This study is a micro-level analysis of the daily-life activities of the Brazilian population residing in Japan based on the “activity diaries” of 84 Brazilians. A significant difference was evident in the amount of time male and female Brazilians residing in Japan spent on daily-life activities. Limited time was spent with compatriots and friends, or within social networks related to fellow countrymen, such as ethnic businesses or religious networks. It was clarified that their lives are relatively unsocial within the personal network of family within the host society. Most consumption activities of Brazilians residing in Japan occur at large commercial facilities, rather than through participation in leisure activities within the home. Through the process of this type of “active assimilation,” Brazilians residing in Japan, who have traditionally been invisible residents, have increased opportunities for contact with residents of the host society from the aspect of daily activity reproduction. However, these opportunities for contact also create the potential for friction and prejudice, as this type of contact lacks the “possibility for thorough mutual understanding.”

Rugged peaks occur in the southern Kanto Mountains, 60–90 km west of central Tokyo. The geology of this region mainly comprises NE-inclined sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Shimanto Belt. This region is considered to be prone to long-term gravitational rock deformation and resultant catastrophic landslides. However, few researchers have focused on these geomorphic and geologic features. To provide new insights into the geomorphology and erosion-control engineering in this area, we investigated the geomorphology, geology, and age of a large-scale landslide (volume: 2.2×10⁶ m³) that occurred in the area northwest of Mt. Mitou, the central part of the southern Kanto Mountains, and discuss the results. Geological investigation, aerial photo interpretation, ¹⁴C dating, and interview of a local resident were conducted. This landslide occurred immediately below the subsidiary ridge of Mt. Mitou and formed a clear main scarp. The landslide debris ran downslope for about 1.5 km and filled the Tama River valley originating from the northwest face of Mt. Mitou. The main landslide body consists of a thick gravel layer of angular rock clast with jigsaw cracks and appeared to have formed a dammed lake. This landslide probably occurred before or during cal AD 1292–1399 (the Kamakura to Muromachi era in Japanese history), and thereafter secondary landslides took place during cal AD 1469–1794 (the Muromachi to late Edo era). Oral traditions preserved by local residents at the northwestern foot of Mt. Mitou describe the obstruction of the Tama River by the primary landslide and the debris flow runout from the secondary landslide.

In the 1870s, the Japanese government started a nationwide land survey under the guidance of engineers from the United Kingdom. For the leveling survey, engraved cut-marks (kigou in Japanese) were placed on the vertical surfaces of benchmarks. These benchmarks for measuring the height above sea level were used for topological maps as well as for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure such as roads or waterworks. The early large-scale leveling survey was carried out around 1876 in the Tokyo metropolitan area and along the leveling line of 387km between Tokyo and Shiogama to determine the elevation of the baseline in Nasu, which was used for the first wide-area triangulation survey in Japan. The nationwide land survey project was conducted mainly by the Japanese Ministry of Interior for only about 10 years in the 1870s, after which the Land Survey Division of the Imperial Army took over. Afterward, the cut-marks for leveling were no longer used and replaced with another type that had a projection on the upper surface of marker stones. However, cut-marks can still be seen at about 154 points among the 340 originally placed in Tokyo, Tohoku, and other sites. Although some benchmarks with small cut-marks were placed up until 1930s on large riverbanks or in local districts, those cut-marks were only symbolic signs of the survey and not used as actual markers for measurement.

In the UK, the author visited about 50 sites of benchmarks with cut-marks, confirmed that they were the origin of early Japanese benchmarks, and found that cut-marks had more varied forms there than in Japan, including cut-marks with bolts, cancellation signs, engraved on the horizontal surface of structures without horizontal bars, and flush bracket types. These types of benchmark were still in use until recently.

In an overview of these benchmarks through the study of historical documentation and original benchmarks in the field in both Japan and the UK, this paper describes the technical transfer of leveling from the UK to Japan. The author hopes that these benchmarks will be conserved as historical monuments, although they have been disappearing in urban reconstruction projects in recent years.