This paper examines the current situation and its relation to the policy execution concerning the development of administrative infrastructures and systems for the promotion of global warming prevention in local governments. The main findings of the survey indicate that a number of local governments have initiated efforts to develop of infrastructures to promote global warming prevention in the administration. However, a very few local governments have developed such infrastructures and systems to promote global warming prevention in the local community. Moreover, the local governments which development of administrative infrastructures and systems more advanced policy execution of global warming prevention than those local governments without such a development of infrastructures and systems. It is essential for local governments to develop administrative infrastructures and systems that improve placing of global warming prevention in its policy.

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Institutional design of national forest policy in Japan remains that of industrial policy. The forest policy and its projects are not checked about environmental impact based on scientific knowledge. Local forest environment tax, however, provided local government with discretionary power to implement environmental policy. As a result, local government, freed from the constraints of existing administrative and fiscal systems, could adopt environmental policy into forestry sector. Especially, Shiga Prefecture made monitoring system like adaptive management that covered limit of scientific knowledge and dealt with scientific uncertainty. The system contributes to effectiveness of environmental policy.

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There exist many methods for the green space acquisition and enhancement. Those methods restrict property right by land-use regulation, and in parallel pay landowners counter merit by way of compensation and tax reduction. But those methods have so much variety of strength of regulation and amount of compensation that they are complex system not easily understandable. Therefore, it is necessary to explain those methods systematically. For achieving this purpose, this paper firstly tries to show the relation between land use regulation and public compensation, secondly review the development of law system of those methods, and thirdly survey the new added methods in amendment of Urban Green Space Act 2004, finally show the whole system of ongoing methods of green space acquisition and enhancement.

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In the municipality plans of the master plan and the fundamental environment plan, etc., the number of municipalities that assume the aim of ″Sustainable city″ has increased. However, there are a lot of one that the projects that the field looks like is neither ″Find″ bundling of the name of measure nor relate and is enumerated disjointedly as for the content. Ascertaining the approach that should catch the structure of the environment that the city holds overall after this respect is specified based on the discussion with the citizens and do becomes the first step of the plan-making with effectiveness or more though it doesn't know at what you aim to begin with in each measure.

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In Nagoya metropolitan area, there are no relations with the distribution of a population increase or decrease areas and the urban structure. The distribution of both areas is like the mosaic. In the same way, it is the mosaic even with residential area in Yokkaichi City. The population increases in a favorble residential area within a vacant land by the gradual development. On the zero population growth, if population increases in a favorble area, population decreases on the other side. It is thought it is a reason that the distribution of a population increase or decrease area is the mosaic.

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Sustainable development at the level of the municipal government comes to be seen as important in recent years. It is important to decouple environmental pressure from economic growth in the municipal level. We make an indicator and propose a new mapping approach to classify the decoupling status. In particular, we construct a new decoupling concept to evaluate the state which the environmental pressure increases in spite of the decline in the economic standard. We use the CO₂ emission in the household sector as ″environmental pressure″ and the taxable income as ″economic standard″. Then, we demonstrate the use of this new mapping approach at the level of the municipalities in Japan.

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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic value of social capital. Social capital has unique nature - no concrete shape, no price - so that it is difficult to evaluate its economic value. In this paper, this tough task will be overcome by the method of CVM. The willingness to accept is derived from a questionnaire which asks residents a contingent scenario about move from Shizuoka City. At this time, the value of social capital should be separated from the value of, so-called, unity attachment. The result shows that the value of social capital of average respondent in Shizuoka City is 4.3 million yen.

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Although surety bond, as well as liability insurance, is one of the methods which establish firms' financial responsibility for environmental risks and liability insurance is studied in many papers, there is no literature on the ability of surety bond to control environmental risks. This article analyzes the function of surety bond using the model in which wealth constraint is set more precisely than in the models used in the literature. The result shows that there is a chance that surety bond is superior to liability insurance as financial security for controlling environmental risks.

