Temporary Shelters in the Mountains and Fields: The Lives of the Seburi and the Sanka—From the Late Meiji Period to the Showa 30s

In *Sanka Yobi*, there are survey items regarding “Seburi” that serve as clues to understanding the lives of the Sanka. “Seburi” has traditionally been understood as a term referring to the makeshift huts or tent-like temporary dwellings that the Sanka erected while moving through mountainous areas or along waterways. The *Dictionary of Folklore*, published in 1951, also describes the Sanka as a people who traveled using these makeshift huts and tents known as “Seburi.” Their way of life differed from that of settled rural communities; it is believed they moved from place to place as needed. Records indicate that men engaged in activities such as catching river fish, while women worked on bamboo crafts—such as sieves, baskets, and winnowing trays—and that through these activities, they interacted with the surrounding rural communities. The “seburi” was not merely a place to sleep, but rather a hub for family life and work—a living space that existed at the intersection of nomadic and sedentary lifestyles. Hiroshi Misumi’s *Social Materials on the Sanka* includes documentary photographs, a map of their nationwide distribution, and a glossary of Sanka terminology, making it a vital resource for understanding the image of the Sanka that took shape from the first half of the 20th century through the postwar period. However, later research has criticized some of Hiroshi Misumi’s records as containing fictional elements or dramatization; therefore, the depiction of their way of life—including the seburi—must be examined carefully by comparing historical sources. Therefore, the seburi is not merely a unique form of dwelling that has disappeared; it is a symbolic presence that prompts us to consider how mobile people lived—and how they were documented by those around them—as modern Japan transformed into a society that regarded sedentary life as the norm. The very fact that it appears as a research topic in *Sanka Yobi* indicates that researchers at the time regarded living spaces as an important subject of observation.