry Machinery Group Buying Fishing Forestry Industry The Gappei Summary IV. A Decade of Change: Villagers' Images . . . . . . . . . 56 Bando and Yamamoto Grammar School Principal A Village Assemblyman An Agricultural Specialist Member of the Agriculture Committee An hxtension Agent Looks at Aioi Summary ‘. o 0 "Y _ 'Ae J ...,V_ A i «n Chapter Page V. Intra-Village Linkages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Kinship Groups Territorial Associations Religion fig Groups Fujinkai Seinendan Other Croups Agricultural Cooperative Association Study'Associations Forestry and Fishing Cooperatives Miscellaneous Associations Summary VI. Village-Nation Linkages on o o e o o o o o o e o o o o o o 101 A Case Study Agricultural Extension Agricultural Cooperative Association Governmental Linkages Mass Communications and Transportation The School and Religion Fujinkai and Seinendan Other Linkages Summary VII. Summary and Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The Land Reform The Ganpei Reticulated Organizational Structure The Japanese Villager in Transition Ramifications for Underdeveloped Countries Table 1 Table 2 Chart 1 Chart 2 Figure 1 TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES Comparison of Aioi with Other Villages Number and Kinds of Farm Animals, 1948-58 Initial Positions Resolved Positions Inflow of New Policy and Technical Skills: A Chart of Enterprise Propulsion 50 107 Jo p010g'1c: in Japan piled up of no at} :0 figure World 1h; trializi'l Primitive Stu! lac I'D-cos] CHAPTER I INTROIIJCTION John F. Enhree's M'M marked the beginning of anthro- pological interest in Japan. AnthrOpologists, though latecomers in Japan studies compared with historians and economists. have piled up voluminous writing in the past two decades. The study of no other single country has been undertaken by anthmpologists so vigorously as has the study of Japan since the beginning of World War II. In Japan, anthmpologists found a modern, indus- trialising nation almost as different from their own as the exotic, primitive societies they had been concentrating on previously. Studies covered a wide range of interests, both micro and macro-cosmic. W. A. Caudill and worge DeVos, among others, con- cerned themselves with personality: Ruth Benedict and Douglas Haring centered on studies dealing with national character: John Bennett. R. McKnight and Arthur Raper concentrated on change: Iwao Ishino contributed a pioneer study or the boss-henchman (91a__- Qm) system: John Donoghue lived with and wrote about an Eta calamity in Northern Japan: and Bubree. Richard Beardsley. Edward lorbeck and others studied the Japanese village in detail (Some. 1960). more is. however. a serious lack of studies dealing with change over s. given period of time. With few exceptions, notably the works of Raper, Margaret Mead, Raymond Firth. Oscar Lewis and Robert Redfield, this appears to be a general lacking in anthrOpo- logical writings. Raper. for example. studied changes which had occurred over an 18-month period in Japanese villages. A number of anthrOpologists have concerned themselves with change and the reasons for change, but few have returned to explain changes which occurred over a given time span. This study, it is hOped, will be a step toward filling this hiatus. 29.2222 2:. me. ems: The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: to present a des- criptive analysis of a rural Japanese fanning. fishing and fores- try village and to examine the changes which occurred over a ten- year period. It is an attaupt to better understand the changes which occurred at the village level in Japan during a ten-year period. The village chosen for analysis and description is Aioi. a pre- dauinately agricultural village located on the island of Shikoku. ills am I will draw upon two major sources of data. The first is (1950) written by Arthur Raper. In 19h8-h9. Raper and a team of American and Japanese social scientists studied 13 Japanese villages. The study was sponsored by the General Headquarters Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Raper and his teal of social scientists first visited the 13 villages in May and June 1947. Eighteen months later. from October to Decaeber 19148. the team revisited the same villages to survey the changes which had occurred during the interval. Aioi was one of the 13 villages studied. be second source is unpublished field notes collected by Iwao Ishino and John Donoghue in 1958-59. They surveyed the same 13 villages Raper had studied 10 years earlier. Ishino and Donoghue were in Japan as Fulbright scholars. The purpose of their research was generally to see and understand the changes which had occurred during the decade since Raper's study. Aioi was one of three villages which were given more intensive study. Donoghue took a team of 15 anthropolog graduates from Tokyo University to Moi while Ishino was with another team of Japanese graduate studuts in another village. The third team was under the direction of Professor Seichi Izumi of the Department of Anthropology at Tokyo University. Eleven of the thirteen villages were classified as rural. with s pepulstion of less than 12,000 persons. mth respect to papulation. total land area. arable land, climatic conditions and percent of households engaged in farm and non-fare activities, for example. Aioi was similar to the other ten rural villages. (See Table 1). The other two villages surveyed were classified I'toun-country'l due to their proximity to large. urban centers and because of this. have proven of little use as comparators with the eleven wholly rural Village’s 1131.- use; This study is a functional. analysis of the structures in Aioi as they relate to development. More specifically, this study examines the associational structure and its role as a channel of intonation flow. Attention is concentrated not on specific roles and obligations . but on the means by which infomtion is transmitted. 'l'nese channels through which infomation is passed are the linkages relating indi- viduals within a village as well as relating the individual to his nation. To fully understand these linkages, a detailed study of one Japanese village. Aioi. was chosen for analysis. Presentation of comparative data collected at two different points in time presented a problas. Two solutions were possible: 1) to divide the paper in three distinct sections. one dealing with the situation as it appeared in 19h8. second detailing the changes which had occurred, and the third an analysis of these changes in the framework of intonation flow and linkage: 2) to do virtually the sale. but using 1959 as the base year. referring back to 19118 for comparison. Neither alternative. however. sensed adequate for ' handling the subject. It was therefore decided to describe in the first part of the thesis these structures which had changd the nest. This is followed by two chapters organized around the various linkages through which information related to deve10pment flows. me reader should understand that unless otherwise stated, description refers to Aioi as it was in 1958-59. morever mention is made of changes which occurred. it is to be understood that the change is m 19148 to 1958. unless otherwise specified. This presents a problu from the outset. In 1958. there was HES“ n I 0263.50: on to“, 85 0.33. concerned. It looked to the other representatives that opinion in Aioi was not divided and this made the final decision of the committee easier. The amalgamation became a reality in 1955. m gm thy: Amalgggtiop. A number of problems became evident following the completion of the amalgamation. One of these was that the local cooperatives were not amalgamated. but remained organized on a local level. Thus. we find that the governmental structure is oriented toward the new town unit. but the organizations which carry out many of the daily functions of the villagers. were still vi, ment we “‘I zation o. Hiketa, w village. not Hiket were give did not 1 they foun everyone at Hiketa manta co: Tl face. a and vill‘ fl'iendsh: taxes We Pmbably Whom 1 col-190th JaPanese well-knov difficult a new riv 53 Still village and buraku centered. Officials indicated that a move- ment would be initiated in the near future to bring about a reorgani- zation of the cOOperatives. Though administratively the center of the government was in Hiketa. villagers tended to identify with their former unit. Aioi village. Villagers thought of themselves as being members of Aioi. not Hiketa. Local interests were put first. and town interests were given a secondary position. Villagers also complained that they did not like to visit the new town office because of the impersonality they found there. “Before. when we went to the yakuba. we knew everyone and could sit around and have friendly discussions. But at Hiketa. we know no one and they don't treat us the same.” infor- mants complained. The collection was another problem which the new unit had to face. Before the merger. taxes were collected by local collectors. and villagers felt an obligation to pay their taxes because of friendship. However. with the closing of the Aioi village office. taxes would have to be collected by the new town office. This would probably mean a new corps of tax collectors. many of whom might be unknown by the villagers. This could result in difficulties in tax collection. ’ It has been traditionally difficult to collect taxes in Japanese villages. and the only solution has been the use of local. well-known and well-liked persons. It remains to be seen what other difficulties the merger will bring about. Advantgeg Follgw 2.9. Amalgamation. On the positive side. a new river wall and bottom were constructed on the Umayado River as ' I’VVLQI‘ ¥i 0n the a '1 effectec Manchurj integraj tension h3d beer with lit demonstr and took I Village. 5b a result of the amalgamation. This will decidedly improve the irri- gation and cut down on the amount of seepage of salt water flooding of the paddy fields. A new dam was constructed upstream on the river thereby facilitating greater control and making irrigation possible during the dry season in the downstream buraku. A new road. which is intended to link Takamatsu and Tokushima is presently under construction as a result of the amalgamation. The new town office is an asset to the village and could someday provide the symbol of unity'needed by those living in the new unit. A.new school and new recreation facility have been constructed. In general. there seems to be an air of expectancy among officials of the new town that the amalgamation will have far-reaching positive effects on the area. Mam - The change which occurred in the structures of Aioi were effected through a combination of external and internal forces. The Hanchurian repatriates. though living in the village. were not an integral part of the social structure. The active work of the exa tension agent was an important factor in the change process. He had been trying for some time to gain acceptance for engei. but V‘with little success. Once the success of the repatriates was demonstrated. hOwever. other farmers realized the potential of engei and took up its cultivation. The initial reason for the gappei came from.outside the ‘village. the Local Autonomy Law. but it was carried out mainly by 55 local leaders. with a minimum of aid from outside the area. Bando played an important role in finalizing the amalgamation. He vividly demonstrated the power placed in the hands of local leaders. It is clear that the structures in Aioi underwent great change during the ten-year period. The change was what Raymond Firth (1951 :84) called structural changed. e. a "large-scale shift in the pattern of . . . activities.” The introduction of engei radi- cally changed the work patterns of those who undertook its cultivation. Farmers were able to make more money from the same land by increasing their inputs of labor.‘ It becomes clear that change occurring in one structure has ramifications in related structures. The introduction of engei. for example. had important consequences in other activities. It was a contributing factor to the decline of fishing and rope making and to the increased use of machinery and animal husbandry. How did the villagers view the changes which occurred during the ten-year period? Were they generally in favor of the changes. and which ones did they see as the most important? This will be the subject of the next chapter. w. ..... Ma 3;. 3r... .Nnd... LI .3 .1 LEE] . r CHAPTER IV A DECADE OF CHANGE; VILLAGERS' IMAGES This chapter will deal with the changes described in the pre- ceding section. but with emphasis on the image held by the villagers regarding these changes. The first part of the chapter is excerpts from.interviews with the former mayor of Aioi. Bando and the present mayor of the amalgamated.unit. Yamamoto. This will be followed by interviews with other villagers who discuss the changes during the "ten-year period. Bgndo and Yamamoto Bando: "Things have been changing in these ten years. and it will keep on changing until some time in the future. Things that have changed are: transportation has been developed and the dam for which we are spending I 1h5.000.000 (about $h02.780) will be finished in about two years. When this dam is finished. there 'will be no more floods. But there are some things that cannot be made better artificially. such as the weather. We cannot make it rain during the dry season. or the poor land cannot be changed into rich land. When the time comes that we can change bad conditions into good ones. we will all be rich and happy.“ Tamamoto: "Things that have changed are: water can be had from.the dam; now we have good roads; and machinery'has come in 56 '9! . o.. N“. {35“. 