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The approaches of OECD countries aiming at low-energy consumption and low-carbon society were compared using time-series index from 1960 to 2003, such as energy efficiency and CO₂ emission per energy consumption. OECD countries were classified per decade by cluster analysis of index as follows: the countries where the consumption of fossil fuel has been decreasing gradually, the countries where the energy efficiency has been improving, the countries where the consumption of fossil fuel has been increasing, the countries where low-carbon society has been maintained, and the countries where a lot of energy consumption and a lot of CO₂ emission have been continued. The use of local energy, the shift to nuclear and renewable energy, and the increase of natural gas use were key factors for the change of energy use and CO₂ emission pattern.

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Features and mechanism of the official charge system in Bhutan with consideration of environmental preservations were clarified. The study includes on-site investigations between September 7th and 13th in 2008, interviews, and literature research. From the perspectives of Bhutan tourism and its history, the official charge system can be divided into four terms: 1) the introduction term of official charges, 2) the state-run initiative term, 3) the private management term, and 4) the term with foreign capital entry. It has been observed that the official charge prices have been repeatedly changed throughout these four terms in tourism. The official charges are also an important revenue source for Bhutan to earn foreign currency. The number of tourists exceeded 20,000 in 2007 by the entry of foreign luxury resort hotels. Future maintenance of official charges with consideration of nature preservations was studied, albeit the increase in the number of tourists.

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This paper estimates the benefits of country-side landscape environments (satoyama) through the management of bamboo forests using contingent valuation method (CVM). Recently, satoyama has experienced loss of biodiversity, water catchment functions, and disaster prevention functions due to the abandonment of bamboo forest management. We measure citizens' willingness to pay (WTP) in order to manage the bamboo forest in a proper way so as not to expand the bamboo forest areas in a satoyama in Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima. Our results show that the benefits from managing the satoyama can be valuated as 2,431 yen per household which will amount to 7,369 thousand yen for the surrounding areas of Kagamiyama.

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In June 2003, the Local Autonomy Law was partially revised with the aim of helping local governments rein in fiscal expenditures. Accordingly, the system for managing and operating public facilities owned by a local government was revised from the Management Outsourcing System (MOS) to the Designated Manager System (DMS). It was expected that public facilities would be managed and operated more effectively by managers with appropriate expertise and close connections to the local communities. To date, numerous studies have taken place regarding the DMS. However, most of the research and studies have been limited to the clarification of the DMS launch status and the challenges confronting the DMS. I think it is necessary to clarify how the original objective of the DMS launch is being achieved, that is, the economic benefits being generated annually through the DMS. This study is to clarify the benefits and challenges as a result of the DMS launch implemented by local governments.

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The field survey was carried out four times between 2005 and 2008 to clarify the impact of a drought on the nomadic life in a prairie village of Sunite Banner in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. In 2005 and 2006, 27-28% of livestock was dead and 2% was dead in 2008 approximately. Drought damage appears as death of livestock and a reduced income. Poor nomadic herders force to leave their own life with no response. The traditional Mongolian nomadic life faces to an extinction crisis.

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The major purpose of this study is to pick out the factors that affect the personal awareness or images of global warming. For this objective, we recruited about 100 monitors who have various social backgrounds, and questionnaire surveys were implemented on the monitors to know their knowledge, awareness and image of global warming. This survey showed that general concerns for global warming are not always based on correct knowledge, but on their images of this issue or their characteristic of judgment. In this sense, it is very important to improve peoples' images of global warming as well as to provide the correct information about this issue.

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A large amount of construction minerals has been stocked as urban structures over time. In the near future, materials from demolished structures cause new material flow as it became waste, but the demands of recycling material related to roadway construction and maintenance have been decrease. Therefore, we estimated the volume of Material Stock Accounts of urban infrastructure over time by using four damnation GIS database. In addition, lifespan of urban structure by landuse type is estimated for predicting the future construction material balance. materials discharged from buildings is approximately 24 times larger compare to the demand of roadway's construction.

