2019 (Nos. 979-991)

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Special Issue：Histories of “Water” as a Resource (I)
Preface………………………………………………………the Editorial Board(1)
Articles
Local Communities and Water Resources in Eastern Japan
in the 16th Century……………………………………………NISHIKAWA Kōhei(2)
The Effects of Rural Development within the Kawachi Sayama
Pond Catchment Area in the 17th Century…………ICHIKAWA Hideyuki(14)
Meiji Restoration from the Perspective of Irrigation and Flood Control
……………………………………………………………WATANABE Takashi(25)
Public Policy and Demand in Japanese Modern Urban Society:
Opening of the Kyoto City Waterworks Project…………SHIRAKI Masatoshi(37)
A Re-Carving of Traditions: Formation and Reorganization of
the Water Utlization System in the Basic Society of Premodern Shanxi
…………………………………………………IGURO Shinobu(49)
Conflicts between Public and Private Water Rights in Colonial Taiwan
………………………………………………………SHIMIZU Misato(62)

Current Topics
Brexit and the Border of Northern and Southern Ireland:
Trial of the Relationship between UK and Ireland …YOON Hae-young (74)

<Summary>
Local Communities and Water Resources in Eastern Japan in the 16th Century
NISHIKAWA Kohei
This paper examines the use and conservation of water in local communities, as well as the relationship between villages and feudal lords concerning water resources, with a focus on Kai and Suruga Provinces in the 16th Century.
This study points out the adjustments made by feudal lords and local inhabitants regarding the use and conservation of water resources considering natural disasters and other factors, such as irrigation usage, sacred grounds, and preservation of the ecosystem. Furthermore, while local communities developed the new post stations (Shinsyuku) utilizing water resources, they formed inter-village networks independently of the authority of feudal lords. There are references to feudal lords enforcing solutions to water resource-related conflicts among territorial lords (Sengoku Daimyo) during this period even while allowing the inter-village networks, in addition imposing a land tax and participating in water utilization firsthand among shrines and temples that had become important institutions in the region.
A system regarding the use and conservation of water resources, which presupposed regular damage due to natural disasters, was therefore established in the 16th Century. The villages played a central role in planning the management of water resources, while the feudal lords served to guarantee the role played by the villages and to arbitrate disputes.

The Effects of Rural Development within the Kawachi Sayama Pond Catchment Area in the 17th Century
ICHIKAWA Hideyuki
Sayama pond is a vast irrigation reservoir which was constructed in the city of Osaka-sayama in Osaka prefecture, at the beginning of the 7th century. Historic research into Sayama pond has mainly focused on the development of engineering techniques used in its construction and repair as well as on irrigation. However, there is no integrated research on the mountains and water flow upstream. Sedimentation in Sayama pond advanced due to the development of upstream villages since the beginning of the 17th century. According to studies on Iwamuro- village and Ichimura-shinden, rural development conducted on the ridge-sections of hilly areas caused a considerable amount of sediment to flow downstream and accumulate in the pond. In addition to becoming a major cause of disasters, in the 18th Century, the sediment deposited in Sayama pond reached a point where development started reaching into new dry-lands created around the lake by the accumulated sedimentation.

Meiji Restoration from the Perspective of Irrigation and Flood Control
WATANABE Takashi
This paper examines the issues of irrigation and flood control in Japanese rural communities, specifically during the Meiji Restoration period. The first section targets the Osaka prefecture region, the second focuses on the Saitama prefecture region, and the third considers the Yamaguchi prefecture region. In the Meiji era (1868-1912), a new logic began to be asserted with regard to irrigation disputes between villages―the idea of absolute ownership rights. However, this logic did not become immediately widespread in the society. The establishment of the Meiji administration made it possible to request the government to carry out flood control works ―something that was only possible earlier by requesting the cooperation of individual feudal lords. As a result of this fundamental change in the system of goverment, local leaders used various ways to urge the government to initiate the implementation of various water-related construction projects, which would have been impossible until that point. Using other examples as well, this paper sheds light on various aspects―aspects that changed, those that remained unchanged, and those that briefly changed only to revert―of irrigation and flood control in the Meiji period.

Public Policy and Demand in Japanese Modern Urban Society: Opening of the Kyoto City Waterworks Project
SHIRAKI Masatoshi
This paper describes how residents consumed water for daily use after modern water supply systems were introduced into Japanese Modern urban society. Using the case study of Kyoto City, where a public water supply system was completed in 1912, this paper aims to elucidate some of the characteristics of this water supply system from the viewpoint of its “public nature”. To make the water supply available to residents as soon as possible, the city conducted water supply campaigns and implemented subsidies and price cuts for waterworks equipment. The typhoid epidemic, coronation of the Taisho Emperor, and winter drought triggered the quick spread of the water supply. However, the demand for water supply among residents who were used to well water was sluggish. On the other hand, since the city implemented flat-rate unlimited water supply, the residents would squander away the maximum planned water supply every summer. This “overuse of water” led to a water shortage crisis and disrupted the waterworks project even though the facilities were not available to even half the population. Therefore, in 1920, the city uniformly implemented a pay-per-use metered water supply to prevent this kind of “overuse of water.” This revision not only complied with the socio-political ability-to-pay principle, but also greatly increased revenue.

A Re-Carving of Traditions: Formation and Reorganization of the Water Utilization System in the Basic Society of Premodern Shanxi
IGURO Shinobu
In Quwo County in the Shanxi province of China, 21 villages divided the period of time from February to August every year into three parts and set up a time for each of the villages to draw water from a local hot spring for irrigation. This system was modeled on the regulations that were established for the Huo Canal in Hongtong County in the 13th century. One characteristic of this arrangement included the villages taking turns to draw water from the downstream side to the upstream, with the cycle restarting from the first village after all the villages had taken their turn to draw water. Based on local chronicles of the Ming period (1368-1644), Zhang Fang, Quwo county magistrate, demanded the villages to allow 30% of the volume of the spring water to flow into the city of Quwo in the 18th century. Against this ordinance, the 21 villages protected their own interests by presenting regulations made in the Yuan period (1271-1368) based on the water utilization of the Huo Canal as older regulations than the local chronicles. The tradition of using the spring water was established during the reconstruction following a major earthquake at the beginning of the 14th century. In addition, a reorganization effort was made in the name of the revival of tradition in the first half of the 18th century. Furthermore, this fact was reaffirmed when a monument was being copied in the first half of the 19th century. Historical restoration of carved tablets and so-called “water books” (records containing details of the use of water by communities for irrigation) played a major role in the process of the revival of this tradition.