57 (motorized cultivators; threshing machines; and motorized pumps). About 60 per cent of the machinery in the three villages belong to Aioi residents.” Bando: "Because of the land reform most of the farmers be- came owner-cultivators. but there is still a little tenancy. The per cent of tenants is about 10-20 per cent of all farmers. "Fbllowing the gappei. it was decided that we should have a new town hall for all three villages like each had separately be- fore. So we.made a new town office. including the town hall. in the middle of the three villages - not the geOgraphical center. because that is in the mountains. but in the cultural center. we want to make the gappei a long-lasting thing. we don't want to gappei again. we have made a harbor for the fishing boats. The poor land is being aided by the construction of the dam. The land at the water's edge is lower than the sea level. and the salt water is not good for the crops. Every time a typhoon comes. the sea water comes into the fields. The result of this is no harvest. This happens several times a year. To defend from typhoons. we have built a sea wall (bghatgi) to keep the salt water out. A gymnasium was built to improve the health of the people in the village. It will also be good fer sports. besides. when it rains and there isn't work. the indoor gym is important. Before. each village had a gym in the school. but this was for the school boys and not intended to be 'used by the people in the daytime. This gym will also be used for ‘big meetings. A.library and music building were built in the high 30110010 58 ”In the future we plan to improve the land under cultivation. in an attempt to increase the amount of arable land. In Shows 28 (1953). a typhoon deposited a great deal of mud and sand in the river and it developed so many bends it looks like a snake. Lumber and poles were piled up on both sides of the river in order to change the course of the river. and this has proven relatively successful. Reconstruction of this type and building bridges is only possible as a result of the gappei. . “The changes in industry are: as transportation by ferry boat develops. products can be brought into competition with those produced in the Hanshin (Kobe and Osaka) district. The Hanshin products are considered expensive. The manpower wages are lower here than in the Hanshin district. "This town was appointed by the ministry of agriculture and forests as the town for basic planned improvements in agriculture. forestry and fishing. The plans are: 1) wireless broadcast. when a newspaper came into this village. they had a wire broadcasting system. and now they have changed to a wireless one; 2) statistical ' research is the second plan. They plan on spending about 2'24.000.000 (about $67,000); 3) to build a new Hiketa lower secondary school; and u) to build a new government road. V "At this point. we believe we have succeeded in the gappei. With the financial aid of three villages. we could succeed in such 'big operations. By such improvementspwe have improved the lives of the villagers and also their standard of living. Last May. we formed ,‘h GI I.\ . O. O. .. .Ik 1a I 1 luau. ‘ .19 .1. 1“ H‘- l m E 59 a health insurance cooperative. Before. some of the farmers lost their land because of disease. They paid so nmch for medical ex- penses that they could not keep up their land and house. especially because of tuberculosis (Kakkaku). There is a movement throughout Japan for this type of cooperative. Through this cooperative. they have the custom of reporting to the doctor before the disease gets too bad. This is one of the most important functions of the cooperative. “Transportation to the village office is no problem. The village-is formed like a circle because of the delta formed by the two rivers. We believe our town is ideal because of its location. In some villages. people had to walk ten or twenty kilometers to the center of town. but this is especially true in newly amalgamated villages. Fortunately, we have no such problem. Besides. there is a closed circuit broadcasting system. This was set up because we were worried about such problems as communication and transportation. This cost about 3 5,000,000 (about $13,900). There are nine branches all over town. One main station is at the center of town. so there is good means of communication. For one thing. it is good for fires. Quick communication means more people can be informed faster. "We have two plans for unifying the whole town. First is to unite the cooperatives. The agriculture cooperative is hard to amalgamate because each has its specialty -- each is localized. But there are two forestry cooperatives and we are planning on unifying 60 these into one big unit. Since 80 per cent of the land is in the mountains. forestry management is a big problem. Well-planned and rational management based on statistics will be the best way to get money from the forests. Besides. we need much money to perfom the big undertakings planned since the gappei. Amalgamation of the forestry cooperatives is most important. “The second plan is improvement of the land. As land im- provement is one of the basic conditions to increase production. this plan is considered important. We tried to improve the land in all three villages by each doing it individually. but we couldn't accomplish this with good results. So this is another post-gappei plan." Iamamoto: "I would like to see taxes reduced. They have come down a little'since the gappei. especially for the salary man. But farmers have to pay too much tax. In the past. the economic psoition of the landlord has declined in importance. Ordinary farmers have gained in relative economic standing. bier- chants have lost some ground also. They are not poor in daily life. but they do not have much capital. Before. they were able to save money. Fishermen have gradually declined in economic importance. ”Educational aspirations have risen. Now most youngsters go to high school. Little separation betwen eldest son (93933;) and second son (3%). or between boys and girls. Even farmers. 11' they can afford it. send children to high school. All of the ‘ .v , .11va. 5.. a .n BL ., HWWJI kw Flaunt] . 61 children of my close friends. five boys and three girls. graduated from high school this year. and all are going on to college. "The 6—3-3 educational system.has changed the curriculum and general principles of school and this has made it possible for children to act more freely. but on the other hand. they want to go to their own way and misunderstand freedom. I feel students are students and they should have freedom only within their limits as students. I act in a common sense way for my age. but students do not. This is because teachers do not know what freedom is. They are old teachers. trained by the old code and don't know what to rely on with the sudden change - they are backboneless. The new teachers are better. They have been trained with the new system and gradually teachers. parents and students will learn freedom. They haven't yet. but maybe later.” Bando: ”I personally feel the abolishment of the traditional family system was a bad idea. Through this system. children were taught that they have to obey their parents. the emperor and the fact that the whole Japanese people are related through blood -- a kind of Japanese Spirit (Yamato damashii). Unfortunately. children now days have no such idea and they are apt to do bad things easily. Before. a man refrained from doing bad because it was bad for the ancestors. but now days children do not consider their ancestors. And I personally think this is one of the main reasons that we have more crimes and killings than in the old days. The old system is now considered to be bad for human relations. but I think that system is the best for moral education and prevention of crime. ’I . -..H1. 1...! .F hand/Z in. .3 h witrl . 62 "Many of the villagers think that more moral education is needed among the young today. Young pe0ple are educated by the new educational system and they agree with democracy. but they do not know what morality is. which was taught in the old system. The worst examples are those children who do not know who the emperor and empress are. Another thing that is needed is more teaching of Japanese history. History is one of the bases for present day culture. If they don't know history, they won't be able to build the culture of tomorrow; It'will also be good to let them know what kind of bad things their ancestors did in the past. "Young people also have the wrong idea about freedom. They don't notice the duty behind freedom. To have the better life we all have to Obey the rules of society. Personally. I think democratic education to let people know the idea of freedom.was too fast for Japanese youth. They should have learned the meaning of the word after they had gained a moral education." When asked if he was happy with his life in Aioi. Bando answered: "we are happy with our contemporary life. with the warm weather and the beautiful sights. except for the typhoons. We are well-educated compared with the level of Japan (more high school graduates than the national average according to Bando). There is enough entertainment. There are only two things I wish we could have: greater production and more land." 63 'Grammar §ghggl,Principal Both Bando and Yamamoto were concerned with the new 6-3-3 educational system and the general lack of moral training among Aioi yough. The following interview with the grammar school principal is presented to give a school administrator's view of the changes in education. "The enrollment in the grammar school is about 763. There are about 350 in the middle school. There has not been much change in enrollment in the past ten years. Co-education does not present any particular problem. At first. the children in the upper grades of grammar school did not seem to like the system. but they are . doing well now. Children around the age of 11 or 12 like the system of boys and girls sitting together in the classroom. But they hesitate in front of an audience on class day. They will not play and dance together at that time. though they do it in physical education classes. “Social problems was added to the curriculum in place of geOgraphy. history and moral education. Compared with the old system. children now have only a slight knowledge of the history and geOgraphy of their own country. As opposed to this. they learn an active attitude toward solving the prOblems of their own lives in social problems. Children have no morality in their lives and it is at this point that pe0ple educated in the old system complain and denounce the new system. From the educator's jpoint of view. complaints about the new system sound reasonable only in.a way. They think those persons who complain indicate that they 64 really don't know anything about the new system. Complaints are a result of a lack of understanding. Children are taught independence and positiveness. For example. they can speak up and Oppose the opinion of others easily. This is the kind of thing the old people don't like. New days. Children can talk back to persons in higher positions. 80. I personally think this is the reason parents don't like the new education system. From the teacher's point of view. these are problems which arise in a period of transition. They don‘t think these are bad habits. this talking back to parents. A Village Ass emblw Masao Ban. 55. village assemblyman from Umayado buraku had the following to say about the changes during the past ten years: ”The biggest change in the past ten.years has been the intro- duction of engei sakamotsu and also animal husbandry. especially milk cows. Ten years ago. there were no milk cows. now there are 100. the highest number of any village in Okawa-gun. The third change has been mechanization. Around Show 27 (1952) there was only one threshing machine (dakkoki) in Umayado. now there are more than ten. Four years ago. there were no kounki in Umayado, now there are six. Before the introduction of the motor pump. we had to get water from.the well by hand. Now it is done by motor. Even the water for irrigation had to be obtained from the 'wells by hand in Umayado because of the lack of water in the rivers. Now that we have pumps. farmers can work on other things. such as engei and milk cows. 65 ”The level of daily living has become higher than before in Umayado. Formerly. only one store could exist. but now more than ten are supported by Umayado residents. Farmers have come to buy more things. Working hours have become shorter A- from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with one hour taken out for lunch. "The status of women has risen. They are coming to manage the daily expenses and have greater say in the management of the house. But still the man has final say. Young people have greater prestige now because they'are for mechanized farming and have studied farming problems very thoroughly; such as engei. dairy- ing. etc. Sons know much more than their fathers. Usually the eldest son takes over the responsibility of the household when he is about 35 years old. This is usually when the father is in his 60's and can' work full time. Generally. the eldest son takes over and no land is given to the daughters or the younger sons." .423. W Medal Tadao Asakura. specialist of the agricultural cooperative association. had this to say about changing agriculture since 19h8: ”The price of land has increased during the ten years. In Shows 21 (1946), before the land reform. the price was between a: 1,000 and x 1,500 per tan. Now. in Shows 34 (1959), the price is about I 160,000 to a: 200,000 per tan. When tenants bought land .from.the landlord. the price was divided.#0 per cent for the land- Ilord and 60 per cent for the tenant. Thus. if one tan is sold to a tenant today. he must pay 3 12,000 for land.valued at 3'20.000. This percentage is advantageous to the landlord when compared to the land reform.prices of 1998. ”Ten years ago. rice. wheat. sugar cane and sweet potatoes were the main crops. Rice and.wheat were traditional. When the war ended. there was a scarcity of sugar. so sugar cane was culti- vated. Potatoes were grown to supplement rice and wheat. Now. however. rice and wheat have not increased. but have decreased. The area under rice and wheat cultivation had declined. but the output is about the same because of improved techniques. Sweet potato has declined and also sugar cane. Sweet potato is not in demand. and sugar cane is better from abroad. "Engei sakamotsu. watermelon. pumpkin. tomato and white potato are highly develOped now. These products were first begun in about Shows, 21 (19%). They are sold in Osaka. Kobe. Takamatsu and Tokushima. There is also more rush (igggg) for making floor mats Wbeing grown. ”Farmers' labor has increased considerably. There is little distinction between leisure and labor now. Before engei. the two 'were distinguishable. Previously. they went out to the Hanshin district fer second jobs. but now they do not do this because they are too busy with engei. For this reason. the second and third sons problem (ii-saunas M) is not so urgent because many are ab- sorbed in engei cultivation. Also the glove factory absorbs some of them. 6? "Aioi soil is poorer than other parts of Kagawa prefecture. In an effort to improve the soil. they are bringing in new. good soil. This began about three months ago. This project is being carried out by the Aioi Land Improvement Association. It is not controlled by the village office, but is an independent organization of farmers. This organization has an important role in village . agriculture. ”The success of the Manchurian repatriates in engei and fruit .