It has been pointed out that power supply systems that mainly rely on variable renewable energy such as solar and wind power among renewable energies are vulnerable in terms of power supply and demand control. In Japan, nuclear power is positioned as a baseload power source that is indispensable for the stable supply of electric power. However, nuclear power is unsuitable for supply and demand control because it is a power source that is not good at output adjustment. Rather, biogas power generation, whose output can be flexibly adjusted, especially methane gas power generation by livestock waste, is suitable as a base load power source. Based on the number of cattle being fed and milled in the country, we could estimate that the potential output of methane gas power generation accounts for 1.8% (or at least 0.9%) of hydropower generation. By expanding methane gas power generation that utilizes many waste resources discharged in agriculture, dairy farming, and livestock industries in rural areas, it will be possible to revitalize economic activities in the current rural communities facing the aging, declining population, and labor shortage.

This study proposes a model that analyzes the production quality index using the Frisch index instead of H. Theil’s method. Using this model, an econometrics analysis of the steel industries was conducted in Urayasu, Nagoya, and Matsuyama, each with unique characteristics. The production quality index of co-author Mizuno was previously defined with numerous restrictions. This study generalizes this index to broaden analysis techniques and assess its validity. By evaluating the quality index, this study explored whether there are a greater number of essential input goods or superior input goods. This was then supplemented with interviews to provide insight into the regional steel industry’s production structure. The following observations were made regarding the target region. The majority of the fluctuation in total expenses was due to capital. Urayasu City derived most of its production quality from necessity input goods, whereas cities Nagoya and Matsuyama had a slightly greater proportion of superior input goods than necessity input goods. However, what constitutes a superior input good varied from region to region. In Urayasu city, where regional equipment sharing exists, there were more essential inputs. A comparison of economies of scale and the quality index could determine the regional stability of a given industry. This study supports Shimane’s assertion that the “sharing of business capital” in the steel industry of Urayasu city is achieved by reaching economies of scale through cooperation, as evidenced by both quantitative and interview findings. In other words, intra-regional sharing enables companies to avoid unnecessary capital expenditures and purchases of input goods of superior quality, while increasing production efficiency (synergies) to achieve economies of scale. Compared to Urayasu and Nagoya cities, where large local “steel” industries are formed, Matsuyama city’s steel industry lacks economies of scale and a modest regional advantage. This was reflected in the numerical results and demonstrates that “cooperation” can alleviate the burden of high capital expenditures and increase production efficiency in the Japanese steel industry. This research demonstrates the model’s effectiveness, which is not only limited to the analysis of the three aforementioned cities but is also expected to apply to the analysis of various regional industries and broaden our understanding of econometrics.

In numerous regional areas in Japan, tourism policies have played an important role for the regional development, which includes the advance of their local economy. The main target of this paper is to analyze how regional tourism policies are implemented in the regions investigated. The target areas of study are constituted of four municipalities in the Oku-Noto area in Ishikawa Prefecture. Ishikawa Prefecture is located by the Japan Sea, and the Oku-Noto area lies in the northern region of Ishikawa. This area does not have a train system (with just one train station at the southern border of the region), but has an airport (Noto Airport) and a freeway (Noto Satoyama Kaido). There are two direct flights between Noto and Haneda, Tokyo, which take about fifty to sixty-five minutes. The freeway connects Kanazawa City, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, to the gate city to the Oku-Noto area in about two to two and half hours. From the multiple regression analysis, the train system, which stops only at the entrance of this area, is yet shown to play a valuable role in visiting this area. Especially after the launch of the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kanazawa in 2015, the number of the visitors to the Oku-Noto area increased, and in 2019 the total number of the visitors rose to around three and half million, as compared to three million in 2014, showing no negative effects of COVID-19. For the increasing visitors to this area is largely attributable to the tourism policies of these Oku-Noto municipalities, the analysis of their budgets for accepting tourists is also conducted. The result indicates, especially from the perspective of the relations between the number of the visitors and the volume of the budgets, two of the aforementioned municipalities have utilized their budgets with relative efficiency, in comparison with the other two municipalities. Moreover since the launch of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015, the efficiency between the two figures above have been relatively better, especially in two of the municipalities. Since 2020 though, the time of rampancy of COVID-19, the negative effects to the regional tourism have been quite severe in all the municipalities analyzed in this paper.