著者

友田 清彦

出版者

日本農業経済学会

雑誌

農業経済研究 (ISSN:03873234)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.76, no.1, pp.16-24, 2004

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The <i>Kainou-gikai</i>, which was founded in 1875, was the first agricultural society in modern Japan. The periodical bulletin which was published by this society was the <i>Kainou-zappou</i>. This bulletin was the first periodical agricultural bulletin in modern Japan. Therefore, the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> and the <i>Kainou-zappou</i> were very important in the modern history of Japanese agriculture. However, there has been little research about the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> and the <i>Kainou-zappou</i> so far. This study is the first detailed research about the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> and the <i>Kainou-zappou</i>. The aim of this study is to clarify the role the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> and the <i>Kainou-zappou</i> played in the modern history of Japanese agriculture.<br>Most of the members of the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> were bureaucrats of the Department of the Interior or the Ministry of Finance. However, this was not all they had in common. From the last years of the Edo Period to the early stages of the Meiji Era, most of the members in the <i>Kainou-gikai</i> studied western learning or Japanese classical literature. In the early stages of the Meiji Era, they were the educated elite concerned with agriculture. Because there were few people who knew about modern agriculture at that time, their roles in popularizing knowledge about modern agriculture and improving agricultural technology were very important.<br>The <i>Kainou-zappou</i> became the model for the periodical agricultural bulletins which were published after that. Moreover, the meeting which they held in Tokyo in 1876 (<i>Kainou-rinjikai</i>) became the model for the nationwide meeting on agriculture (<i>Noudankai</i>) in 1881.