‘.‘1‘ cultivation was influential on the natives. The repatriates were -Ufi— C. 'w-r- 1'. natives who had sold their land before they went to hanchuria. So. when they returned to Aioi. there was no land available for them. They reclaimed land in the mountains. and were eager to study and worked hard. Thus. their economic position went up. and now they can cope with the natives. "There are about 200 or less kounki in Aioi. Farmers who have much land. about five tan or more. usually have a kounki. About six of ten households that have five or more tan own a kounki. It is usually the young man in the family who wants to buy the kounki. but older men are too prudent and many times there is conflict. Stimulation to buy kounki in some cases is vanity. but in other cases. they are keen to buy kounki if a neighbor has one. Kounki shows status in the village. Famers do not study be- fore they buy. If a famer does not have more than five tan. then buying a kounki is not practical nor profitable. But some farmers buy them anyway because of vanity or social reasons. not for profit." $432191 9; the Agricultugg Committee Koji Mitani. 40-year-old member of the agriculture committee, also saw engei as the biggest change: "The biggest change in the past ten years has been engei. There was some of it ten years ago. but at that time. the farmers sowed seeds directly to the cultivated land. Now they sow first in seed beds under frames of vinyl and then transplant three or four times before setting the young plants out in the field. This is why it takes so much labor -- because of the careful treatment. Ten years ago they didn't do this. Each farmer had a special technique which he kept as his secret. He did not want other farmers to know be- cause of fear they would produce too much. Now there is more co- operation because engei is sold on a larger scale when it is marketed. The idea now is more production for all. This means . more money to the individual. Now too. they must use common species at the market place. They cannot hide their techniques or use special seeds. So. now there is much cooperative research and growing. "Before the land reform. tenants were not so eager to culti- vate other people's land because no matter what the tenant grew. it could be taken away. Now that farmers have their own land. they are stimulated to work harder (Mitani is still part tenant). Now the tenants are hard workers and willing to study. 1hr own attitude toward agriculture has changed from a negative one to a very positive one. The landlord still has some land which should be freed. The 69 national policy is to take this land and sell it to tenants. In two or three years. the land reform will be complete. Now there is no antagonism between landlord and tenant. At the time of the land reform. there was some trouble and conflict. Now day. tenants need not follow'the Opinion of the landlords. "Here in Aioi. the land reform was carried through quite smoothly because the landlords were not strong to begin with. They could do nothing because it was a national policy. When owner-cul- tivators sell land. the money is usually used to set the person up in business or it is invested. There is no tendency for big land- lords to develop because everyone wants land." :3; Efiension gent Looks a_t_ Aioi Masaru Mizuguchi. one of three agricultural extension agents in the Aioi area. discusses the characteristics of Aioi farmers: "Aioi people are easy to influence on new things and soon after they see something is profitable. they jump on it without thinking. When the former extension agent tried to introduce carrots. onions and strawberries. Aioi people took it up much more than he expected. All failed. The extension wanted to run 'them on a small scale with only a feW'farmers on a trial basis. but everyone jumped in. 'When they failed to produce much. the extension agent was in trouble. Now these things have been dropped for the most part. ”Another characteristic is the financial dependence of Aioi jpeople.‘ They won't do new things without subsidies from the village. ken or nation. Soon after the war. the village head was good at Ila din“ niiifl. 7O getting money from the prefecture and nation. Farmers get much money from rice because of the subsidies. They have come to rely on sub- sidies and therefore have a kind of financial dependence. ”One other thing I have noticed is that farmers will readily exchange seed with other farmers. but they are reluctant to buy new seeds, we teach them to change seeds every three years. ”There are differences between mountain peoples and those living near the seashore. When the seashore peOple have group lectures. they want to go home at 10 p.m. But the mountain people will stay up all night talking and gossiping. They don't care about time. This is true of all mountain villages in Okawa gun. The people also take up new techniques from the extension agent on the flat land and seashore quicker than in the mountains. In the mountains. men work in the forests and the women do the farming. Furthermore. because they are women. they have no right to change techniques. "women show eagerness and enthusiasm about engei. such as ‘watermelon and pumpkin because these are things they can watch growing day by day and they enjoy seeing things grow. Further- :more. they get more money from one ton of engei than from a single ‘ton of rice. This is a practical reason for the change. "Buraku characteristics reflect the character of the leader ill each buraku. If the leader is progressive. the buraku people accept new techniques easily. For example. in Sakamoto. Yamashita Shimpei took new short-growing rice and being a powerful. leader. he ckwmnged the irrigation system in order to introduce the new rice 71 species. The residents of Sakamoto cooperate in getting rid of in- sect damage as a result of a program Shimpei backed. "Young people are easy to deal with. middle age peOple are 0. K.. but the old men are stubborn. When we hold meetings. the old men come. Even the old men from the mountainous area come. but they do not farm. The Agricultural Study Group and the 4-H club are the basic groups which we introduce new techniques. Another group is the agricultural cooperative association. The general trend is from teaching individually to group instruction. More and more groups are appearing. and this is a more efficient way of teach- ing. A group of about 30 or 40 is best to work with. The 4-H.club now numbers about 25. It is best for service work such as promoting ant and insect eradication campaigns. but they cannot bring change about immediately because of their youth. After they reach about 25 years old, they join the Agricultural Study group and do regular research and hold meetings to which the extension agents are invited as teachers and lecturers. It is the richer than the average people that show the most interest. "At first the extension agents and others in the village .neglected the Manchurian repatriates. Now. however. we are teaching ‘them how to grow tangerines (mikgn). Ten are growing tangerines and.this they learned by cooPerating well with us. I think joint ownership of orchards would be better. but there is no response to ‘this among the repatriates. "we are not active in the Eta community. The only thing we have taught them is to grow watermelon. ‘we go to Yoshida buraku 72 for discussion and to teach. but the Eta do not come to the discus- sion meetings. The gatherings are held in the community center (kgminkgn) in Ybshida. The Eta did not help pay for building the center and though they officially'have the right to attend meetings. they seem to have an inferiority'complex and do not come. Another thing is that they don't have much cultivated land. (Only four or :flye families have shown an interest in agriculture. I think their leadership is well-organized and if I can penetrate a little into the Eta community. I can help them. They have strong buraku solidarity. . “The major change in the past ten years has been the change in the relationship between leisure and'work. The daily cycle is more rationalized with breaks throughout the day. In Ednamino buraku. for example. farmers used to work all day and night and take no breaks through the day. Now that the season is 12 months because of engei. they must slow the pace through the day work the full year. These people in Minamino work harder than the others. They have a reputation for hard.work and this is because of the good land and the fact that they are generally rich. "The most difficult problem with this work is that we have to work at night. The farmers can only gather at night. They do not think studying is working. but think of it as play. They are busy in the daytime. but we have to work with them at night. for which we get no extra pay. "The farmers do not think of themselves as independent thinkers. So they wait until someone else succeeds in introducing 73 something new and this delays the process of change. Still. Amoi people readily take new changes. The reason is that they experienced success in the raising of watermelon. It was introduced in 1951 and those who took it up earned about 3 120.000 (about $333) per ton. This snowballed and people grew more enthusiastic. .Peppermint was introduced in Hiketa during the war. but it failed. That experience made people think they could not rely on the village office for agri- cultural advice. so they are somewhat resistant to change." Summary Everyone interviewed agreed there had been considerable change during the ten-year period. Each. however. saw those changes in terms of his own particular interests. The local leaders saw the gappei as the most important change in the decade. the school ad- ministrator was interested in the changes in the education of youngs- ters. the agricultural specialist felt engei was the biggest change. and the extension agent thought the realignment of work and leisure 'was the biggest change in the past ten years. The purpose of this paper. however. is not to determine which of these changes was the most important. but to try and understand the why and how of these changes. One approach is to view the changes as resulting from the intake of'new or different informa- tion'by the farmers and residents of Aioi. Things are different today because the residents of Aioi were exposed to new techniques. :new'fertilizers. new crops. or just new information in general. The ‘question that must be answered is: How does this information get; 74 passed from its origin down to the farmers in Aioi? How does Saito the farmer get information about such things as Z-A-D? One answer is through the associational structure. i.e.. the various linkages the individual farmer has with other farmers within the village and also the linkages the farmers have with the prefectural and national governments. and with the nation-at-large. It is through these linkages that information is passed. Two kinds of linkages have been posited. intradvillage linkages and.village- nation linkages. Chapter five will explore the function of the intraavillage linkages as communication channels. Chapter six'will be concerned with the village-nation linkages and the way they function as channels for the flow of information. CHAPTER V INTRAFVILLAGE LINKAGES There are a number of intra-village linkages for the average farmer in Aioi. Farmers are linked together through the various groups and associations in which they hold membership. These ‘1-_.- associations function as channels of communication for the flow . (i of information to the individual. The linkages within Aioi include kinship groups. neighborhood groups. cooperatives. religious associ- ations. youth groups. women's clubs. and many others. all of which serve to link the residents of Aioi tOgether. Kinship Eggagyi The household, or family. is the basic social unit for Aioi residents. It is the smallest unit of consequence for the indi- vidual. Activities within the village are usually undertaken by the household rather than the individual. It is the household. not the individual. that generally participates in buraku or village affairs. A meeting is considered to be fully attended if at least one representative is present from each household. The importance of the household is evidenced by the fact that most persons judge the size of a village or buraku by the number of households. rather than by the number of individuals. 