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In recent years, traffic action that considered environment has declared, and improvement of bicycle environment is pushed forward positively in the whole country. In this study, we attended to user's consciousness to the bicycle environment, and aimed at offering basics data for safety measures and development of the improvement guide to the bicycle environment. In result, we clarified a problem to user's consciousness and a factor to affect user consciousness for the bicycle environment. Lastly, we suggested direction of improvement that considered the actual condition of user's consciousness to the bicycle environment.

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The Central Disaster Management Council of the Japanese Cabinet Office estimates that a class-M7 earthquake will occur in Metropolitan Tokyo or the Tokai area within the next 30 years. In 1995, Japan suffered devastating damage from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and has since been devoted to disaster management. Since there has been no report anywhere in the world on a sea-based relief system, our research will lead to a review of ocean spaces in terms of their value in waterfront metropolitan cities. we have explored the feasibility of a relief system utilizing Entertainment and Party Boat (Yakatabunes) which can cover areas from the sea to rivers, and we investigated navigable routes of rivers to suggest effective utilization of ocean spaces and river areas in the event of disaster. As a result, we determined the rescue potential drawing upon Entertainment and Party Boat. A river survey was also conducted to classify navigable routes by boat size.

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To aid the decision-making process in habitat restoration of anadromous fish, a GIS-based prioritizing method for site selection was developed. We studied the usefulness of this method in the masu salmon (Oncorhynhus masou) spawning habitat in the Shiribetsu river watershed located in the southwest part of Hokkaido. First, the area available for upstream migration was defined; dams were considered as a barrier while defining this area. Second, extraction of a habitat suitable for spawning by parameterization of channel morphology and riparian vegetation was examined. Finally, gap analysis between suitable habitats and area available for migration was carried out. Those result enabled priority setting for restoration of anadromous fish habitat as improvement of migration corridor.

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Grasslands have decreased markedly in urban areas; therefore, it is necessary to consider their utilization and management to conserve the species that live within them. In this study, we investigated wild mice on the Tama River floodplain and considered grassland conservation from a regional and local perspective. The results suggest that the distributions of Apodemus speciosus and Mus musculus were determined by various factors such as the presence of green areas and land use around the area, in addition to vegetation, utilization, and grass management of the flood plain. The distribution of Micromys minutus was affected by the size of the plant community, vegetation, and grass management for nest building. To conserve the habitat of M. minutus, it is necessary to systematically manage the grassland of the floodplain.

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The cost of wildlife damage control in forest could be substantial. By conducting an appropriate forest management to control vegetation conditions with the possibility of wildlife damage in mind, we may be able to reduce the management cost. In this study, we propose a modeling approach for searching the optimal management plan that takes habitat characteristics of wildlife into consideration. We apply our approach to Creeping vole damage control problem. We develop an HSI model for Creeping voles and integrate it with a management optimization model.

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To conserve the environment of Yato ( small valley with flat bottomland) in urban area, it is essential to clarify the habitat of each species. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relation between habitat of Pyrocoelia fumosa and environmental condition. The seasonal change and spatial distribution were revealed based on the population of luminous larvae at night, and relation between the population of larvae and environmental condition was analyzed by using GLM. As a result, it was shown that considering change of the population of larvae surveying many times is important for improving the precision. And it was revealed that the larvae lived in Yato extensively, and the larvae preferred the environment between forest edge and forest inner with developed forest floor vegetation. There is a probability that abandonment of forest floor vegetation increase its habitat, so adequate management is required monitoring its population.

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Previous studies on bear bark stripping(;BBS) was reviewed in both levels of trees and tree stands, which have been focused on its damage and prevention. As the results, previous studies showed well-grown, fat trees and 20-30 years old tree stands, in which sugar concentration is high, have high potentiality for BBS. In addition to that, not only short term studies but also long term studies on BBS prevention are necessary, such as bear habitat assessment at BBS occurring tree stands.

