The current population distribution in Japan is concentrated in the Kanto region centered on Tokyo. doing.
However, in the Edo period, as you can see from the fact that there were nearly 300 clan nationwide, Japan used to be more lively in rural areas than it is now.
In the Meiji era, the shogunate system with General Tokugawa at the top came to an end, and the central government moved from the shogunate to the imperial court. The land and people will be under the jurisdiction of the Meiji government. However, there are many feudal lords, and the area that was the territory of the shogunate is replaced by prefectures and prefectures, and its governance system becomes complicated and inefficient. Then, in 1871, Abolition of the Clan Will be done.
This aims to centralize the power by abolishing the feudal lord, forcing them to move to Tokyo, and placing a prefectural ordinance dispatched from the center to prefectures and prefectures . There was a purpose. This can be said to be a reform beyond the Meiji Restoration, along with the orderly disposition that abolished the samurai who was a privileged class in the 9th year of the Meiji era.
The prefectures and prefectures at that time were based on the former clan, so 3 prefectures 302 prefectures There was also. However, due to the progress of consolidation, 35 prefectures in 1897. In 1902, it was close to the current prefectures, 3 prefectures and 43 prefectures . have become.
The introduction has become a little longer, but when I write about the population, according to the records from the 4th year of the Meiji era when the abolition of the feudal clan was carried out, Hiroshima prefecture was the first year and Aichi prefecture was the most populous prefecture in the next year. For a while after that, Niigata Prefecture was the top.
10 best prefecture populations from 1897 ~
| ranking | 1884 (Ming 17) | 1890 (Ming 23) | 1920 (Large 9) | 1945 (Showa 20) | 1960 (Showa 35) | 1980 (Showa 55) | 2000 (Heisei 12) | 2010 (Hei 22) |
| 1st place | Osaka | Niigata | Tokyo Prefecture | Hokkaido | Tokyo | Tokyo | Tokyo | Tokyo |
| 2nd place | Niigata | Tokyo Prefecture | Osaka Prefecture | Tokyo | Osaka | Osaka | Osaka | Kanagawa Prefecture |
| 3rd place | Hyogo Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Hokkaido | Aichi Prefecture | Hokkaido | Kanagawa Prefecture | Kanagawa Prefecture | Osaka Prefecture |
| 4th place | Aichi Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture |
| 5th place | Hiroshima Prefecture | Osaka | Fukuoka Prefecture | Osaka | Fukuoka Prefecture | Hokkaido | Saitama Prefecture | Saitama Prefecture |
| 6th place | Tokyo Prefecture | Hiroshima Prefecture | Aichi Prefecture | Fukuoka Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Saitama Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture |
| 7th place | Chiba Prefecture | Fukuoka Prefecture | Niigata | Niigata | Kanagawa Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Hokkaido | Hyogo Prefecture |
| 8th place | Shizuoka Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture | Nagano Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture | Hyogo Prefecture | Hokkaido |
| 9th place | Nagano Prefecture | Nagano Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Nagano Prefecture | Niigata | Fukuoka Prefecture | Fukuoka Prefecture | Fukuoka Prefecture |
| 10th place | Okayama Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Hiroshima Prefecture | Saitama Prefecture | Chiba Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture | Shizuoka Prefecture |
The main reason for this is that the size of the prefecture is different from what it is now due to the adjustment of the prefecture by the abolished feudal clan. However, even in the distribution of prefectures that are close to the current shape after 1902, Niigata has become the number one population, and that has continued for a while.
Around 1897, Osaka Prefecture was at the top, but at that time Osaka Prefecture also included Nara Prefecture, so this is the result.
Tokyo has always been at the top of the list for a long time, but until around 1890, it will surrender its top position to Niigata. However, in 1897, the Tama district, which is outside the current 23 wards, was incorporated from Kanagawa Prefecture, and due to the increase in population, it reached the top position in 1890 and surrendered the top position after the war. We continue to maintain the top. It is said that the background of the top population of Hokkaido in 1945 is that the population of the Kanto area has been halved due to air raids and evacuation.
Speaking of Niigata prefecture, which is worrisome, the population ranking continued to be around 7th until the end of the war, but now it is around 15th. The reasons for the sluggish ranking are the satellite cities of Tokyo such as Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, and the breakthroughs of Shizuoka prefecture.
Why was it in Niigata?
Why were there so many people in Niigata?
One is that it was rice. Niigata has been a region that has been blessed with agricultural productivity since that time. At that time, Niigata had abundant land that could be eaten by so many people.
Another factor is that the Sea of Japan side was in circulation at that time. Niigata also prospered as a bay city without exception.
From the Meiji era until the development of railways, Japanese distribution is shipping Was the main. The main route of the shipping is on the Sea of Japan side, and the coastal bay city seems to have prospered unthinkably now.
It may be surprising to us who know the rise of the Pacific Ocean after the Meiji era, but looking at the population transition of Niigata, it symbolizes modern Japan, which shifts its focus from agriculture to industry and from water transportation to land transportation by rail. It is.