Tenant dispute

Japanese: 小作争議 - こさくそうぎ

A dispute occurs when a tenant farmer who rents land from a landlord gets into a dispute with the landlord over rent and other matters. This was the main form of the peasant movement in Japan before World War II.

[Kiyoshi Oshima]

history

Tenant disputes occurred sporadically after the Meiji Restoration, as landlord-style land ownership was taking shape, but it was only in the 20th century that they occurred nationwide and became a social issue. By the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), landlord-style land ownership had grown so powerful that the area of tenanted land exceeded 45% of the total cultivated land in the country, and the oppression of landlords and the heavy burden of rents deepened the poverty of tenant farmers.

From 1907 (Meiji 40), rice inspection regulations were enacted in each prefecture one after another, and landlords forced tenant farmers to improve the quality of their rice in order to obtain good quality rice, which caused resentment from tenant farmers, who began to demand production subsidies and lower rents in return. In particular, after World War I, when the economic depression that broke out in 1920 (Taisho 9) caused farmers' lives to deteriorate, tenant farm disputes spread like wildfire across the country. In other words, the number of disputes increased dramatically from just 85 in 1917 to 408 in 1920 and 2,751 in 1926, and the number of participating tenant farmers exceeded 150,000 in 1926. The period from 1920 to 1926 was the first period of growth in the farmers' movement.

Some characteristics of the disputes during this period can be summarised as follows: (1) the main demand of the farmers was "reduction or exemption from rent" and they launched an aggressive offensive; (2) they were mainly led by the Japan Farmers Union (Nihon Noh), founded in 1922; (3) the disputes were relatively large-scale and some lasted for a long time (for example, at Fujita Farm in Okayama Prefecture, Kizaki Village in Niigata Prefecture, and Yamazoe Village in Gifu Prefecture); and (4) many of them ended in victory for the tenant farmers.

At first, the landlord class was on the defensive, but in 1925, the large landlords formed the Greater Japan Landlords Association to oppose the tenant farmers, and took advantage of the Tenant Conciliation Act (1924) to take disputes to court, defending their interests with the power of the state as a backing. Sometimes, gangsters intervened in disputes at the instigation of landlords, and sometimes disputes got so heated that tenant farmers burned down landlords' houses and caused other riots.

The number of tenant disputes temporarily decreased at the end of the Taisho period, but increased again around the time of the onset of the Showa Depression, ushering in the second period of the peasant movement (1929-1935). This period was characterized by: (1) peasant demands centered on "opposing landlords' land seizure," "protecting cultivation rights," and "giving land to farmers," and tenants went on the defensive against landlords' notices of termination of tenant contracts; (2) the main force of peasant unions was the National Farmers Union (Zennoh, formed in 1928); (3) disputes became smaller in scale, with more court battles; and (4) many tenants ended up losing due to landlord offensives and government oppression. As the war progressed, the legitimacy of disputes was lost, and peasant unions were dissolved one after another. Representative disputes of this period include the Wada Village dispute in Niigata Prefecture, Maeda Village in Akita Prefecture, and Uryu Farm in Hokkaido.

[Kiyoshi Oshima]

Cause

The semi-feudal landlord class, which inherited the heavy tax burden imposed on peasants in feudal society, took advantage of the desperate competition among peasants for land and tried to raise rents, causing hardship to the peasants. In addition, capitalism developed, and the landlords lowered the prices of agricultural products they bought from the peasants and raised the prices of products they sold, exploiting the peasants through this unequal exchange. To escape this misery, the peasants tried to improve their management techniques and increase their productivity, but at the same time, they resisted the exploitation by the landlords, who were in direct opposition to them, and sought human liberation. After World War I, the ideas of democracy and socialism spread to rural areas, and class consciousness increased among the peasants, influenced by the enlightenment activities of labor activists, Christian humanitarians, and Marxists.

