" History of Hino-History of
Folklore"
Keiji Kaneno (Education Department, Hino City Education Board)
Hino City Area and Old Hino Town
During the Eiroku Period, Hayato Sato developed an irrigation channel
from the Tama River, which became the main irrigation channel of old
Hino Town. It still waters wide area of the city. From Asakawa, Toyoda,
Hirayama and Mukojima irrigation channels drew water to lower paddy
fields. Spring water and groundwater from table lands and hills have
also composed water environment of city area of Hino.
In the Edo Period, there was Hinojuku along the Koshu Dochu (or Koshu
Kaido). Hinojuku and Koshu Dochu were decided to be constructed after
the entrance of Ieyasu Tokugawa to Edo Castle. Hinojuku managed the
Hino Tosenba (ferry terminal) on the Tama River. The villages around
Hinojuku were involved in Shukuba (宿場) as Sukegomura (助郷村).
Hayato Sato moved from Mino to Hino in the Eiroko Period, to protect
nearby farmers and cut irrigation channels and was known as one of
the first Nanushi. His descendants became Nanushi of Hino Hongo and
Tonya (wholesaler) in Hinojuku.
In old Hino Town, silk raising flourished as a auxiliary business of
rice cropping until the modern era.
In the table land, new paddy fields were developed after the Tempo
Period, including paddy field villages such as Takakura Shinden in
Hachioji. However the plateau was not appropriate for paddy fields.
Wooded areas and fields were mixed till the Meiji Era, where oats,
rice, and root crops were harvested. From the twenties of Meiji, silk
raising was promoted and mulberry fields were cultivated according
to the policy of local industry development. Hino city area was suited
for silk raising because it was close to Hachioji which was the production
area of silk fabric. Mulberry fields were made firstly along the Tama
River and Asakawa, which were not good for rice cropping. Along with
the flourishing of silk raising, the fields were stretched over Hino
table land. In the last year of the Meiji Era, almost all over the
Hino table land was covered by mulberry fields except for small wooded
areas.
The Showa depression started in the 5th year of Showa (1930), resulted
to price plunges of exported products including raw silk, silk fabric
and cotton cloth, and agricultural products such as rice, oats, and
cocoon. Poor people inevitably increased, which lead to the decrease
of tax incomes. For the solution of economic crises, Hino Town invited
major five factories, between 1936 to 1943: Toyo Watch Co., Ltd. (present
Orient Watch Co., Ltd.), Rokushu-sha (a factory of Konishiroku, present
KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC.), Diesel Motor Industry Co., Ltd., Hino
Factory (present Hino Motors, Ltd.), FUJI ELECTRIC HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
, Toyoda Factory, and Kobe Steel, Ltd. (present SHINKO ELECTRIC CO.,
LTD.). The employments in those factories and increased tax incomes
helped Hino to escape from economic crises. Hino was selected as factory
sites because of its groundwater with rich quality and volume.
Around the thirties of the Showa Era, new urban development started
focused on these factories. Capital Construction Act enacted in 1950,
lead to the establishment of the first Development Plan for Metropolitan
Area in 1958. 23 wards of Tokyo, Musashino City, Mitaka City, Kawaguchi
City, Kawasaki City and Yokohama City were specified as urbanization
area, around which green belt consisting of agricultural villages and
parks were provided, aiming to restrict the expansion of the urban
area. Furthermore, in the outside of the green belt, satellite city
was established to disperse functions and population of the city core.
For the first satellite city, Hino-Hachioji areas were designated.
Other major companies such as TOSHIBA Corporation and TEIJIN Limited
were invited in the newly developed Asahigaoka area. In addition, for
the residential districts for those satellite cities, large residential
estate of Tamadaira was developed by Jyutaku Toshi Kodan, a former
organization of Urban Renaissance Agency.
Old Nanao Village Area
The settlement called Hodokubo in the old Nanao Village area on the
Tama hills, was in "Yato" area. The village people used water
of the Hodokubo River whose water source was the spring water. Because
the cultivate acreage was limited, they placed contracts with farmers
in the low land to cut branches or collect fallen leaves in the limited
mountain areas. The resulting fuels and fertilizer provided them cash
income. As described above, the villagers lived using wooded area on
the hills. As a sideline, silk cultivation was started around the 20th
year of Meiji when the industry became flourished, as well as milk
cow rearing was implemented in the village. A few villagers lived as
Yamashi or Sorashi by cutting trees and sawing up logs.
Gyokunan Electric Railway (present Keio Electric Railway between Fucyu
and Hachioji) was opened up in the 14th year of Taisho (1925), and
tourism development in Nanao Village was promoted in the beginning
of Showa. The village has had various places of natural beauty and
historical interest including Takahatafudoson and Mogusaen, attracting
many visitors to the temple and cultural figures since the Edo Era.
Keio Denki Kido also promoted tourism development along the railroad
line, including courses for hike in association with local people utilizing
rich nature on the Tama hills.
For rebuiding of the village at the time of Showa depression, economic
revitalization plans were implemented, as well as emigrants went to
Manchuria based on the village division plan with Manchuria. The concrete
plans of economic revitalization included various sidelines for farmers;
e.g., tourism and cultivation of Japanese trout in Minamidaira. However,
the cultivation declined as factories invited to Hino table pumped
up large amount of groundwater.
Nanao village has been involved in improvement of living and agriculture
after the war. Emphasizing tourism as a core of the village revitalization,
the village invited Tama Zoo and Tama Tech in association with Keio
Teito Electric Railway. Then the village was merged into Hino Town.