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The purpose of this study is to analyze effects of aquatic plants on inhabitants of aquatic insects in an irrigation pond. An investigation of collecting aquatic insects and surveying environmental factors such as population densities of aquatic plants and conditions of sedimentation were implemented at nine plots. A cluster analysis to find out similarities and differences of environmental characteristics and inhabitants of aquatic insects among these plots showed; 1) the plots that had rich vegetation of Leersia japonica were classified as a proper habitat for Odonata larvae, 2) the plots that had vegetation of submerged plant or floating-leaved plants were also classified as a proper habitat for Odonata larvae, 3) the plots that had rich vegetation of Scirpus triangulates were classified as a proper habitat for Coleoptera adult, 4) sedimentation from withered aquatic plants was effective in proper habitant for several species of Odonata larvae.

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We discussed the characteristic of water body-forest complex for breeding Rhacophorus arboreus which was a forest-dependent amphibian. It was measured the spatial distribution of all the foam nests deposited above the small pond in the forest. The height of the foam nests was in the range of 106-950 cm, and the average was 434cm (n=148). The number of foam nests of each tree was various. It was guessed that the horizontal cover of a tree canopy and the water surface was more important than the tree species and the tree height. The spawning position rose as the breeding time became. Trees of various heights that hang to surface of the water tree canopy are necessary for surroundings in the breeding water bodies.

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The research developed a system that was able to acquire the spectral reflectance using the fusion of machine vision and ambient illumination sensor. The research proved that to be able to acquire NDVI (Normalized difference vegetation index) with reproducibility, a proper controlling of camera parameters should be done. The developed system was attached on an unmanned helicopter. By using this system, models for moisture content estimation were made. The moisture content of wheat ear was estimated accurately. As there was a linear relation between NDVI derived from radiation of satellite images and NDVI calculated from reflectance observed from the helicopter, it was possible to convert the former to the latter by a linear regression. Using the combination of helicopter-based and satelite-based NDVIs, the estimation error of moisture content was reduced.

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Conventionally, people have been suffered from heat exhaustion when they do hard exercise under high temperature. However, recently, it occurs in daily life without hard exercise because of increasing temperature due to urbanization. The factors of damages to human body are radiation temperature, wind, and moisture as well as air temperature and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is composed of the four factors and it shows the sensory temperature. In this study, we quantitatively estimate the cooling effect of canopy in summer by observing the temperatures and other meteorological data. The result quantitatively shows that WBGT depends on not only micro scale vegetation cover, but also 50m x 50m surrounding vegetation cover and surface condition.

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Microclimatic observations about the thermal environment of vertical green screen out of wall were performed in summer. The ultrasonic anemometer thermometers and very fine thermocouples (diameter: 0.025mm) were used to avoid the radiation effect on the measurement of air temperature. The leaves surface temperature was higher than surrounding air temperature during midday. In addition, air temperature in the vicinity of the leaf was also higher than the ambient air. Therefore, the evidence of evaporative cooling effect of the green screen on surrounding air could not be found.

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An experimental straw bale structure at Nihon University's Center for Natural Environmental Sciences, called “ Atom House ” , is the first straw bale building constructed for research purposes in Japan. Construction began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. Indoor, outdoor, and interstitial hygrothermal conditions have been monitored since December, 2002. The present study describes the hygrothermal monitoring and evaluates Atom House on two levels: (one) Atom House's thermal performance and (two) the interstitial hygrothermal environment and potential for mold growth. Although the indoor environment is unconditioned, indoor and interstitial temperatures are moderate in comparison to outdoor temperatures, providing evidence for the insulative quality of straw bale walls. Evaluation of the interstitial hygrothermal data using an isopleth model predicts fungal growth within the straw bale walls. Extraction and magnification of straw confirms the presence of mold and the need to control interstitial moisture in straw bale walls.