Conflicts between Public and Private Water Rights in Colonial Taiwan
SHIMIZU Misato
Water-use stakeholders in Japan in the past frequently disputed over how water ought to be divided into public and private water based on their differing concepts of water and its use. Conflicts between public and private water rights in Taiwan occurred when it was occupied by Japan; however, although these disputes at first seemingly resembled those in Japan, in reality they differed in several important aspects.
Water utilization in colonial Taiwan adopted the laws and policies of the Japanese government-general. Water usage traditions from the Qing period were then gradually reduced. However, the Qing dynasty notions of water usage emerged occasionally, which worried the Japanese rulers. One such example was the response at a trial where farmers asked whether an irrigation organization was a private corporation.
This study analyzes water resources and possession of water supply facilities in colonial Taiwan from public and private perspectives. It elucidates the fact that the Japanese colonizers were in fact expanding their country’s domain while claiming “public” rights, and the Taiwanese were protecting their own territory by asserting “private” rights.

Extra Edition
Special Edition
The Annual Meeting of the Society in May 2019
The Tasks of Historical Studies in the age of Exclusionism:
Debates on “Exclusion” and “Living Together”

Plenary Session
The Tasks of Historical Studies in the age of Exclusionism: Debates on “Exclusion” and “Living Together” …SHIN Chang-u，KIDŌ Yoshiyuki，NITATORI Yūichi (2)

Ancient History Section
Formation and Development of Domination Structure in Eastern-Asian Ancient States
…………FUKUSHIMA Taiga, ŌKAWARA Ryuichi, HAMADA Kumiko (37)

Medieval History Section
Structure and Movement of the Regions and Powers in the Medieval Age of Japan
…………………………WAKABAYASHI Ryōichi, KAWABATA Yasuyuki (69)

Early Modern History Section
Relationship between the Shogunate Government and Han (Clans) in the 18th
and First Half of 19th Century, seen from Routes of Political Negotiation
……………ARAKI Hiroyuki, YAMAMOTO Hideki (95)

Modern History Section
The Meaning of “Region” for Migrants: On Fluctuations of Identities
…………………HIWA Mizuki, KONNO Yūko, YAMAMOTO Akiyo (116)

Contemporary History Section
Historicizing the Peace Movements: Beyond the Framework of Interpretations
for Cold War History ………………KUROKAWA Iori, TAKEMOTO Makiko (152)

Joint Section
Rethinking the Sovereign State Part 2: Translations of “Sovreignty”
…………………………………MINAGAWA Taku, OKAMOTO Takashi (177)
Special Section
Gender Equality in Historical Studies
… The Committee, INOSE Kumie, YOKOYAMA Yuriko, MIKAMI Yoshitaka (204)

Special Issue　The History of Currency in the Transitional
Period from Medieval to Early –Modern Japan
Preface …………………………………………………the Editorial Board(1)
Articles
A Review of Historical Studies on the Circulation of
Currency from 15th to 17th Century Japan:
Perspectives and Issues………………………………KAWATO Takashi(2)
Currency Circulation in the Transitional Period from Medieval
to Early-modern Japan　…………………………… TAKAGI Hisashi(11)　
Oda Nobunaga and the Silver Mines, and the Money Selection Law
　　　　　……………………………………………KUROSHIMA Satoru(20)
Medieval to Early Modern Transition Period from the
Perspective of Monetary Archeology …………… SAKURAKI Shin-ichi(29)

Articles
The Formative History of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
and Resident Eviction: People’s Experiences as Recorded
in Recovery Office Documents………………………NISHII Marina(39)
Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
SUZUKI Takurō, The Minister System in Ancient Japan
.............................................………KAMIYA Masayoshi(57)
NAKANISHI Keita, Municipal “Self-Governance” and the Meiji State: Local Govenment and Finance.……………………………IIZUKA Kazuyuki(59)

Recent Publications………………………………………………………(63)

<Summary>
15th to 17th Century Japan: Perspectives and Issues
KAWATO Takashi
This paper reviews the current state of the field of historical studies on the circulation of currency during the transition from medieval to early modern period in Japan. Specifically, it reviews research to date from three perspectives. The first is the relationship between the state and its currency. This focuses on the fact that in 16th-century Japan, not only the Muromachi Shogunate, but even the warlords throughout the country, who were regional power holders, exercised their public authority to promulgate laws regulating the order of currencies (erizeni-rei [currency regulations]). The second focuses on the analysis of the special characteristics of currency. From this perspective, copper coins (zeni), which were the basic currency in that era, were of low domination. Therefore, they were easily hoarded, requiring constant replenishment, but their supply was controlled not by the state authority but by the autonomy of the market. The third perspective is the incorporation of the results of archeological findings in historical analysis, and in recent years, the addition of chemical analysis of the constituents of zeni. We can look forward to even more advanced research in the future.

Currency Circulation in the Transitional Period from Medieval to Early-modern Japan
TAKAGI Hisashi
This paper focuses on the state of currency circulation in the transitional period from medieval to early-modern Japan and examines how this influenced the politics and society of the time. Furthermore, this paper introduces some of the current controversies in this field. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes the continuity of the monetary system between the 16th and the 17th century.
Main topics dealt with in this paper are as follows: historical methodology in monetary studies, the emergence of domestic imitation bronzecoins, coin discrimination and stratification in the market, the demand and supply balance of bronze coins, the beginnings of gold and silver coin circulation, the re-integration of bronze coins through the introduction of a category of bita, a cross-checking of research with results from Tanba Province, and the credit trading at the time.

