Taniguchi Village

This is a settlement with a strong town character that developed at the "valley mouth" where a river flows from the mountain area to the plain, and where many merchants and industrialists gather. It is also called a valley mouth settlement. Since the mountain area and the plain area each have different production activities, the valley mouth where the two meet serves as a place to exchange products from the mountain and the countryside. At the valley mouth, an exchange day (ichibi) and a place (ichiba) are first agreed upon in advance, and exchanges and transactions take place, and eventually a market settlement develops. Many of the agricultural and forestry products exchanged and traded are suitable for processing, so in addition to market commerce, the valley mouth has developed as a processing area for products from both the mountain and the countryside. In Japan, there is a wide chain of mountains in the central part, and many rivers originate there, forming sedimentary plains. At the valley mouth, large and small valley mouth settlements have developed, functioning as distribution and processing areas. Valley-guchi settlements developed early on in the border area between the eastern edge of the Kanto Mountains and the Sanroku Plain at its base (Isukaichi and others), and this area is considered a good example of this, but there are many similar examples throughout the country.

[Yukio Asaka]

"The Market Village by Yoshikazu Nakajima (1965, Kokin Shoin)" ▽ "The Villages of Japan by Niyoshi Yajima (1969, Kokin Shoin)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

河川が山間部から平地部に流れ出す「谷口」に発達した、商工業者が多く集まる町場(まちば)色の強い集落をいう。渓口(けいこう)集落ともいう。山間部と平地部ではそれぞれ趣(おもむき)を異にした生産活動をするので、両者が接触する谷口では山方と里方の生産物を交換する機能を果たすようになる。そして谷口ではまずあらかじめ交換日（市日(いちび)）と場所（市庭(いちば)）が協定されて交換や取引が行われ、やがて市場集落が発達する。交換・取引される農林産物には加工適材が少なくなく、谷口は市場商業に加えて、山方・里方両地の生産物資の加工業地としても発達してきた。日本では中央部に山地が広く連なり、多くの河川がそこに発源して堆積(たいせき)平野をつくり、谷口部には大小規模の谷口集落が発達し、流通と加工業地の機能を果たしている。関東山地の東縁とその山麓(さんろく)平野との境界地帯には早くから谷口集落が発達し（五日市その他）、その好例地域とされるが、全国諸地域にもそうした類例が数多くみられる。

［浅香幸雄］

『中島義一著『市場集落』（1965・古今書院）』▽『矢嶋仁吉著『日本の集落』（1969・古今書院）』

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