This study focuses on spatial scalar strategies to clarify the process and significance of networks that three citizens’ or residents’ groups formed with local residents’ groups for the conservation of coastal pine forests. Although the groups’ leading network formations have established cooperative, complementary relationships with the government, they have also expressed dissatisfaction with government efforts. The groups have demonstrated the unique ways in which they influence policies through strategies such as broadening the area and content of their activities and, conversely, concentrating their activities on specific coastal forests. This study highlights how scalar strategies are developed by further layering scales even within localities and shows the importance of focusing on rescaling at the micro level in studies on environmental movements and environmental governance.

Walter Christaller embarked on a scientific excursion to four North European countries (Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark) from July 25 to September 10, 1934, using an overseas research dispatch grant provided by the Albrecht Penck Foundation (Albrecht-Penck-Stiftung). The manuscript of the excursion report submitted to the foundation after his return is now deposited at the Leibniz Institute of Regional Geography (Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde) in Germany. In the wake of that scientific excursion, Christaller, who was originally a socialist, began a new academic life at the University of Berlin under scholars whose principles were different from his, and he eventually became involved in the national land-planning project of Nazi Germany. Therefore 1934 was a major watershed in Christaller’s academic life. The excursion report provides useful information to understand the subsequent development of Christaller’s work. This paper seeks to clarify what Christaller learned from the Nordic scientific excursion and its relevance to his subsequent studies by examining the manuscript of that report, with a primary focus on cities and settlements.

Christaller visited 49 North European cities and settlements (or their vicinities), as shown in Figure 1. Due to the nature of the survey, the main focus was landscape observation. Christaller reported that in North European cities, there were many wooden buildings that utilized the abundant forest resources, and the streets were dominantly (long) grid-like cityscapes. In terms of onsite confirmation, Christaller observed the expansion of suburban residential areas around large Nordic cities, which had also become predominant in Germany.

The difference between this report and “Central Places in Southern Germany” (1933) is that Christaller extended the research scope not only to urban but also to rural settlements. His perception that dispersed settlements mainly consisting of isolated farmsteads were predominant in the rural areas of North Europe differed from Otto Schlüter’s well-known morphogenetic study of settlements. According to Schlüter (1911), at least the southern part of the Nordic countries was classified as part of the Gewanndorf, or clustered settlement region.

The important point is that by extending his research interest to the theme of rural settlements through the visit to the Nordic countries, Christaller was able to develop a unique morphological classification of rural settlements in the first half of his study (1937), which presupposed the discussion on the reorganization of German rural municipalities in the second half of the study. Furthermore, in relation to the origins of rural municipalities, Christaller (1937) noted that rural settlements in the Nordic countries were socially and spatially structured around churches and that parishes had once served as municipal entities.

The report did not mention any relationship with central place theory. Nevertheless, a series of fragmentary descriptions in the report suggest that Christaller was aware of the existence of an urban network that connected Germany, Denmark, southern Sweden, and southern Finland. Among those descriptions, Christaller’s world geography text published in 1961 followed the perspective that focused on the regular distribution of small cities when discussing Danish cities from a bird’s-eye view and on the functional differentiation of cities in Sweden.

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This paper focuses on the lifestyle called “dual habitation,” which refers to living in both urban and rural areas and has been attracting media attention in recent years. We started by investigating the circumstances of those who opted for this lifestyle and the reaction of others in rural areas, followed by a discussion of the relationship to the rural vitalization strategy in Japan’s current depopulating society. A field survey, mainly interviews conducted in the city of Minamiboso and the surrounding area in Chiba prefecture, revealed that dual habitation is the second-best solution for people who are seeking “rural life” but still have difficulties in migrating. Good traffic conditions from metropolitan areas, the surrounding natural environment, and the presence of leaders with good promotion skills are reasons why dual habitation is popular in the area. To a certain extent, dual habitation vitalizes rural areas. For example, there is a synergistic effect with the local government’s migration support program and local nonprofit organization activity dealing with local issues. However, only a few local inhabitants know about this lifestyle and the community of dual habitants remains isolated. Therefore, to promote dual habitation as a regional revitalization strategy, local governments should utilize the activities of nongovernmental leaders and bridge gaps between urban and rural inhabitants.

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the functional connection between high-school athletic clubs and the local community in depopulated areas of Japan and to clarify the position of those clubs in repopulated areas. The research target was the Kendo Club of Takachiho High School located in a mountainous area of Miyazaki prefecture. The club has achieved excellent competition results since the 1950s with the support of parents, alumni, and administrative and economic organizations in the town of Takachiho and the Miyazaki Prefectural Board of Education. The activities of the Kendo Club are a source of pride for Takachiho residents. Many townspeople believe that the club represents Takachiho High School and consider Takachiho to be a “kendo town.” The club has become an important management resource of Takachiho High School and has been regarded as a means of revitalizing Takachiho in recent years. Athletic clubs in depopulated areas can be an effective means of developing attractive schools and revitalizing communities. However, it is necessary to ensure practices of education that meet the expectations of parents for academic achievement as well as various club activities.

This study discusses places recommended for “changes of air” during the early Meiji era in Japan from the perspective of health and place, and focuses on the efforts of the Japanese Army, which adopted change of air as a treatment method for beriberi, which was then a relatively unknown disease. It examines the selection of the preferred places by the Army for a change of air through an examination of the medical discourse on beriberi. In the mid-1870s, hot spring bathing therapy was a distinctive feature of change of air for beriberi treatment. However, from the late 1870s onward, coastal, plains, and especially mountainous areas were also alternatively used as therapy sites, regardless of the presence or absence of hot springs. The major reasons for this change were the dominance of the Western medical viewpoint, such as the miasma theory, which considered polluted air and airborne bacteria to be the cause of beriberi, and accepted the theory that pure air was essential for its treatment, along with climate therapy, which assumed that the air quality at a specific site had a therapeutic effect. In particular, sanitoria for tuberculosis patients in mountainous and coastal areas were established at about the same time, even before those in highland areas. This indicates that changes in etiology can also change the meaning of health with relation to place.