THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER IS TO IDENTIFY IMAGES OF THREE PRIVATE RAILROAD LINE AREAS IN KANSAI; HANKYU, KINTETSU, AND NANKAI RAILS. WHILE IMAGE OF THE AREA IS DETERMINED BY A VARIETY OF COMPONENTS CONCERNING NOT ONLY NATURAL BEAUTY BUT ALSO SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, THESE RAILS ARE REGARDED TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE ON THE IMAGE FORMATION. IN THIS PAPER, FORCUSING ON THE IMAGES ASSOCIATED BY THE COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS, HOMOGENEITY AND HETEROGENEITY IN IMAGE AMONG THREE RAIL AREAS ARE EXAMINED EMPIRICALLY THROUGH THE IMAGE MAPPING. SEMETIC DIFFERENTIAL METHOD WILL BE ALSO APPLIED TO DESCRIBE THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE FORMATION OF THE AREA IMAGE.
