The paths to difference: Social and economic choices in three post-war agrarian settlements of north-eastern Japan

In 1946, among the main post-war social and economic recovery measures, the occupied Japanese government and the Allied leadership undertook a far-reaching Land Reclamation Policy. The aim of this paper is to analyse the social and economic features of three new villages created under the policy in Aomori prefecture. I should like to frame the data collected through fieldwork in the communities within a historical perspective covering over fifty years of these communities' history. In a region such as Aomori, where rice farming has been an option practicable only since modern times and orchards have provided viable agricultural options since the beginning of the twentieth century, implementation of the Land Reclamation Policy generated valuable outcomes. Diversification of agriculture, improvement of farming techniques and the creation of a dense web of production co-operatives are only some of the most significant results that over 25 years of policy operations produced at ground level. Meanwhile, the strategies of the settlers to cope with periods of profound social and economic change, and their choices at household and local level, illuminate an important portion of Japan's post-war history.