The Pleistocene (including the so-called Holocene) in Japan was chara-cterized by a retreat. of the sea at which time the land surface was altered by erosion and deposition. In the western part of the “Fossa Magna” in Central Japan, several summit levels of various heights, ranging from 600111 to 2000m, are recognizable.
In this paper the writer, attempts to describe one of the summit levels, called the “Ondne erosion surface, ” which is as extensive as 1000km² and has elevations of about 800-1000m. Tertiary sedimentary rock, usually more liable to disintegration and crumbling than solidified rock, has been eroded so rapidly that the reduction of relief of the land has always been conspi-cuous. Accordingly, the Omine plains of erosion are comparable to “primary peneplanes” in regard to the process of their formation. Peaks projecting above the “Omine erosion surface” all consist of resistant rocks, some of whis'li form cuesta or mesa-like topography. Mt. Utukusigahara (2034m) and Hijiri (1447m), long thought to be volcanoes which erupted during the Pleistocene, are far from being this; they are monadnocks with vertical cliffs 300m or more above “Omine erosion surface.”
In this area the origin of variations in height is attributed to selective erosion rather than to differential upheaval of the land. The geological meaning of this erosion surface suggests a solution to problems on the graciad age of the neighbouring Japanese Alps and the Pleistocene crustal movement. A more detailed report will be published in the near future.

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1) Because social phenomena are the synthetic expressions of man and his environment, they may be said to be expressions of regional characteristics. In. classifying regions, we should try to find out what sort of social pheno-mena are essential to the given area.
2) In dividing Mie Prefecture into agricultural regions, I attempted to find. the essential features of correlations existing among different agricultural phenomena. I believe these to be the percentage of arable land to the total aria, that of dry fields to the arable land., and that of paddy fields to the arable land. These features indicate most directry the relationships between agriculture and environment. It can be, seen in. each administrative unit that the percentage of dry fields and that of paddy fields are correlated respectively with the area of dry fields and that of paddy fields cultivated by the average farm household in each administrative unit.
3) Population density, an indicator showing man's degree of adaptation to his given environment, is closely related to the percentage of arable land to the total. area; however where population density is over 700 persons per km², correlation appears to become lost. Therefore I have regarded areas, in w -hich density of population is less than 700 per Km² as agriculturall regions.
4) The total. area, both dry and paddy field, cultivated by a single farmst household is closely related to the percentage of pure farmers, merchandised rice, tax-income as well as with that of farm households cultivating more than 10 tan, less than 3 tar, and the amount of rice crop per tam.
Therefore, the area cultivated. by an. average farm household, taking the distinction between dry and paddy fields into consideration, is the most essential criterion in dividing an area into agricultural regions. (Cf. Fig. 2)
5) The “urban” area is characterised by a population density of over 700 and by the cultivation of vegetables and fruits.
6) Fishing regions are found along the coast of Kumano Nada and arty restricted to those administrative units in which the average f arm household cultivates less than 4 tan.
Thus from the agricultural point of view, Mie Prefecture is divided as Fig. 5 shows; what each region includes is shown in Plate 1.

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The distribution of bare lands in Middle Shinano shows very distinct features. They are found on the south slopes of hills surrounding, the basin, but rarely on their north slopes. Eanh slope is covered by vegetation different from that of the others; that is, south slopes are either covered by scattered Pinus thunbergii or occupied by almost bare land, while north slopes are covered by Pines, Quercus glanizzlifera, or other shrubs. (North slope soils are fertile, being uneroded despite their generally steeper inclination as compared to soy th slopes.)
This landscape has been caused by low precipitation and a high percentage of sunshine during the winter season. Sinee it does not snow mnuci h and freezing is severe, weathering by frost is remarkable at adret in this area and fine Sands run off when it rains in the spring. Howvever, this is not a normal erosion but an aecelelated soil-erosion; the vegetation is of :secondary mature and seems to have been destroyed by human activities such a rootdigging and gathering of forest litter, although, as yet, the data are insufficient to prove the above statement. It may be done in the near future.

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