This study examines Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) as a strategic response to Japan's demographic and environmental challenges, such as an aging population, population decline, urban contraction and rising CO₂ emissions. It underscores the importance of TOD in promoting sustainable urban living by reducing private vehicles and improving public transportation systems.

The study aims to evaluate the impact of TOD on sustainable urban development around the stations of the Tsukuba Express Line. This involves an in-depth analysis of land use changes and sustainability factors over the past two decades, and the development of strategies for different station types to enhance urban living environments. The study also seeks to provide actionable insights for effective TOD policy implementation.

Focusing on the Tsukuba Express Line, a vital link between Tsukuba and Tokyo, this research examines the substantial shifts in population composition, land use, and urban spaces since the line's inauguration. A 2 km radius around each of the 20 stations is analyzed.

Methodologically, the study employs an array of analytical tools including Geographic Information System (GIS) and Points of Interest (POI) Analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and K-means cluster analysis to dissect the urban landscape, identify key factors influencing land use and urban dynamics, and classify the station vicinities based on their distinct characteristics and challenges.

This study has comprehensively analyzed the transformations in land use and urban dynamics around the Tsukuba Express Line stations over the past two decades. It reveals that while the line's expansion has spurred urbanization, it has also led to a reduction in essential green spaces, thus raising environmental concerns. Demographic analyses indicate an aging population along the line, with variances in density reflecting the diversity of local communities. Through PCA and K-means cluster analysis, key urban development factors like urban density, commercial activity, educational opportunities, and accessibility are identified. These factors have served as a basis for classifying the station areas into 5 clusters, each with unique characteristics. For instance, one cluster exemplifies balanced development, demonstrating an ideal combination of residential, commercial, and green spaces. This cluster could serve as a model for future developments that harmonize urban functionality with environmental and social sustainability. In contrast, another cluster is marked by a high degree of commercial activity and urban density, suggesting a need for targeted environmental mitigation strategies. The study underscores the intricate interplay between urban development, environmental sustainability, and social dynamics under the TOD framework, providing insights for policymakers for future development.

Fog is a state in which many minute water droplets float in the atmosphere near the ground, and the horizontal visibility is less than 1 km. When dense fog occurs, visibility deteriorates and affects daily life. In addition to temperature and humidity, the formation of fog is also closely related to topography. Fog that occurs from autumn to winter is generally called ``radiant fog,'' and is common in inland areas with basin topography where temperature differences tend to be large. In particular, the Tsuyama Basin in Okayama Prefecture is famous for the occurrence of large-scale fog (Joko et al., 2002). Since meteorological observations were conducted from the late 1990s to 2000, there have been no notable reports of fog occurring in the Tsuyama Basin other than Shigeta (2019). Joko et(2002) reported that fog occurs from the south side of the Tsuyama Basin. However, previous studies in the Tsuyama Basin have not conducted long-term observations, and there are still many unknowns about the mechanism of occurrence.

Therefore, in this study, we verified the relationship between radiation fog dynamics and water vapor content in the Tsuyama Basin using long-term, multi-point meteorological observation data reported in Shigeta (2019).

Amid the proliferation of large suburban shopping malls in cities across Japan, the decline of central shopping areas is now widely problematized. Based on existing geographical research on large-store development, which had focused primarilyon the 1990s and the 2000s, this study examines a prehistory of suburban mall development by employing location data of suburban shopping malls and official company histories. The study finds that leading suburban mall developers, most notably AEON, has accumulated their knowhows of suburban malls that cater to motorized consumers from decades before the onset of mass motorization in regional cities.

In Shimshal, which will undergo an environmental and economic change, we conducted questionnaire surveys and interviews to understand villagers' perceptions of trophy hunting and snow leopards. A notable finding was that fewer villagers considered the snow leopard an endangered species compared to out-of-village residents. Approximately half of the respondents had this perception, and there were prevalent negative opinions about snow leopards among villagers. According to this result, we proposed to educate villagers about the impact of trophy hunting on wildlife and livestock and emphasize the significance of snow leopards. Additionally, Sentinel-2 imagery was utilized to analyze land cover and identify suitable habitats for wildlife in the Shimshal Community Controlled Hunting Area.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the formation factors for regional centers emerging from rapid population growth in the modern era. I analyzed the process of the emergence of a central region in the Osumi Peninsula, Kagoshima, from 1912~1930, and examine the factors that led to this emergence. As a result, it was found that Shibushi became a port city, while Kanoya was selected as the center of the Osumi Peninsula and became economically centralized after its administrative center was located in the center of the peninsula, and that the functions of the two cities were differentiated.

