Vol.58 No.2 (2006)
Contents
Articles
Changes in an Indian Village Involved in Globalization:
De-territorialization and Re-territorialization of a Rurban Village in the Bangalore Metropolitan Area
SAWA Munenori, MINAMINO Takeshi (1)
Reviews
A Review of Studies on Territory, Territoriality, and Regional Identity
MORIKAWA Hiroshi (21)
Research Notes
The Socio-economic Characteristics of the Main Promoters and Stockholders of the Tono Railway in the Taisho Era (1912-1926):
Relationship to the Development of Local Industries in Kani County, Gifu Prefecture
SHIMIZU Koji (43)
The Sacred Landscape of Shun’nichi-kou in Machi of Nara in the Edo Period:
Analysis of a Sacred Map, Mandala of Shun’nichi, and its Ritual
KAWAI Yasuyo (59)
Hiroshima, the Peace Commemorating City, and Conflict over the A-bombed Buildings:
Focus on the Positioning of the Atomic Bomb Dome
ABE Ryogo (75)
Forum (92)
Meeting Reports
98th Meeting of Historical Geography (94)
100th Meeting of Historical Geography (95)
101st Meeting of Historical Geography (100)
83rd Meeting of Geographical Thought (101)
17th Meeting of Metropolitan Area Studies (102)
1st Meeting of Geographical Education (104)
Abstracts
Changes in an Indian Village Involved in Globalization:
De-territorialization and Re-territorialization of a Rurban Village in the Bangalore Metropolitan Area
SAWA Munenori
(Faculty of Human Development, Kobe University)
MINAMINO Takeshi
(Graduate School of Education, Hyogo University of Teacher Education)
How is an Indian rural village changed from the viewpoint of globalization? This paper analyzes changes in an Indian village based on Giddens’ theory of “modernity”, particularly the ideas of de-territorialization and re-territorialization. The G village, a rurban village in the suburbs of Bangalore city in Karnataka, is taken as a case study. Spatial changes in the interactions among social groups and changes in local community are examined focusing on the economic and social structure of the social groups which have various attributes of the newcomers / local inhabitants. Expansion in the suburbs of Bangalore city and the industrial estate development resulted in the inclusion of G village into the edge of the Bangalore metropolitan area. Some local inhabitants with a high level of education became casual industrial laborers, for example, and most of the agricultural land became sites for apartments as well as store sites for the newcomers such as casual industrial laborers and guards. The rest of the agricultural land became used for animal husbandry to supply un-pasteurized milk in accordance with the increased demand or land lying fallow. As a result, G village, which was adjacent to the industrial estate, was included economically into the edge of the Bangalore city bloc by specifying it as a residential area for laborers and a supply area for manpower and food. The village society, which used to have a nucleus as a large landowner, gradually lost its autonomy resulting in a community with no center. In terms of these processes, the local context of the rural village has a significant meaning, for example, the infrastructure conditions and inhabitant’s caste composition in the newcomer’s residence choice, a factory location is related to the quality of the worker looked for, and the location of the educational facilities and existence of the social restrictions on women’s employment.
It is true that globalization gives rural villages on a local scale a great influence on the economic activity and politics of the national scale and on the regional scale which forms the metropolitan region. However, this study shows that local rural villages are neither subordinated nor prescribed one-sidedly by the upper space scale; still less, they are not homogenous in accordance with changes on the upper space scale. The more integrated into the upper scale the local rural village is, the more specialized in terms of the function fitted to each survival condition in the upper space. Globalization, as “the consequences of modernity”, draws the rural village, which exists locally, apart from the local context and restructures it in the time-space which has unlimited expansion (i. e. de-territorialization). At the same time, the local context is used again, and a restructured social connection remodels it (i. e. re-territorialization).
Generally speaking in Indian villages, globalization strips off “the place” put in the local context and de-territorializes the rural village by giving it a new meaning, for example, judged on the economic value on the upper space. At the same time, the process of change itself is put in the local context again, and re-territorializes the Indian village. Globalization is the process that pushes “the compression of the time-space” increasingly and faces local existence by placing a local social act on the unlimited time-space, and continues de-territorialization and re-territorialization without any break. A local rural village is gradually included into the edge of the global space through both processes.
Key words: globalization, modernity, de-territorialization, re-territorialization, rurban area, Indian village, Bangalore
A Review of Studies on Territory, Territoriality, and Regional Identity
MORIKAWA Hiroshi
Recently, studies of not only territory and territoriality but also of regional consciousness and regional identity seem to be one of the most important research fields in geography. In English-speaking countries, they have rapidly developed after the strict criticism of positivist geography in the 1970s that attacked the importance of space, especially physical distance. At the same time, social spaces constructed by the geography of power were recognized as a significant new area of thought. Several geographers such as Sack, H殻li, Anderson, Agnew et al., have contributed to the description of the changing character of territories organized in the long-term historical process of a society. However, it seems to go against the current orientation of geographical studies that their research did not argue over the influences of territorial boundaries on regions and the creation of a region thtough the construction or transformation of territories. Second, they did not discuss the close relations between research on territory and territoriality, on the one hand, and regional identity, on the other hand, even if they were significant for research on social constructs.
