Bales of Shadows

… They include Nidoimo, Koboimo, and Kanbraimo, and are cultivated in fields like sweet potatoes, but in Gifu Prefecture and the Shikoku region, they are also cultivated by slash-and-burn farming. In Gunma Prefecture, taro is called "kage no tawara" (shade bales), and in Kyushu, it is called "keimo," which shows that potatoes were important as food in an era when rice was not the staple food, but above all, they were an everyday food for the common people, and were also important as food during poor harvests. However, in the history of Japanese farmers and food history, which focuses on rice, the significance of potatoes has not been fully studied. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "kage no tawara" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…ニドイモ，コウボウイモ，カンブライモなどであり，サツマイモと同様に畑に栽培されるが，岐阜県や四国地方などでは焼畑で作る所もある。　群馬県ではサトイモのことを〈蔭の俵〉と呼び，九州ではケイモと呼ぶなど，コメを主食としない時代にいもが食料として重視されたことがわかるが，なによりも庶民にとって日常的な食料であるとともに，凶作時の食料としての意義が大きかった。しかし米を中心にした日本の農民史や食物史などでは，その意義について十分に研究が進んでいない。…

※「蔭の俵」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報