This paper aims to clarify the changes of town centre first policy and land use restriction in UK since 2010 and recommends the policy of the urban function induction districts in the Location Normalization Plan in Japan. UK government and many researchers pointed that many town centres have been obsolescent and that they need to adapt to external and internal destabilizing shocks. Therefore, UK government deregulated land use planning to quickly and easily evolving town centres. In Japan, it also is necessary to establish the way that urban function induction districts can adapt to the changing demands of people and differentiate themselves from the internet shopping. And it is necessary to simplify the complicated planning system of Japan.

This study has aimed to preserve the damage caused by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake in digital space and investigate the relationship between co-seismic uplift and tsunami inundation. In order to analyze this relationship, we have conducted field surveys incorporating LiDAR-SLAM and CLAS, and utilized pre-seismic digital elevation models, aerial photographs, and fundamental geospatial data. LiDAR-SLAM survey data are an important record of disaster damage, and the disaster area can therefore be preserved in digital space. Co-seismic uplift was measured using two methods: surveys based on LiDAR-SLAM and CLAS. All of the methods showed a trend of increased co-seismic uplift in the northwestern part of the peninsula. Among the ports where the tsunami traces were confirmed during the field survey, it was found that the houses around the port of Noroshi in the northeastern part of the peninsula were spared from inundation due to co-seismic uplift. However, around the port of Otani, the elevation of the houses was high, thus suggesting that the mitigation of tsunami inundation by co-seismic uplift was minimal. The area around the port of Jike experienced significant tsunami inundation damage due to both high tsunami waves and low elevation of houses, regardless of co-seismic uplift.

This study elucidates the state of a community-based integrated care system established through intermunicipal collaboration, particularly among small municipalities in rural areas. It examines the vertical and horizontal linkages connecting entities within this system, built through multilevel governance. The analysis reveals that in the Chichibu area, vertical and horizontal linkages among entities being formed at the municipal and above the intermunicipal level of collaboration, respectively. The system was also constructed through the construction and vertical linkage of networks on both levels. Multi-level governance points to a lack of coordination between these levels. However, in the case of the Chichibu area, the aforementioned point is not applicable as long as the meta-governance authority of various institutions in the medical and welfare sectors of Chichibu City is within its designated scope of authority. This establishment of cooperation between the two levels differs from the case of the Uwajima area in Ehime Prefecture. Therefore, this raises a future issue regarding the appropriate level at which the meta-governor should be positioned in multilevel governance.

This study comprehensively evaluated the urban waterside environment of the Genbe River in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture, by surveying and analyzing the following three aspects: water, heat, and sound. It was found that the waterside space of the Genbe River exhibits good water, thermal, and sound environments, especially in summer when it is used as a water recreational space. Furthermore, the water environment influences both thermal and sound environments. The spring water at the foot of Mt. Fuji forms a high-quality water environment, thus contributing to good thermal environment, and various efforts by human society have created a cool, quiet, and comfortable water recreational space along the Genbe River. In other words, it can be said that the current good waterside environment of the Genbe River is the result of collaboration between nature and human activities.

This report examines the contents of an online seminar in 2022 organized by the Association of Japanese Geographers and other bodies, aimed at supporting geography as a compulsory high school subject nationwide. The needs identified in the program, an overview of the seminar, and the results of questionnaire surveys are introduced. The main findings are as follows. 1) Not only high school teachers, but also undergraduate students, academics, and staff of administrative organs require geography-related information. 2) These needs were captured throughout Japan by conducting the seminar online. 3) History teachers expressed a high demand for class implementation and explanations of teaching materials. 4) There was notable interest in Geographic Information System (GIS) and methods of assessing students. 5) The participants expressed keen interest in the release of the seminar materials and recordings.

The executive Committee of the Japan Committee for the International Geography Olympiad conducts training fieldwork to help Japanese representatives excel in iGeo (International Geography Olympiad). The four Japanese representatives are selected through a selection process from the first to the third round, and they come from all over Japan. In recent years, university faculty working in the vicinity of each representative’s residence, with the support of high school teachers as needed, have conducted training fieldwork in May or June. However, if the records of the progress of these efforts are left unattended, it will be difficult to improve efforts based on experience as memories. For these reasons, this article outlines the enhanced training fieldwork conducted on June 8, 2024 in the central area of Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, by the Japanese represetative selected from the Kansai region. Regarding this project, we have noted the problems and prospects derived.

