The 1910 Japanese Enactment of the Company Ordinance and the Transformation of Byung-Jak (幷作) Practices among Corporate Landowners

The sharecropping system was divided into To-Ji (賭地) and Byung-Jak. While To-Ji was analyzed as a pure lease, Byung-Jak was interpreted as not being a pure lease because it involved joint cultivation and a sharing relationship. However, the Japanese government classified not only To-Ji but also Byung-Jak as leases, so the meaning of Byung-Jak converged with that of Ta-Jo (打租, fixed-rate sharecropping). Yet, as landowners had no choice but to be utilized for agricultural improvements and land development, remnants of joint cultivation and sharing relationships were left in practice. As a result, not only Byung-Jak but also To-Ji were affected by these remnants. The 1900s saw the emergence of company landowners. The Japanese government acknowledged the existence of the custom of foundation corporations, but did not recognize the custom of corporations. By the end of 1910, the Japanese government had completed land surveys in Bucheon-gun, Gimpo-gun, and Siheung-gun. Although the Korea Development Company (Chosun Development Company) and Hansung Bank reported land ownership, they were not recognized as legal entities under the application of existing customs or laws. The Japanese government enacted the Company Ordinance in 1910, which came into effect in 1911. With the recognition of corporations by the Japanese government, company landowners were authorized as corporate landowners. As they expanded the scale of their landholdings, they led not only agricultural improvements but also land development. They managed and guided tenant farmers regardless of the type of sharecropping system.