著者

玉 真之介

出版者

日本農業市場学会

雑誌

農業市場研究 (ISSN:1341934X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1, no.1, pp.1-10, 1992

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The aim of this paper is to reconsider the concept of "modern estate ownership" and to suggest a new approach of the farm land problem by dividing farm land into land systems and tenant systems. In the past, land problems were viewed in terms of the relationship between landowner and tenant farmer. The establishment of tenant rights, in particular, was considered one of the main elements of "modern estate ownership." The farm Land problem in Japan, therefore, has been seen as an incomplete modernization of estate ownership. However, this thinking has overlooked the fact that private land ownership was established after the Meiji Restoration and that Japanese capitalism was generally developed under the regime of private ownership. Moreover, this thinking has also ignored the difference between the many small land owners in Japan and the large holdings of aristocratic landlords in Britain. Thus, we should deal with farm land problems as one part of a land system that was already established in particular historical context and also as a part of a tenant system in which the relationship between land owner and tenant farmer rested on commercial base. In that sense, we must recognize that land systems in different countries are affected by different natural conditions. We must also pay more attention to the situation of both landowners and tenants under the circumstance where capitalistic accumulation in the manufacturing sector affected peasant agriculture.