Warichi
Encyclopedia
Warichi or wari-chi, literally "dividing the land", is the process of land redistribution practices of arable land
and communal management that become common during the early modern era (seventeenth to nineteenth-century) in Japan
. It was often used as means of spread the impact of flooding in villages that suffered from flood hazards. The practice continued to be practiced into at least the 1980s by tenant unions. It is an expression of and an important influence upon the make up of Japanese society
.
Villages which practiced warichi periodically reassigned lands to local farmers. The process used unbiased and random techniques, including lottery
groups (kuji kumi), to ensure that all families would receive a similar proportion of good and marginal lands. Families were then allowed to dispose of their rights as they saw fit, e.g. buy, sell, rent, bequeath or inherit. The cultivation rights were equivalent to stock shares in a village agricultural corporation. Preparatory surveys for this redistribution could take months.
Some land was excluded, e.g. given to village or district officials, or reclaimed land requiring time to stabilize. In the Tokugawa
period, other land was saved for individuals facing unforeseeable circumstances and in this way, the system worked as an insurance policy for villagers, e.g. a mountain or island.
Landed was not distributed on a per capita
basis but had alternative social functions such as, e.g. controlling risk, providing incentives to encourage participating in other village projects, reducing social conflict, maximizing tax payment. The system was seen to have worked most effectively where they were locally implemented rather than when local government administrators attempted to force them.
The system declined due to new laws in Modern Japan encouraging the privatization of arable land.
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
and communal management that become common during the early modern era (seventeenth to nineteenth-century) in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It was often used as means of spread the impact of flooding in villages that suffered from flood hazards. The practice continued to be practiced into at least the 1980s by tenant unions. It is an expression of and an important influence upon the make up of Japanese society
Culture of Japan
The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America...
.
Villages which practiced warichi periodically reassigned lands to local farmers. The process used unbiased and random techniques, including lottery
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
groups (kuji kumi), to ensure that all families would receive a similar proportion of good and marginal lands. Families were then allowed to dispose of their rights as they saw fit, e.g. buy, sell, rent, bequeath or inherit. The cultivation rights were equivalent to stock shares in a village agricultural corporation. Preparatory surveys for this redistribution could take months.
Some land was excluded, e.g. given to village or district officials, or reclaimed land requiring time to stabilize. In the Tokugawa
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
period, other land was saved for individuals facing unforeseeable circumstances and in this way, the system worked as an insurance policy for villagers, e.g. a mountain or island.
Landed was not distributed on a per capita
Per capita
Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita . The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head", i.e. per individual or per person...
basis but had alternative social functions such as, e.g. controlling risk, providing incentives to encourage participating in other village projects, reducing social conflict, maximizing tax payment. The system was seen to have worked most effectively where they were locally implemented rather than when local government administrators attempted to force them.
The system declined due to new laws in Modern Japan encouraging the privatization of arable land.