Abstract
In the middle -mountainous area, sustainability of the villages are threatened due to the decrease in population and the rapid aging. In order to make appropriate regional planning, the demographic and geographic characteristics should be simultaneously analyzed not only for the current condition, but for the future situation. This study purposes to clarify the characteristics of villages in terms of the share of the aged and the population, by using decision-tree analyses, then the transitions of the demographic characteristics are estimated to find out the appropriate policies. The decision tree analysis for the village database in Chugoku area clarified that the location of post office and financial facilities were strongly correlated with the share of the aged. Based on the transition of the demographic characteristics of villages, substantial number of villages would be threatened the sustainability in near future.
