北陸地方における丘陵地農村の就業構造 : 富山県氷見市子浦・坪池地区の事例
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概要
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the evolution of employment structure of the rural hill region in Himi, Toyama Prefecture. While previous studies of the employment structure in rural areas have been concerned with plains and mountains, they have largely neglected hills. This paper analyses the changing processes of agriculture and other economic activities in Shiura and Tsuboike settlements, located on the Hodatsu Hill area.The evolution of the employment structures in both settlements consists of three stages, although the shift from one stage to another proceeded faster in Shiura. The first stage continued until 1960 in Shiura, and until 1965 in Tsuboike. In this stage, the farmers were engaged in side businesses such as peddling, charcoal and dried persimmon production with the resources in their settlements to supplement agricultural income from rice production. The second stage lasted between 1960 and 1975 in Shiura, and between 1965 and 1980 in Tsuboike. In this stage, the farmers began to work on a daily wage basis, although rice production continued. A land improvement project in Shiura and a main road improvement in Tsuboike offered them job opportunities. The third stage started in 1975 in Shiura, and in 1980 in Tsuboike. The progress of farming mechanization and the increased employment opportunities lead to many full-time business laborers. The change in the employment structure of Shiura was five years earlier than that of Tsuboike. After 1960, the employment structure in the two settlements changed from the combination of agriculture and side businesses in the settlements to the dependence on commuting to the cities on the plain for full-time business labor.A rapid agricultural mechanization was feasible in Shiura, located at the foot of hill, because of the better access to cities and the job opportunities created by the land improvement project in 1966. By contrast, the modernization was slower in Tsuboike because of the late road improvement and the difficulty in commuting, especially during snowy seasons. The time lag between the two settlements reflects a regional expansion process of full-time business employment from the Toyama Plain to the Hodatsu Hill.By improving the roads and the agricultural land, the settlements on the hill could change their employment structure into that on the plain more easily than mountain settlements. While full-time business labor dominates in the two settlements, such side businesses as peddling and dried persimmon production and unstable daily labor also continued. The farmers must combine various activities to earn a sufficient livelihood, because they have only small areas of farmland. The combination of various activities characterizes the employment structure of the rural hill settlements. This character reflects the geomorphological and locational features of the hill areas between the plain and the mountain.