The purpose of this study is to investigate the location and trading areas of department stores and supermarkets from the view point that department stores and supermarkets are important factors of region forming. For this purpose, the writer examined previous studies and these matters concerned, on supposition that the location is a locational condition for stores and the trading area is the region where the store is connected with consumers. In this case, it was important to study the following frameworks: namely, the status of the department stores and supermarkets in retail, the appreciation of the locational conditions, the hierarchical structure of trading areas, and the connection between stores and consumers. The following is the summary revealed dy this study. The power of central shopping street shows many-cored features, and the strongest region of central shopping street's power is the region within 1 km from the civic center where peop1e can go on foot. There are two department stores in Hiroshima City, named "Fukuya" and "Tenmaya." The pattern of trading areas of two department stores is fairly similar. The power of department stores is generally weaker when compared with that of central shopping street, but the power of department store is fairly equal to the latter in region within 1.5 km away from the civic center. The power of the feature of department stores decreases slightly according to the distance. There are three supermarkets in the central shopping street, "Izumi", "Daiei" "Yunid". The power of these supermarkets is weaker than that of department stores. The writer classified the. location of stores in 4 types. 1. central shopping street, 2. terminal or sud-civic center, 3. surrounding shopping street or commercial area, 4. residential area or neighborhood center. "Ekimae Izumi", "Hiroshima Station Builbing", "Hiroshima Department Store", and. "Koi Hiroden" may be categoried under the 2nd type. A radius of trade area of stores classified to the third type is about from 7OO meters to 1.500 meters. The small-sized supermarket in which selling area is smaller than 500 square meters applies to the 4th case. A radius of trading area is smaller than 800 meters. The hierarchical structure of trading areas may be divided into threefold structures. The first is trading areas of department stores and supermarkets in the central shopping street. The second is trading areas of supermarkets in the terminal or sub-civic center. The third is trading areas of supermarkets in other regions. It may be concluded that the hierarchical structure of store trading areas is caused by the difference of store-functions, that is store's drawing power to consumers. The store's drawing power of stores depends upon the image of stores to consumers.

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The purpose of this paper is to understand the processes of the development and the location of the collective housing lots in the Hiroshima metropolitan area. The results of investigation may be summerized as follows: 1) The earliest collective housing lots in this area were big companys' and official housing quarters built in Showa 10's. Postwar development includes that from the public emergency housing lands in rehabilitated cities to the housing lots on the piedmont gentle slopes, and the high building lands due to the redevelopment in the built up area. The development process may be divided into three periods as follows: (1)1945-1955, (2)1956-1961, (3)1962-. 2) The condition of landform in this area controls the housing locaion. The gentle slopes which are composed of weathered granites expand at the foot of the mountain. It is characteristic here that the collective housing lots are constructed on the piedmont gentle slopes and hills. In this case, most of them stand on the slopes between about 4.5° and 17.5° It is seen that some of them have already sprawled beyond the limit of housing lot. In general, the collective housing lots of small size are dominant in this area due to the condition of landform. 3) It is mostly cultivated lands and forests that housing lots occupied for their places. The ratio of cultivated land is much lower than that of forest. This fact may be accounted for by the followings; (1) the difference in value between cultivated land and forest, (2) the more troublesome procedure to buy cultivated land than forest. 4) According to landform and the previous land use, the collective housing lots except in built-up area may be classified into the following five types; (1) diversion of cultivated land in a flat land, (2) diversion of cultivated land on a piedmont gentle slope, (3) diversion of forest on a piedmont gentle slope, (4) diversion of forest on a hill, (5) reclamation of the land from sea and river. 5) Viewed from the distance from the city center of Hiroshima, the distributions of them are within 35 km to the east, within 25 km to the west and south, and within 20 km to the north. Distribution mode Is seen the zone from 5 -10 km. Viewed from time required for journey to work from the city of Hiroshima, maximum is 90 minutes and most of commuters are found within 50 minutes by train and/or bus. 6) The collective housing lots were developed in the places along the railways, but now the focuses of this development are on the rather remote areas from railways.

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In Japan studies of geomorphologic land classification have been made by the basic study of after the land development topography before the World War II and by the applied geomorphology for war.

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