In this climate, class consciousness grew among the peasants, who were not satisfied with individual efforts to improve business management, but instead sought to solve problems in an organized manner through the power of solidarity. When these social and economic conditions and the subjective maturity of the peasants reached a certain point, the sudden deterioration of living standards due to poor harvests and depression prompted the tenant farmers to rise up in struggle against the landlords.

[Kiyoshi Oshima]

Social impact

As a result of tenant disputes, rent generally fell by around 20%, and the impact extended to villages around the disputed areas, although to varying degrees. The lives of the peasants improved, while the economic situation of the landlords worsened. However, when the dispute was defeated, the tenants lost their land and became destitute, and the leaders of the dispute were arrested and imprisoned, resulting in heavy casualties from the oppression. The lives of the poor peasants, including the tenants, were extremely miserable, and in times of crop failure and depression, they sold their horses, their daughters, and even their land, and suffered from high interest on their debts. The economic situation of such peasants was partially improved by the tenant disputes, pre-modern human relationships with landlords were democratized, and peasants gained a stronger voice in the village. Village administration, which had previously been monopolized by the landlord class, came to be restricted by the advance of peasants in politics. A typical example is the village of Godo in Gunma Prefecture (now Ota City), where members of the farmers' association held the majority of village council members for a long time, and took the lead in village administration by taking on positions such as village mayor and deputy mayor. In this way, the wave of tenant farming disputes led to a decline in landlord-style land ownership and greatly advanced the democratization of rural areas.

[Kiyoshi Oshima]

"Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ed., 'Materials on Tenant Farming,' all 16 volumes (1979, Ochanomizu Shobo) " ▽ "Compilation Committee for Compilation of Materials on the Farmland System, 'Compilation of Materials on the Farmland System, Volumes 2 and 3' (1969, 1973, Ochanomizu Shobo)" ▽ "Study Group on the History of the Farmer Movement, 'History of the Farmer Movement in Japan' (1961, Toyo Keizai Shinposha/reprint, 1977, Ochanomizu Shobo)"

[References] | Kizaki Village Tenant Dispute | Farmers Movement | Fujita Farm Dispute

Changes in the number of tenant disputes and the number of participating landlords and tenants
©Shogakukan ">

Changes in the number of tenant disputes and the number of participating landlords and tenants

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

地主から土地を借りて農業を営む小作人が、小作料その他のことで地主と紛争を起こし争議となる事件。第二次世界大戦前における日本の農民運動の主要な形態であった。

［大島　清］

歴史

小作争議は、明治維新後、地主的土地所有が形成される過程で散発的に起こったが、全国的に発生し社会問題となったのは20世紀に入ってからである。日露戦争（1904～1905）のころになると地主的土地所有は強大となり、小作地面積は全国総耕地の45％を超え、地主の圧迫と小作料の重圧下に、小作人の窮乏は深まった。

　1907年（明治40）以降、各府県で相次いで米穀検査規則が施行され、地主は良質米を得るため、小作人に米の品質改良を強要したので、小作人の反発を招き、彼らはその代償として生産奨励金の交付や小作料の引下げを地主に要求し始めた。とくに第一次世界大戦後、1920年（大正9）に勃発(ぼっぱつ)した経済恐慌をきっかけに農民生活が悪化すると、小作争議は燎原(りょうげん)の火のごとく全国に広がった。すなわち、1917年には85件にすぎなかったものが、1920年には408件、1926年には2751件に激増、参加小作人の数は1926年に15万人を超えた。この1920年から1926年までが農民運動の第一次高揚期である。

　この期の争議の特徴点をあげると、(1)農民要求の中心は「小作料を減免せよ」で、彼らは積極的攻勢に出、(2)彼らの指導には主として日本農民組合（日農。1922年創立）があたり、(3)争議は比較的大規模で、なかには長期にわたるものがあり（たとえば岡山県藤田農場、新潟県木崎村、岐阜県山添村など）、(4)小作人側の勝利に終わるものが多かった。

