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Rice planting @ Hitachi City Museum、田植@日立市郷土博物館 |
Rice is very important crop for
Japanese. It’s been a staple food for more than two thousand years. The rice was also used for tax paying instead of money. Farmers accounted for 80% of Japanese in the Edo period, so the farming especially rice farming has influenced our life so
much. We have a lot of annual events concerning the rice farming. Wet-rice
farming is major thing in Japan. I would like to describe the agriculture in the Edo period here.
米は日本人の主食で、古来、税は米で納められている。稲作は、農民が人口の80%を占めた江戸時代には、生活の軸であり、稲作に関連する祭りなど年中行事が行われている。
We have an annual event for a good
harvest in January. The tools of the rice planting rite are shown below. The
rite was a kind of a comedy show which mimicked farming. The actor used the hoe, he
also fed the baby doll and he made her pee. The baby doll was the symbol of
the god of the rice field. It was called “Ta-asobi”. “Ta” is a rice field and
“asobi” is an entertainment.
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Ceremonial hoe and mask, replica of Kumata Shrine in Osaka |
正月に、豊作を願い作柄を占う、田遊びが行われる。大阪の杭全(くまた)神社の御田植神事。正月13日の夜中から朝方にかけて行われた小正月の行事で、農耕を狂言形式で演じ、面をつけたシテは鍬を入れたり、田の神と考えられる市松人形に食事や小便をさせるという。
In March, seeds were sunk in the ponds in
order to have them sprout.
3月ごろには、種籾を池などの水に漬けた後、乾かせて芽を出させる。
In the early spring, seeds were sown
in the rice nursery.
春先には、種を苗代に蒔く。
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Seeding @ Tohoku history museum and Ichikawa history museum 種まき@東北歴史博物館&市川歴史博物館
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People ploughed the rice field, and made the
water-proof walls.
また、備中鍬(くわ)を使って、田の土を掘り起こし、平鍬を使って、田の畔に土を塗り、水漏れを防ぐ。
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Ploughing @ Tohoku history museum and Ichikawa history museum 田起し・田うない@東北歴史博物館&市川歴史博物館
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Making bank around the rice field@ Tohoku history museum 畔塗り@東北歴史博物館
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Farmers
added the fertilizer, then added water and tilled the rice field.
田に肥料を入れて水を入れ、田をならす。土に粘りが出て水が漏れなくなる。
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Ploughing and fertilizing @ Tohoku history museum 代掻き@東北歴史博物館
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Farmers took seedlings from their nurseries and
brought them to their rice fields or paddies.
苗代から苗を取り、本田に運ぶ。
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Transfer of seedlings @ Tohoku history museum 苗取り@東北歴史博物館 |
Seedlings were thrown into the rice fields. Women caught them and planted them. It was the heavy job.
苗を田に投げ入れ、女性が中心になって植える。不自然な姿勢の重労働だ。
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Rice planting @ Tohoku history museum、田植@東北歴史博物館
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Rice planting @ Hitachi City Museum、田植@日立市郷土博物館 |
Festivals have been held during the
planting season. People pray for rich harvest and the cheerful festival encouraged
farmers.
実りを願い、重労働を緩和するお祭りが行われる。また、田植を終えた人(主に女性)にご馳走を振る舞う行事(さなぶり)が各地で行われた。
They weeded in Jun and July. It was
hard work because they had to bend down. Moreover the sharp edges of the rice leaves hurt farmers. After
weeding, some of the farmers went out for traveling, so it was an off-season for them. (The history of travel of Japanese ordinary people 2/2, Chapter 4. (7) Season for
traveling)
6月、7月には数回草取りを行う。これも腰を曲げる辛い作業だし、稲がチクチクして大変だったそうだ。ただし、田植後のこの時期、農民は旅にでる(庶民と旅の歴史 PartⅡ4章(7)旅のシーズン)。時間はあったのだ。
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Weeding @ Ichikawa history museum 田の草取り@市川歴史博物館
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People have held the rite for pest
control. It was called “Mushi-okuri”. Mushi means insects and okuri means send-off.
They wanted to drive insects from villages. On the other hand, Bon festival has been held from 13th to 16th of July. During this time, people welcome the spirits of their ancestors and pray for them.
この時期、虫送りが行われる。害虫を村から送り出すイベントである。旧暦の7月13日から16日はお盆となり、先祖の霊を迎え、供養し、送る。
Autumn is a season for harvesting in which people
cut the rice plants by hands at that time. Rice plants were bound and dried at the rice
fields.
秋は稲刈りとなる。鎌で稲を刈り、束ねて田で干す。
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Rice field in autumn in Saitama |
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Harvesting @ Tohoku history museum and Ichikawa history museum、稲刈り@東北歴史博物館&市川歴史博物館
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Farmers removed paddy from rice
plants (threshing). Then they removed chaff and foreign objects in order to
make brown rice. Chickens ate the rice remained on the ground, and the farmers ate eggs and chickens.
稲から、籾をこき落し(脱穀・稲こき)、異物を取って俵に詰める。地面に落ちた米は、鶏が残らず食べます。
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Threshing @ Ichikawa history museum、脱穀@市川歴史博物館 |
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Threshing @ Tohoku history museum、脱穀@東北歴史博物館 |
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Removing prickles from paddy @ Tohoku history museum 叩いて籾のトゲを取る・共同作業@東北歴史博物館
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Sorting out prickles from paddy @ Tohoku history museum 籾とトゲの選別@東北歴史博物館
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Removing chaff from paddy @ Tohoku history museum 籾殻を取る=米搗き@東北歴史博物館
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Sorting out chaff from paddy @ Tohoku history museum 籾と籾殻の選別@東北歴史博物館
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Finally they packed rice into the straw bags called “Tawara”
and shipped. Farmers enjoyed the autumn festivals at the same time. We like Japonica
rice because of its texture and scent.
玄米ができて、俵に詰めて、出荷される。米が実る頃には、秋祭り。
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Packing @ Ichikawa history museum、 俵詰@東北歴史博物館
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Shipping on the cart @ Kasukabe history museum 大八車で出荷@春日部市郷土資料館
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Btw, the
byproducts after eating rice (bran, husks and straw) have been utilized as
clothes and so on (right). Those have been returned to the ground directly or
been burned and been used as fertilizer. It’s the ultimate
(best) recyclable resource.
お米を食べた後の、わら、もみがら、ぬかなどは、生活用品だけでなく、屋根や壁など建材、俵など包材など様々な製品になり、最後は土に戻る。知立市歴史民俗資料館のパネルには、「稲は究極のリサイクル資源」と書かれていた。
Straw
products Nagano
City Museum(1/2)、長野市立博物館(1/2)
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Polished rice of my house、我家の白米 |
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Autumn festival @ Ichikawa history museum 秋祭り@市川歴史博物館 |
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Steamed rice of my house、炊き上がった我家のご飯 |
The timetable below shows a typical annual
calendar of farmers in Nakareyama which is shown in Nagareyama city museum.
They made rice, wheat, and vegetables. In winter they collected firewood and
made straw products, so they had many things to do every season. Apparently they were busy.
千葉県流山の農家の年間カレンダーである。農閑期の冬も薪集めや藁用品つくり、稲作の間に麦や野菜も作っている。働こうと思えば毎日働ける。
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