Abstract
Studies on the mining town as a kind of urban function are one of the most backward in the field of urban geography. The writer has investigated some mining towns and studied their forms and functions as a subject of urban geographical study.
Metal mining towns under the capitalistic system in Japan are classified into two groups. the historical mining towns which have maintained their own functions since feudal age, and the modern mining towns which have rapidly developed since Meiji era. Here the writer describes only on the former, without enough space to describe both.
The historical mining towns have dual composition. They consist of the area of historical settlement having maintained since feudal age and the area of company settlement established by modern mining company settlement established by modern mining company since Meiji era. The regional arrangement of these areas in a mining town depends chiefly on the topographic conditions.
The area of company settlement was established according to the mining plans of the company, but it was not clear whether the area of historical settlement was established by some mining plans or not, Some historical mining towns in Akita-Han were estadlished in the beginning of the 17th Century and the areas of historical settlement in them were planned by the feudal authorities.
The area of historical settlement has maintained the character of service function area in the mining town, and the area of company settlement has chiefly the mining functions which is expressed by the ore dressing and smelting mills, the mining management offices and the labourer's abodes, The area of company settlement has uniform qualities in form and function, but the people living there come from different origins and have different Buddhist traditions.