Oda Nobunaga and the Silver Mines, and the Money Selection Law
KUROSHIMA Satoru
While new research on the history of currency from the medieval to early modern period has provided new insights, these finding need to be re-examined in the light of the realities of the political history of the period. In particular, we need to bear in mind the fact that the capital region in the years around 1568, when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto, was still under the influence of traditional political authorities, i.e. the Muromachi Shogunate and Imperial Court, and Nobunaga lacked sufficient military power to overwhelm his rivals. It is necessary to reassess historical materials concerning currency and its circulation premised on such complex political circumstances.
Past research on currencies has confirmed that the takeover of the silver mines and promulgation of the Money Selection Law (erizeni-rei), which have been understood to be Nobunaga’s policies, cannot be said to have actually been done at his initiative. Clarifying whether or not Nobunaga actively promoted economic policy is a challenge that must be tackled with caution.

Medieval to Early Modern Transition Period from the Perspective of Numismatic Archeology
SAKURAKI Shinichi
This paper considers currency and how it was made and used during the transition from medieval to early modern period in Japan from the perspective of numismatic archeology, which is not based on historical documents, but on the study of currency as a historical artifact. Archeological sources have provided proof that currency production technologies used included transforming the quality of molds from clay to sand and the refining method called cupellation. This paper also introduces and summarizes the achievements of past research centered on cultural heritage science, by focusing on the actual state of circulation of coins and the formation of their circulation areas (= segregation of circulating currencies), various forms of circulation such as sashizeni, which were bundles of coins strung together, and kirizukai, which was cutting up of gold or silver coins, analysis of the metal constituents of coins, and change in their value, or lead isotope ratio analysis.

The Formative History of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Resident Eviction: People’s Experiences as Recorded in Recovery Office Documents
NISHII Marina
This paper discusses the formative history of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park as a part of post-war recovery efforts in Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb. It presents new post-war recovery research considered from the perspective of social history research, focusing on opposing petitions (“personal narrative” documents) submitted by residents requesting that eviction orders given during the recovery process be stopped or delayed.
The memorial park was built in the Nakajima District, which was originally a business district. The district suffered catastrophic damage when the atomic bomb was dropped, and a decision was made to convert it into a park. However, former residents, war victims, repatriates, and others ended up settling in the planned area for the park, due to the housing shortage following the war. Therefore, especially after 1950, when construction began in earnest, many destitute people began to be evicted from the area.
This paper examines the interaction among three aspects—urban recovery plans to build central facilities in the “peace memorial city” of Hiroshima; economic policies during the occupation and then during the cold war that governed these plans; and actual lives of the residents—and questions the meaning of post-war recovery in Japan.

Articles
The State and the Role of Monks from the Ashikaga Shogun Family
in the Early Muromachi Period………………………………TAKATORI Ren(1)

Trends
Racist Massive Incarceration in the United States of America and the Penal
State in the 21st Century……………………………………FUJINAGA Yasumasa(17)

Series : Dialogue between Historians and Archivists (6)
Proposals
The Necessity of “Contemporary Archival Studies” and its Task:
On the Management of Electronic Public Documents……SHIMOJYŪ Naoki(26)

Visiting Archives
Sectarian Networks in Early Modern Europe and Research
the Various Archives …………………………………………NISHIKAWA Sugiko(33)
Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo in Portugal: A Contemporary
“Tower of Archives”……………………………………………OKAMOTO Makoto(38)
Information Disclosure, Innovation, and Communication:
The Rockefeller Archive Center ………………………………HIRATAI Yumi(41)
Some Ruminations from the Hawaii State Archives……HARAYAMA Kōsuke(45)

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
TAKAHASHI Hideki, Studies on the Miura Clans.…………TANAKA Hiroki(50)
ISHII Kae, Why did Telephone Operators become ‘Female Work’?:
A Comparative History of Technology and Gender in Japan and Germany
…………………………ENOKI Kazue(53)
TAKAHASHI Hidetoshi, Time and Space in Post-war German History
………….………SATŌ Shigeki(56)

The Society's Report
Report on the 2019 General Assembly ……………………………The Committee(60)

<Summary>
The State and the Role of Monks from the Ashikaga Shogun Family in the Early Muromachi Period
TAKATORI Ren
The rank and status of the Ashikaga Shogun family have recently been described as equivalent to that of the Fujiwara dynasty of Regent (sekkan) family. However, the Shogun family actually occupied a higher position that was politically isolated from the Regent family. In this paper, I investigated the situation of monks from the Shogun family as a way to clarify the status of the family as a whole. After that, I examined the changes brought to the court noble society and the temple society by the fact that Shogun family had become a “exalted lineage” (kishu「貴種」).
The “exalted nobleness” of monks from the Shogun family, which derived from the status of the Shogun himself as “Lord of Muromachi” (Muromachidono), was established as the family started to become distinctive and exert a strong presence in society. Above all, Muromachidono’s brothers received the same treatment in rituals as the current emperor’s brothers, and sometimes even the children of Muromachidono’s brothers enjoyed the same treatment as belonging to a “exalted lineage”(kisyu). This treatment was not afforded to the monks from the Regent family.
As the high status of Ashikaga Shogun family came to be recognized in the court noble society and temple society, a new social order in which the Shogun family was at the pinnacle matured.

Articles
The System of Monts-de-Piété in Nineteenth-Century France:
Its Welfare Functions　…………………………………………… OKABE Hiroshi(1)

Notes and Suggestions
Military Formations in the Genkō and Kenmu (ca 1333-36) Civil War Period:
An Examination of Gunzeisaisokujō in the First Period of the Northern and Southern Courts
………………………………………………　NAGAYAMA Ai(16)

Current Topics
Historical Meaning of the Renaming of a State:
“Macedonia” in South Eastern Europe ………………………………ŌBA Chieko(26)
Race and Gender in Sexual Violence: On the Nomination of
Brett Kavanaugh as US Supreme Court Justice ……………MINOWA Satomi(38)

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
ISHII Kanji, The Regional Structure of Capitalist Society of Japan
　　　　　　　　　　………………………………………KOBAYASHI Noburu(46)
JE Jumsk, Experiences of Colonial Modernity: Colonial Korea and Modern Japanese Buddhism
…………………………………………………FUJII Takeshi(49)
NAKAMURA Motoya, The Genealogy of Liberalism in China,
Hong Kong, and Taiwan …………………………………………OGATA Yasushi(52)
KOSEKI Takashi, The Irish Revolution, 1913-1923…………SAKIYAMA Naoki(55)

Exhibition Reviews
Renewal of Gallery 1 (Prehistory and Ancient Age Section) in
the National Museum of Japanese History　…………………HASHIMOTO Gō(59)

