In the alluvial fan in Japan, the settlement of villages had lagged behind other areas mainly because of the lack of water. However, the villages of the upland field in the Midai-gawa alluvial fan have developed on a large scale since the Edo period, in spite of the scantiness of water and the low agrarian productivity. In order to explain this phenomenon, the author has tried to examine the peddling activity of this area and the agrarian base of the peddlers, since many villagers of this area had depended upon the peddling activity for supplementary income.
Edo and Meiji period: the peddling from this area was called Nouri-Seriuri. Many villagers seem to have gone to the nearby areas to sell their homemade agricultural products, mainly, raw cotton, tobacco, kaki (Japanese persimmon) and vegitables. The major part of the economic side activity during the leisure season for the male villagers was Nouri-Seriuri and they could get sizable sums of cash income.
Since the Taisho period: The former raw cotton and tobacco fields were changed into mulberry ones. But the income from the mulberry farming could not be stabilized. Connsequently, the villagers came to depend upon peddling more than ever. At the same time, the means of transportation were improved and the peddling organizations with one boss and a few salesmen came to be formed on large scales. The homemade agrarian products were replaced by drapers and dresses which, in turn, were perchased by the organizations from the wholesalers. As a result, the peddling activity flourished more and more and reached the height of its prosperity just after the World War II, when almost all the male villagers were engaged in it.
But mainly because profitable jobs as factory workers or construction laborers could be gained in the neighborhood since about 1960, the peddling activity has declind sharply. Only a few old villagers are engaged in peddling now.
Next, the author examined the agricultural bases of the peddlers in Momozono, one of the villages of the upland field in the Midai-Gawa alluvial fan. It became clear that the peddling activities were positively undertaken by the villagers who had only small cultivated fields, and further that many peddlers tried to increase their agricultural holdings and to devote themselves more to the cultivation of agriculture.