75 76 Many households embrace three generations. or about seven or eight persons. A typical household is composed of a grandfather and grandmother. their eldest son and his wife and their children. In some instances. due to the increasing life span among old peeple. there is also a fourth generation included in the household. As noted above, it is the eldest son who remains in the house of his father. The younger sons generally leave the household. and in many cases. the village as soon as they are old enough to go out and earn a living. The Japanese have traditionally followed the rule of primogeniture. the eldest son inheriting the house and be- longings of the parent. Beardsley's explanation of the household in Niike (1959) also applies to Aioi: . It is possible to think of a household as an economic entity. or as a kin group. Most households are both at once in Niike. The members of a household act to- gether as a unit for production and consumption. They also are kindred. linked together by consaguine. affinal. or adoptive ties. Ideally. the household has patrilineal continuity. each generation being linked to the next in a genealogical succession through men. The eldest male born to the house stays in the house all his life to serve as head and connecting link between his male predecessor and successor. Others are not lifelong members; some are born in the house but leave after maturing. while the rest join the household only as adults. by marriage or adoption. As the basic social and economic unit. the kinship group. or household. is the object of much of the information which flows throughout the village. Information concerning new methods of production. fertilizers and machinery is ultimately consumed by members of the household. The cultivation of engei was undertaken 77 by the household. The agricultural extension agents aimed their in- formation about engei at the household unit. In some instances there was support from the younger members of the household and Opposition from the elders. However. in no case did a household take up culti- vation of the new crops without the approval of its old men. The household also functions as a channel of information flow. There are a number of cases in Aioi where younger sons have estab- lished a household apart from the father. but still within the village. This establishment of a secondary household is referred to in Japanese as PEEL? (a branch family). The main family is called @232. Tho patterns of W-bppkg were evident in Aioi. One such extended family is the Yano family. In this case families of the same name, Yano. were grouped together in a rather small. contiguous area. In the second example. the Nagamachi family. members were scattered throughout the village. But in both instances. kinship ties were very strong. There was (still noticeable dependence by the bunks on the honke. he adoption of new techniques in farming. purchase of machinery. etc.. was still to a considerable extent under the control of the main family. The household also functions as a channel for information for other households in the area. The informal relationships be- tween families and households are important in the passage of infor- mation and often it is passed by the main family to the branch. Importance of the honke-bunke relationships. however. is decreasing. One informant. for example. said: 78 When my second son gets married and establishes a house- hold of his own. I might think of it in terms of being a bunke. but not in the traditional sense. In most cases. I would only think of’him as a second son who had gotten married. The cooperative work that used to be associ- ated with the honke-bunke relations is generally non- existent. The only time honke-bunke relations become important at all are at festive or religious gatherings. Though kinship ties are still strong, the traditional aspects of honke-bunke have passed away. Thus. though some of the traditional aspects of the branch family system may be losing in importance. it still functions as an in- formation channel and a social unit at traditional gatherings. Kinship is important. but it is compromised by territori- ality. (One example of this is with regard to voting behavior at the local level. Sometimes in the electoral process. there is con» flict regarding which loyalties a person should adhere to. kinship or territorial. Conflicting loyalties occur when a person's relative is a candidate for office and is being opposed by someone from that person's territorial group. In such cases. a person will generally divide his vote between his relative and his neighbor. ‘Villagers recognize that kinship ties are very strong and there is usually no hard feelings in such cases. It is explained by the phrase. ”shikata ga nai." roughly translated to mean. "it cannot be helped.” Sometimes there are strong sanctions invoked against those who do not vote for the territorial candidate. In umayado. for example. it was reported that several houses were torn apart and windows broken when it was learned that the residents had gone against the territorial group's choice. This is not too common. however. 79 WW The basic unit of group identification for the average Aioi resident is the tgggriggpmi.(literally. neighborhood association). The tonari-gumi was formed during the war. and functions mainly as a unit for funerals and other cooperative occasions. It is not a legally recognized organization under existing law. having been officially abolished by the occupation authorities. The number of households composing a tonari-gumi varies. usually from.five to ten. In some buraku. it is the smallest terri- torial group. whereas in others. like Minamino. the gagiggggggggri (neighboring houses). is the smallest neighborhood unit. Three households generally comprise an uchi-no-tonari. and it functions mainly for borrowing such things as salt. scissors and spoons. It was also related that if a member of the uchi-no-tonari leaves the village for a short time. the other members of the group look after the house while it is vacant. The tonari-gumi in the other buraku serves much the same purpose. The next largest unit after the tonari-gumi is the kgizyg kpgigi Cliterally. improvement association). Usually two or three tonari-gumi comprise a.kairyo kumiai. of which there are 29 in Aioi. This is the most functional group from the standpoint of infermation flow. It was organized after the war to disseminate new agricultural techniques to the individual household. It was meant to replace the tonari-gumi officially. although in most cases. the tonari-gumi continues to function. The kairyo kumiai functions as the channel of communication 80 from the town office to the individual household. It is the responsi- bility of its chief to inform.all members of his unit of messages from the town hall by going from.door-to-door. The head also func- tions as a tax collector for the village. The jdb is troublesome and difficult and therefore is not actively sought by villagers. In Kureha. Minamino. Yoshida. Umayado and Kawamata buraku. the posi- tion is rotated from.household head to household head on a regular basis. In Sakamoto. on the other hand, a young man is appointed to this position. The kairyo kumiai functions as a channel for information from the Agricultural CoOperative and the extension agents to the house- hold. Infbrmation about new techniques. such as new fertilizers. is given to the kairyo kumiai chief and he in turn passes it along to the members of his association. This obviously makes for effec- tive and rapid dissemination of information. The extension agent. whether familiar with the area or new to it. knows he can depend on Eb information getting to the household heads if he begins with the kairyo kumiai. This means an extension agent knows exactly where to go and whom to see in order to get information to the far- mers of the village. Instead of talking with more than 800 house- hold heads. he can pass information on to the 29 kairyo kumiai heads. saving much time for himself. The next level above the kairyo kumiai is the buraku. It is not a legally functioning unit. but is the unit of village identi- .fication for the average farmer. He thinks of himself as being a 81 member of sakamoto. Kureha or Yoshida. before he thinks of himself as being a resident of Aioi. The word ”mgmbgf. meaning member. is generally used to desig- nate the group to which a person belongs. But memba is a relative term. For example, Mitani tonari-gumi of Minamino buraku means the members of the Mitani group in relation to the members of other tonari-gumi. Hemba is also used at the kairyo kumiai and buraku level to differentiate members from one another. Thus. two persons from the same village. Aioi. would refer to themselves as memba. for example. of Sakamoto and Umayado. However. two persons from the same buraku. Sakamoto. would make reference to their kairyo kumiai memba-ship. And finally. two persons from the same kairyo kumiai would speak of their being memba of different tonari-gumi. This is much the same as two persons from.the United States making reference to the state in which they live. and if from the same state. to the city of their residence. In most instances. two persons living in the same city will differentiate themselves by reference to the section of the city. and ultimately it will come down to the street. or neighborhood. in which the persons live. hemba is a unit of "we feeling” based upon the level of social interaction. It is a consciousness of locality. It not only makes reference to the territorial group identification. but also to the social identification of the individual. Memba consciousness before the amalgamation of Aioi with Hiketa and Omi usually was never higher than the buraku. but since the amalgamation, it has come to refer to .Aioi. as opposed to Hiketa and Omi. 82 Introduction of new residents into a village is accomplished through the tonari-gumi. For a new resident to become a member of a tonaripgumi or kairyo kumiai. he must first give a.party; In re- cent years the party has been replaced with a gift of matches. or some other useful article. such as a towel. Meetings of the unit are generally held once each month. and after the formal infermation from.the town hall. cooperative. or extension service is passed along to members. thqydrink, eat and talk infernally. A.head of each household orhis representative. such as the eldest son. at- tends these monthly meetings. The important function of the monthly meetings is that of communication. Information is passed from town hall. cooperative and extension service to the individual. The unit also functions as a.mutual assistance group for funerals. births and deaths. In the event a household experiences misfortune. memba households pitch in and lend a helping hand. Memba units of Aioi were in a state of change. generally toward decline of importance. Mamba solidarity grew out of the needs of everyday living and interaction. such as mutual aid at rice transplanting (tape). housebuilding. road construction. irriga- tion ditch repair. birth and death. However. technical changes. farm management and farm operations are all undergoing change and are causing change in the traditional functions of the memba. Roads are being built by the prefectural government; engei has al- tered the traditional work patterns. making cooperation difficult; 83 roofs are being constructed of tile by roof builders who are paid cash; and births and deaths are being handled by agencies outside the household and neighborhood unit. These and other changes have become evident in the past ten years. Signs of malfunction and tenp sion are noticeable. The kinds and rate of change which will occur in the nature of the memba. however. still depend on the solidarity existent in the individual memba. [Much of the communication function of the tonari-gumi and kairyo kumiai has been taken over by various voluntary groups. These voluntary groups cross-cut territorial groups described above. The proliferation of these organizations and the development of interest and participation in them has been one of the major changes over the past ten years in Aioi. This will be discussed more fmhky in the remainder of this chapter. Beagles In the last decade. a number of social and economic events have occurred which have altered the traditional religious prac- tices in Aioi. An economically marginal village such as Aioi is more likely to adopt innovations than a more prosperous village be- cause the people are willing to experiment with change in an attempt to improve their livelihood. As pointed out earlier. labor and time became two of the most valuable and scarce commodities for the farmer. The year was no longer divided into a busy season and leisure season. Every season had.become the busy season. The entire year now was taken 8“ up by the various activities associated with agriculture. As one would expect in such a time-conscious environment. the amount of time devoted to the preparation and execution of religious activities had declined markedly. When asked if he participated in religious ritual as often as in the past. Kiyoshi Saito. 55-year-old farmer. answered: I don't participate as much as I did before the intro- duction of engei. It isn't that I am less interested in religion that before. but I just do not have the time to participate at this particular time because of my work. Religious rituals and festivals are carried out by each buraku individually; there are no village-wide festivals. Most are held in the summer and fall months. prior to and after transplana- tation of the rice seedlings and harvest. and also at New Year's by the lunar calendar. In each buraku a 1913. or local shrine head is chosen by lot from among the older households of high status. The position of toya. and its inherent prestige. formerly rotated to a limited number of wealthy households whose responsibility it was to make preparations for the festivals. The toya system was well- developed and central in the dissemination of prestige and status. and in validation of the status of the household as "proper village menbers.” ' The social organization of the shrine group and the religious rites and festivals changed profoundly. The land reform had the affect of generally equalizing the wealth of the village. But more important. the Manchurian repatriates gradually infiltrated the 85 system. and after giving a large party or banquet. were allowed to become toya. More recently. members of the Eta community were also made eligible for toyaship. although none have thus far accepted the responsibility because they cannot afferd to give the banquet. Nevertheless. the old system of relationships based on prestige and hierarchy. revolving around the shrine festivals. has ceased to exist in its traditional fern. m and W. The religious life of the average Aioi resident is a combination of Shinto and Buddhism. The following re- marks made by Donoghue (1957) about religious life in Shinpmachi apply equally well to Aioi religious life: Religious affairs also function to integrate the com. munity. Religious festivals are of two kinds: the Buddhist festivals which commemorate the dead. and the Shinto or shrine festivals in honor of the local tute- lary deities. While their thematic emphases differ. the rites are identical and the overall unifying sym- bols are those of common ancestry. common territory and common problems. Clearly. the shrine and its gods are the locus of com- munity and territorial identification: the religious rites express a system of relationships which differ- entiate this territorial grouping from those surrounding it. and which give it a distinct socioreligious identity and.unity. There are eight Shinto shrines in Aioi. but only one priest for the entire Hiketa area. He is Masahiko Nakayama. h1-yearbold priest of the Honda Shrine. the largest in the Hiketa area. There are two shrines in Sakamoto and Kawamata. and one in each of the other four buraku. In 1908. a policy of shrine amalgamation was adopted similar to the village amalgamation. and there was to be ‘13..