This paper examines the optimality of Lösch's central place system and the difference between the objectives of Lösch (1940) and Christaller (1933) in a hierarchical structure. Superposition of hexagonal networks of the Lösch system can be formulated as combinatorial optimization using mathematical programming. Beavon and Mabin (1975) demonstrated that there are two objects of the maximization of coincidence of supply points and the production of city-rich and city-poor sectors in the Lösch system. The multiobjective function of Eq. (1) contains the above two objects, and the model seeks the optimal combination of hexagonal networks from an enormous number of possible central place systems. Compared with the Lösch system and the solution of the model in the case of 150 market areas, it was shown that the Lösch system is not optimal to produce city-rich sectors. This is because of a locally optimal solution of hierarchical structure that was obtained by a heuristic method for superimposing hexagonal networks.

Lösch's original purpose was to maximize the degree to which firms agglomerate, and the production of city-rich sectors was simply a means to an end. In this paper, the objective function of the agglomeration effect is formulated so as to minimize the number of missing goods of lower order than a hierarchical marginal good. The result of application to the case of 55 market areas indicates that the system derived from a model has a higher effect of agglomeration than the Lösch system. On the other hand, the Christaller system according to the marketing principle is regarded as an optimal solution that agglomerates all goods at each supply point because of a successively inclusive hierarchy.

This paper develops a generalized model for the hierarchical structure of the central place system in Eq. (17), which consists of the agglomeration effect and the locational principle of a single good. Based on the generalized model, we can reinterpret the priority objective of the Christaller model as the former in contrast to the Lösch system which is oriented toward individual entrepreneurial behavior as the latter objective. Although both systems are considered as exceptional in a hierarchical structure, the real world is full of central place systems based on a variety of hierarchical structures that are not only successively inclusive and successively exclusive. The generalized model using multiobjective programming in this paper will be able to derive non-inferior solutions consisting of various hierarchical structures of the central place system.

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) intensities are useful to estimate the mineral burial duration since previous resetting (bleaching) by sufficient sunlight exposure, and hence they are applied in OSL dating. OSL dating assumes that minerals are bleached at the time of deposition, although complete bleaching before deposition is not always achieved. Opportunities for minerals to receive sunlight exposure generally increase in proportion to the sediment transport distance, and therefore the trend in the decrease in residual intensities and increase in percentage of bleaching minerals (bleaching percentage, BLP) suggest the sediment transport direction. Although residual OSL intensities are an obstacle to accurate depositional age estimation, they may be useful for estimating sediment transport processes because these suggest variations in the sunlight exposure of individual grains. The present study attempted to determine the coastal sand transport process around the Ohkouzu Diversion Channel (the diversion channel of the Shinano River) mouth using residual OSL intensities and BLP of alkali-feldspar grains.

It was found that a decrease in residual OSL intensities and an increase in BLPs with transport distances occurred around the river mouth as a whole. It is concluded that sandy sediments supplied from the channel are transported at least to Kakuta-hama beach, 17km northeast of the channel mouth. However, it was found that residual OSL intensities and BLPs had no clear changing trend at Nodumi beach on the northern side of the channel mouth. This did not support our assumption, although the transport was probably affected by recent coastal erosion around the channel mouth. Coastal erosion supplies buried unbleached grains, which have high residual OSL intensities, to the current beach. These grains might have disrupted the trend in the changing residual OSL intensities and BLPs with coastal transport along Nodumi beach.

This study showed that the residual OSL intensities and BLPs are useful for estimating recent coastal transport processes of sandy sediments when those processes are difficult to understand using previous techniques.

While numerous efforts have been made to analyze the attitudes of local Japanese residents toward immigrant minorities in densely populated areas, few studies have focused on the resulting effects of the diversity that is prevalent in those areas. This study investigated the views of native residents toward Japanese-Brazilians in the Sasagawa district of the city of Yokkaichi, Mie prefecture, focusing on differences in the types of housing. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey targeting Japanese residents, and the findings are summarized below.

