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| The Changes and Challenges of Traditional Commons in Current Japan- A Case Study on Iriai Forests in Yamaguni District, Kyoto-City |
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Reference |
| Daisaku Shimada, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University ,"The Changes and Challenges of Traditional Commons in Current Japan- A Case Study on Iriai Forests in Yamaguni District, Kyoto-City" |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| Japanese iriai or communal forests are well known as institutions for sustainable use of common land. For instance, in the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), villagers established detailed rules about the method, period, and quantity of each forest product for livelihood, which one household could harvest from a iriai forest. All villages in this area have been managed a human made forestry. For a long time, they have engaged in the forest management. Therefore iriai is one type of commons which have been discussed all around the world. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spacial boundary: Yamaguni district in Kyoto. There are 11 villages in the area, Oshio, Hatsukawa, Motoido, Terayama, Ohno, Higae, Nakae, Tsuji, Tou, Torii, and Shimo, village, and each villages has managed their own forest commons.Social boundary: |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| All villages in this area have been managed a human made forestry. For a long time, they have engaged in the forest management. Village assemblies have created detailed authority rules. It has specified the obligation and rights of commons |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Villagers are required to perform collective work to enhance and maintain the yield of the commons. They earn money from timber and matsutake mushrooms in the common land. All householders (or deputies) have to join the cooperative work for forestry in the common land three or four times a year. And revenue from the forest commons is used by the residents association in the village. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| 1)Authorized neighborhood association was generally established to avoid conflict about real property registration and to smplify the procedure of the registration of real property. 2) Increase of new residents in the village has caused to increase heterogeneity. In spite of the difficulty of village autonomy by heterogeneity, village assemblies have tried to avoid conflict by modifying their institution again and again. |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| 1) The energy revolution of the 1960s has changed the energy resources from fuel woods to fossil fuels. As a result the economic value of resources in forest commons has fallen off. Well-managed forest commons transformed into uncontrolled forests.2) The policy of government has let forest commons extinct and let villager set private property rights in forest commons.3) The price of the domestic lumber has plunged down for a long term because of the globalization and expansion of the wood import. Villagers they have earned little money from common land in last 10 years. By price slump of the protracted domestic lumber, it is very hard to continue the management of forest commons in these days |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Till new residents increased, all householders (or deputies) had to join the cooperative work for forestry in the common land three or four times a year. Heterogeneity of residents introduced due to the arrival of new residents brought difficulties for collective action in managing the forest commons and village autonomy. In those circumstances they tried to change their own institutions on their ways. In case of Tou village, villager had modified their institution as to the increasing new residents three times times, in 1972, 1987, 2004. The new residents were given an option to choose whether to acquire the rights of commons. When new residents chose to join the commons management organization, they had to undertake cooperative work for forestry and they got the rights of the common forest lands. In 1980s, new residents were increasing, and many of them did not choose to get the right of forest commons. The villager built a commons management organization and started to separate the commons management organization from the residents association since 1987. The revenue from forest commons was taken by the right holders of forest commons. |
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Other Features of Institution |
| The collective work carried out by village community is very important as it keeps their environment good and makes the use of forest sustainable. The villager’s discussion and cooperative work for management of commons have made relation between residents strong. Local community has developed the cultures about nature and human beings of their region.There are two Impacts which have made forest commons change in current Japan. The impact due to the increase of heterogeneity in the village residents was overcome by villagers themselves. They overcame these impacts by improving their institution again and again. However the impact arisen due the globalization is difficult to overcome by villagers. For such a problem, policy of the higher governance easing the shock of globalizations is needed |
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Purpose |
| Sustainable use of Iriai forests |
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Country |
| Japan |
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Region |
| Iriai Forests in Yamaguni District, Kyoto-City |
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