This study visualized changes in the COVID-19 positive cases from March 2020 to September 2022 in Aomori and examined their regional relationships among health center areas. In Aomori, the first positive case was observed at the end of March 2020, while the number of cases remained low until October. After that, as in other prefectures, the number of cases increased and decreased repeatedly, reaching a peak of about 12.8 thousand per week at the end of August 2022. In the early outbreak, the number of cases varied in each health center area, but the regional variations changed along the way. Since the summer of 2021, while there were some regional variations partly, overall, the number of cases indicated synchronous changes in the eight health center areas. The above results of regional comparisons were shown clearly by principal component analysis.

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Securing green energy is an important issue for building a sustainable society. In particular, wind power generation has been introduced as an environmentally friendly renewable energy source, but there are many problems, such as the destruction of nature in the region depending on the location and scale of installation, and there are also many cases of disputes among the local communities. In Aomori, a wind power development project had been underway, but was halted due to opposition from the local community. The wind power development project in Aomori was expected to have various merits, such as supplying electricity to the region and creating local employment, but it was opposed by many people concerned because it had no small number of demerits. We interviewed two people who participated in the opposition movement. The Michinoku wind power project was problematic because not only the local residents but also politicians were not fully aware of the current situation and problems. In order to prevent such serious state of affairs, it is important to create a local system to evaluate nature development projects and to educate people about the importance of local nature.

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In March 2024, the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened for service between Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture and Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. Six months later, in September 2024, We conducted a mail survey among 1,200 Tsuruga residents. As with the previous survey in September 2023, the collection rate was only in the 20% range, but more than 80% of the citizens welcomed the Shinkansen extension to Tsuruga. The reasons for this were an increase in the number of tourists visiting the city, the town's vitality, and the fact that the local area was widely introduced in the media. While many respondents appreciated the positive effects on Tsuruga City and Fukui Prefecture, only a limited number of respondents appreciated the positive effects on their own lives. The main reason for this was that the number of people who had ridden the Shinkansen was still small. The Hokuriku Shinkansen was most highly rated for its ability to get to Tokyo quickly. On the other hand, there is strong criticism and concern about the inconvenience of changing between the Shinkansen and conventional limited express trains at Tsuruga, making travel to and from Kansai and Chukyo inconvenient. In addition to the effects on tourism, other notable changes are occurring along the rail line, such as the progress of digitalization and the construction of corporate R&D centers.

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