Itsnaturalenvironmentandpeople'slife
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55 A Regional Geography of the Chikuhoku RegionRegion' : Its Its Natural Environment and People's Life TTakahikoa k ahik o YYo os shidhidaa AbAbstract:s tract: TThihi s reporeporrtta aimim s to mmakakec cl earear reg ional chhararac t er er of th e Chikuh oku reg ion by aannallyys sis o of it s hi stori ricalca l,, c ultu ulturra al,, a nd ph ys ica l envir ironmonm e nt aspec ts,, b ecaecauu se th e envir onm e nt in w hi ch we li ve is usuall y paparrtt natur al and ppartar t hum an-m a de. SoSo,, th e auautht h or ha s fococuuse d hi sa att enti on on th ep prr ocess ocess ofd deveevellopm e nt and trranansiti on of,, tr ansposporrttatio ation ac ti vit yy,, la nd u se of of ag ricultu ra rall and oth er ac ti vit yy,, aand nd w at er reso resoururc ce e and mmananage m e nt ac ti viitities ,, co nsid er erinin g th ee eff ec t of ph ys iicalca l envir onm e nnt.t. Di st in ct ctiive fea tllr tur es of tthheC Chihi kuh oku reg ion aarre,, t he fir st st,, lo cati cationon in th e hill y land. TThhe seco second ,, iin n aanny tim e of of hi sto story thi s C Chikuh oku reg iionon hhadad aandnd hha as s bee n always favoavur oured w iithth hi gh access ibilit y to th e tr tranansposport at atiion art e ry. y. TThhe third ,, b eca u se of of it s s situ at atiions in th e inland climat e aandnd hill y landndffo orm ,, wa ter reso resour ce scarc scarcit y had and hha as s bee na acutcut e pr obl em . I{Keyey wordwords:s : Hill y LLandfandf ormrm,, S m all Ri ve r Syst tem ,, Tin y Fl at L Landand ,, TTr ra ansport ati on,, HHalfalf way L ocaocatiti onb betweeetweenn NagNagan oa andnd MaMatsum oto oto 1I. _ Introduction Th ea ancie nt admini str ati ve di vision of Ja pan int o so m e6 500--o odd pprrov ovinc es wasw as largel ly es ttabliabli shedb by th e6 5 th or 7 th ce centur y. F orm more th an1 1,,0000 00 yea rs th the ese se pr ovi ovincn ces es we re m aintain ed as th e ba sic di visionso of th e co untr y. Shin ano Provin ovincce e,, pr ov inc incee rreprepr ese nt s Kuni ,, a nd th ose pr ov in inc ce e we re usuall y hadb bee n subdi vid edm mores s mall lI unitni ts s,, mostm ost of tthhem are co rr espoespondin g K ooo oriri or Gun (Co unt y) y),, th at werewe re we ll co in ci ciddew wiithth ph ys ica l geog rraphaph y unit s,, esp es peecciall y in cacase se of of SShinhin ano Pr ov in ce ,, w here hi gh,, st ee pm mOollntain untainsa and dee p va ll eyeyss we re l1l made cl ea rl y barri er al1l mongs subdi vid ed sl1l m all pprrov in ces . Th eC Chiku-h okuo ku R eg ion,, 'C hhikuik u' isa abbrev reviati on of CChihikum kumaa and m ea nsa ann adadminil1l ini s- ttrrati ve unit of Co ununt ty y or G un ,, '-h oku ' repr ese nt ss sitll ituatiati on in the the north e rn porti on,, is t the resea esearrch obobjj ect of of thi s repoep orrt.t. Th ea authuth ori isa aiminimin g to und ersta nd tthihi s reg ion tthrhr ough rese ar archinchin g and bya analys iso of th e int eracti onso of vari rious f acts acts betwee n ph ys ic al envir onn m e nt and peo pl e's lif ea and cul ulturtur ee,, llandua ndu se tran siti on and ttrra ansport ati ond deve loppml1l ent ,, addin g va ri oll us hi stori ricalca l eve nt s. AAllll of th em rrefl ec t vari rious int erractiac ti ons ooff mlltu mutual ph ys ica l and hUhuml1l an ac ti viitit ies. A l1l mongt thhe l1l m tthhe m os t fund am ent alf fac ti ist t hat thi s reg ion iss sitll ituated on tthhe hill y landf or m area.S Sl1l m all rriive r sys ttemem in th e regi ion hhadad crea ted sev eral tin y ba sin sa along th es str eaeamm s bye eros ion ac ti ons durin g th e late Pl eistoce nea and H oloce ne in th thee hill y landnd.. F orp peo pl ple es of s of fa r anncicie nt d ays to penetr etratat e in int to o aandnd to sett settle 56 in in thi thiss regi regionon was mmoreoree easierasierr ratherath er th thanana ar reas eas wewereres surroundedurr ound edb byy mmoreores steeptee p aandncl mmoreore hi ggherher mountmountains.ain s. ThThose ose se settledttl ed in thi thiss rregioneg ionh had acl c1 developedeve lop ecl vavariousri ous rresourceseso urc es ffor or th their eir lif ee.. PPeopleseo pl es cocommmmunicat uni cateded w ith ith ootherth err regionseg ions hhadad ddevelopedeve lop