Recent Publications……………………………………………………………………(63)

<Summary>
The System of Monts-de-Piété in Nineteenth-Century France: Its Welfare Functions
OKABE Hiroshi
This paper examines the welfare functions of the monts-de-piété (French pawn-shops) in order to advance the studies of social welfare history in nineteenth-century France. Social historians have already considered monts-de-piété as a means for urban people to battle poverty. However their welfare functions have not been yet examined sufficiently. In order to clarify them, this paper focuses on local debates about the system of monts-de-piété, because these institutions have been placed under a national system since the beginning of the nineteenth-century.
This paper has two conclusions. Firstly, throughout the nineteenth-century, the French system of monts-de-piété functioned as welfare safety-net by temporarily protecting the urban people who verged on chronic poverty. But its functions changed dynamically depending on the historical situation. Its flexibility and durability show an important feature of French social welfare in the nineteenth century. Secondly, while historians have emphasized that French social welfare measures tried to teach the poor about morality in the nineteenth century, it is possible that the system of monts-de-piété encouraged their immorality in its strategies. These conclusions allow us to reexamine traditional views, not only on social welfare, but also on society and government, in nineteenth-century France.

Military formations in the Genko and Kenmu (ca 1333-36) Civil War Period:
Examination of Gunzeisaisokujo in the First Period of the Northern and Southern Courts
NAGAYAMA Ai
This paper examines military formations in the Period of the Northern and Southern Courts, using a document called the Gunzeisaisokujo (Military Muster Orders). This document is understood to have been sent by a high-ranking authority to all districts, commanding the bushi warriors to gather for war. However, in such a fluid political situation, how much could this high-ranking authority have grasped the situation of the bushi before issuing this document? To elucidate this hitherto unclear fact, this paper studies how the document could have been issued under a maximally fluid political situation (such that the central political authority traversed each district as a military unit) and clarifies some aspects of this question. In other words, this document was ① issued because it was needed for its recipients to gather their military forces. ② In contrast to the conventional and commonly accepted view, the issuing of Gunzeisaisokujo to military forces that had already been mustered was a common event, at least in the period in question, and ③ the military forces’ demands for receiving the Gunzeisaisokujo were predicated on ① and ②. Our understanding of the Gunzeisaisokujo needs to be revised.

Special Issue: History and the Management of Public Documents:
Producing, Storage, Utilization and Destruction(II)

Articles
Management of Archives and Information in Medieval Japan
……………………………………………………NISHIOKA Yoshifumi (1)

Illuminating the Dark: Unveiling Britain's Colonial Cover-up…SATŌ Shohei (11)

The Current Situation of East German “Official Documents”…IZUTA Shunsuke(22)
Trends
Studies on the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Nationalism
in Postwar Japan…………………………………………………ONODERA Shirō(36)
Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
TAKANO Nobuharu, Studies on the Deification of Bushi
……………………SONEHARA Osamu(45)
NAGASAKA Yoshihiro, Regent Houses and the Relationship between
the Court and the Shogunate in Early Modern Japan …………KIM Hyungjin(47)
UMEMORI Naoyuki, Topography of the Early Japanese Socialism:
Ōsugi Sakae and his Age ……………………………………SUMITOMO Akifumi(50)
KAJIMA Jun, Shanghai’s Economy under the Socialist System
………………IZUTANI Yōko (53)
HASEGAWA Mayuho, Parish Women and their Right to Choose a
Midwife in Early Modern France ………………………………TASE Nozomu (56)

Exhibition Reviews
Resonance and Dissonance for the Passions:
On the Romanticist Emotion provoked by Ritual Draft of Yan
　Zhen-ging ………………………………………………………………ETŌ Anna(61)

<Summary>
Management of Archives and Information in Medieval Japan
NISHIOKA Yoshifumi
This paper covers Kanazawa Shomyoji as a model case of archive management in medieval Japan and traces the historical changes in the introduction of archives and sacred teachings. First, I found that a characteristic of most ancient documents found among the sacred teachings of Kanazawa Shomyoji was that they were shihai monjo (documents written on the reverse sides of others). By combining an examination of the contents of the Kanazawa Bunko library, which houses ancient Japanese and Chinese books, and the contents of the Shomyoji Temple library which covers the teachings of “exoteric-esoteric Buddhism” （kenmitsu bukkyo）it should be possible to reconstruct the knowledge system of the Kamakura Period
Next, I focused on “square books” (masugata-bon), which form a large percentage of the holdings of the temple library. I suggest that this book formula was one way of managing information in medieval temples. The method of breaking down secret teachings and sermon materials, integrating them into a compact book, classifying and editing the content so that it can be searched for various purposes, and passing down systematic information can be referred to as “medieval hypertext.”
Finally, I discussed the forms of sacred teachings, which symbolized legitimacy in medieval esoteric Buddhism. The basic sacred teachings of the Nishinoin School and the Jizoin School were transferred to the Kamakura under the patronage of the Adachi clan. Eventually, with the downfall of the Kamakura shogunate and the civil war between the Northern and Southern Courts, it became difficult to maintain confidentiality and the secret teachings were revealed and allowed to spread widely. This is where we can observe the end of information management in medieval times.

Illuminating the Dark: Unveiling Britain’s Colonial Cover-up
SATO Shohei
The twentieth century was an age of imperial decline and national liberation. Within the decolonization process, the imperial powers are suspected to have concealed many of the colonial records of their embarrassing past. In general, it is difficult to acquire a clear picture of how these acts of obfuscation took place, since by definition they tended to leave behind few traces. New revelations, however, are emerging from the history of the British Empire.
In 2011, in the course of a lawsuit filed on behalf of former Kenyan detainees, the British government announced that it had discovered secret documents outside the regular classification system. Thus was initiated the disclosure of approximately 20,000 files long thought to have been destroyed, if ever extant at all. Using these new sources, which are often referred to as the ‘migrated archives’ or FCO 141, this paper examines how the British Empire concealed and destroyed sensitive documents in the mid- to late twentieth century across its colonies worldwide, from the Gold Coast to Kenya, Ceylon to Malaya and beyond. Asking how Britain attempted to tailor the historical understanding of its past at this critical juncture of imperial retreat, this research project attempts to reconstruct, in unusual detail, this act of imperial obfuscation, which is relevant to an understanding of archival research and public records.

