Silkworm eggs - Sanshu

Commercialized silkworm eggs. This product is made by female silkworms laying many eggs on washi paper (silkworm egg carrier). Each egg is small, and many silkworms hatch from one carrier. During the prosperous period of the sericulture industry, silkworm farmers made large profits from the large number of cocoons produced by the large number of silkworms that hatched from the many carriers, and specialized silkworm egg dealers who sold the produced silkworm eggs to many farmers also made extremely large profits. The early modern silkworm egg industry, which corresponded to early modern sericulture, was formed in the sericulture areas of the time, but by the end of the Edo period, specialty production areas had been established in unique areas with few insects that transmit silkworm diseases (around Fukushima City and Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture). Capital was accumulated in domestic specialty production areas that exported silkworm eggs to the sericulture industries in Italy and southern France from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period in response to the demand for silk in Britain after the Industrial Revolution, and this promoted the development of modern industry. During the subsequent growth period of the domestic sericulture industry, technological innovation led to the expansion of silkworm egg production areas, and small production areas that became more important as silkworm egg producers than silk reeling industries emerged.

[Akira Sasaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

商品化した蚕(かいこ)の卵。和紙（蚕種台紙）に雌の蚕が多数の卵を産みつけた製品である。一つ一つの卵は小さく、1枚の台紙から多数の蚕がふ化する。養蚕業の繁栄期には、多数の台紙からふ化した大量の蚕のつくった大量の繭(まゆ)から生じた養蚕農家の利益が大きく、生産蚕種を多数農家に売った専門的蚕種業者の利益も極めて大きかった。近世養蚕に対応した近世蚕種業は当時の養蚕地帯で形成されたが、幕末までに周囲に蚕の病気を媒介する昆虫の少ない特異地域（福島市、長野県上田市周辺）に特産地が成立した。産業革命期以降のイギリスの絹需要に応じたイタリア、南フランスの養蚕業に幕末から明治始めにかけて蚕種を輸出した国内特産地には資本が蓄積し、近代産業の発展を促した。その後の国内養蚕業の成長期には技術革新により蚕種産地が拡散し、製糸業よりも蚕種生産の重要な小産地も出現した。

［佐々木明］

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