The Kin Bay Struggle, which took place in Kin Bay on the east coast of central Okinawa Island from the 1970s to the early 1980s, was an environmental movement against the construction of a crude oil storage terminal and the Kin Bay Comprehensive Development Plan. This paper reexamines the philosophy of survival developed in the Kin Bay Struggle from an ontological perspective, and clarifies its significance and potential in contemporary social movement. Furthermore, this paper identifies exchanges between Kin Bay Struggle and the movement in Minamata and attempts to identify commonalities in the philosophy of survival between the two movements.

In this study, two key points can be summarized as follows: 1) The rasied-bed rivers of the Kizu River watershed area has a common basic cross-sectional shape, which systematically varies in the upstream and downstream directions of the Kizugawa River. 2) The necessity of the rasied-bed rivers in water management systems has evolved due to urbanization, with the current relevance to agriculture diminishing. In the future, it is conceivable that he rasied-bed rivers, similar to the present-day Boga River, may be entirely removed.

This report introduces the functional area approach, which has been emphasized in EU regional policies in recent years, and examines the trends and implications of its introduction into the community-driven rural development program LEADER/CLLD.

The functional area approach was first developed in the context of urban policies, where the EU established functional urban areas (FUAs) as a grouping of cities and their commuting areas. The Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) program for 2014-2020 is based on the FUA concept. Subsequently, these territorial settings were not limited to urban areas, but were also introduced in policies targeting rural areas, which are referred to as functional areas. To further develop the functional area approach, the "Functional Areas in the EU" program has been launched as a pilot project in 2021.

In this period (2021-2027), the functional area approach is also being introduced in the Community Driven Rural Development Program (LEADER/CLLD); LEADER/CLLD has so far been a local rural development policy targeting rural municipalities. In this report, we use LEADER/CLLD in the Austria-Italy border region as a case study to examine how the implementation of the functional area approach has changed the territorial setting and what it means in terms of urban-rural relations and local governance.

In recent decades, glaciers have shurank due to climate change in Tien Shan, Central Asia. As a result of glacier shrinkage, many glacial lakes have appeared in glacier front (Janský et al., 2010; Daiyrov et al., 2022). In recent years, short-lived or non-stationary lakes were identified more frequently (Narama et al., 2010, 2018; Daiyrov et al., 2022; Daiyrov and Narama, 2021). In this study, we analyzed recent changes in glacier area related to glacier shrinkage during 1968-2021 based on optical satellite images such as Landsat (7, 8, 9, 10), Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope satellite.

In light of the recent increase in transnational migration from Bhutan to other countries, this study examines how globalization is progressing in the rural area of Bhutan, by analyzing population movements through household survey in eastern Bhutan. This study found not only a population outflow from rural Bhutan to urban areas, which has been previously mentioned, but also a population outflow overseas. Future issues include the relationship between the results of the household survey and socioeconomic conditions, the relationship between the immigration policies of recipient countries and the transformation of rural Bhutan, and the clarification of transnational social space.

This study examines gender disparities in China's labor market using data from the Chinese Population Census, the China Household Income Project, and the China Labor Dynamics Survey, spanning four decades. A spatial cluster analysis highlighted the geographical distribution of female employment performance. We employed baseline regression and spatial vector autoregressive models to identify the factors driving these disparities. The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions showed lower gender disparities. Additionally, a notable "siphoning effect" was observed in major cities, attracting exceptional female labor, while a "spillover effect" enhanced skills in surrounding areas.

In this report, I examine the significance of continuing small farming for the elderly in order for them to lead an autonomous life in a familiar community even in old age. For the elderly, small farming is a purpose to live, to grow vegetables and eat them, and it is also a way to live well in their own way in a familiar community until the end of their lives.

The village of Simshar (3,000 m above sea level), located in the northern part of Karakoram, is a small village with a population of about 2,500. Since the opening of the road in 2003, the number of tourists, trekkers, and tourists for trophy hunting (hunting of wild animals) has been increasing. This study discusses how the social transformation of Shimshal village has affected pastoralist activities by promoting education, tourism development, and trophy hunting, and how the residents try to maintain pastoralism.

In the forestry industry in Japan, there are issues that have a negative impact on the survival of the forestry industry, such as the problem of absentee village forest owners. Especially in privately owned forest areas, forest management is often carried out by forest cooperatives when there are many absentee village forest owners. The purpose of this study is to examine the sustainability of forestry from the viewpoints of forest owners and timber production, using the case of Ryujin-mura Forest Association in Wakayama Prefecture, which has conducted community forestry on a village-wide basis.

Menstruation, which destabilizes women's bodies, alters their relationships to space. These changes have physical, mental, and social dimensions. In terms of the physical aspect, women change their travel routes to rest their bodies, taking advantage of the developed public transportation system in the city center. On the mental side, menstruation turns a certain place into an "unpleasant place" or a "place to escape" for women. In social terms, the meaning assigned to the body with menstrual symptoms changes depending on the context. Menstruation constrains women's daily lives spatially and temporally. However, the norm that menstruation should be concealed sometimes creates sisterhood.