The Current Situation of East German “Official Documents”
IZUTA Shunsuke
This paper examines how the “official or public” documents of East Germany were (and are) managed. Since the German reunification in 1990, documents relating to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Enheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) are mainly managed by the German Federal Archives. The German Federal Archives consistently disclosed archives and promoted the idea of making archives available online and through other networks. The reasons for this transparency and openness were (and are) the need for a coming to terms with the past of the SED dictatorship and to create a political identity based on liberal democracy. The German Federal Archives, which are open to external users, are overwhelmingly transparent compared to the previous archives owned by the SED. However, the development of this environment has been promoted by political norms. These norms have secured consistent openness, transparency, and convenience at the German Federal Archives. Since public archives and documents, which form the basis for historical studies, are public goods, as the case of the East German official documents demonstrates. Neither archives nor the documents themselves can exist independently of political norms.

Special Issue: History and the Management of Public Documents:
Producing, Storage, Utilization, and Destruction

Preface………………………………………………………………the Editorial Board(1)
Articles
Document Practice and Mythology: The Matsue Fishermen
Guild’s Editing and Historical Narrative …… …………………WATANABE Kōichi (2)

Management of Public Documents in Modern Japan: From Editing “Historical
Records” and “Registers” to “Routine Office Work”………WATANABE Yoshiko (13)

Conferring of Additional Titles to the Boyi and Shuqi Mausoleums and
Document Storage in the Song and Yuan Period: With a Focus on
the Erxian Temple at Mt. Shouyang 　…………………KOBAYASHI Takamichi (23)

Document Management since the Ming and Qing Periods in China:
Government Administration and Document Management in Regional Societies
……………………………USUI Sachiko (35)

Political Struggle over Commodus' Documents: Emperors and the
Senate in the Late Second Century …………………………FUKUYAMA Yūko (48)

The French Revolution and Archives : The Formation and
Transformation of Modern Archives ……………………………OKAZAKI Atsushi (57)

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
ARAKI Hiroyuki, Feudal Clans and the Shogunate in the
Later Edo Period　………………………………………………YAMAMOTO Hideki(67)
IKAI Takaaki, Formation of the Politics on Hansen’s
Disease and Patients in Modern Japan ……………………………HIRAI Yūichirō(70)
HIRONAKA Issei, Ji-Dong Regime and the Chinese-Japanese
Relationships …………………………………………………………TOBE Ryōichi(73)

Recent Publications…………………………………………………………………(77)

<Summary>
Document Practice and Mythology： The Matsue Fishermen Guild’s Editing and Historical Narrative
WATANABE Koichi
This paper analyzes the development from editing to narrative in the document practice process of preparation → use → archiving → editing → narrative. The case examined is that of the fishermen’s guild in the castle town of Matsue. The fishermen here were blessed with a large area of brackish water. However, the natural environment deteriorated due to human activities in the form of degenerating drainage functions, resulting from the development of new fields, and the deposition of waste soil from iron furnaces in the lakes. As a result, the fishermen ended up competing with neighboring villages and samurai for fish. To address this issue, in 1818, the representative of the fishermen’s guild arranged historical information by editing a cartulary. Since competition for fish had become increasingly heated, in 1863, the representative created a narrative for the fishermen’s guild by developing the cartulary. Both the cartulary and the narrative were made with the help of a literate Shinto priest. The narrative therefore cited the Kojiki under the influence of the Kokugaku of Motoori Norinaga to trace the origins of guild fishing back to pre-ancient times. In other words, the ordering of past information and the mythification of the past were connected as a practice.

Management of Public Documents in Modern Japan: From Editing “Historical Records” and “Registers” to “Routine Office Work”
WATANABE Yoshiko
Document management in modern Japan changed significantly following the creation of the Cabinet system in the government. Since the promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan and the establishment of a centralized state with a constitutional monarchy, the awareness of the importance of government documentation decreased. When the Meiji government was established, such documents were recognized to be historical registers and records. Moreover, even after the Haihan-chiken (abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures) under the Dajō-kan system, as evidenced by the terms “the power of records” and “the usefulness of records,” the value of documents and records was recognized. However, around the time of the promulgation of the Imperial Constitution, document management came to be understood as trivial office work in the administrative offices. Which political strength was acted in the background？ This paper aims to elucidate this background while pursuing changes in the awareness of documents among governments and the officials who worked there.

Conferring of Additional Titles to the Boyi and Shuqi Mausoleums and Document Storage in the Song and Yuan Period: With a Focus on the Erxian Temple at Mt. Shouyang
KOBAYASHI Takamichi
In 1281, a decree was issued to confer additional titles to Boyi and Shuqi, who are enshrined in the Erxian Temple at Mt. Shouyang. This was inscribed on a stone monument in the Erxian Temple in 1308 and was passed down as a stone engraved “document.” While this played the role of showing the origins of the mausoleum to visitors, it was also a basis to assert vested rights to the government. However, this conferment of additional titles was not originally requested by the Erxian Temple at Mt. Shouyang; it was based upon a request from a Boyi and Shuqi mausoleum in another area wherein Northern Song stone inscriptions were discovered. Why did the Erxian Temple not make this request independently? This issue is related to the relationship between the system of conferring additional titles and document storage, as well as the role of stone engraved “documents.” The recipients of information, who received public documents, then became those transmitting the information through making and showing these stone “documents.” How did this work relate to the onsite document administration tasks of preparation, storage, use, and discarding of documents, and what specific dynamics were at work there? This paper examines these issues with the concrete example of the document conferring additional titles upon Boyi and Shuqi that was issued in 1281, with a focus on the Erxian Temple.

