History of Nishikanbara District, Niigata Prefecture (Reprint Edition) 📙 The original was published on February 15, 1907 (Meiji 40), compiled by the Nishikanbara District Board of Education.
[Introduction to Niigata Antiquarian Books] 🧐
"History of Nishikanbara District, Niigata Prefecture" (Reprint Edition) 📙
The original was published on February 15, 1907 (Meiji 40), compiled by the Nishikanbara District Board of Education.
This was released to the public in 2000 by Senshusha as a complete, limited-edition reprint.
The spine of the cloth-bound, slipcased volume features the title "History of Nishikanbara District, Niigata Prefecture" embossed in gold, reflecting the high status of this gazetteer in its very binding. 📖
[Commentary on Contents, etc.] 🧐
⚫︎ The preface to the publication notes that it was compiled as a memorial to the Russo-Japanese War of 1896 (Meiji 29), initiated by District Head Tsuguyoshi Tamiya, with the support of district assembly members and subsidies from district funds.
Multiple experts, including holders of literary degrees, were involved in the proofreading, suggesting a rigorous compilation process that extended even to the correction and verification of wording.
⚫︎ The table of contents consists of eight parts.
Part 1, "General Remarks," lists the history of every town and village in the district without exception.
Part 2 details the history of each town and village itself, followed by Part 3 "Old Castle Sites and Battlefields," Part 4 "Shrines and Temples," Part 5 "Politics and Education," Part 6 "Civil Engineering," Part 7 "Customs, Products, and Mineral Springs," and Part 8 "Biographies and Inscriptions."
The structure, which covers everything from the history, geography, faith, and industry of the district to its notable figures, possesses a depth that makes it a comprehensive resource surpassing a mere local history.
⚫︎ Near the end of the volume, a fold-out map titled "Nishikanbara District History Map" is included.
It is a valuable resource that allows for a visual grasp of the administrative divisions of the Meiji era, with the old large and small district boundaries and each village name densely inscribed.
⚫︎ The text also contains numerous diagrams of irrigation facilities from that time, such as the "Plan of the Area Near the Sluice Gate."
It includes detailed records of riverbed dredging work from the Bunsei era and even specific figures regarding the household assets and labor services of the villages, making it highly valuable as a primary source that substantiates the civil engineering and economic activities of the time, rather than just a historical record.
⚫︎ The sheer volume of information, including a comprehensive list of names for each town, village, and hamlet, the origins of shrines and temples, the locations of old castle sites and battlefields, and even the inscriptions on monuments, makes this one of the essential reference works to keep at hand for research in regional and local history.
Given that the original itself is considered rare, this reprint is highly significant in that it provides the opportunity to engage with the original material.
📖 A "complete record of a district" told through paper—compiled as a memorial to the Russo-Japanese War, this district history covers everything from village histories and the origins of shrines and temples to civil engineering diagrams and every word of stone inscriptions, conveying the entire image of the district of Nishikanbara to future generations.
The high level of comprehensiveness as a local historical source, combined with its nature as a reprint that allows one to obtain in complete form an original that is now difficult to acquire, makes this volume valuable both as a reference and as a collector's item. 😌
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