Abstract
Aging problems and depopulation in rural areas are said to lead to loss and deterioration of regional knowledge.
This study discusses (1) the level of knowledge acquisition among different age groups in villages,(2) the relationship between the level of knowledge and village characteristics, (3) the main factors of village characteristics that contribute to knowledge acquisition.
A total of 232 questionnaires were collected from16 villages in Sasayama city, Hyogo prefecture, toexplore the villagers’ knowledge on the natural environment, culture, and village life.
Three hypotheses were tested: (A) active villages have a higher level of knowledge acquisition; (B) larger villages have a higher level of knowledge acquisition; and (C) depopulated villages have a lower level of knowledge acquisition.
The results differed among age groups, and the age group of 60-70 had tendency of (A) and (B), while the group of 40–50 only showed (B).