In Germany, studies of territory have been conducted for much longer than research in English-speaking countries, because the territorial boundaries of the old small states or territories have been closely related to the social lives of the inhabitants under the late state integration of Germany in 1871. In the 1980s, however, studies of regional consciousness and regional identity have been rapidly revitalized in the “Heimat boom” and regionalism which appeared in the ongoing globalization. The research presentations of Blotevogel et al. as a working group on ‘territoriality and regional identity’ gave rise to a serious dispute with those geographers such as Hard who asserted the contemporary disappearance of regional identity.
As regional identities principally arise within a territory which separates us from the others, they are closely related to territories. Paasi and Blotevogel insisted that a region could be understood in a more complete form than ever by adding regional identities to the consideration, and then its research field could be expanded not only theoretically but also practically. However, we cannot see both fields of study as two sides of the same coin, because each has an independent orientation. For example, a naturally-growing area such as the New Industrial District in Baden-Wurttemberg does not belong to an administrative area, even though it has already developed its own regional identity. Although a police territory is important for our social lives, the regional identities of inhabitants are not formed and based upon it. Therefore, the study fields can be divided into three: (1) territory and territoriality, (2) regional consciousness and regional identity, (3) both together.
Considering the practical uses of these research results, however, it is desirable to investigate a region from both sides at the same time. Without considering the regional identities of the inhabitants one cannot obtain satisfying solutions to such issues as the regional reform of administration, school establishment, and so on. Especially in German-speaking countries, the research results of regional identities are available not only in regional planning but also in urban and regional marketing. These investigations will also be able to contribute to a consideration of the recent amalgamation of municipalities called ‘Heisei-no-daigappei’ in Japan.
Although the continual development of research on regional identities as well as territory and territoriality is expected in the future, it is important to establish suitable research methods for the study of regional identity. While these usually involve interviews and in-depth surveys of inhabitants and interviews of agents and an analysis of the media, it is difficult to understand integrated regional identities and so researchers tend to subjectively depend on their own interpretations.
Key words: territory, territoriality, political geography, regional identity, English-speaking countries, German-speaking countries
The Socio-economic Characteristics of the Main Promoters and Stockholders of the Tono Railway in the Taisho Era (1912-1926):
Relationship to the Development of Local Industries in Kani County, Gifu Prefecture
SHIMIZU Koji
(Graduate Student, Department of Geography, Meiji University)
The purpose of this paper is to address the socio-economic characteristics of the main promoters and stockholders of the Tono Railway, which was initiated and constructed by local residents and opened in 1918-1920 in Kani County. In order to approach this aim, the author takes particular note of the relationship between the construction of the private railway and the development of local industries, which were essential to its economic base and that of the main promoters and stockholders involved. Previous research has focused attention only on the characteristics of the main stockholders themselves in a private railway, but not on any investigation of the local economy that initiated the construction of the railway.
The period of the opening of the Tono Railway was during ‘the light railway construction boom (1910-1926)’. Many private railways constructed during the same period had one thing in common: they did not necessarily depend on a particular industry for fund-raising. However, the financial condition of the Tono Railway was better and possessed an important difference compared with similar private railways. The basic stance of fund-raising activities was to collect local investment, because promoters for the construction of the Tono Railway did not want external investors to become involved in the plan and business of the Railway. Following this strategy, necessary funds were raised relatively easily. Above all, residents in the northern five municipalities where a railway track was laid and had an economic impact, invested actively. Residents of municipalities where a rail track was not laid, however, refused to invest. As a result, local investment dipped somewhat below that which was initially planned.
What promoted the construction of the Tono Railway and contributed to fund-raising were mainly local representative wealth holders, landowners (Jinushi), wealthy farmers (Gono) and merchants (Gosho). It was vital for them to make a success of the construction of the Tono Railway at all costs in order to maintain their economic position. This was achieved by locating at key junctions of the traditional road and river transportation in the area, and also by developing new local industries.
The period of the construction of the Tono Railway coincided with industrialization in Kani County. In this area, the silk-spinning industry had developed as a biggest manufacturing sector since the mid-Meiji Era. The development encouraged the rise of related local banking and trade. The main promoters and stockholders of the Tono Railway also had an important role in the development of these local industries. They tried to expand into various new industrial sectors and businesses, which were entirely different from their family businesses, and became new leading entrepreneurs.
Therefore, the important factors of the construction of the Tono Railway are that it was worked out at the boom in the development of new local industries in the area. The main promoters and stockholders of the Tono Railway, many local wealth holders, actively took part in the new industries, and became the new industrialists with the development of the Railway.
Key words: Tono Railway, wealth holders, industrialization, entrepreneurs, Kani County, Gifu Prefecture, the Taisho Era
The Sacred Landscape of Shun’nichi-kou in Machi of Nara in the Edo Period:
Analysis of a Sacred Map, Mandala of Shun’nichi, and its Ritual
KAWAI Yasuyo
(Part-time lecturer at Gunma University)
The aim of this paper is to study and explain the symbolism of the Shun’nichi in terms of the religious organization, Shun’nichi-kou, in Machi of Nara in the Edo period (1603-1867). The present work is based upon two sources: the first is a sacred map, Mandala of Shun’nichi, which represents a holy place, Mikasa mountain; the second is a ritual conducted by Shun’nichi-kou using the sacred map. This study belongs to the field of cultural geography which incorporates humanistic geography.
