The Laboratory of Agricultural History

Staff

Takenori Matsumoto, Professor
Nanami Toishi, Associate Professor

Outline

In the laboratory of agricultural history, we study agriculture and rural societies from a historical perspective. On the one hand, we investigate the historical background of the current agricultural problems by tracing the formational and reorganizational processes of the agricultural and rural problems. On the other hand, we investigate the actual conditions of the everyday-lives of people in rural villages in the past and the consciousness on social norms and order principal among people of rural societies in the past in order to observe the differences with those in contemporary societies.
Although it sounds paradoxical, it can be said that we conduct agricultural history studies to reflect what the contemporary society we are now living in is. In other words, agricultural history studies are an attempt to relativize the history consciousness shared by present-day people in every-day lives and to recognize it objectively.
We attach importance to the long-term perspectives from middle and early modern era to modern and contemporary era. We analyze several regions such as Japan, Korea and India applying comparative analysis method. In addition, we try to conduct interdisciplinary studies like environmental history, history of diet and so on.
We believe the studies on agriculture and rural societies from a historical point of view is very significant for the people in contemporary societies where most people live in urbanized and industrialized area.

Education Policy

In this laboratory, the basic discipline is economics, but we also apply various analytical methods such as sociology, political science, historical studies, anthropology, etc. Participants in this seminar include not only from agricultural history laboratory, but also from other laboratory of this department and even from other graduate schools of Tokyo University and other universities.
At the seminar for text reading, we read history studies not only on Japan but also on various regions other than Japan. We are going to share a widely ranged perspectives and methodologies by mutual discussions among participants.
At the seminar for article writing, the reporter makes a progress report, presenting her/his research result. By discussing the report, we are going to mutually examine the suitability of the subjects and of the methods for analysis.

Research topics

• Studies on Japanese rural societies from the long-term perspectives
• Environmental history of Japanese rural areas in early modern and modern era
• Korean rural societies in modern era
• Modern and contemporary agricultural policies in Okinawa, Japan
• Comparative studies on agricultural product –diet relationship between Japan and India
• Comparative studies on the history of rural societies in Japan, Korea and India

Publications

• Takenori MATSUMOTO, Colonial Power and Korean Peasants. Shakaihyoron-sha, 1998. (in Japanese)
• Takenori MATSUMOTO, Colonial Modernity Experiences of Korean Peasants. Shakaihyoron-sha, 2005.(in Japanese)
• Matsumoto Takenori and Chung　Seung-jin, “Water Management Projects and Floods/ Droughts in Colonial Korea: the case of the Man’gyŏng river in the Honam plain”, ACTA KOREANA 20(1), 2017, 173–193.
• Nanami TOISHI, Protecting House and Community in Rural Japan of Edo Period, Nosangyosonbunkakyokai, 2017. (in Japanese)
• Nanami TOISHI, "House, Village and Membership in Pre-Modern Japan: Numerus Clausus of Yokono Village, in South Kanto", Journal of Comparative Family History 30, 2016, 124-150.(in Japanese)
• Nanami Toishi and Mitsuyoshi Ando, "Local Disputes, Administrative Authorities and Water Control in Japan 1600-2000; an Empirical Study of Farmer Communities in Kaga Plain”, The Third Conference of East Asian Environmental History, 25 October 2015", Kagawa University, Takamatsu, Japan.