“ 86 one shrine for each buraku. The shrines in Kawamato and Sakamoto did not join. however. because of conflict over shrine-owned property and because of the power of influential.persons. A split in loyalty of buraku residents has resulted because of this failure to amalgamate. Parishioners of a given shrine are referred to as ufiikg. All inhabitants of Aioi are ujiko of some shrine. For example. those persons living in Yoshida buraku are ujiko of the Ninomiya shrine. In principle. ujiko areas coincide with territorial groups. In Sakamoto and Kawamata. where there are two such shrines. the ujiko is divided according to membership in the tonari-gumi. Hemba groups and.ujiko are inseparable; whenever a new resident enters the memba. he also muSt become a member of the ujiko group and is required to contribute to the upkeep of the shrine in his area. For repairs of the shrine. each household offers a laborer. and for the §Q;§Qi_mai (Lion's Dance) festival in the autumn. all young men who have finished middle school and are younger than 25 years of age participate. They dance from house to house within the ujiko. At each household. they are given donations. usually about I 100 ($.25) which is used for a celebration following the festival. Those who do not participate are required to donate to the shrine. The entire family gathers at the shrine for the autumn festi- val. At that time. even those family members who are away from 87 home return. This is a time when information is passed from family member to family member. At such gatherings. information about new farming techniques and methods is passed throughout the family. The number of festivals has declined in recent years. There are only four major festivals at the present time: New Year's; festival in May; summer festival; and the most crucial of all. the autumn festival. Festivals generally pass out of existence because their function is no longer felt necessary. The EE§2$.QKEEL (send off the insects) festival. for example. was held at each shrine to pray for keeping rice free from insects. Amulets were made and set beside the paddy field. Now. however. this festival is no longer practiced. Fields are now sprayed to keep them free from insects and residents said they feel that setting amulets by the field.was ineffectual and only a superstition. There is evidence that the traditional functions of the shrines is weakening. but they continue to function to bring family members tOgether at least once each year. The shrines also function to rein. ferce territorial solidarity and pass along information among members. The shrine is the symbol of c00perative consciousness for the terri- torial group. This is especially true in Sakamoto and Kawamata where the shrine reinforces territorial solidarity and at the same time acts as a wedge splitting the two buraku with factions. The two Buddhist temples in Aioi are Saikoji and Tokaiji. Attendance at the temples is light except for a few customary ob- servances during the year. It is generally the older villagers who .. flying . vADuEQI‘ 88 attend the temples; few middle aged or young. The saikoji is the more popular because it is of the Shinshu sect. Informants relate that there has been little change in the relative status and at- tendance at the temples during the past decade. Neither temple is instrumental in the dissemination of infor- mation not related to the propagation of the faith. There are no yearly gatherings bringing together large numbers of'persons. and there are no functional buraku organizations related to the shrines. The Buddhist temples are. however. a source of information from.out- side the village. being a part of the Great Tradition in which mil- lions of Japanese participate. 52922112.; §2_is a generic term referring to a number of different groups. usually with a religious or pseudo-religious orientation which are formed for a single purpose. The function of the ko. in addition to religion. is usually related to recreation. excursions. financing. or some other specific purpose. Members of the Izumo ko. for example. save money cooperatively and take an excursion to the Izumo shrine once each year. Two ko groups in Aioi are composed mainly of old men. They hold a monthly meeting at which they drink sgkg.and dis- cuss matters of interest to members. They do not go on excursions. The main purpose of these particular ko is to provide a regular meeting and bull-session for the members. One of the most meaningful ko groups for the average Aioi resident is the mg kg. or mutual financing association. It 89 is derived from a similar Chinese institution. The form it takes varies throughout Japan. but in general the pattern is the same. The association comes into being because of one person's need for money. and is under his control and responsibility. It comes about gener- ally as follows: One person is in need of a sum of money. say I 12.000. ,He finds a number of other people to join. some of whom might also be in need of money. The number is usually between ten and thirty. Each pays the organizer a eunbof money. say'X 1.000 apiece. giving him a total of 3'12.000. The participants meet each month. and at each meeting. pay in a sum of the money to the ko. The amount to be paid each month is determined by the amount of interest each bidder marks secretly on his ballot. The highest interest bid each month is deducted from the original amount I 1.000 in this case. The person who makes the highest bid gets each person's contribution for the month. Once a participant has received money from.the asso- ciation. he can no longer bid on the money. and must make succeeding payments in the amount of the original figure without subtracting interest. I 1.000 in this example. Some of the participants come out ahead. while others lose money by their participation. The tanomoshi ko. then. is a means whereby the organizer can obtain interest-free money. The other members gamble on the amount of interest they will pay. or the amount they come out ahead. Success of the association depends on the integrity of the individuals. Each member. even after taking his loan. must continue to show up at 90 each monthly meeting and make his monthly payment. Members have to know they can trust one another. In a small community. of course. there are a number of sanctions which can be brought to bear on those who fail to live up to their monthly Obligations. An important function of the group. from.the standpoint of intraavillage linkages. is the monthly gathering. At these regular meetings. tea or sake is generally served and members drink and dis- cuss. IInformation is passed from one member to the others and in many cases. new linkages are formed.between hitherto strangers. The social function of the associations becomes as strong as the economic function for which it was originally formed. mama The women of Aioi are linked together through membership in thelfiujinkgi (Women's Association). The association was formed in 19h8. Host of the 3h0 women members are in their 30's. and most are the wives of farmers. The association is divided into nine branches. two in Sakamoto, Minamino and Yeahida. and one in each of the other three buraku. Each branch elects a head (shibucho). and the head of the larger association is elected from the nine branch heads. Miss Toyoko Nakayama is head of the Aioi Fujinkai. as well as serving as head of the combined Omi. Hiketa and Aioi Fujinkai. The stated functions of the group are: 1) public and social service. 2) self-education. 3) to be the women's counterpart of the agricultural association. and b) to cultivate mutual friendship 91 among the members of the club. Monthly meetings are held except during June and July. the busy season in the fields. The monthly meetings held in each buraku are important from the standpoint of intra-village linkages. A.number of topics are discussed at these meetings. such as kitchen improvement. gardening and life improvement in general. The group was instrumental in the spread of information about engei and new farming techniques. The group has been very active in the past. but interest seems to be declining. During the time of the research. the final meeting for the year was held. This was to be the biggest and most important meet- ing of the entire year. Only 50 women attended. Miss Nakayama explained that interest in the Fujinkai was rapidly diminishing. Up for discussion at that meeting was'whether or not to diSband the association. Those present. the most active members. decided not to disband. The only interest women ShOW'in the Fujinkai is when an axe cursion is planned. Nine bus loads of women went on an excursion Just prior to the above-mentioned meeting. Miss Nakayama said the 'women do not come to meetings to discuss home improvements or pub- lic service. but merely to gossip. She feels this gossip is dis- ruptive and should not be carried on at the Fujinkai meetings. Buddhist women. who were dissatisfied with the Fujinkai. are linked together by a splinter group known as the fiBkKIE.EBJth§l (Buddhist Women’s Association). Members of this group are generally older than Fujinkai members. The primary function of the group. which was formed in 1957. is recreation and enjoyment. They gather and go on pilgrimages and excursions. There is a branch head in each buraku. Seinendgg A considerable amount of information about agriculture and related subjects is disseminated throughout the village by the §§inenggp (Youth Association). The group serves to link the young people of the village. Mbnthly meetings are held in each buraku. and an annual villageawide planning meeting is held once each year. membership numbers about 170 young males and females. The functions of the group are cultural. recreational and educational. To qualify for membership. a youth must be a middle school graduate (about 15 years old). but not more than 25 years of age. The group invites scholars and experienced persons to lecture on various subjects. for example. the mayor of Hiketa was invited to talk on local politics. many of the talks are concerned with agriculture and new techniques. The group also sponsors an athletic meeting (ungg|kai) each year. This is an important event in the village. At this time. buraku teams compete against one another in running games and other sports. Katsuya Mizutani. former head of the seinendan. reported that buraku consciousness comes out strongly at undo kai. In fact. he said in many instances buraku con- flicts break out at the annual meetings. One problem the association faces is finding a common time 93 for meetings each month. Most of the males are engaged in agriculture. whereas most of the girls work in the glove factory. Most functions are scheduled on the first and third lionday of the month. the leisure day for glove factory employees. Activities scheduled on other days of the month are usually held in the evening. Participation in the autumn festival (shishi-mai) is an important function of the Seinendan. Generally. Mizutani said. girls' activities are less im- portant than boys'. Attendance is reported to be decreasing. The largest number to attend a single meeting was 100. This occurred when the group was planting trees on the middle school's property. The main topic of discussion at recent meetings of the Seinendan has been love marriage (£113; W) as opposed to ar- ranged marriage (mia; W). The association is all for love marriages. but .no one in thegroup has gone through with such a marriage as yet. A committee was formed to deal with the love marriage-arranged marriage problem. but even the committee members obey their parents and have arranged marriages when the time comes. This is a general movement throughout rural Japan. but it has met with little success thus far. The M (Young Fellows Group) was organized in 1952 in protest against the Seinendan. It is comprised mainly of high school graduates. about 25. The primary functions of the group are promotion of general education and study of the tea ceremony. At the time of the research. there was no noticeable activity within the group. This was attributed to formation of cliques within the club . stagnating it. 94 The breaking off of splinter groups and declining attendance in many of the above-mentioned groups indicates two things: 1) young people are vigorously attempting to alter their way of life by making improvements and those unable to make the change separated from the rest. as indicated by the splinter group of older women forming the Bukkyo Fujinkai; and 2) that in Aioi there is a wide variety of life styles and interests and those who are not satis- fied with what they find in one organization. join or form a new one. The tendency is to join voluntary groups. not for membership alone. but with the purpose of increasing the standard of living. Qihszfim The Construction Corps (Kensetgu.