　初めは守勢にたたされた地主階級は、1925年、大地主を中心に大日本地主協会を結成して小作側に対抗し、また小作調停法（1924）を活用して争議を法廷に持ち込み、国家権力を背景にその利益を守って争った。また地主のそそのかしで暴力団が争議に介入することもあり、他方、争議が過熱して小作人が地主宅を焼き打ちするなど騒擾(そうじょう)事件が起こることもあった。

　小作争議件数は大正末期に一時減少したが、昭和恐慌が始まるころからふたたび増加し、農民運動の第二次高揚期（1929～1935）を迎えた。この期の特徴は、(1)農民要求は「地主の土地取り上げ反対」「耕作権を守れ」「土地を農民へ」を中心とするようになり、地主の小作契約解除通告に対し、小作側は守勢にたって防戦し、(2)農民組合は全国農民組合（全農。1928年結成）が主力となり、(3)争議は小規模化し、法廷闘争が増え、(4)地主の攻勢と官憲の弾圧によって小作側の敗北に終わるものが多くなった。戦局が進むと、争議の合法性は奪われ、農民組合の解散が相次いだ。この期の代表的争議は、新潟県和田村、秋田県前田村、北海道雨竜(うりゅう)農場争議などである。

［大島　清］

原因

封建社会の農民に課せられた年貢(ねんぐ)の重みをそのまま引き継いだ半封建的地主階級は、土地を求める農民の必死の競争を利用して小作料の引上げを図り、農民を苦しめた。これに加えて、資本主義が発展し、農民から買い入れる農産物は買いたたき、売る物は価格をつり上げ、こうした不等価交換を通じて農民を収奪した。この窮状から脱出するため、農民は一方で経営技術を改善し生産力向上に努力したが、他方、彼らに直接に対立している地主の搾取に抵抗し、人間的解放を求めたのである。また、第一次世界大戦後、デモクラシーと社会主義の思想が農村にも波及し、労働運動家やキリスト教人道主義者あるいはマルクス主義者らの啓蒙(けいもう)活動にも影響されて、農民の間に階級的自覚が高まった。

　こういう時代の潮流のなかで、個人的な経営改善努力に満足せず、団結の力によって組織的に問題を解決しようとする階級意識が農民の間に強まっていった。このような社会的経済的な条件と農民の主体的成熟が一定の点に達したとき、不作と恐慌による急激な生活悪化がきっかけとなって、小作人は地主との闘争に立ち上がったのである。

［大島　清］

社会的影響

小作争議の結果、一般に小作料は20％前後低下し、争議地周辺の村にも程度の差はあれ影響は及んだ。農民生活はそれだけ改善され、逆に地主の経済状態は悪化した。しかし争議が敗北すると、小作人は土地を引き揚げられて困窮し、また争議指導者の検挙、投獄など弾圧による犠牲も大きかった。小作人を含む貧農大衆の生活は悲惨を極め、不作や恐慌になると馬も娘も土地までも売り、借金の高利に苦しんだ。そういう農民も、小作争議によって部分的ながら経済状態は改善され、地主に対する前近代的人間関係も民主化され、集落における農民の発言権も強くなった。そして従来は地主階級によって独占されていた村政も、農民の政治的進出によって制約されるようになった。長期にわたり農民組合員が村会議員の多数を占め、村長や助役などに就任して村政の主導権を握った群馬県強戸(ごうど)村（現太田市）の例はその典型であった。このように小作争議の波は地主的土地所有を後退させ、農村民主化を大きく前進させた。

［大島　清］

『農林省編『小作関係資料』全16巻（1979・御茶の水書房）』▽『農地制度資料集成編纂委員会編『農地制度資料集成　第2・3巻』（1969、1973・御茶の水書房）』▽『農民運動史研究会編『日本農民運動史』（1961　・東洋経済新報社／再版・1977・御茶の水書房）』

[参照項目] | 木崎村小作争議 | 農民運動 | 藤田農場争議

小作争議件数と参加地主・小作人数の推移

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