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This study quantified the mitigation effect of deciduous trees on an urban heat island and its effects on energy consumption for air-conditioning and water heating in metropolitan Tokyo. Numerical simulations of urban heat island are conducted by application of Colorado State University Meso-scale Model (CSUMM) for two cases: one is a case of actual condition and the other is a case of urban greening. Next, we estimated the energy consumption for space heating, cooling, and water heating corresponding to each of the temperature distributions. The results imply that heat island mitigation by urban greening can reduce energy consumption up to 1260 TJ/year.

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In this study, the transition, turning points and their backgrounds of the international nature conservation (especially biodiversity) policy were revealed using objective indicators. Through analysis of General Assembly resolutions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) over the 60 years, the international nature conservation policies were divided into 7 periods. Transitions of main issues of the policy in each period were revealed: general nature protection in the mid-'50s; living resources conservation in the early '60s; wild species protection such as endangered species during the late '60s and '70s; and biodiversity (especially genetic resources) conservation and use since the '80s. Each period has a symbolic stream such as the establishment of a convention.

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This study aims at finding the places which have secondary grassland disappearance risk by overlaying potential urbanizing area map with secondary grassland potential area map in Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture. Two types of the places which have secondary grassland disappearance risk are found as follows. (1) Edge of downtown area. (2) Edge of hills in suburb area. It is also found that GIS is effective for integrating research results from different majors.

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In this report, we clarify the habitat of freshwater fish during winter and describe the environmental factors of section of an irrigation channel where freshwater fish spend their winter. The investigation was carried out between September 2006 and January 2009 in Fuchu-channel, Kunitachi Tokyo. From the results, we think that the upper sections of the channel, which many fish inhabited, were an important habitat for the fish during the winter. Further we found that the number of fish fewer in the non-irrigation period than in the irrigation period. The density was higher locally than the period. The deep and slow sections (depth >35cm, water velocity <10cm/s) where silts, sands and litters accumulated under the bridge were constantly inhabited during the winter.

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In this study, to examine the factor that characteristics of insect's distribution, we investigated number of incects, geological features, landforms, air temperature, soil and vegetations on the Hirao-dai Karst Plateau. The results are as follows. 1)Difference of geological features may develop a variety Karst Landforms. Relations of air temperature and soil and vegetations reflects Karst Landforms characteristic. 2)The number of insects changed according to the air temperature. 3)The principal cause that influences air temperature is Karst Landforms. Therefore, the number of insects is predictable by landfoms. The average of the various landforms, flat land : slope : valley : bottom of Doline = 1 : 1.25 : 1.41 : 1.41.

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In this paper, the effects of carbon footprint information attached to foods and daily goods were analyzed using conjoint analysis for consumer choice behaviors. The results of analysis indicated that carbon footprint information couldn't be effective in enhancing the consumer choice of low-carbon products when the trade-off relationship was observed between carbon footprint and other product information such as utilization rate of recycled material and safety.

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Lack of environmental information of existing online stores is occurred, since the information is displayed by online retailers' choice. Hence, in order to provide the proper guideline to deliver environmental information to consumers, a study of online consumption action of consumers who purchase environmental products was conducted and the main cause that affects consumption action was analyzed. As a consequence, consumers want the certified mark by a third party represented more specifically when they purchase environmentally conscious products. Hereafter, it will be needed that the detailed environmental information that makes the characteristics of internet optimized and a scheme to enhance its reliability.

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The purpose of this study was to assess alternative aviation fuels under energy and environmental constraints. First candidates were listed and compared whether these could fulfill the requirement of the aviation fuel standard. It turned out that CTL (coal to liquid), GTL (gas to liquid) and BTL (biomass to liquid) had a potential as the alternative fuels. Next alternative fuel options, which contained hypothetical conditions such as location, scale, materials, etc. were set up. Cost, CO₂ emission and other factors in each option were estimated as a basic data for the comparative analysis of AHP (analytic hierarchy process) to examine alternative aviation fuels. It concluded that GTL had the high priority and followed by CTL.