The sprawl of Tokyo urban area proceeded faster than the construction
of the satellite city. As a result, residential areas were spread on
Tama hills, and further on the whole city area replacing the farm lands.
Present Hino city is in this movement.
Worship of Water
In Hino, village shrines and Takahatafudo were the places for rain
making rituals. In Kanto areas where looking over Oyama of Sagami,
people usually visited the mountain for rain making; however, people
performed rituals within Hino when critical dry weather occurred.
Water often threats our living. Many shrines and temples were built
for protecting inhabitants from flood. "Seki Daimyojin" is
considered to have been a god protecting "seki" (weir).
People living in settlement of Yotsuya at the north of Hino station
do not eat eels.
It is because many eels prevented the breakdown of the dyke when flood
hit the area, by getting into small holes of the dyke.
*For further details, refer to the research report of 2006, "Water
Town, Hino− For Renovation of Irrigation Channels".
"
Transformation of Land Use since Ancient Period in Hino City Area considered
from Findings of Excavation−Development Process of Well-Drained Paddy
Fields and Waterways on Alluvial Terrains"
Report: Hiroki Nakayama (Museum Attendant of Hino Museum of History)
The following areas have rich excavation data: 1) West areas of JR
Hino Station (Ruins of Yotsuya-Mae, Ubakubo, Sakaecho, and Shinmachi);
2) Land Reajustment Area of Manganji (Ruins of Minami-Hiromaji); 3)
Land Reajustment Area of Ochikawa and adjacent area with Ochikawa public
housing complex (Ruins of Ochikawa/Ichinomiya). While Kawabe-horinouchi
Area where spring water of Kurokawa and Toyoda Aqueduct flow down,
alluvial area of Higashi-Toyoda and Hirayama, and right bank area of
Asakawa have very few archeological data.
One of the critical problems when handling archeological resources
is the determination of era. In later period of medieval ages, especially
in civil war period and the first early modern ages, remains along
with artifacts are limited in Hino city area. Therefore, we have to
reconstruct stories based on a vaguely identified period such as later
days of the medieval times, early pre-modern era, etc. In the western
area of Hino station, a lot of remains of war days were found. However,
land readjustment areas of Manganji and Ochikawa, remains which have
artifacts between the late medieval times and early pre-modern era,
are very rare; therefore the period of a paddy field could not be identified
exactly.
We have to overview the history of aqueduct improvement and cultivation
of well-drained paddy field, as well as change of landscapes based
on the restriction as above.
The Tama River of Hino city area, presents characteristics of braided
channel area or alluvial-cone-specific braided channel area, though
dykes prevent the move of river flow today. Furthermore, the lack of
stability of flow channel has lead to frequent change of the flow.
Among the braided channels, bar of sediments are formed by sand and
large coarse fragments (about the size of human head).
On the other hand, Asakawa was curled more sharply than today after
the dyke construction, although a part of Asakawa has braided channel.
Thus, rivers with unstable channel frequently move around. Flood usually
carries fine-grained sands, but the river bed has been mainly comprised
of sand gravel. The research of Prof. Shimazu and others (1994) clarified
that the alluvial area between Asakawa and Tamagawa could be divided
into three planes. The research shows that first plane L1 had been
formed into river terraces from river banks in 6000 to 4000 ago (Fig.1).
Furthermore, the terraces were made gradually from the upstream areas
to downstream.
The L2 plane is assumed to have been formed into terraces in 4000 to
1500 ago (in the middle of Kofun Peiod) and to present a stable landform.
The lower area than the river terrace of L2 plane is L3 plane where
present river flows. Between the streambed and L1 to L3 planes, terraces
exist as described above; however, flood sometimes flew over the lower
part of the terrace and sands were piled up. Flood waters flew on howes
which were remains of old channels of Tamagawa and Asakawa, at the
same time the sands were piled up over the howes. This process seemed
to be repeated to form more plane areas.
Alluvial areas of Ochikawa and Ichinomiya districts are also divided
by several terrace lines as in Manganji Area.
These terrace lines and insufficiently piled up old channels which
were not fully piled up, and bar of sediments (partly include natural
levees) defined the flow of irrigation waters.
From the viewpoint of transformation of land use through findings of
excavation, the following points will be important ; 1) research results
of L1 plane in the east of Hino station, 2) research results of remains
of Minamihiromaji (lane readjustment area of Manganji), and 3) transformation
of land use in remains of Ochikawa and Ichinomiya.
The construction of weir on Hino irrigation channel by Hayato Sato
was epock-making for land use, because all over the area through L1
to L3 planes became used for rice growing. The improvement projects
for present water system including his achievement could not be appropriately
evaluated without considering the improvement works of irrigation water
system or paddy field development in former periods, when the original
geographical environment, social conditions, and lower technical levels
had greatly restricted such engineering works. Furthermore, vast paddy
field landscape existed before the start of modern land readjustment
projects, were gradually shaped during the pre-modern era, using improved
irrigation water systems, though its framework was established during
relatively short period of time.
Between the early 17th and the 19th century, extracted historical data
shows that crop yields were increased in every village. Although the
increase of crop yields could not be equal to the expansion of cultivated
fields, we can assume that the expansion was gradually achieved during
pre-modern era, rather than it had been completed before early pre-modern
era.
*For further details, refer to the research report of 2006, "Water
Town, Hino--For Renovation of Irrigation Channels". |
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[Fig.1
The 10th Figure, Shimazu and others (1994)] |
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