Document Management since the Ming and Qing Periods in China: Government Administration and Document Management in Regional Societies
USUI Sachiko
This paper examines what types of official and public documents were made, in which process, and by whom, in the Qing period in China, which possessed laws and regulations as well as a system of government by officials; moreover, it observes the characteristics of Chinese government and society that these documents reveal. First, I discuss the central government’s management and storage of documents, including those submitted from regional administrative organs to the center. Then, I use the catalogue of documents of Shuntian-fu and so on, to present the types of documents that were prepared and used as a point of contact between non-governmental society and county governments which are the terminal levels of government administration. By using the Huizhou Documents and the Jiangsu Province tablet inscriptions as materials, I present cases of public documents created by regional administrative agencies.This paper also refers to public documents prepared by villages, lineages, and non-govermental groups. The purpose of preparing these documents was documentation for administrative and judicial work. They were stored by both the preparing agencies and receiving agencies, and were often discarded during changes of dynasty or government. Furthermore, notifications by regional governments were issued in response to many non-governmental people’s requests; this indicates that public documents were not merely a form of top-down communication in Chinese society, but also functioned as a means of bottom-to-top communication.

Political Struggle over Commodus’ Documents: Emperors and the Senate in the Late Second Century
FUKUYAMA Yuko
After his assassination in 192 CE, Commodus was condemned by the senatorial decree which allowed an attack on his memory. Consequently, many documents, i.e. inscriptions, statues, and reliefs, were destroyed or removed from the public space. However, a few months later, Septimius Severus forced the senators to decree the consecration of Commodus, which was clearly a retraction of the Senate’s decision imposed by the Emperor. Severus’s order produced a physical change of the city’s landscape. The inscriptions with the name of deified Commodus and his statues were newly set up or replaced both in the city of Rome and in the provinces. But the new image of Commodus was not stabilized. In later times, Severus’ restoration of his honor was ignored, and Commodus became one of the well-known “bad” Roman emperors. Such a “bad” image was produced by his contemporary historians, Cassius Dio and Herodian, rather than the monumental documents. The case of Commodus shows the fragility of documents in the face of political conflicts, and simultaneously the fact that the choice of images on the past which posterity adopted was made as a conscious decision.

The French Revolution and Archives: The Formation and Transformation of Modern Archives
OKAZAKI Atsushi
Archives are currently undergoing rapid transformation. Whereas interest once tended toward historical research, we have recently also begun to emphasize the importance of records as a foundation of democracy (including information disclosure and civic participation in government). With the tension between these two roles in mind, this paper aims to reconsider the formation of the modern archives system. During the French Revolution, France established the world’s first legal system for archives. This paper specifically considers the formation of this system as well as the issues raised in the process. First, the formation of this legal system is traced with a focus on the main archives-related laws and ordinances during the Revolutionary Period. Then, while examining the characteristics of the law of 1794, which was the world’s first law for archives administration, this paper considers issues concerning the triage of “historical” material. Finally, concerning the historization of archives, the paper concludes by touching upon staff actually involved in archives administration as well as issues in their professional development.

Articles
Local Administrative Inspectors under the Ritsuryo System:
　　The features of the inspectors classified as dispatched
　　inspectors …………………………………………………HASHIMOTO Gō (1)　

The relationship of Zuryo and Nenkan in the Mid-Heian Period
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………TESHIMA Daisuke (19)

Trends
Achievements and Tasks of ‘Kirishitan’ Historical Studies: Recent
　　Trends in Historiography………………………………………MURAI Sanae(31）

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
KAWANISHI Hideya, From the Modern Emperor System
　　to the Symbolic Emperor System………………………MINAGAWA Masaki (38)
Zou Can, Japan and China Attitudes to the ‘Anniversary
　　of Marco Polo Bridge Incident’………………………………SATŌ Takumi(42)
WATANABE Kazuyuki, Charles De Gaulle and Free France……MINAMI Yūzō(45)

Preparatory Papers for the General Meeting of the Society in May 2019……(50)

Recent Publications………………………………………………………………(62)

Society’s Announcements: The General Meeting of the Historical Science Society
　　of Japan for the Year 2019…………………………………………………(65)

<Summary>
Local Administrative Inspectors under the Ritsuryo System：The Features of the Inspectors Classified as Circuit-Dispatched Inspectors
HASHIMOTO Go

Under the Ritsuryo system in ancient Japan, local administrative inspectors were dispatched from the central government. Some were dispatched to each province and others to a wider area which was called cicuits (do道). This paper defines the latter as circuit–dispatched inspectors, and tries to determine their common features. First, these inspectors were dispatched in the form of a unit of a bureaucratic hierarchy, “kanshi” (官司), composed of an administering fifth-ranked bureaucrat as a chief, and two subordinates, a hangan (判官) and a sakan (主典). This feature is identical with that of central bureaucratic hierarchy. Second, this paper reveals the strong relationship between the inspectors and the Emperor. The inspectors were received in audience by the Emperor at the time of their departure and return. Backed up by the authority of the Emperor, they were able to fulfill their duties. Thirdly, the origin of the these features can be found in “togoku-kokushi” (東国国司) dispatched during the reign of Emperor Kotoku, and who also display the same features. Finally, this paper explains from the regional characteristics why the inspectors were not dispatched to some specific areas.

The Relationship of Zuryo and Nenkan in the Mid-Heian Period
TESHIMA Daisuke

In the mid-Heian Period, zuryo (受領), i.e. the head official serving in the administration of the relevant province, sometimes acted as an intermediary in the process of privileged recommended appointments (nenkan 年官). This paper will examine what were the motives behind the zuryo in intervening in the appointment process. To this end, we examine this problem from the viewpoints of the commission fee earned by becoming an intermediary, and the relationship between the zuryo and local families of influence in the province. We argue that the motivation for the zuryo was firstly, to earn a commission fee for introducing a candidate to the patron making the recommendation. Secondly, the zuryo were also motivated because they wished to gain the influence necessary to be able to give local notables the ranks in the local administration that these notables desired, and thus build up good relationships with these men and organize them within the administrative structure controlled by the zuryo. We conclude that participating in the process of privileged recommended appointment, was a worthwhile undertaking for the zuryo as well.