§§n). Soil Group (Tsuchino 53;) and PTA link Aioi residents together through regularly scheduled meetings. At such meetings. infermation is passed from member to member. The Construction Corps numbers 23 young men. averaging about 21 years of age. Their main activities are forest replanation. grass cutting and road repairing. The group meets for one month each year and their work covers all Hiketa. This year the corps is repairing the road from Hiketa to Omi. Training classes are held in the Hiketa.primary school. Each evening after'work. the group hears lectures by various knowledgeable persons in the area. If no lecture is scheduled. participants are expected to study on their own. The soil group is smaller. with membership limited to those 95 persons less than 25 years of age. The group has been in existence about eight years. and.present membership numbers about 14 persons. Activities include monthly meetings. soil inspection tours. agricul- tural orientation and agricultural movies. There are two PTA. one for middle school and one for elemen- tary school. Both teachers and parents of school children are members. About 95 Per cent of the elementary PTA.members are women. Member- ship is about equally divided between men and women in the middle school PTA. Parents of the middle school PTA donated a tape re- corder and aided in the establishment of school regulations. Activity is reported as being mild.in the middle school PTA. Parents in the elementary PTA. on the other hand. are very enthusiastic. They fix luncheons for the children and invite other members to eat with them and their children. This provides the opportunity to learn about cooking balanced meals and talk tOgether. Presently. parents are making plans fer the construction of a plays ground and swimming pool for the school. AEIQEELEEZEL Cooperativg Assggiation The Agricultural Cooperative Association (Nogyg Kypdo Kumiai) is by far the largest and strongest group in Aioi. It is an impor- tant channel of communication. Information about new techniques. new fertilizers. etc.. is generally passed along from the Cooperative to the various kairyo kumiai. and on to the farmers. The Cooperative played an extremely important role in the introduction of engei. Of the Cooperative's more than 1.500 members. only about 130 96 are non-farmers. Non-farmer members are interested in the Cooperh ative as a place to save money. To qualify as a voting member in the Cooperative. one must own more than one cho of land. or be en- gaged in agriculture more than 90 days each year. Only six farm households. of 571. do not belong to the Cooperative. The Cooperative was established in 19u8 as part of a national law promulgated.by the Occupation forces. It was organized through- out Japan to replace the monopolistic. government-controlled system of agricultural associations which had existed since the turn of the century. The primary objective of the cooperative associ. ations was to maximum service to participating members rather than payment of dividends on invested capital. The Aioi Cooperative serves three main functions. according to he chief. Takeru Maruyama. The first function is financing. Members save money in the Cooperative. They can also borrow money to buy such things as machinery and milk cows. The C00perative is also involved in the sale of agricultural materials such as seed. fertilizer and tools to members. Farmers can also buy daily neces- sities. such as cooking sauce (ghgyu) from the cooperative. The third. and important function. is the marketing of goods for members. Most of the crops grown in Aioi are marketed through the Cooperative. Farmers deliver their rice or wheat to the Cooperative's warehouse. There it is inspected.by prospective buyers. honey from the sale of goods is paid the Cooperative. This money is then deposited in the savings account of the member. after the cost of 97 storage. etc. has been deducted. Garden products are shipped co- operatively through the Cooperative and money is paid the farmer in the same manner mentioned above. Fruit production is still too small to be shipped cooperatively. so each household markets its own fruit. The Cooperative is sub-divided into a number of smaller. special interest groups. such as the dairying section. chicken section. horticulture section. youth section and.women's section. These groups hold regular meetings in addition to their affili- ation with the Cooperative. No statistics were available on the membership of each of these special interest groups. Study A§sociations' Two other associations that played crucial roles in the introduction and dissemination of information relative to engei were the Agricultural Study Association m; m kg) and the Vinyl Garden Crops Study Association (BM Bugs; m 531). These have been organized in the last ten years and function as communication channels for information about improved agricultural techniques. These groups are in close contact with the Agricul- tural Cooperative Association and have been instrumental in relating information from the Cooperative to the farmer. Interest in these groups is running high. members are carrying out various research projects in an attempt to improve their cultivation practices. They are the most active groups in Aioi. Other study groups include the Fruit Study Association and 98 Citrus Fruit Study Association. The latter was formed by in- digenous persons who were influenced by the success of the Han- churian repatriates and began growing fruit. The Fruit Study Association numbers about 30 members. whereas the Citrus Fruit Study Association numbers only 15 members. Forestry. and W Cogeratnes Information concerning forested land is disseminated primarily through the Forestry Association (Shinrin Bumiai). It is an associ- ation of forestry owners. not forestry workers and serves as a communication channel for the forestry owners. There are about 216 forestry owners included in the membership of the association. Politically. it is an important organization because of the number of persons employed in forestry-related occupations. Nearly every- one in Kawamata. during the leisure season for rice does some work in the forests. The major problem before the Forestry Association is whether or not to amalgamate with the Omi and Hiketa associations. Forestry owners seem to oppose the move. but town officials are in favor of it. The role of the Fishing Cooperative Association (gyggyg Eygggigumiai) as an intraavillage linkage is declining. It no longer fulfills the function of an information channel it did ten years earlier. Of the 82 members, only one or two make their living from fishing; the rest are engaged in agriculture. either full or part time. The main function of the cooperative is the purchase of fish from members and sale to outsiders. There is no saving nor 99 financial assistance as in the Agricultural Cooperative Association. The only items the Fishing C00perative sells to members are fishing nets. The COOperative functions to advise those interested of good fishing spots. It is the only channel of communication for fishermen. Miscellaneoug Associations The Manchurian repatriates have their own linkages within the intra-village linkages. They have organized into the Recla- mation Agricultural Cooperative Association (Kaitaku Nogyp Kypdo KEElél). This is an active group. with very tight solidarity. They are mainly engaged in studying new techniques of cultivating engei and fruits. Another problem facing the repatriates is re- clamation of mountain lands for agriculture. This is a major con- cern of the Association. More than 100 glove factory workers are linked tOgether through membership in the Glove Makers Friendship Association (Tebukuro Bumiai,fiikgta.5himoku Kai). This is a Hiketaawide association. The association was formed to promote friendship and cooperation among workers in the various glove factories in Hiketa. This group has increased membership over the past ten years due mainly to the rapid expansion of glove making in the area. The main objectives of the Irrigation Association (Buiri Mai) are the management of damage done by water and improvement of the rivers for irrigation purposes. The association is in fact a series of smaller. regional groups. During the past ten years. the Irrigation Association has undergone reorganization because of 100 the change in farm ownership due to the land reform. Other associations in.Aioi include: Agricultural Products Cooperative Association. Tobacco Cultivators Association. Dairy- ing Association and Rush (Igusa) Cultivators Association. Summary It is conceivable that every Aioi resident is linked.with every resident. if not directly. then indirectly through a.mutua1 linkage. This is especially true for those engaged in agriculture due to the proliferation of organizations related to agriculture. Nearly every household has at least one representative in an agri- culture-related association. All households are members of the various territorial associations. memba. tonari-gumi. kairyo kumiai. buraku and mura. Membership in kinship. religious and various vol- untary groups places the farmer in a vast information flow network. A key organization in this network is the Agricultural Cooperative Association. Most information about agriculture has its origin in the village at the cooperative. A number of groups are directly under the control of the cooperative. and many others are closely. if indirectly. related to it. Much of the information passed along by the various study groups. the youth association. women's club and other associations is provided by the cooperative. Information is passed along both formally and infernally. Lectures. movies. pamphlets and other techniques are utilized by Some groups. whereas others maintain a freer social atmosphere in which new techniques are discussed informally. It is usually at these meetings that the successes and reasons for success are passed on from farm.household to farm.household. CHAPTER‘VI VILLAGE—NATION LINKAGES Levelopment not only depends on intra-village linkages. but also on village-nation linkages. Intraavillage linkages are but one part of the information flow picture. The flow of information into the village, whether it be from the nation. prefecture. county. city or other villages. is just as crucial as the flow of informa- tion throughout the village. Aioi residents are linked together in one kind of information network. whereas the village taken as a totality is linked with other units in a different. but similar. information network. Information originating at the national or prefectural level is disseminated to the more than 10.000 villages through such an information network. This information flow is accomplished in a number of different ways: through the agricultural extension ser- vice. the cooperative structure. governmental agencies. mass commu- nications and others. This chapter will be concerned with the flow 0f information into the village. with the village and its organi- zations as the channel through which the information is passed along to the individual. _A_ Case Study The introduction of 2-3-5-T weed killer provides an excellent 101 102 example of the flow of information from farmer to nation and back to farmer. It all began when a certain farmer in Mizuwake village in Northern Japan was having difficulty getting rid of some stubborn weeds. He had talked with the extension agent earlier about the prOblem and had tried M.C.P.. Z-A-D and P.C.P.. but none had proved strong enough. The extension agent sent a sample of the resistant weed to the prefectural experiment station. They in turn sent part of the sample to the agricultural experiment station at Tohoku University which is subsidized by the Ministry of Agriculture. Forestry and Fishing. About one year later. researchers at Tohoku University pro- duced a weed killer that would kill the resistant variety; it was called 2-3-5-T. Further refinement and experiment was accomplished by regional offices. The new chemical was then sent to each of the 46 prefectural experiment stations where further experiment was carried out. From the prefectural experiment station. the new chemical was sent to the various extension advisers throughout the prefec- ture. They introduced it to the agricultural cooperatives. agri- cultural study groups. kairyo kumiai and individuals. The farmer in Mizuwake was advised that he could kill his weeks with 2-3-5-T. He was not the only one. however; farmers in Aioi and thousands of other villagers were also informed about the new weed killer. The flow of information was in two directions: from the farmers to the nation. and from the nation back again to the farmers. 103 Agricultural thension The primary purpose of the extension system is to provide technical guidance to farmers to increase agricultural production and improve living conditions; in other words to disseminate infor- from the national and prefectural experimental stations to the farmer. The extension service is operated on a cooperative basis between the Ministry of Agriculture. Forestry and Fishery and each prefecture. An estimated 15,000 extension advisors are at work providing technical guidance to farmers. including both agricul- tural extension and home improvement specialists. The information passed along by the extension advisors generally comes from one of the following sources: 1) the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences. 2) one of the eight regional agricultural experiment stations of the Ministry of Agriculture.. Forestry and Fishery. or 3) the prefectural agricultural experiment station. Research is conducted under the direction of 21 project leaders in 21 different subjects. Project leaders are also in charge of planning and coordinating experiments and researches carried on at the three levels. Plans are made at the prefectural level and implemented by extension agents in the various branches throughout the prefecture. The Agricultural Improvement Promoting Law provided a branch office for every three villages. or about “.000 households. In most instan- ces it is the extension agent who decides the improvement needed in his area. He submits a plan to the prefectural office for approval. 104 This provides for the flow of information in two directions. from the prefectural office to the village and from the village to the prefec- tural office. In this way each village can be treated as a unique case if necessary. Extension workers use audio-visual aids such as printed matter. slides. motion pictures and radio. as well as demonstration fields to pass information to the farmer. In this way. the latest farming techniques can be passed from the experiment stations to the farmers. Information regarding diseases and pests affecting farm crops is passed along by the extension agent. It is also the extension agent who will educate the farmer how best to control such probable crop killers. Marketing is another part of the information passed along by the extension agent. By knowing the market. he can advise the farmer what to grow to best advantage. The adoption of fruit trees and cash crops by the Manchurian repatriates as explained earlier pro- vides an excellent example of the work of an extension agent. He was aware of the moneyamaking possibilities of fruits and vegetables marketed in the cities. A national survey showed that nearly 40 per cent of the home improvement specialist’s time was spent in farm homes giving practi- cal guidance. It was reported that advisors visited an average of 20 homes each month. held round-table discussion with 209 families each month and held exhibits and displays for another 109 families. This gives some indication of the role of the extension advisor as a 105 linkage between the villager and the nation. Agricultural Coogerative Association Two kinds of information come to the farmer through the Agricultural Cooperative. The first. and most obvious. is infor- mation related to farming techniques. machinery. fertilizer and new seeds. The second. and equally important. is that information re- lated to marketing. The Cooperative provides a channel for the flow of informa- tion from outside the village to those inside. It publishes a mon- thly magazine with up-to-date information about new techniques and other relevant information for the farmer. The extension advisor often works in conjunction with the employees of the Cooperative. Though not directly under the leadership of the prefectural agri- cultural department. the Aioi Cooperative is in direct contact and receives considerable information and advice which is passed along to the farmer. Marketing is a much-appreciated function provided by the COOperative. It is necessary for Cooperative members to be aware of price changes in Kobe-Osaka markets. They depend on the Coopera- tive to market their goods at the right time and get the best price. Cooperative officials. therefore. keep in close touch with city markets and keep Aioi farmers appraised of marketing conditions. This provides the farmer with a linkage to the city which is kept open the year around since the introduction of engei. 