Rice varieties cultivated during the Edo period

[cyberpunkdreams]

It's been a while since I was last seen here! I'm still working on my game set in Edo period Japan, which will be launched soon, with any luck. I've not been around this forum as much as I thought I would be, as I realised I'd be asking a lot more questions than answering, which could get pretty annoying.

Anyway, I am stumped with one thing, which is researching the types of rice grown during the Edo period. I'm sure it varied a lot from region to region, but I'd be very grateful if anyone has any decent sources or places they could point me to help with my research?

thanks!
Rob

[kitsuno]

This is definitely a question for LtDomer. He should be around here somewhere.

[ltdomer98]

Actually, it's not really a question for me. I know a lot about amounts of rice collected as taxes and how it was assessed, but little about the actual cultivation from a farming perspective.

However, it's a very interesting topic to think about. If I have time, I'll see what I can dig up.

Can you be more specific on what you're looking for? I understand you're doing this for a game--how do specific rice strains matter to your game, is what I mean? If you can provide a little more detail on that, that will help. If you're simply looking to understand what areas of the country produced more rice, that's easy. If you are looking at whether Kyushu farmers used such and such rice, and Tohoku farmers used yyy rice, then that's much harder.
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The Sengoku Field Manual Blog

[cyberpunkdreams]

Thank you, I very much appreciate your offer of help!

The game is set in a village "somewhere in Japan", so it's not specific to any one location. My understanding is that farmers from that era would have had access to several different varieties of rice, which they would have planted according to the weather, etc. I'm sure that the mix available would have varied from area to area, but I don't require quite that level of accuracy! It's more about being plausible rather than perfectly accurate.

My own research so far has been quite limited in its fruits I'm afraid. Obviously, I've found that the main variety grown was Japonica, but that itself has many sub-varieties. I've found lists of those varieties, but don't know which would have been available historically (many are modern inventions). I think other varieties of rice (such as upland varieties) may also have played a part.

Ideally I'd also like to know the properties of each variety or sub-variety used, at least in rough, such as which were more or less hardy, which were better yielding, which were more disease resistant, etc.

As a side note, my best resource so far has been information about sake brewing, as it seems that the brewers use many different strains of Japonica, including some traditional ones.

[ltdomer98]

Okay, so after about 45 minutes of searching through google scholar, I'm not finding anything beyond Japonica, and nothing that discusses 16th century farming of rice.

[Shisendo]

I can't tell you anything about the types of rice cultivated during the Edo period, but if you direct your question to someone at the National Museum of Japanese History

http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/index.html

they might be able to help you since they maintain a historical garden on site where they conduct research by growing the crops using the seed strains used in the past.
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Over a Hedge

[Tatsunoshi]

I was chatting with my father-in-law (a retired rice farmer) Sunday and asked him in passing. According to him, it wouldn't be a case of so much using different strains of rice in different seasons/weather, but rather different crops altogether. Japanese farmers grew a variety of crops on their lands both before and after 'rice season'-depending on the season, the weather, and more importantly, the location (you would grow a different ancillary crop in Kyushu than in Aizu), these were largely grains but also melons, radishes, sweet potatoes, etc etc. This is well documented in the Edo period but had been going on for hundreds of years before that (just not as efficiently).

[Obenjo Kusanosuke]

[cyberpunkdreams]

Thanks for all the detailed replies! I knew that other crops, as well as rice, were grown in the period and roughly what they were, but my understanding was that the farmers also had different varieties of rice at their disposal. I'm pretty sure that this was the case in China during the same period.

In the game, you play the headman of a small rice farming village. One of the many things you control is the exact combination of rice varieties to plant every growing season (along with other crops). As place-holders, I just used "Javanica", "Japonica" and "Indica" as the three varieties you can use, with educated guesses about the yields and responses of each. I was hoping at least to be able to use some more historically accurate names, although, as implied, few players would know the difference, I'm sure. Anyway, I will continue my research. The National Museum of Japanese History looks like a very good resource, thank you.

If anyone's interested, the game is actually on-line and playable (it's a web based game, so nothing to download). It's not finished yet though:

www.thericeharvest.com

I'm sure it's full of other historical inaccuracies though![/url]

[shin no sen]

A little correction. Barley is called 'mugi' 麦 while 'soba' 蕎 is buckwheat. John
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知恵は時間及びエネルギーである

[shin no sen]

I don't think the particular strain is as important as the way in which it is grown. Wet field (paddy field) or dry field cultivation. Japan
's soil is perfect for wet field cultivation as being volcanic it is acidic, however in the upland areas dry field cultivation was more sensible. The only drawback was lower yields. The thing about wet fields was that they would be used dry for the winter crops of barley or wheat. Double crops in a year. John
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知恵は時間及びエネルギーである

[cyberpunkdreams]

@John, thanks, yes, it has all that detail too! Although not upland rice for dry fields. I'll add that.

[ltdomer98]

[cyberpunkdreams]

[heron]

Bamboo and all its products, coppices for charcoal, reeds for thatch, sericulture - how far do you want to go?

We've talked about it before so you may know this book, Just Enough: lessons in living green from traditional Japan http://tinyurl.com/4q7f7yo
It looks at a village, Aoyagi, in 1798 and gives great detail with illustrations about every day life and work.

[Obenjo Kusanosuke]

[Tornadoes28]

[shin no sen]

Obenjo Kusanosuke wrote: "I was drinking hot mugi cha last night .."
Actually one of my favourite teas is roasted barley and green tea mix. I knew it was just a slip of the thumb. John
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知恵は時間及びエネルギーである

[Tatsunoshi]

You might also want to check out the board game 'Rice Wars'


Photo courtesy of Brick McBurly

It's a 'European' style game that emphasizes daimyo trying to maximize their koku output.

[cyberpunkdreams]

Thanks again for all the recommendations. The game has sericulture and charcoal already, plus a fair few others. You can choose to play in a mountain, coastal or lowland village, and there are different crops and manufacturing options for each, a fair number of which are introduced by events during the game.

So there's iron mining, fishing, sea salt production, fish drying, sake brewing, tea (first and second flushes), millet, barley, buckwheat, mulberry leaves for the silk worms, vegetables, soy beans and related products, etc. I have ideas for more as well. Thanks for the tips on reeds and bamboo, I don't have those yet.

Thanks for the book recommendation as well. So far I've only read "The World Turned Upside Down" when it comes to detailed Japanese history.