Articles
The Wang Jingwei Regime’s Implementation of Constitutionalism:
　　A Study on Chinese Constitutionalism in the Second Sino-Japanese War Period
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………SEKI Tomohide(1)

The Cursus Honorum of the Assemblymen:
　　Political Careers of the National and Local Assemblymen of the Department of
　　Bouches-du-Rhône in the Early French Third Republic (1870–1914)　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………TANIGUCHI Ryōsei(17)

Views and Reviews
Some Considerations on the Collapse of the Theory that Onin-ki made Some Fabrications
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………SAKURAI Eiji(35)

Views and Reviews：Responses to the Views and Reviews of
　　　Japanese Ancient History (No.981)
Postwar Historiography of Japanese Ancient History and the Section Activities
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………ARAKI Toshio(42)
Postwar Historiography and Studies of Japanese Ancient History in the Historical Science Society
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………YOSHIMURA Takehiko(46)

Views and Reviews：Conversation
Why are we practicing Oral History now? ……ŌKADO Masakatsu／SHIMIZU Tōru(51)

Society’s Announcements
A Protest against the Ceremony of Enthronement and Daijo-sai Ceremony………(64)
The 2019 General Meeting of the Historical Science Society of Japan……………(65)
Rekiken Symposium “Cosmology of the Emperor and the Succession
　　to the Imperial Throne” ……………………………………………………………(66)

<Summary>
The Wang Jingwei Regime’s Implementation of Constitutionalism:
　　　A Study on Chinese Constitutionalism in the Second Sino-Japanese War Period
SEKI Tomohide

After making the decision to pursue peace with Japan and leave the front line of anti-Japanese resistance in Chongqing, Wang Jingwei and his followers organized the 6th Chinese Nationalist Party Congress in Shanghai in August 1939, where they pronounced their decision to establish a new regime. The group’s key polices were peace with Japan and the implementation of constitutionalism. This decision to implement constitutionalism also provided an important stimulus for the Chongqing-based Chinese Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, resulting in its decision to also begin the implementation of constitutionalism. On the 30th March 1940, Wang Jingwei formed the Nanjing-based Reorganized Nationalist Government (otherwise known as the Wang Jingwei regime). Both parties’ decision to implement constitutionalism led to a situation in which both the Nanjing and Chongqing-based Nationalist Governments indirectly competed over its implementation. However, as the implementation of constitutionalism proved to be a difficult challenge, at the end of 1940, both Nationalist Governments made statements which announced the postponement of its implementation. While the Wang Jingwei regime is commonly seen as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, its attempt at implementing constitutionalism demonstrates that the regime possessed a desire to implement the prewar Nationalist Government’s political agenda and also fulfil its role as a Chinese government. Furthermore, its very presence also instilled a sense of crisis in the Chongqing-based Nationalist Government.

The Cursus Honorum of the Assemblymen:
　　　Political Careers of the National and Local Assemblymen
　　　of the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône
　　　in the Early French Third Republic (1870–1914)
TANIGUCHI Ryosei

This article investigates the cursus honorum of the national and local assemblymen in the early French Third Republic (1870–1914) as a historical practice in the political and social contexts by examining those elected to the department of Bouches-du-Rhône.
The political careers of the assemblymen of the Bouches-du-Rhône converged after the 1880s from the various courses to one local-oriented “standard trajectory”, that is, from the municipal councils to the prefectural councils or further to the national parliaments. In this background, local electors, who had originally given preference to the non-local candidates from the standpoint of pursuing the general interest, gradually came to blame these very same representatives for their negligence of local interests.
After the 1880’s, pursuing this new career path became an effective political strategy for new-comers previously excluded from the political sphere, dominated by notables, and incarnating a meritocracy; they now ascended socially in a single generation. They idealised this course via particular municipal councils, passports to political success, as a desirable professional career. The new political career of the assemblymen in the early Third Republic represented a very historical practice in the contexts of democratisation and professionalisation.

Articles
The Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 in Retrospect: From the Perspective of Economic
　　Development and International Relations in Pakistan……KONDŌ Takafumi(1)

Trends
Themes and Reports of the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Ancient
　　History Section in Retrospect: Focusing on State Theory……YANAGITA Hajime(18)

Current Topics
A Crisis of History and Culture: ‘Amendment’ of the Law on the Protection of
　　Cultural Properties……………………………………………IWASAKI Naoko(30)

Current Topics：On the Transfer of USA Embassy to Jerusalem
The Historical Context of the Transfer of USA Embassy to Jerusalem:
　　The Perspective Seen from American Politics ………………SATŌ Masaya(37)
What the Decision to Transfer the USA Embassy Tells US about the Reality of
　 　‘Jerusalem, the Capital City’: the Future of the Palestine Problem
　　Seventy Years on from Nakba………………………………SUZUKI Hiroyuki(46)

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
HIRAI Kensuke, The Empire of Sugar: External Forces of Change
　　in the Economy of Japanese Colonies…………………HORIUCHI Yoshitaka(55)
FUJIWARA Keiji, The Canton Trade Through the Eyes of Merchants:
　　Anglo-Chinese Trade in 1750’s.……………………………KIKUCHI Hideaki(58)
NAKAMATSU Yūko, Power Order in France under
　　the Ancient Regime………………………………………………MISE Haruka(61)

Recent Publications…………………………………………………………………(65)

<Summary>
The Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 in Retrospect: From the Perspective
　　　of Economic Development and International Relations in Pakistan
KONDŌ Takafumi

　　　The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was signed between India and Pakistan in September 1960, through the intermediation of the World Bank. Many previous studies have given the IWT affirmative evaluations as the treaty ended the dispute over the water of the Indus River system between two countries. This paper discusses the IWT from the perspective of inter-regional rivalry within Pakistan, to reveal a different aspect of the treaty.
　　　In the province of Sindh in Pakistan, there were many political powers, which had resisted the Muslim League’s leadership before independence and disputed among themselves. The government of Pakistan (GOP) wished to push forward a program of economic development, but because GOP found it difficult to impose its will in Sindh, GOP chose to encourage economic development especially in the province of Punjab, rather than in Sindh. Further, as the Cold War developed, the GOP wishes to explore ways to gain security and financial support for Pakistan from Western countries. With the conclusion of the IWT, the GOP strengthen the relationship with these countries and receive large amounts of financial aid. However, in the negotiation process of IWT, differences among regional interests in Pakistan were not taken into consideration. The water of the Indus River system was allocated in a preferential manner to Punjab, which is located in the middle reaches of the Indus, while the water rights of Sindh were not fully respected. The IWT ran the risk of cementing the inferior standing of Sindh in respect to Punjab province.

