抄録
The present paper follows the previous one which developed a new method for the evaluation of village communities by analysing statistically 64, 000 villages with 74 indicators which were taken from the agricultural census. In this article, the authors try to extend this method by incorporating social indicators concerning the social structure of village communities and the social behabiour of the residents. Fifty-two social indicators were identified around the following four main themes : the independence of individual farmers and their communities, the solidality of communities within and their unity with the outlying communities, the vitality of agriculture and community life, and the maintenace system of community and family life. Two thousands villages were chosen from three prefectures (Yamagata, Kanagawa and Kagoshima) which had different agricultural and social structures. A component analysis was used to classify the villages and the three main components obtained : first component : vitality of community and its ability to form groups second component : community autonomy and solidality in a traditional sense third component : intention to promote agriculture The second component was prescribed to a large extent by the conditions of villages such as the proximity to DID (Densely Inhabited District) towns and the population density, while the first and third components were hardly affected by those conditions. The results indicate that the vitalisation of village communities and the promotion of agriculture are possible throgh the introduction of rural and agricultural planning or through community's own effort.