This study focused on residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area to clarify their perceptions of and demand for national parks by examining their awareness, perceptions of the national park system, visitation rates, and willingness to visit. A web-based questionnaire revealed that while national parks are perceived as rich in nature and attractive as natural tourist destinations, the overall level of understanding is still limited. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of each national park’s awareness, visitation rates, and willingness to visit, the parks were classified into four groups. The results showed significant differences among these groups; parks in the lower groups were relatively unknown, particularly among younger generations. These findings suggest that demand for many national parks remains low and that there is potential for improvement in how these parks can better engage with younger generations.

This research examines the spatial distribution characteristics of national nature reserves in China, which play a central role in the country’s natural environment conservation system, focusing on geographical and socioeconomic factors. By analyzing the distribution characteristics of national nature reserves by type, region, and altitude-topography, this research reveals the following findings: Firstly, while the number of reserves is relatively evenly distributed across regions, the total area is concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions. Secondly, the number and area of reserves vary depending on altitude and topography, with a tendency for reserves to be concentrated near topographic boundaries with large elevation differences. Lastly, the designation and tourism development of national nature reserves are closely related to the regional economic level as delineated by the Hu Line. This suggests that reserve designation and tourism development are more active in the economically developed southeast region. These results suggest that the distribution of national nature reserves in China is determined not only by natural factors but also by socioeconomic factors.

This study focuses on the Tokyo special ward tax and the fiscal adjustment system. It aims to examine the relationship between the central area and the suburbs on fiscal management in special wards. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows: 1) As the relationship between the central area and suburbs in the special wards strengthens, the opposition between the “central wards that bear the cost” and the “peripheral wards that receive redistribution” is more pronounced. 2) Peripheral wards, which have a strong suburban character, have regional characteristics similar to those of suburban municipalities, and they can carry out flexible fiscal management thanks to financial equalization grants (funded by the abundant tax revenue of the central wards). 3) Owing to the peculiarities of the Tokyo metropolitan government’s fiscal adjustment system, suburban municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area is in the most disadvantageous position compared to other metropolitan areas. Based on the above findings, it is suggested that the Tokyo metropolitan government’s fiscal adjustment system, which is designed to balance the uneven distribution of tax revenue caused by the structure of the special wards’ central area and the suburbans relationship, has led to significant differences in fiscal management between peripheral wards that receive financial transfers and suburban municipalities that do not.

This study focuses on the contribution of geography to landscape policy in Italy, with a particular emphasis on the perspectives and expertise provided by geographers in the formulation of landscape planning in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The core of the investigation consists in interviews with the expert team from the University of Udine entrusted with the task of devising the plan, along with an analysis of planning documents and related academic outputs. The results of the research reveal that the achievements of the team, primarily composed of geographers, significantly transcended Italy’s institutional culture, which traditionally prioritises the preservation of cultural heritage. Instead, the team encompassed the region’s entire territory and developed a forward-thinking plan anchoring it on the European Landscape Convention. Furthermore, a citizen participation process involving municipal authorities contributed substantially to enrich the regional plan with local experiential knowledge. It also deserves noting that the strength of geography as a comprehensive human-social science was demonstrated by its leading role in integrating diverse specialised knowledge relevant to landscape research.

This study clarified how PR cooperative stores provide meals to consumers under unstable food supply conditions by examining the methods used to purchase horse mackerel at restaurants cooperating in “the home land of aji fry” in Matsuura City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The questionnaire survey revealed that the PR cooperative stores include not only restaurants that are particular about cooking fresh and live fish, but also restaurants that purchase frozen products and sell them heated in hot snacks. In addition, many of the stores that purchased fresh and live fish had multiple suppliers. Behind this ability of PR cooperative stores to choose the method of purchasing horse mackerel suitable for their own operations were the provisions of the “aji fry charter,” which was established as a rule to be observed. In other words, the aji fry charter does not limit cooking and purchasing methods, allowing each store to choose non-frozen or one-frozen, or to broadly interpret where the fish is landed and where it is caught. As a result, PR cooperative stores can stock a variety of forms of horse mackerel to suit their own cooking methods. The stable provision of meals to consumers is essential for the sustainable operation of food tourism. This study points out the importance of food tourism research focusing on the purchase and procurement of foodstuffs by each entity.

The purpose of this paper is to propose that the area and size of a region should also be considered when analyzing, reviewing, and forecasting regional medical services in Japan. In this paper, the population coverage is calculated by dividing the population by the buffer distance from medical facilities by the number of people in the area. The number of medical institutions per unit area is generally lower in areas with relatively low population coverage. The population coverage correlates more strongly with the number of medical facilities per unit area than with the number of medical facilities per unit of population. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the data per unit area. It is significant to pay attention to population density alone, because there is a strong correlation between the number of medical institutions per area and population density.