Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
ditions snow-boots of straw, or paddle-shaped snowshoes or even a primitive sort of ski,
were common. Similar paddle-shaped devices were sometimes worn to prevent the wearer
from sinking too far into the mud of the rice fields, although in some fields it was more
convenient to move around in punts, even for planting. To keep off the rain or snow the
countryman would wear a cloak made of lengths of straw sewn together, with a hood or
conical straw hat on his head, the latter also doing duty in the summer. Once again, in the
shapeanddecoration ofthese articles there wouldbeaconsiderable variation fromlocality
to locality.
The basic food of the farmer and his family, as directed in the ordinance, was not the
steamed rice that the
samurai
and rich townsmen enjoyed but a sort of porridge of which
millet, or perhaps some barley or wheat, formed the greater part. Green vegetables, and gi-
ant radish pickled in a liquor made from rice bran accompanied this, along with such fruit
as he was unable to sell and the occasional scraping of dried fish to add flavor (and incid-
entally a little protein to an otherwise largely carbohydrate diet). The rice-fields attracted a
lot of wildfowl in the winter months, and some of these may have found their way into the
pot, in spite of the Buddhist prohibition against taking life, and fish from the streams were
also a delicacy. Beef and horseflesh were never eaten, though the animals' skins were sold
when they died. The prohibition on the eating of beef was based on a specific Buddhist
principle, probably going back to the sacred cows of India, but it was reinforced by the
necessity for keeping cattle for draught purposes, just as horses were required for military
use, as pack animals, and for work on the farm.
The way of life of the farming community was closely linked to the design of the
houses:this,too,showedconsiderablelocalvariation,duepartlytoclimaticinfluences,and
partly to local custom and social organization, but there were many common features. For
example, all houses were of wood-frame construction, with steep roofs and overhanging
eaves to allow the heavy rainfall to run off (
40
). The eaves normally projected over a ver-
anda, while the walls of the rooms were often arranged to slide or be removable to allow
the free movement of air in the hot, humid summers. The roof was of thatch or faggots, or
sometimes of shingles or even tiles. Single-story houses were most common, but in silk-
rearing districts there was very often an upper floor beneath the roof for a silk-room. In
some areas of central Japan, such as parts of the old provinces of Hida and Etchu, the fam-
ilygroupwasmorenumerousbecauseitincludedawiderspreadofkinshipthanelsewhere,
and there large houses were the rule, with very steep roofs and three or even four storys.
