4 ms·
Interesing.[1] Looks like governance (better water supply, sanitation, lower density, a "polluted" caste[2]), intensive agriculture making night soil valuable f
by mncharity 2y ago
Interesing.[1] Looks like governance (better water supply, sanitation, lower density, a "polluted" caste[2]), intensive agriculture making night soil valuable fertilizer instead of city-as-cesspit waste, and domestic culture (cooking/boiling, cleanliness). The night soil diversion seems to have kept toilets out of sewers/water into the 1900s.
[1] https://wjsmith.faculty.unlv.edu/smithtest/Urban-Sanitation_PreIndustrial-Japan.pdf https://wjsmith.faculty.unlv.edu/smithtest/Urban-Sanitation_... (1987)
[2] off topic but interesting https://www.academia.edu/download/34028214/The_Creation_of_the_Edo_Outcaste_Order.pdf https://www.academia.edu/download/34028214/The_Creation_of_t...