First, the results of logistic regression analysis showed that the type of housing (e.g., owner-occupied, rented by the Urban Renaissance Agency, or rented by the prefecture) does not have an obvious effect on whether an accommodating view is extended toward non-Japanese; however, social relations with Brazilians are strongly associated with such a view. Although no statistically significant variation was found among the types of housing, situations considered problematic with non-Japanese residents differed between those who were owner-occupiers and those in rented housing.

Second, the variations in attitudes can be partly attributed to the concentration of Brazilians in rented housing and their occupational characteristics. For example, the high proportion of night-shift employees among Brazilians causes conflicts with their Japanese neighbors in the context of everyday living. Meanwhile, owner-occupiers tend to focus on the decline in the educational competitiveness of their school district when they refer to problems involving Brazilians.

Third, such variations should be understood from the viewpoint of the transformation of collective consumption (in regard to changes in rented housing space) as well as the fact that the district is located in a suburban area. The above-cited problems in rented housing are not Brazilian specific; rather, they are derived from the concentration of socioeconomically disadvantaged tenants, which usually occurs in public housing. Conversely, owner-occupiers who have resided in the district since its initial development as a desirable suburban neighborhood enjoyed an educational environment that enabled the reproduction of high socioeconomic status before the influx of the non-Japanese population. Therefore, they tend to attribute this change to the presence of Brazilians, although the declining situation is actually a consequence of the general transformation of collective consumption. The emigration of Japanese residents' children also fuels their negative view of the influx of Brazilians due to comparisons of the present with the past.

The above findings indicate that merely managing the cultural differences that cause problems in residents' daily lives, as discussed in previous studies, is inadequate. Rather, the processes of differentiation between the host society and immigrant minorities must be analyzed, with close attention paid to areal characteristics, including collective consumption.

Space and its concepts have been adopted both as objects and methods in geographical studies. A lack of coordination in terms of their definitions, however, resulted in the babelization of space as a concept in geography. This study aimed to distinguish space as a concept from other concepts; the basis of geography is to contribute to a clear vision of space as a concept. To achieve that goal, we adopted a pragmatic method of discrimination, which identifies causes with effects. Pragmatic discrimination is a deductive way to understand substantial meanings of concepts; whatever the concepts are named, they can be regarded as one and the same if their substantial meanings are the same. Based on pragmatic discrimination, the following process was used in this study.

First, the influxes of theories on the concept of space from other disciplines are examined. Theories in geography, especially those of space, originally came from many related disciplines. By comparing geographical theories with those of other disciplines, geographical concepts of space are clearly explained. Three characteristics of space, substance, cognition, and relation, are found. Second, we examined these major concepts and related ones using pragmatism. We deduced what these connote in order to describe the general character of space. As a result, we found that: 1) Space as a concept in geography contains materialistic features. 2) The concept of space has been regarded as obvious. 3) In efforts to define space, geographers relied heavily on the concept of Landschaft.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the origin and development of ecological conservation activities for coastal forests by analyzing activity policies and relationship networks in two cases in the city of Itoshima, Fukuoka prefecture. In one district, a predominantly local citizens' group is conducting ecological conservation activities, such as cleaning beaches. This activity originated from the mayor's policy of offering financial assistance to community activities and was expanded through collaboration with local actors. This group regards the coastal pine forests as a local symbol and a valuable resource for protecting houses and fields against sand and wind and they want to maintain this local value. In another district, a citizens' group is conducting ecological activities, such as studying pine wilt disease and cleaning beaches. The latter activity began after a serious pine wilt. The leader of this group expanded her relationships with the academic, administrative, and professional sectors. This group does not have an especially strong affection for the coastal pine forests or interest in conserving them. Instead, they hope that the beach can be maintained as a space for many children and adults to enjoy without fearing health problems resulting from the use of chemical substances to combat pine wilt disease. They desire a universal value.