Japanese Rice
A history of the social organization around and economic management of Japanese rice.
Contents
History
During the Edo period, farmers were considered to be of higher social standing that craftsmen or merchants. Farmers themselves were often effectively renters; 10%-30% of land was cultivated by tenants who paid 20-28% of their harvest to the landlords. Rice was the predominant crop.
Lords sold most of their share in an open market. About 75% of the total market supply came from lords rather than the farmers. Additionally, a futures market on rice was formed as early as 1730 in Osaka. (The only known earlier futures market was for Dutch tulips.)
After World War 2, GHQ initiated extensive land reform. Landowners were forced to sell to GHQ, which then redistributed the land to farmers. Tenant farmers were often given ownership of the same plot that they had worked on.
As Japanese industry trended towards manufacturing over time, small-scale agriculture gave way to sanchan agriculture (三ちゃん農業) (sanchan referring to じいちゃん, ばあちゃん, and かあちゃん). Men worked for companies, while women and the elderly farmed.