106 Governmental Linkages Every Aioi resident in theory has at least one linkage with his nation. through the governmental structure. Information is passed through it from the nation to the individual. Much of the information passed on to Aioi residents is done so by means of a closed circuit broadcasting system (yuggn.hg§9). Information comes into the town office (Hiketa since the amalgamation) from the prefectural offices. It is broadcast to the branch office in Aioi. From the branch of- fice. the information is passed along to the buraku.heads and to the various kairyo kumiai heads. Each has a speaker in his home to re- ceive information from the branch office. It is hoped that eventual- ly each household in Aioi will have a speaker connected to the yusen hoso. This would certainly provide an excellent and rapid communi- cation channel. National political parties are another linkage between vil- lager and nation. Aioi residents participate in national as well as local elections. Representatives of the national parties visit villages and hold drinking parties in an attempt to win the support of the people. Amalgamation of Aioi with Hiketa and Omi provided another exp ample of village-nation linkage. The amalgamation was a result of a national law and as was pointed out in chapter three. prefectural arbitration was sought on the number of assemblymen to be sent from each village. The new unit received outside aid in drawing up a five-year plan which was submitted to national authorities for 10? development funds. Figure 1 is a page taken from the five-year plan and simplified to show the information flow from nation to village. National subsidy for dam construction and other develop- ment projects also illustrate Aioi's linkage with the nation. Figure 1: Inflow of New Policy and Technical Skills: A Chart of Enterprise PrOpulsion National Government Nationwide Agricultural Conference Prefectural Agricultural Conference Committees on: Capital Resources Planning Implementation Town or Village Liaison Conference on Cooperatives Town Promotion Conference Committee on Agriculture Committees: Land Improvement Forestry Cooperatives Fishery COOperatives Agricultural Cooperatives. etc. * Translation of Hiketa-Machi Five-year development plan. 108 Mass Comgupications and Erangportation Various mass communication media link Aioi residents with the nation and the world. Many residents. for example. subscribe to and regularly read the nationally distributed newspapers. such as the Mainichi and Asahi. There are a number of prefectural newspapers and a newspaper published in nearby Tokushima which are read by many. The influence of mass communication on the villager is exa plained by Bando as follows: Most people are not interested.much in politics and economics. except the highly educated. the intelligensia. which make up about 10 per cent d’the village. They get their world and national news. new fashions. best book sellers. etc.. from the newspapers and television. Most people listen to the radio for entertainment. songs and dramas. There is an average of one newspaper for each household. including the local papers. Farm and home magazines also serve as information linkages between the farmer and the outside. One particular magazine. :22 Balightened Household (Is; 133 m), is widely read. Content of this magazine is mainly concerned with improving the living stan- dard of the farmer. Radio and television also function as linkages for Aioi resi- dents. The number of radio sets. for example. increased from about 2.000 in 19h8 to more than 3.000 in 1958. Amusement programs. es- pecially sumo (Japanese wrestling) and baseball. are listened to most frequently. however. agriculture and home improvement programs are also popular. It was reported that most people prefer radio to the newspaper because it can be listened to while one is relaxing after a hard day's work in the field. 109 Ten householdsowned.television sets in 1958. The number of sets was increasing rapidly during the survey period and is probably considerably higher at the present time. Both radio and television broadcast a number of programs related to agriculture and home im- provement. There is no theatre in Aioi. but about 300-400 go to Hiketa to the movies each month. Telephones. the highway. railroad and waterway also provide Aioi residents with contact outside the village. The prefectural highway from Takamatsu to Tokushima runs through Aioi. This brings in salesmen and other linkages from the city and nation. The head of the women's Club. for example. said the following: 'we get a lot of salesmen in Aioi because of the high- ‘way. They are either coming to or going from Toku- shima or Takamatsu. They always want to use the Fujikai as a contact through which they'can sell their wares. The national railroad passes through Aioi and the ferry running from Hiketa to Honshu Island is close by. All of these transpor- tation facilities provide both access and egress for Aioi residents. putting them in contact with the large cities. the prefecture and the nation. In; Sghool and Religign Much infermation which comes into the village is channeled through the school. In many ways. the entire curriculum of the school can be viewed as being aimed at providing the villager with knowledge about the world outside his home. Information about Tokyo. the nation and the world is fed into children and passed along 110 to their parents. The school teacher is a much-used channel for new information. both by young and old. The school teacher was born in Tokushima and served three years on the prefectural bureau of education. He was also a member of the prefectural agricultural department. In addition to his duties as teacher in the secondary school. he is a priest of the Shinto shrine. The school is also instrumental in bringing information into the village through sponsorship of lecturers. movies and radio broadcasts. Various school-sponsored trips. such as upon graduation from elementary. junior and high school. serve the function of link- ing the village with the nation. Religion provides another linkage between the villager and his nation. Participation in the Great Tradition of Buddhism. for example. link the Aioi resident with millions of other Japanese. Excursions and pilgrimages serve to make the villager more aware of the world outside his village. Fer example. nine bus loads of wo- men took an excursion to the famous Shinto shrine at Izumo. on the Western coast of Honshu Island. Such a journey broadens the scepe and worldaview of those undertaking it. Fujinka; apg Seinendan Both the Fujinkai and Seinendan (described in chapter five) serve to link village and nation. Both are locally autonomous. though each is affiliated with a prefectural and national associ- ation. Plans and.policies are made at the local level. but much of the activity in each is similar to plans and policies formulated at 111 a higher level. A national magazine. Women'g Magazine (Bujig,§a§hi§). is published monthly and distributed by local women's Organizations. The content of the magazine is closely related to the daily life of women. home improvement. cooking and gardening. In most instances. magazines are bought individually. but professional or specialized magazines and books are bought by the Fujinkai and read in turn by members. The group also sponsors lectures. movies and excursions which link the village with a wider circle of information. A major project of the Fujinkai is the introduction of sun- heated water for baths (taiyoburp). The national government. in an attempt to cut wood consumption. designed a method of heating bath water by solar heat. The program originated at the national and is being carried out in Aioi by the local Fujinkai. another example of village-nation linkage. The Seinendan also sponsors lectures on political and agri- cultural problems. discussion groups on social problems and books. plays. movies. agricultural exhibits and athletic meets. The local Organization is affiliated with both prefectural and county youth associations. The Aioi Seinendan publishes a magazine of agri- cultural news. poetry and essays. In this way. information is channeled through the Seinendan from the prefecture to the village. One example of the Seinendan's role as a communication channel is its program for love marriates to replace arranged marriages (dis- cussed in chapter five). This is a national movement and is being 112 undertaken by nearly all local Seinendan in Japan. This illustrates the way a national movement is articulated at the village level. cher Linkages The glove factories provide another example of linkages out- side the village. and in fact. outside Japan. Styles for gloves manufactured in Aioi are set by designers in Paris. Information is passed from France to Aioi. Gloves are made and shipped through- out the world. another kind of linkage. The factories are in close contact with Osaka and Tokyo. It is from these centers that raw materials come and finished products are shipped. Much shopping is done in the Hiketa Supermarket. another link- age. by Aioi women. The head of the Fujinkai reported that the supermarket in Hiketa is becoming a center and gathering place for many-women. The kinship system. as outlined in chapter three. also serves to link many villagers with the outside. Kinsmen who live in other villages and cities return for annual festivals and upon re- turn. bring new information into the village. The same is true for Aioi residents who go out of the village and return bearirgnew infor- mation. Correspondence between relatives is another channel for the flow of information into the village. Village leaders and others who have traveled and who regularly travel to Kobe. Osaka and Tokyo are extra-local linkages. Bando. for example. travels to Osaka regularly. A former native of Aioi was president of Todai University, one of Japan's largest. He was another _ kind of linkage. 113 Summa The Aioi villager is not only linked with his fellow vil- lager. but also with the prefecture and the nation. He is part of two different information flow networks: the intra-village network and the wider, more encompassing village-nation network. both of which complement the other. He is the receiver of information originating at the village level. as well as information originating at the prefectural and national levels. Village-nation linkages function to pass information in to the village. It is then passed on to the individual through the various into-village linkages outlined in chapter five. CHAPTER VII SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS In summarizing. I would like to re-emphasize a number of specific points touched upon in the body of the study. First are changes wrought by the Occupation-sponsored Land Reform. Second are changes in the power structure associated with the Town- Village Amalgamation Promoting Law (gappei). Third is an explana- tion of the relationship between the reticulated organizational 'structure and information flow. Fourth is an analysis of the chang- ing Japanese peasant. And finally, I set forth some implications of this study for policies in underdevelOped countries, such as Vietnam and Korea. Th2 Land Reform The land reform of 1948 had the general effect of equalizing” the distribution of wealth in farming areas. It was an attempt to provide former tenants with land of their own. and at the same time establish a minimum size for farm plots. Owners of more than three acres. in most areas of Japan. were forced to sell their excess land either to the government for redistribution or preferably to the tenant actually working the land. The former tenant. now an ownerbcultivator. no longer was required to relinquish a part of his harvest to the landlord. 