Articles
The Relationship between Urban/ Rural Priests and Laymen over the Office of
　　Abbot of Temples in the Eastern Provinces in 14th Century Japan
　　: A Case Study of the Rivalry Surrounding Appointment to the Office of
　　　the Abbot of Izu Mitsugon-in …………………………KOIKE Katsuya (1)

Trends
Recent Historiography in Japan on the Sogdians in Tang Dynasty China
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………NAKATA Mie(17)

Series : Dialogue between Historians and Archivists (5)
Proposals
A Reflection on Archives and Historical Surveys from the perspective
　　of Military History………………………………………HAYASHI Hirofumi(25)
Current Status and Issues Surrounding Archives of
　　War and Military Affairs……………………………………SASAKI Makoto(31)
Visiting Archives
The Ottoman Archives of the (Ex) Prime Minister’s Office (The Ottoman
　　Archives of the Executive Office of the President), in Istanbul, Turkey
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………TAKAMATSU Yōichi(38)
The Inherent ‘Instability’ of Historical Surveys：
　　The Use of Archives and Archives Search in Iran………ABE Naofumi (43)
Recent Publications…………………………………………………………(47)

Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese)
SHIGA Setsuko, The Regional Structure of the Manor
　　System of Medieval Japan………………………………TAKAGI Jun-ichi(48)
IIZUKA Kazuyuki, Local Government System and Notables
　　in Meiji Period………………………………………………MIMURA Shōji(51)
USHIGOME Tsutomu, Taxation and Tax Collection
　　in Modern Japan…………………………………………NAKANISHI Keita(54)
DOHI Yūko, A Study on the History of Nankai Trade
　　in Song Dynasty China…………………………………YAMAZAKI Satoshi(57)
MIYAKO Fumihiro, A Reconsideration of the Political
　　History of Quing Dynasty China ………………………………SASAKI Yō(59)
TERAMOTO Keiko, The Paris Expo and the Birth of Japonism……MUTŌ Shūtarō(62)

<Summary>
The Relationship between Urban/ Rural Priests and Laymen over the Office
　　　of Abbot of Temples in the Eastern Provinces in 14th Century Japan
　　　– A Case Study of the Rivalry Surrounding Appointment to the Office
　　　of the Abbot of Izu Mitsugon-in
KOIKE Katsuya

　　　This paper examines both the relationship between the Muromachi Bakufu in Kyoto and the shogunal regents in Kamakura in eastern Japan, and that between western and eastern Buddhist communities, by analyzing the rivalry between these groups over gaining appointment to the office of the abbot of Mitugon-in, in the eastern province of Izu. This conflict occurred from second half of the 14th century to the first half of 15th century.
　　　The priests of Daigo Temple in Kyoto and Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kama&shy;kura competed for this office. While the Muromachi Shogunate supported Daigo Temple, the Kamakura Regency took the side of Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. In the Joii period (1362~1368), the Shogunate finally succeeded in making Kamakurahu follow its orders. However, in the Oei period (1394-1428), the Kamakura Regents consistently refused to follow the orders of Shogunate, which showed that the power of Kamakura had increased.
　　　Despite their disagreements, both the Kyoto and Kamakura governments repeatedly tried to form a consensus. The Muromachi Shogunate temporarily showed an attitude of acquiesce towards Kamakura behavior. However, as the confrontation between the two parties escalated, any attempt to reach a consensus was abandoned and negotiations about the position of abbot of Mitugon-in disintegrated.
　　　In addition, I have also pointed out that there was a difference in the degree of attachment to gaining appointment to the office of the abbot of Mitugon-in among the priests of Daigo Temple.

Articles
Rethinking the Background of the Erlin Sugarcane Farmers Incident:
　　Farmers’ Movements in Colonial Taiwan from a Local Perspective
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………TSURU Syuntarō(1)

Current Topics
1968, 50th Anniversary: Visiting Exhibitions of 1968 in
　　Switzerland and Germany……………………………………NISHIDA Makoto(18)
The Movement for the Independence of Catalonia, seen
　　from Andalusia, Southern Spain ………………………………SAITŌ Akemi(27)

Current Topics：Revision of the School Curriculum Guidelines
Revision of the Curriculum Guidelines and the Task of ‘Social
　　Studies’ in the High School Education………………YONEYAMA Hirofumi(36)
On the New Curriculum Guidelines in High School Education:
　　A Reflection on the ’Comprehensive History’ ……NISHIMURA Yoshitaka(45)

Rethinking “Meiji 150”④
Trends：Studies of History of Ideas during the Transition from the Tokugawa Era
　　to the Meiji Restoration and ‘Meiji 150’……………………ODA Masahiro(53)
Current Topics：Considering Meiji 150 from the United States of America
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………Daniel・V・BOTSMAN(60)

Society’s Announcements: A Protest against the Unjust Decision of
　　the Supreme Court about Not Standing up during the National
　　Anthem and the Denial of Reemployment……………………………………（67）

<Summary>
Rethinking the Background of the Erlin Sugarcane Farmers Incident:
　　　Farmers’ Movements in Colonial Taiwan from a Local Perspective
TSURU Shuntarō

　　　The Erlin Sugarcane Farmers Incident is known as a milestone in Taiwanese political history in the Japanese colonial period. Previous studies focused on it as the earliest farmers’ movement in the 1920s and its diverse impact on later movements all over the island. The purpose of this paper is to rethink the background of the movement from a local history perspective, by comprehensively analyzing the environment, agriculture, economy and society in Erlin. First, the management of the sugar-manufacturing company, which seemed to trigger the farmers’ movement, is examined. Interesting, though overlooked previously, is the fact that the company spread agricultural technologies and know-how to sugarcane farmers rapidly in the five years before the incident. We will discuss the relationship between this technological improvement and the movement. Second, riparian works on the Zhuoshuixi River, the largest river in Taiwan, were completed also five years before the incident, and changed the landscape of Erlin entirely. The impact of the environmental and agricultural transformation on the management of famers will be discussed. Third, we will focus on the role of local elites in the movement. Studies have mainly focused on the leadership of Taiwanese nationalist or leftist leaders, but their significance can be understood only when compared with the role of local elites, who governed local politics and society. This case study suggests that commercialization of farming through technological improvement, the transformation of landscape, and the role of local elites were the important factors of Taiwanese farmers’ movements in the Japanese colonial period.