The author conducted a series of field work including a few hundred interviews in central Michigan, U.S.A., during the period from 1957 to 1960, concerning various human aspects primarily in terms of a functional approach, and also in close relation to physical environment of the area. This study, however, is largely concerned with analysis of central place, an important constituent element of regional geography. The study area having 1, 400 square miles is to be considered to represent a typical local structure in the American Manufacturing Belt, in which Lansing, as many other large centers do, performs unparalleled significant central functions over many smaller nodal places distributed in a nested hierarchical pattern.
The hierarchical grades used in this study are primarily based on one of Allen K. Philbrick with modifications by the author (Tab. 1). This hierarchy seems to be specifically characteristic because of the establishment of sub-orders. Especially the establishment of sub-second order is expected to lead to the more thorough understanding of all nodal places, since such sub-second-order centers, though seemingly too small, can rinclud every minor centers which have tended to be neglected in the central place study. In doing so, the author was able to include in this place study a considerable number of very minor centers characterized by crossroads general stores or scattered highwayoriented gas stations having been omitted even from the category of “hamlet” because of lack of surrounding non-farm residences or so-called urban landscapes.
Fig. 1 was made by plotting all the central places classified by the above-mentioned hierarchical scheme after intensive field work. This map does not show the central places by administrative units, but those based largely on their morphology. That is, all clusters of urban establishments were considered to be central places, provided that they have establishments of second or higher orders.
Tabs. 3 and 6 show the hierarchical structure of central places with special reference to the kinds of economic establishments. As clearly shown in the tables, central places tend to have more numerous and more diversified functions as the order of hierarchy becomes higher. It is important to note that the relation of hierarchical orders with the hierarchy of “administrative” units such as city-village-(hamlet) is quite loose. Second-order centers can be divided into two unit groups, village and so-called hamlet, both of which are almost equivalent at least in terms of the number of economic establishments.
The same consideration must be made for the sub-second-order centers having two unit groups, so-called hamlet and minor centers so far neglected in the central place study. As a result, all central places, whether large agglomerations of many stores and factories together with political and social establishments or very minor local business centers, are now to be considered and analyzed in terms of one and the same series of criteria. Fig. 2 shows the 50% service areas, which Allen K. Philbrick devised, of all central places of second or higher order in central Michigan. These service areas tend to show an overlapping pattern, This fact may be thought to be a reflection of the actual service functioning in an areal pattern.
The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. Allen K. Philbrick and Dr. Paul C. Morrison, of Department of Geography, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A. for their kind and instructive guidance for the three-year period of his stay there. He also appreciates very much the finacial support by the Fulbright Commission in Japan which enabled him to conduct intensive field work in America.

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The peri-glacial landform of Japan at low level, such as a few hundred meters above S. L., was built during the latest Ice Age, This landform is clearly distinguished, by its gentle slope, from the V-shaped valley of the recent development. The boundary line between these two regions is shown on the Fig. 8.
Two factors were concerned for this line, i. e., snow fall and tempereture. A part of the line, which runs from north to south, is the boundary between snow fall area to the west, and dry area to the east. The line, which runs from west to east, is determined by the gradual increase of temperature towards south.
Supposing that the pressure pattern of winter in the latest Ice Age was not substantially different from that of today, we may assume, that the snow fall pattern was almost same as today. So we can reconstruct the climatic division at that time, using climatic evidences obtained above.
The thick line on the Fig. 9 is the boundary dividing Japanese climates into two provinces, Pacific Coast type and Japan Sea Coast type. The area of Japan Sea Coast type on the Fig. 9 was a little smaller than that of today, which shows the supply of water vapour for the snow from the Sea of Japan was less than it is today.
Considering the eustatic change of sea level and other possible factors, the author concludes that the Sea of Japan was not frozen during the latest Ice-Age exept its northernmost part. The frozen area is shown on the Fig. 10.

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Japan is the most westernized country in Asia and her economic structure seems to place her colser to Europe or the United States than to any one of her neighbours. But her agriculture shows many differences and peculiarities as compared with that of any European country or the United States. One of the remarkable peculiarities is the small average scale of farming operation by one farm household. Some farmers or some members of some farm households engage in other jobs than their household farming.
At first, the writer compars the rate of such part-time farmers to the total farmers or the rate of part-time farm households to the total farm households in Japan with those of similar kinds of farms or farmers in the United States, Germany, England and Wales, and India and obtains the following conclusions:
1. Comparing the United States and the Western Germany before 1930 with Japan in 1960, all of which have similer percentages of workers engaging in the secondary and tertiary industries, Japan has the highest percentage of part-time farm households to the total farm households. But differences among them are not so great. The percentage of part-time farm households to the total farm households in India is much higher than that in Japan in 1950. These facts seem to come from differences in scales of avarage farming operations.
2. As an industrial structure of a country is more and more urbanized and farm land is converted into land of urban uses, the rate of part-time farms, farmers, or farm households increases. The increase is supported or promoted by such economic instabilities as panic, war, potential unemployment etc.
3. In accordance with economic growth, income of part-time farms, farmers or farm households in-crease more quickly than full-time farms, farmers or farmhouseholds and number in hobby farms increases.
In the second place, the writer examines increase in the rate of part-time farm households and their change in characterics in various areas in Japan and points out that the general trend mentioned above is found also in Japan. Almost the same trend is expected in the process of urbanization of rural Asia in near future.

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