ecl tr transportationansport ati on rrouteout e bbyy way ooff th those ose tin tinyy babasins.s in s. ThThee cocommunmmuni icacationsti ons hhad acl es estabtabli lisshedh ecl ffixedixe cl cocourseur se w hi cchhl laaterter oonn c1 designatedes ignat edr relayelay sstationtati on sys systemtem b byy the ccentralentr al govegovernment,rnm ent , aancient ncie nt 1mpImperialer ial CoCourt.urt . It cacann bbee ssaid aid th thatatp peopleseo pl es of thi thiss rregioneg ion had aandnd hhas as eenjoyednj oye d easy aaccesscc ess ttoo nati nation'so n's ppoliticaloliti ca l,, c ultur al cecenternt er ssuchuch aass KKyotoyo to and TTokyo.ok yo. FrFromom th theea ancientncie nt till th thee rrecentece nt dadaysys ,, th thee ce centernt er of ]Japaneseapan ese cultur culturea andnd aadmindmini isstrationtrati on was tr traditionallyaditi onall ys situateditu a ted in th thee Kinki di district.stri ct. ThThee 1mpImperialeri al CoCourt urt ooff oold ld dadays ys hhadad se sett seve raallr roadoa d as th thee ttrunkrunk lin line,e, coconnecting nn ect in g th thee ppoliticaloliti c al and aadminstrativedmin str ati ve ccenterent er wwith ith th thee locaocall di districtsstri cts,, of w hich mmostos t impimportanto rtant oonenea andnd ppassedasse d thr throughough ShinanShinanoo PrProvinceov inc ew wasas th thee ToTosandou.sand ou. ThiThiss ChikuhChikuhokuoku rregioneg ion hahass bbeenee n abl ablee ttoo ttakeakea advantagedvant age of of,, Trunk rroadoad undunderer the rrelayelay sstationtati on sys systemtem aandnd undunderer th thee ppostos tt townow n sys systemtem eeachach ooff MMiddid dle and PPre-Modernre-Mo de rn agesages,, rrailwaya il w ay and exexpresswaypr essway of MoModernde rn TimTimes. es. ThuThus,s, intr introduction odu cti on ooff aadvanceddvance d ccultureultur e wwasas nnotot diffi difficult cult aandnd ppeopleseo pl es ooff thi thiss rregioneg ion hhas as eennj joyeoyedde easy asy acaccessc ess ttooN Nation'sati o n's capcapitait al and influ influencedence d fr fromom th thee ppolitical,oliti cal , aadministrative dmini str ati ve cecenternt er ssucuch as KKyotoyo to and TTokyo.okyo ThThee exexistenceisten ce of seve severaral o ld ageageddt templesempl es aandnd sshrineshrin es pr probablyobabl ys showhow th thee evevidenceid en ce th that,at , bbetween etwee n tthishi s fa farr di distantsta nt rregionegi on aandnd th thee nnationalati onal ccapital,apit al, th the e popoliticallitic al,, adminiadministrative str ati ve cecenternte r,, ccu ultur ltural excexchangehan ge aandnd vavariousri ous cocommunicatm m uni ca ti ioonsns wewerere in intensivete nsive aandnd intimat intimatee rrelationselati ons hhadadb beenee n esta establisbli sheedd fro fromm th theea ancientncien t timtim es. It m igght ht bbeea alsol so tru truee that intr introducodu c ti tionon of adadvancedv ance d ccuultur lture wewerere sec securedur edb byy th thee es establishedtabli shed tr transportationansporta ti onn networksetwo rk s (C:Bt長野mr 県高等学lJf);rW.J~$tt校歴史}flt~lVf~~,研究会, 199419 94 ). ThiThiss rregioneg ioni iss cocomposedmp ose d oofff fouro ur vvillagesilla ges llocatingoca tin gf fromrom th theee east-westast- wes t ali alignedgned dir directionec ti on as as SSakai,akai , Omi ,, SSakak ak a kita ita anda nd HHonjou.onj ou. TTotalotald dwellerswe ll erso off thi thiss rregioneg ion accoaccountsunts ttooa approxipp rox i- mmatelyately 10th thouousa ndnds,s, 0. 0.5 5 pperer cecent nt ooff th theew whohole NagNaganoan o PrPrefectureefec tur e,, and ttotal otal rregionaleg ional aareasr eas exexhibitshibit s 133.9133. 9 ssquarequ are kil kiloo mmeterseters rrepresenting巴pr ese ntin g 1p perer cecentnto off th theew whole N Nagano.aga no. NexNextt Fi Fig g. 1 sshowshows th theeo outlineutlin e of tthehe di discussedsc usse d aarea.rea. II. II. Physical EnvironmenEnvironment t 1n 1n In thi thiss sec sectionti on pphysicahys ic al eenvnvir oonmentnm e nt iiss exaexammin ineedd fr fromom th thee ffollowingoll ow in g th three ree as aspects;pec t s; di stinc tinctivetive inl aandnd cclimatelim atew with ith sshortho rt rrainfallain fa ll ,, ppeoples eo pl es eeffortff o rt fforor wawatert er rresourceeso ur ce ddevelopeve lop mmente nt ttoo oveovercomerco m e wawaterterd deficitsefi cit s,, aand nd chcharacteristicara cteri stic hill y landf landform.orm .