114 115 Dore (1959) explains the effect of post-war inflation and the black market on the farmer: The (postdwar) inflation effectively wiped out farm debts. The war. with its increased prosperity and its slow inflation had already carried this process a long way; by its and few families were in the same strangle-hold of high-interest indebtedness which had afflicted them in the 1930's. The galloping inflation of the immediate postawar years completed this process. At the same time. the near-starvation of the towns sent the prices of black-market farm.products soaring. But the reasons for the present relatively high level of agricultural income must be sought elsewhere. One obvious factor is the effect of the land reform in re- ducing the burden of rents. Dore goes on to attribute the increased income of farmers to increased productivity per acre. increased intensivity of labor input. improved crop strains. improved pest control measures and increased use of powered sprays, as well as other mechanization. By 1959. the farmer had become a spender in his own right. not merely a contributor to the increasing wealth of the landlord. The buying power of the rural village was spread over a considerably wider sphere than before. The new farmers were eager for techniques which would increase their yield. It was generally true that they worked harder on land they owned than they had previously as tenants. Ishino and Donoghue (1963). for example. found that: there was nearly unanimous agreement that the land re- form has done much to encourage the prOper care and use of land. especially for those who were former tenants. More than ever before. the pride of ownership that has resulted from the land reform has encouraged a more rational approach to land usage. The new landowners were innovators. searching out information 116 and experimenting in an attempt to draw more from their small hold- ings. They became full participants in the village. economically. politically and socially. More money circulated throughout the village. Previously. when a wealthy landlord sold his crop. he put the money into savings. This was not true of the new landowner. however. Money received from the sale of his crop was immediately returned to circulation by his purchase of consumer goods. This altered the economic structure of the village. Th2 Gappei The stated purpose of the Amalgamation Law was to promote a more efficient administrative system. A crucial side-effect of the measure. however. was alteration of the traditional power structure within the village. It completed a process begun by such Occupation measures as the land reform (see chapter 2). i.e.. destruction of the power and influence of the traditional political groups holding sway in the village. Following the amalgamation. the village was no longer the center of political power, it was broadened to in- clude powerful interests from other villages. towns and cities. Village bosses lost the absolute control over political matters within their domain. Some became assemblymen in the new units. but usually with little power. Local interests. where they remained, were tempered by the interests of the new. larger political unit (Ishino. 1961). In Aioi. for example. the owner of a small. cottage industry was known as the most influential man in village politics prior to 117 amalgamation with.Hiketa and Omi. He held no political office. but was considered the "power behind the throne." Following the amalga- mation. he lost much of his power. Though still somewhat influential in local matters. he had little political power in the larger unit. The economic relevance of the Amalgamation Law was discussed in de- tail in chapters two and three. Reticulated Qrganizational Structure (ROS) The simplest way to define reticulated organizational struc- ture (ROS). or organizational network. is by example. One provided by Ishino and Donoghue (1963) illustrates ROS: Another kind of reticulated organization (is) the vast agricultural extension system and its associated home demonstration teams. Beyond these were the net- work of c00peratives of all kinds. women's associations. youth groups. hobby groups. formal local government units. PTA. various religious organizations. and other such groups which maintained both fOrmal and informal liaison among one another. Most of these groups have developed within the past forty years. The formation and viability of these many associations were facili- tated by the develOpment of communication devices. all the way from special bulletins produced by each organi- zation to radio. telephone. TV. pOpular magazines and intraavillage intercom systems. The entire third section of this study is what might be called an "inside look" at the ROS of Aioi. The intra-village and village- nation linkages examined in part three are the basic elements of ROS. The value of ROS lies in the linkages it provides for the flow of infbrmation to the villager. Discussing the current controversy in Japan over small-scale versus large-scale farming. Ishino and Donoghue (1963) conclude: 118 While the Japanese farmer did not increase the scale of land holding in order to become more proficient. he was incorporated into a vast interpersonal and interorganizational communications network. He became part of a huge corporate enterprise devoted to the ad- vancement of farming. In sum. while farm.0perations were limited to three-acre plots. farmers were organi- zationally joined into an effective large-scale communi- cations system that transcended neighborhood. village and even prefectural loyalties. Through his membership in the ROS. the Japanese farmer is a re- ceiver of an infinite variety of infermation about new farming techniques. new fertilizers. weed killers. market conditions. and so forth. Though small-scale farmers in terms of land holdings. Japanese farmers are large-scale receivers of agricultural infor- mation. As Ishino and Donoghue (1963) explain it: Each Japanese farm household was inextricably linked into a vast information-disseminating network. This. in effect. made it one with hundreds of other farm households in obtaining concensus and in making de- cisions concerning farm technology. farm management and marketing. Throughout this study. I have emphasized the role of the ROS in the dissemination of agricultural information. and the linkages related to agriculture. However. agricultural information is not all that flows through this network. Information regarding birth control. clothing styles. living standards. politics and city life in general. to mention only a few. is also disseminated through ROS. ham ane Miamam '0 The flow of information into rural areas has greatly affected the image of the rural dweller. As a participant in ROS the Japanese 119 peasant is the recipient of considerable information covering a wide range of subjects. all of which contribute to the alteration of his image. Image is defined by Richard Meier (1963) as follows: It embodies the sum of the knowledge that a person has accumulated. The image is a mosaic of facts that are ordered and arranged by values. The image is or- ganized by concepts into a set of hierarchical levels. but the strata are frequently disturbed and sometimes interleaved. They are not entirely consistent and un- ambiguous. The image is made up of a series of memories of environments containing both physical and social elements. and each of the environments is made up of a series of typical situations. Today's peasant in Japan is subjected to more and different kinds of information than was his father; consequently his image is quite different than the previous generation's. This changing image is resulting in a changing peasantry. The traditional peasant heri- tage is declining in Japan. The hiatus between villager and city dweller is closing rapidly. Ishino and Donoghue (1959) document some of these changes: Another reason for the generally healthy outlook of the Japanese farmer is that the gap in the living standards between himself and his city cousin is slow- ly closing. This is reflected not only in the national statistics on income and nutrition, but can be directly observed in the villages. The range and quality of merchandise carried by village stores are good and cannot easily be distinguished from that found in suburban shOps in Tokyo. New roads have been con- structed. telephone lines installed. temples rennovated and thatch roofs replaced with tile. In every village studied. we saw hundreds of bicycles and dozens of motor- cycles. trucks and busses. ‘fie have noted an average of ten television sets in ten of the wholly rural villages. The eleventh was not within the existing television telecast zone. Two of the more urban villages have 1102 sets between them. 120 This changing image of the rural dweller contributes to development. The farmer, when he sees a market loaded with the above-mentioned goods, changes his plans in an attempt to become the owner of some of them. He has the same desires for consumer goods as does the urbanite. He begins to feel that a television set may not be an impossible goal. It follows that he will work to im- prove his economic position. His stake in the economy becomes greater, and with ownership of a few luxuries, his status in society improves. This in turn leads to development as explained in chapter two. Ramifiicatgons £93|Undegdeveloped Countries From the above discussion, it is clear that ROS, composed of various intra-village and village-nation linkages, played a crucial role in the development which occurred in Aioi during the past decade. The associational structure has been developing for a num- ber of years and has served as a communication channel for a multi- plicity of information. What does all this mean for someone interested in development of underdeveloped countries? One thing comes readily to mind; perhaps we should question the priorities which have been established for deve10pment in these countries. The first priority of those countries seems generally to be the development of physical re- sources and construction of projects, such as wells and toilets. A well in a village with no sanitary source of water is undoubtedly an asset, but possibly we should place greater emphasis on developing 121 human resources as we embark on project construction. Mbst underdeveloped countries suffer from a deficiency of fUnctional channels for the flow of information from the nation to the village. Where these channels are lacking, programs initiated by the central government rarely reach the intended receiver, the villager. There is usually but one channel, the official adminis- trative channel. Programs formulated by the central government are relayed to the provincial headquarters, which is usually understaffed. From there it goes to the district office and eventually may find its way to the village office. Those working at the various levels of government find themselves involved in a number of different pro- grams and projects at the same time. This generally results in failure of most, if not all such programs (see DonOghue, 1963). The communication process breaks down as a result of what Ishino (1962) calls channel overload. Those messages reaching the village are incomplete and in many instances contradictory. They have been interpreted and reinterpreted at the various levels and by the time they reach the village may convey a completely different message than was intended by the central government. This break- down in the communication network resulting from overload has often proven detrimental to deve10pment. As pointed out earlier, the information flow network and the image system of those participating in it are related. A major prdblem besetting governments of underdeveloped nations is the image held by the peasant; he knows little about his government and 122 probably cares less. Through an adequately develOped and functional communication system, it is possible for the government to change the image of the peasant. ROS is of definite value in altering this image system. It is not only the peasant's image of the government, but as demonstrated in Aioi, his image of farm technology, marketing, living standard, and so forth is also tied to the problems of develop- ment. ROS facilitates the free flow of information, and through in- creased consumption of information, the peasant's image is altered. For example, if a farmer's image does not include information about refrigerators and washing machines, he may never strive to own one. On the other hand, if a farmer's image system includes information about these items, he may attempt to obtain them. This is over- simplified, of course. The crucial intervening step was left out, i.e.. that the farmer's image system also includes information about the relationship between increased work and owning a washing machine. But this also can be accomplished by increased informa- tion flowing through the ROS. The point is, however, that in underdevelOped countries, such as Vietnam and Korea,steps should be initiated to change the image of its peasant population through the develOpment of something comparable to ROS. Cooperation between the villager and nation may result from the continued flow of accurate information through a structure similar to ROS as set forth in this study. I believe that in the interests of economic development, conscious attention on the 123 part of those responsible for developments should be paid to the establishment of something comparable to Japan's ROS. 12h NOTES One Egg,equals 2.45 acres One ghg equals 1.588 quarts One tan equals 1/10th of one ghg, or .2#5 acres One United States dollar equals Y 360. All interviews presented in this chapter were conducted by Ebnoghue and Ishino and are reproduced here with their permission. 125 REFEREI‘JCES CITED Beardsley, R. ,., J. W. Hall and Robert ward 1959 Village Japan, Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Donoghue, John D. 195? "An Eta Community in Japan: The Social Persistence of Outcaste Groups." American Anthropglogist 59:1000-17. Donoghue, John D. 1963 Ely 'Ihuan: A Mekogg Delta Villge in South Vietnam. East Lansing, Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group, Agency for International Development. Dore, R. P. 1959 Eng 32m jg, Japan. New York, Oxford University Press. Firth, Raymond 1951 E! emgnts 93: Social Eganigation. London, Watts. Hirschmann, Albert 1958 Ihg,Strategy;g§_Economic Developmgnt. New Haven, Yale University Press. Ishino, Iwao 1961 "Ten Years After the Land Reform.“ Paper prepared for the 10th Pacific Science Congress, Honolulu, mimeo. 1962 ”Information Flow and Culture Change.” Paper prepared for reading at the American Anthropological Association meeting, mimeo. Ishino, Iwao and John D. Donoghue 1959 "The Decline of Peasant Heritage in Japan." Paper pre- pared for reading at the Central States AnthrOpological Association meeting, mimeo. 1963 ”Small versus Large-Scale Agriculture." Paper prepared for reading at the Central States AnthrOpological Association meeting, mimeo. Meier, Richard L. 1963 ”The Image and the Plan." from a preliminary draft of chapter three of a book to be entitled, Developmegt Planning, mimeo. Norbeck , Edward 195# Takashima: .& Japanege Eishing Community. Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press. 126 Ohly, John H. 1962 "Planning Future Joint Programs." Human Organization 21, No. 2 (Summer) 137-1144. Raper, Arthur, ed. 1950 It; Japggese Village ta Transition. Tokyo, General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, National Resources Section, Report No. 136. Smith, Thomas C. 1959 Eh§_§grarian Origins gt,Nodegt Japan. Stanford, Stan- ford University Press. Soer T. ’ 1960 "Japanese Studies by American Anthropologists.” American Anthropologists 62:309-317. Tsunoda, Ryusaku, et. al. 1958 Sougges gt Japanese Tradition. New Ybrk, Columbia University'Press. U.N.E.S.C.0. 1958 ggpgg: It§_Lang, People ggd|Cultt;e. Tokyo, Printing Bureau Japanese Government. "““7 Jul {625$ ER "711711111111 Mn] Alllwujl'lflfljlltflfifimm