30 AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU RURAL LIVING The lives of Japanese farmers were governed by the seasons and the ebb and flow of agricultural tasks. Remarkably productive, they grew enough to sustain their families as well as provide food for the cities. Many families made extra money from various cottage industries, noted throughout this exhibition. Villages on the whole, even individual households, were almost entirely self-sufficient, gathering fuel from the forest, water fromwells or rivers, andmaking their own tools, cloth, and buildings. They also embraced an ethic of salvage, reuse and recycling. Village blacksmiths and potters provided their specialized skills. Salt was probably the only essential commodity that had to be brought in. By the 19th century, 80 percent of the population in Japan was rural, living in compact villages that maximized available farmland, or in clusters of homesteads in more mountainous areas. Although the total population was high, there were limits on population growth. Due to the intensive nature of rice agriculture, a family could cultivate a small fieldmore efficiently than many laborers could cultivate a large field, so having a large family was not an advantage. Small families were also encouraged through regulations stating that a plot of land could not be divided and could only be left to a single heir. Widespread acceptance of adoption allowed those households with no sons to keep a property intact from one generation to the next. UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) Ontake, no. 50 fromthe series Sixty-nine Stations of theKisokaidō, late 1830s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.899 Although not a home, this small inn on the Kisokaidō has features common to rural residences. A group inside the inn gathers around the central feature of most homes, a recessed fire pit called an irori 囲炉裏. A large iron flanged pot (kake-nabe) hangs over the fire from an adjustable hook. The pot’s flanged design was intended for a kamado 竈, a clay cooking oven with an upper opening into which the pot rested. One traveler sits on the edge of the inner platform, removing his straw sandals. Awoven strawmat covers the floor inside. The roof is reed thatch, and the eaves are supported by a crooked tree branch put to use as a bracket. In the foreground, one woman washes a tub and pot in the river, while another carries water home in two buckets on a shoulder pole.
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