Yokoi Tokiyoshi

A representative agronomist of modern Japan. Born into a samurai family in the Kumamoto domain, he studied at the Kumamoto Western School in 1871 (Meiji 4), and then at Komaba Agricultural School, majoring in agricultural chemistry, graduating in 1880. In 1885, he became a teacher at the Fukuoka Prefectural Agricultural School, where he worked to exchange Western academic techniques with traditional farming methods, became a good confidant to dedicated farmers, and devised a method of salt water selection for seed rice selection. His works, such as "Rice Cultivation Improvement Methods" (1888), can be said to have responded to the enthusiasm of the hand-cultivating landowners of Fukuoka, an agriculturally advanced region. In 1894, he became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Imperial University, and in 1899, he studied in Germany, and was promoted to professor on his return. During the early to mid-Meiji period, when emphasis was placed on agricultural improvement based on the traditional farming methods of old farmers, he worked hard on scientific breeding and fertilization management improvements, and played a major role in maintaining and advancing small farm management, mainly rice cultivation, but during the agricultural crisis from the mid-Taisho period onwards, he became the central figure in agrarianism based on "landlord agricultural policy" that protected small farmers under the landlord system. His main works include "General Theory of Agriculture" (1892), "General Theory of Cultivation" (1898), and "Rice Cultivation Improvement Theory" (1904). He passed away on November 1, 1927.

[Yukio Naga]

"The Complete Works of Dr. Yokoi, compiled by the Greater Japan Agricultural Society, 10 volumes (1925-27, Yokoi Complete Works Publishing Society)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代日本の代表的な農学者。熊本藩士の家に生まれ、1871年（明治4）熊本洋学校に学び、ついで駒場(こまば)農学校で農芸化学を専攻して1880年に卒業。1885年福岡県立農学校教諭となり、欧米の学問技術と在来農法との交流に努め、篤農層のよき相談相手となり、種籾(たねもみ)選別に塩水選の方法を案出した。『稲作改良法』（1888）などの著作は、農業先進地帯福岡の手作地主の積極性に対応したものといえよう。1894年帝国大学農科大学助教授となり、1899年ドイツに留学、帰国後教授に昇進した。老農の在来農法を土台として農事改良の重視された明治前中期に、科学的品種改良・施肥経営改善に尽力、稲作を中心とした小農経営の維持前進に大きな役割を果たしたが、大正中期以降の農業危機に際しては地主制下小農保護の「地主農政」的農本主義の中心となった。おもな著書に『農業汎論(はんろん)』（1892）、『栽培汎論』（1898）、『稲作改良論』（1904）などがある。昭和2年11月1日没。

［長　幸男］

『大日本農会編『横井博士全集』全10巻（1925～27・横井全集刊行会）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例