JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION

This research qualitatively evaluated the impact that bridge construction exerts on the social economy system of a detached island. Our research group and local collaborators interviewed the residents of Notojima in Ishikawa, Japan for over three years and collected memories of the situation and social exchanges of past life as text data. Then, we analyzed this data structurally and through text mining, evaluated the transitional history of the communal area of the island and its changing context.
In the text data about the period before the bridge construction, references to social exchange with each settlement on the island was the majority. In contrast, in the data about the period after the bridge construction, references to interactions with visitors coming from distant places to make use of resort facilities was the majority. This knowledge of empirical facts about what influences the improvement of traffic situations of geographical disadvantaged areas is important from a public policy point of view.

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We conducted a participant observation to clarify the current hunting activities undertaken in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, and its issue from the point of view of sustainability of hunting activity. The correlation between the number of bagged animals and the number of participants was not significant. The role of beaters in the hunting party was considered vital to the success of a hunt. Our findings suggested that it is important to support core hunters, as they are typically the beaters in group hunts. In addition, our results showed that the time required to track target animals exceeded the actual duration of the hunt itself. It is therefore difficult for hunters who hunt as a pastime only to fully devote themselves to the observation and tracking components of hunting. Nuisance control achieved collaterally through the recreational hunting by research target party can be considered a cost-effective method of wildlife population control for municipalities who typically only offer a reward for bagged animals.

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