Landlords' Association - Jinushikumiai

A cooperative organization formed by landowners. Its establishment can be divided into two stages: after the Russo-Japanese War and after World War I. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce's Survey on Agricultural Organizations in Japan (1924), of 1,061 cooperatives, 70% were agricultural cooperatives, and 25% were agricultural cooperatives.

After the Russo-Japanese War, landlords' associations were formed under the pretext of encouraging tenant farmers to do farming or responding to the grain inspection program. Most were village-wide associations of the landlord class, and they aimed to improve landlord management and shift the burden to tenant farmers through activities such as exchanging information about farming methods and new varieties, holding agricultural fairs and exhibitions, and having tenant farmers compete with each other on yield per tan and quality.

The landlords' associations established after World War I were organized to counter tenant disputes, and previously established associations were also transformed into organizations to deal with disputes during this period. Landlords' associations were active in taking measures to meet tenant demands, agreeing on reductions and exemptions, jointly filing lawsuits for rent and land return, and hiring legal advisers to guide disputes. In response to the rising tenant disputes, the agricultural administration shifted from the traditional landlord-centered agricultural policy to one based on the economic organization of farm management, but landlords' associations were active in calling for stronger measures to deal with tenant disputes. In the process, the scope of the organizations expanded to include counties, prefectures, and the whole country, and organizations such as the Greater Japan Landlords' Association and the Federation of Agricultural Policy Organizations were formed, and they issued opinions on amending the Tenancy Law, demanded amendments to the Tenancy Mediation Law, and demanded the maintenance of agricultural product prices.

The agricultural policy activities of landlords' associations almost disappeared after the enactment of the Farmland Adjustment Act (promulgated on April 2, 1938), which placed certain restrictions on the absoluteness of landlord-based land ownership under the Meiji Civil Code.

[Rumi Kurihara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

地主たちによる組合組織。その設立は日露戦後と第一次世界大戦後の2段階に分けて考えることができる。農商務省編『本邦ニ於(お)ケル農業団体ニ関スル調査』（1924）によれば、1061組合中、前者が70％、後者が25％であった。

　日露戦後の地主組合は、小作人への農事奨励あるいは穀物検査事業への対応という名目で結成された。多くは村を範囲とした地主階級の組合で、農法や新品種に関する情報を交換したり、品評会・共進会などを開催し、小作層に反収や品質を競わせるなどの活動を通じて、地主経営の改善と小作層への負担の転嫁を企図するものであった。

　第一次大戦後に設立された地主組合は、小作争議に対抗するための組織化という性格をもち、以前に設立された組合もこの時期には争議対応の組織に変じた。地主組合は、小作側の要求項目への対応策や減免率の協定、小作料請求や土地返還訴訟の共同提起、顧問弁護士を依頼しての争議指導などの活動を活発に展開した。農政当局は高揚する小作争議に対し、従来の地主中心の農政を、農民経営の経済的組織化による対応を基調とした路線へと推転させたが、地主組合は小作争議対策の強化を求めて盛んな活動を展開した。この過程で組織の範囲は郡・県・全国へと拡大し、大日本地主協会、農政団体連合会などが結成され、小作法に対する修正意見を発表したり、小作調停法の改正、農産物価格の維持などを要求した。

　地主組合の農政活動は、明治民法の地主的土地所有の絶対性に対し、一定の制約を定めた農地調整法（1938年4月2日公布）が施行されたあとは、ほとんど消滅した。

［栗原るみ］

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