Correcting Misperceptions about the History of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Castanea</Emphasis> Stands in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Satoyama</Emphasis> in Japan |
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Authors: | Junko Kitagawa Takeshi Nakagawa Masaaki Okuda Masaharu Fukuoka Yoshinori Yasuda |
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Institution: | (1) International Research Center for Japanese Studies, 3–2 Oeyama-cho, Goryo, Nishikyo-ku, 610–1192 Kyoto, Japan;(2) Department of Geography, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK;(3) Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, 955–2 Aoba-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260–8682, Japan;(4) Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chigusa-ku, 464–8601 Nagoya, Japan |
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Abstract: | Correcting Misperceptions about the History of
Castanea
Stands in
Satoyama
in Japan. Mistaken ideas about the naturalness of past and present landscapes are widespread in diverse cultures and in the scientific
literature, and many of these ideas are only now being seriously challenged by current research (e.g., Erickson 2006; Fairhead and Leach 1996; Hall 1998; Ramankutty and Foley 1999; Willis et al. 2004). For example, the chestnut, Castanea crenata, has long been an important tree in Japanese culture, which has been cultivated, among other things, for its much loved edible
nut and its valuable timber. Today, the widely-held view in Japan, which also appears in the scholarly and popular literature,
is that in the past Castanea stands covered a large area throughout Japan, and these stands only disappeared because of economic development, especially
in association with railway construction. Otaru, Hokkaido, is one of the places where people believe Castanea stands covered a large area and were deforested only recently. Local people in Otaru believe that the stand in Temiya Park
has existed since the Jomon Period. For a more accurate historical perspective on Japanese forestation, we have performed
pollen analysis to clarify the timing of the introduction of the Castanea tree into Otaru region and to reveal the history of this specific Castanea stand in Temiya Park. The results indicate that Castanea was first found in Otaru region 7100 B.P., but that it was not cultivated extensively until recently. Based on our study,
and on data from this area dating to the late 19th century, we concluded instead that the Castanea stand we studied in Temiya Park, Otaru, was established after the mid-20th century. We believe the results of this study
are applicable to Castanea stands in other parts of Japan as well. |
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Keywords: | Pollen analysis Otaru natural landscapes historical perspective railway construction Castanea crenata |
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