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A real option study on investment profitability of ASR recycling system using pyrolysis gasification process is conducted considering a Brownian price fluctuation model of actual scrap iron, copper, and aluminum market. It is clarified that the maximum allowable value of the initial investment I ^*, which is calculated from the expected present value of accumulated profits V, will determine if the project should start immediately or remain at hold. An example study with 2005 year scrap price as the project initial condition showed thatI ^* is smaller than V by more than 10% so that a large initial investment is hard to be executed. In order to accelerate such investment to the project, it is shown efficient to raise the ASR treatment price by about 20% larger than the present unit price.

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Since CO₂ emissions induced by our living activities account for half of the domestic CO₂ emissions, there are needs for consumers to choose lifestyles with low CO₂ emissions. Although these kinds of activities had already been proposed, most of those have not been put into practice. In this study, the mechanism and determinants for implementing CO₂ reduction activities were analyzed through covariance structure analysis. The results showed that risk perception of global warming strongly influenced upon the goal intention formation process and that evaluation of those activities by consumers, especially their feasibility and cost-benefit, should affect to practice of those activities.

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Quantifying urban material stock and unveiling the input history of construction materials could provide a new basic dataset for urban area assessment. Construction materials of the buildings, roadways and sewer networks are estimated based on statistical data. In this paper, total mass of construction materials are estimated over time with country and prefecture scale. The results indicate that overall Prefectures of stock density is 116 (kg/m²), Mega cities stock density is 358(kg/m²). The proportion was seen by the stock per person and the gross GDP per person.

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Habitat estimation of Asiatic black bear is considered highly significant from the perspective of effective habitat management, because this species is known both as a destructive animal as well as an umbrella species. In this study, we developed a predictive model for the probability of occurrences of Asiatic black bear using environmental indices. Based on this research, the optimal logistic regression model was log(p/(1-p))=(-1.486e+01)+(7.335e-04)*x1+(9.470e-03)*x2. where x1 is the distance to small paths (m), x2 is the altitude (m), and p is a probability of occurrence of Asiatic black bear in this study area. This model is applicable for habitat management. Additional research will examine the application of this model to different local Asiatic black bear populations in other regions.

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Environmental labels are not still widely accepted by consumers as a criteria of purchase activities. In this study, forms of quantitative information on environmental labels were mainly focused and several imaginary labels with different types of quantitative information provision forms were evaluated by Japanese consumers in a questionnaire survey in order to consider desirable forms from the viewpoint of consumers' acceptance. The results of questionnaire survey revealed that consumers preferred visual expressions of quantitative information compared to numerical ones. The results of graphical modeling suggested that consumers' acceptance of environmental labels highly related to the clearness of provided information and the variety of considered environmental issues.

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Based on the results of a survey conducted in 2007 for 452 households (HHs) in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, the electricity demands of 5 main electrical appliances: television, refrigerator, air conditioner (AC), washing machine, and fan have been estimated up to 2030. Employing 3 scenarios for gross domestic product growth rates, for the first time, the trends of electricity demand associated with economic development within the specific boundaries of urban (UB), peri-urban (PU), and rural (RR) areas were demonstrated. In 2007, UB HHs were found to be the main consumers, using 2.2 and 2.9 times more electricity than PU and RR HHs. An increasing trend has been recognized in all study areas; the annual electricity demand growth rates in UB, PU, and RR areas are 1.1-1.5%, 2.6-2.7%, and 1.3-2.1% for the 2007-2030 period. Among the 5 main appliances, cooling devices (fans and AC) consume the most electricity presently, and will continue to do so in future.

