近代日本農村體制的建立──兼論與中國農村的比較研究

The Evolution of Rural Governance in Modern Japan: With a Comparative Study of Rural China

中日戰爭期間，日本曾在中國農村地區進行廣泛的調查，目的之一就是探究中國村落是否如同日本村落般存在某些自治機能，可以幫助日本殖民者統治中國農村。那麼，究竟日本村落具有何種自治機能？在日本農村的統治體制中又扮演著什麼角色？經由探討近代日本農村統治體制，本文指出日本自江戶時代以來，即透過各種機制來發展村落的自治機能，以協助政府統治農村；明治維新以後，也依舊如此。正因為此一辦法非常有效，中日戰爭期間日本殖民政權才會這麼關注中國村落，欲將其過去統治農村的經驗移植到中國。

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese engaged in comprehensive field research in rural China. One of their objects was to probe into whether there existed any communal mechanism in Chinese villages comparable to Japanese villages, which could assist the Japanese to rule rural China. How did the communal mechanism function in Japanese villages? How could the communal mechanism of a village help the government of Japan to rule over the countryside? How did the Japanese transplant their experience of rural governance to rural China? This article focuses on these questions through reexamining the evolution of rural governance in modern Japan and rural North China under Japanese occupation during the Second Sino-Japanese War.