This research was conducted to study the formation and transformation processes of a Japanese enclave in the Gubei area of Shanghai from two viewpoints. The first viewpoint was the development of Japanese residential areas and Japanese facilities in the Gubei area during 1993–2013. Second, the Japanese expatriates’ settlement patterns were analyzed based upon on their attributes. The number of Japanese expatriates in Shanghai has increased due to higher Japanese investment in Shanghai since the 1990s. A total of 5,141 Japanese were living in Shanghai in 1996, and the figure rose to 10,109 in 2001 and 57,458 in 2012. After Greater Los Angeles, Shanghai has had the second-highest number of Japanese expatriates since 2011.

The formation of the Japanese enclave in the Gubei area was greatly affected by China’s immigration policy, under which foreigners did not have the right to choose their residences but had to live in designated foreign residences in the Gubei area until 2002. Since 2003, the Gubei area has been the main residential area for Japanese expatriates for several reasons.

This paper first considers the development of Japanese residential areas and Japanese facilities in two periods, the initial period (1993–2002) and developing period (2003–2013). Analysis showed that there were 21 Japanese residential areas with multiple-dwelling units in 2002, which increased to 36 in 2012, whereas in 2002 there were three Japanese residential areas with single-detached dwellings, which remained the same even in 2012. In addition, there were more than 80 Japanese facilities in 2002 which increased to more than 300 in 2012.

Furthermore, the Japanese expatriates in Shanghai have become more diverse due to alterations in the market strategies of Japanese companies to cope with economic globalization, and China has followed the same strategy. To analyze the relevance between their attributes and settlement patterns, Japanese expatriates were classified into three categories: representatives (government/private company representatives and their families); entrepreneurs; and the self-employed. The results showed that Japanese expatriates presented diverse settlement patterns with varied attributes. For example, the majority of the representatives lived in multiple-dwelling units built after 2002 and in single-detached dwellings, while the entrepreneurs and self-employed lived in multiple-dwelling units built before 2002.

In conclusion, the Gubei area became a Japanese enclave instead of general foreign residences and has continued to develop since its formation. External and internal factors affected the formation and transformation processes of the Japanese enclave in the Gubei area. The external factor was the immigration policy of China, whereas the internal factors included the availability of Japanese facilities such as the Japanese school and Japanese supermarkets, which influenced the residential choices of Japanese expatriates in the Gubei area.

Based on the seasonal changes in the feeding behavior of brown bears, the aim of this study was to clarify the human factors in the appearance of brown bears in villages by analyzing the environment of the villages where brown bears frequently appear and the human activities that form the environment. The town of Biratori in Hokkaido was selected as the study area because in recent years the deer habitat has been expanding in the area. In this paper, the appearance of brown bears is considered to be a type of damage that causes several problems due to their direct contact with humans. For example, brown bears damage crops and leave indirect indicators of their presence such as footprints and scratches on trees.

The research method consisted of three steps. First, data on the appearance of brown bears which were reported to the Biratori municipal office, agricultural activities, and deer hunting by interviewing hunters were collected. Second, the seasonal pattern of brown bear appearances and their relationships to land use patterns were analyzed. Third, the seasonality of human activities, such as agricultural activities and deer hunting, were analyzed.

Through data collection and analysis, it was discovered that the carcasses of hunted deer are mainly buried by hunters at the edges of farmland or in forests near farmland. Abandoned farmland and shrubs make it difficult to exterminate the deer. Sometimes killed deer cannot be reached by hunters because they are covered by dense shrub. In addition, farmland used to grow dent corn (Zea mays var. indentata, also known as field corn) are subject to more serious damage by brown bears than farmland used to grow other crops, because it is distant from residential areas and mostly near forested areas. The farms that grow dent corn in Biratori specialize in dairying and livestock breeding and are located away from residential areas because of livestock odors and the vast area of land they require.