Shun’nichi was a sort of unified religion which combined people’s faith regarding four different elements: Kohfukuji-temple, Kasuga-Wakamiya-shrine, Kasuga-shrine, and Mikasa mountain. The religion lasted from the Middle Ages to the Edo period in Japan. Shun’nichi was the most powerful organization in Nara in that era.
Mandala of Shun’nichi usually depicts Mikasa mountain in bright green on which many pine trees and Japanese cedars grow. One type of Mandala of Shun’nichi describes Mikasa mountain together with Kasuga-shrine, Kasuga-Wakamiya-shrine, and a part of Kohfukuji-temple; therefore, it looks like a map. Another type of Mandala of Shun’nichi represents a deer as well as Mikasa mountain. All types of Mandala of Shun’nichi show one common belief: as long as the leaves of the trees on Mikasa mountain are bright green, the Gods stay on the sacred mountain. Most of these pictures were described on scrolls.
Shun’nichi-kou in Machi was held on January 21 or another day. Mandala of Shun’nichi was set up on Tokonoma at a member’s house (Touya) or a meeting place of Machi (Kaisyo). Tokonoma with Mandala of Shun’nichi was decorated with leaves of evergreen trees such as a Japanese cedar or a pine tree; moreover, rice, sake, and other items were also dedicated. Then they went to the Kasuga-Wakamiya-shrine to dedicate their performance of a special dance known as Kagura.
Based upon those sources, this paper concludes that the symbolism of Shun’nichi of Shun’nichi-kou was a sacred landscape. The holy place was Mikasa mountain. As long as the leaves of the trees on the mountain were bright green, it was believed that the Gods were present. Kasuga-Wakamiya-shrine, Kasuga-shrine, and a part of Kohfukuji-temple were also often included as a part of the sacred landscape. When the Meiji period began, Shun’nichi was banned by the government. After Shun’nichi disappeared, members of Shun’nichi-kou could no longer believe in the sacred landscape.
Key words: sacred landscape, humanistic geography, cultural geography, Mikasa mountain, Mandala of Shun’nichi, Nara
Hiroshima, the Peace Commemorating City, and Conflict over the A-bombed Buildings:
Focus on the Positioning of the Atomic Bomb Dome
ABE Ryogo
(Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Nagoya University)
Hiroshima is very famous because it was the first city in the history of the world that was hit by an atomic bomb. The purpose of this paper is to explore the controversy over the conservation or demolition of the buildings damaged by the atomic bomb (the buildings A-bombed) in Hiroshima. There are two important agents concerned with this controversy. One is the local administration of Hiroshima City, which wants to remove these buildings. The other comprises a number of groups who want to conserve them. Through two significant controversies over the buildings A-bombed since the 1970s, I first examined the claims of the two conflicting sides and made it clear that these controversies are, in fact, spatial conflicts over “landscapes of the atomic bomb”.
1. The local administration has a spatial orientation that tries to contain the A-bombed memory and history in Hiroshima into a limited landscape of the atomic bomb, including the Atomic Bomb Dome as a “Symbol of Peace” and the peace memorial park around it. Atomic Bomb Dome was decided in 1966 to conserve in perpetuity, and, in 1996, it was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
2. Conservation group advocates have insisted that landscapes of the atomic bomb must be established all over Hiroshima through an expansion of the example of the Atomic Bomb Dome.
I explain that the current controversies concerning the buildings A-bombed in Hiroshima are spatial conflicts between the local administration and conservation groups, and I point out that the Atomic Bomb Dome plays an important role in these controversies.
Second, I explored the historical moment when the administration’s orientation was formed by examining the period of recovery (1945-1952) from Second World War damage. I paid attention to important city plans for recovery in this period, and analysed two urban concepts which city planners were concerned with at that time. As a result, I revealed this point:
3. Two concepts were fitst, a “peace city” concept which contributed to the establishment of the bill for the construction of a peace commemorating city and second, an urban concept about modernization which formed the basis of the city planning for recovery. And both of them produced the peace memorial park around the epicenter. Then the Atomic Bomb Dome was positioned as an important component of the park and defined as the “the only one” building A-bombed in Hiroshima. This definition played a vital role in the fate of the other buildings which were A-bombed, because it meant that all of these, except for the Dome, would be excluded from both the processes of construction of a peace commemorating city and a modern city. I think this definition was the historical moment that led to the local administration’s current orientation.
Now, in face of the visible disappearance of other buildings except for the Atomic Bomb Dome, there has been an increase in the number of different voices on rethinking how Hiroshima should be in the future. I conclude that our historical-geographical imaginations of the history and memory affected by the atomic bomb are essential for rethinking the future of Hiroshima.
Key words: Hiroshima, peace city, urban thought, buildings A-bombed, Atomic Bomb Dome, Peace memorial park
2011/08/02
