Abstract
Ten local dairy farmers and 1,000 residents outside the area were sent questionnaires evaluating scenery in the northern Tochigi dairy zone ; seven farmers and 532 residents responded. Quantification II methods were applied to the responses. The element and category that serve as criteria for farmers and residents to evaluate the scenery as good or poor were similar. However, the ranking of elements for evaluating a scene and the weight applied to each category differed. Local dairy farmers strongly emphasized scene elements related to production activity or familiarity of life. For example, exposed livestock feces-and-urine compost, broken farm machinery and implements, and weeds clearly indicated a poor scene to farmers. In contrast, residents from outside the area selected evaluation criteria related to their images of the dairyzone. Scenes that were consistent with these images, such as a feeling of spaciousness, were rated as good.