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We proposed that individuals with poetic sensibility decreased techno-centered tendency and increased quality of life (QOL). We investigated techno-centered levels and QOL in university students studying information sciences using questionnaire surveys and analyzed the results using the covariance structure analysis. The results appeared to verify our hypothesis. Therefore, we conclude that the aforementioned sensibility can be suggested as a precaution for the techno-centered tendency and as a measure to improve QOL.

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The purpose of this study is to examine whether the re-use cup system at Nissan Stadium has an influence on environmental education for neighborhood children, and, if it does, how much the influence is. The authors carried out a questionnaire to over 900 elementary and junior high school students who live near the stadium. As a result, we discovered that the system has an effect on the tendency of their pro-environmental behavior. According to the result, a student who has used re-use cups 10 times tends to conduct pro-environmental behavior about 6% more frequently than who has never used them.

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Shadow flicker problem on the window power site is growing even in Japan. In this study, the impacted duration and impacted time were calculated on the sun orbit model. The shadow image calculated by our simulation methods were synthesized with DEM data from Google Earth and made shadow view. On this method, the impacted shadow range was easily visualized and was uploaded onto the Google Earth. This method made it possible for the residents surrounding the window power site to share the data of wind power plant design through internet.

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An evaluation of the regional potential of the Japanese rural landscape was conducted considering the actual or potential resource characteristics of plant communities in the Kawada region, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. This study demonstrated that an evaluation method based on phytosociological and ethnobiological approaches, text mining using a database, and a mesh map represents the regional potential of a landscape focusing on resource characteristics of plant communities. The cell size of the mesh map was approximately 100 × 100 m. As a result of this study, the evaluation method was thought to play an important role in showing the regional potential characterized by various resource characteristics of plant communities. Hence, the evaluation method is expected to contribute to the progress of regional environmental planning and the development of specific methods for vegetation management considering the target vegetation and its characteristics.

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In Mt. Fuji, self-disposal toilets installed at mountain huts by subsidy are facing difficulties in securing operation and maintenance funds. We examined whether self-disposal toilets in Mt. Fuji were installed appropriately in consideration of local conditions, the pay for these toilets was fairly priced and collected adequately, through developing the scoring method for selecting the type of self-disposal toilets, estimating optimum usage fee by PSM analysis, and exploring the feasibility of the introduction of entrance fee in Mt. Fuji. The results lead to the conclusion that applying the scoring method for the selection of the type of toilets and the introduction of entrance fee system contribute to solving the problem in Mt. Fuji.

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Road transport noise has been hardly assessed in LCA studies so far despite its nationwide significance. It is not included in the impact categories covered in most of current LCIA systems such as LIME (Itsubo et al., 2005). In this study, we developed the damage function of road transport noise based on the framework proposed by Muller-Wenk (2004) and calculated the damage factors by applying Japanese environmental data and models. Our damage factors are smaller than the Swiss factors by Müller-Wenk mainly because of the different traffic situations and the adopted dose-response relationships.

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The rice straw has traditionally been used for feedstuff, compost, incineration etc. However, ethanol production from rice straw has attracted worldwide attention recently for energy supply and global warming problem. We investigated the rice straw utilization system in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission amount and costs for livestock feed manufacturing process, composting system, ethanol production system and incineration process using life cycle thinking. Moreover, we compared GHG emission reduction potential of each process against incineration. As the result, the GHG emission amount per ton of rice straw was the least in ethanol production system and the cost was lowest in livestock feed manufacturing process. The GHG emission reduction potential of the ethanol production system was the highest.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of place attachment and concerns about community in the prediction of forest volunteer activities based on the social psychological perspective. A structural equation model is applied to estimate these effects to use the questionnaire data about forest volunteer from 1500 residents in six prefectures. The proposed model demonstrates the importance of place attachment, concerns about community and commitment to the community in the prediction of forest volunteer activities and these promote the social norm and perceived behavioral control. The implications of the findings for promoting forest volunteer activities are discussed.

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