As a consequence, the main human factors in the appearance of brown bears in villages are as follows: 1) Brown bears obtain carcasses of hunted deer as food at the edges of farmland, in forests near farmland, and in dense shrub areas from spring to early summer. 2) Brown bears can easily eat dent corn in fields located away from residential areas and near forests from late summer until the harvest season in autumn.

This study addresses the features of cultural squatting and its conflicts in urban transformation, examining the case of the Kunsthaus (Arthouse) Tacheles in East Berlin through analyses of interviews with the artists and officers of the governing foundation who were the actors in squatting. The conclusions of this study are summarized below.

First, it should be clarified that the squatting movement initiated the process of gentrification as the pioneer phenomenon in Spandauer Vorstadt (II). Squatting movements have occurred twice since the division of Berlin into east and west. The second squatting movement was intended to create free space (Freiraum) and it has developed a new cultural scene based on the counterculture, mainly seeking out dilapidated apartment buildings in former East German districts.

Considering the frequent changes in ownership of the Kunsthaus Tacheles, the artists’ collective and officers of the foundation retained the right to stay throughout its history, during which they protected the building from demolition in April 1990. Therefore, the property situation of the Tacheles is not regarded as illegal, but the collective faced the situation of having an unrenewed contract. The Kunsthaus Tacheles Foundation officers discussed speculation by investors and banks; in opposition to such capitalist investments, they advocated for the continuation of the Tacheles as a free space. For the same reason, the Tacheles changed its status to nonprofit organization.

However, it was also clarified that the Kunsthaus Tacheles faced a crisis of authenticity as an arthouse, and there was criticism regarding the touristification of the Tacheles (IV). In providing a free space for artists and maintaining the Kunsthaus Tacheles as a tourist site, the foundation officers did not evaluate artists solely based on their careers. This conflict in the form of cultural squatting is also related to urban transformation. The loss of free space caused by urban transformation in the former East Berlin districts is negatively viewed as gentrification. The situation of the Kunsthaus Tacheles attracted the attention of citizens, media, and tourists and turned it into a symbol of free space.

This paper is a case study of a sales subsidiary that handles intermediate goods for Company A, a large Japanese electronics and electric parts manufacturer in Shanghai, PR China. In the study, we researched how vertically disintegrated business transactions affected customer makeup, localization of human resources, and the relationship between the Japanese head office and local subsidiaries.

Recently, Japanese electronics and electric parts manufacturers have often undertaken the sale of intermediate goods. They have combined sales to both foreign manufacturers, such as Chinese makers, and to Japanese manufacturers, including companies within their own business groups. In this paper, we looked at three sales departments that handled intermediate goods for Company A. We focused on how to develop a market strategy and concomitant human resource strategy to respond to vertical disintegration, which has been expanding recently, as well as to conventional vertical integration. We concluded that among the three sales departments, the first sales department had a high percentage of sales to Chinese corporations and was promoting the most Chinese staff to management positions. We also found that by accepting proposals from local subsidiaries it was developing and selling products that met the needs of the Chinese market.

On the other hand, the second and third sales departments had a low percentage of sales to Chinese corporations, were promoting few Chinese staff to management positions, and were developing almost no specialized products for the Chinese market. In the third sales department in particular, sales to group companies and other Japanese corporations accounted for almost all of total sales, and this department had made no progress in promoting local staff to management positions. The reason is that this department sells vertically integrated products, which are customized parts jointly developed with the customers from the design and development stage to meet the customers’ needs. Therefore a high level of technological capability is required from the customer as well. For this reason, the Japanese head office makes the selections and decisions regarding customers, sales prices, and quantities, and local subsidiaries simply do backup work. On the other hand, the second sales department sells low-priced products and must increase sales to Chinese companies. In the future, both the second and the third sales departments will have to move more aggressively to localize their human resources.

At the same time, Chinese managers in interviews pointed out that it was necessary to increase the speed and efficiency of head office decision making and build up support systems for local subsidiaries, instead of the headquarters having authority over transactions.