In rural conditions of local towns and villages, the transition of the lifestyle was much more gradual and slow as the tradition and customs of the late Edo period lasted far longer; people in some area used paper-shaded lamp using rapeseed oil until the beginning of Showa period, and the benefit of those new Western systems such as a new postal service and telegraph communication were not effectively introduced and utilized until much later years.
地方町村部では場所により昭和に入る頃まで明かりといえば菜種油で行灯を灯し、郵便や電信など西洋化の恩恵は中々届かず、また長らく江戸後期の伝統や風習が続くなど、生活の変化は遥かに緩やかなものであった。