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How To Read This Display
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 1. Survey Objectives |
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The distribution of animals changes depending
on environmental conditions and the historical
process of interactions between animals and
humans. National Survey on the Natural Environment
is continuing to show the circumstances of
animals at the present time. However wolves and the Japanese Crested Ibis have become
extinct and some other creatures are on the
verge of extinction. If we could learn where
these animals formerly lived and what triggered
their extinction as well as what processes
or mechanisms were involved in their shrinkage
and disappearance, this would be very useful
information for the conservation and management
of wild animals.
Realizing this, the survey set out to determine
roughly the living areas of past animals
so as to gain an idea of the historical processes
that shaped their present distribution and
the historical meaning of this distribution,
and thus to be useful in the making of conservation
policies. |
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| 2. Survey Content and Methods |
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Until now, very little was known about the
birds and animals of past times. To do this
survey, it was first necessary to develop
techniques for surveying and analyzing documents
in which information about past flora and
fauna was recorded.
The survey's first task was to investigate
sources of information on past plant and
animal distribution and decide how to deal
with them, in terms of working out a basic
method of reconstructing distribution maps
working with documents from before the time
modern natural science existed.
With basic methods established, the next
task was to convert local animal and plant
names recorded in "the Kyoho-Genbun Registry of Productions
of the Provinces" into standard names of the time and
then to determine which animals and plants
of today fit those names.
A distribution map for the 1730's could then
be made for 17 animal and 13 bird species. |
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| 3. Survey Results |
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Comparing the distribution of the species mapped added a number of observations to what is known about their present-day distribution. These are summarized below for 18 species and species groups.
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Past Bird and Animal Distribution Survey,
Summary of Survey Results
| Species with only slight differences from
present distribution |
Sika Deer, Common Kingfisher, Ruddy Kingfisher |
| Species widely seen at the time of the Production
Register but now extinct or endangered |
Wolf, Japanese Otter, Japanese Sealion, White
Stork |
| Species thought to be extinct in areas where
communities existed at the time of the Production
Register |
Japanese Macaque, Asiatic Black Bear, Red
Fox, Wild Boar, Japanese Serow, Japanese
Wood Pigeon |
| Species whose present migratory destinations
are greatly different from those of the Production |
Register era (perhaps due to changes in near-water
environments)
Spoonbill, Geese, Swans, Cranes |
| Species showing interesting changes in distribution
compared to the records of the Production
Register |
House Shrew*, Japanese Weasel**
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* Presently exists in Nagasaki Prefecture,
Kagoshima Prefecture, the Goto Islands and
the Nansei Shoto Islands. However this survey
obtained records from the Dewanokuni-Shonai.
At that time the Japan Sea was a major route
to the north. Their distribution may have
spread along with the vessels. Later, perhaps
because they did not become firmly established,
they became extinct.
** Recorded on Sado Island. However, presently
existing animals were introduced at the beginning
of the Taisho Era to prevent damage to the
forests. After Sado weasels became extinct,
others were brought in from elsewhere.
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The Kyoho-Genbun Registry of Productions
of the Provinces
The main source for this survey was "the
Kyoho-Genbun Registry of Productions of the
Provinces".
This document was compiled between 1735 and
1738, in the era of Yoshimune Tokugawa. In
1735 on the authority of the Bakufu (Central
government), the Bakufu medical officer Shohaku
Niwa , ordered every province to investigate
and report thoroughly on production. Information
was systematically sought and obtained village
by village and then compiled to produce this
document.
Niwa, who must be credited with planning
this census, was a scholar of natural history
and produced the format and manual of recording.
Whenever there was something unclear in the
records forwarded from the provinces, Niwa
sent further requests and made follow-up
checks.
Thus the Register is an entirely trustworthy
source document from which to reconstruct
the distribution of birds and animals in
the mid-Tokugawa Era.
Further, since the reports compiled by the
Bakufu no longer exist in their completed
form, the document is remade from duplicates
remained by provinces.
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| All Rights Reserved, Copyright Ministry of the Environment. |
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