In a study on hot spring resorts in Japan, part II, the author refered to the development and economic function of hot spring resort settlements at Ikaho and Kinugawa spas in northern Kanto. This part III is a report on factors in the formation of hot spring resort settlements from a view point of the socio-economic structure at Ikaho and Kinugawa spas. Especially, he analyzed the internal structure of settlements concerning the hot spring right and landownership and the active attitude of local autonomy and other functional groups.
(1) The hot spring of Ikaho has a special hot spring utilization system, namely, it springs up at Yumoto, 550 m apart from the settlement and is conducted down to the settlement through an Oseki (hot spring conductor) to be divided among hot spring creditors (Fig.l).
Through the Edo era, 14 Oyas were monopolisticly possessed of the hot spring divided from Komaguchi (hot spring entrance) being installed at both sides (Tab. 1). And the cooperative hot spring utilization system was consecutively kept unchanged until the early years of the Meiji era. However, owing to introduction of a modern private property system and external influence, the old custom of the hot spring utilization system was collapsed. Consequently, 3 Oyas out of 14 narrowly retained their position, occupying only 11. 5% of Ikaho hot spring, while newly-risen local financial capitals gained 13.9% and central capitals 62.7% (Tab. 2).
Yoshimasa Ono, vice-president of Japan Railway Company, one of the central capitalists, purchased 1/3 of the right of Ikaho hot spring and attempted to remove the hot spring entrance in order to freely conduct the hot spring with the intention of constructing a new hot spring settlement adjacent to the old one. Against the central capitalist's purpose, the local power group centering around the old Oyas developed an opposition movement on the strength of a time honored hot spring utilization agreement to protect their own hot spring. On account of the opposition movement the Ono's plan failed.
In 1922, the rate of hot spring occupied by 4 old Oyas recovered up to 50.0%, and that of central capital fell to 11.4%. Here it was made clear that the exclusivism of local capitalists against the central capital was strong.
After the World War II, medium and small-sized hotels, having no hot spring rights, were united to get open access to the hot spring which had been under monopolistic possession of a few influential hotels. In consequence, a new hot spring boring was carried out and a new system of hot spring division (Tab. 3) was established, but the hot spring in possession of 21 Kadoyas, the opposition movement leaders, reached only 19.4% of the whole of Ikaho, whereas 4 Oyas continuing from the Edo era retained 38.0%. However, that plan of hot spring division was cancelled because of decrease in quantity of the hot spring. Thus, the monopolistic hot spring utilization system maintained by a few powerful hotels has been continued until today, which resulted in retarding development of the tourist industry. Besides, the 4 Oyas still hold vast area of land (Tab. 4), with complete control of the old hot spring settlement (Fig. 4).
Ikaho Tourist Association, an actually ruling organization at Ikaho hot spring settlement, has practiced various kinds of tourist developments, but its ropeway and skate enterprises were placed under the supervision of Ikaho Town Office in 1967. Since then, the Town authority has positively coped with the development. Moreover, the local government opened the munincipal land to the small hotelowners at the old settlement and constructed the second Ikaho hot spring settlement (Fig. 2).

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The erosion surfaces are generally recognized as accordant summit levels or undulating surfaces, the origin or the development process of which, I think, is not clearley explained. The development process of Iwai Hills, which are in the Kitakami Valley area between Kitakami Mountains to the east and Ou backbone range to the west and are dividing the Kitakami Valley area into the northern middle reaches and the southern lower reaches, is discussed here as an example of erosion surfaces. The hills were once considered as a part of so called ‘Rikuzen peneplain’.
According to previous researches on geohistory of the Kitakami Valley area, the valley area was determined by the distribution area of Lower Pliocene sediments in the inter-mountain basin between Kitakami Mountains and 0u backbone range which had been uplifting since Miocene.
The Isawa-Yushima line of flexture runs north to south in the center of the valley area, and the distribution of Middle and Upper Pliocene sediments and Upland Gravels of Iwai Hills is delimited to the east of the line, and it appeared as the dislocation of the terraces of Isawa Upland, north of Iwai Hills.
The formation of erosion surfaces is related with the change of base level around the area (Table 2), and the process is summarized as follows;
Description of the erosion surfaces and the terrace surfaces
The erosion surfaces of West Iwai Hills, western half of Iwai Hills, and of Hiraizumi Hills situated between Iwai Hills and Isawa Upland are between the highest terraces and the next ones in height. The highest terraces such as the Upper Ishuzaka terrace of Isawa Upland, the Wayama terrace of Hiraizumi Hills and the Nonodake terrace to the south of Sanuma Lowland are at the margin of Middle and Upper Pliocene sedimentary basin overlying the Miocene and Lower Pliocene sediments, and their height are 200 meters above sea level at the border of the Kitakami river and the lowland. The terrace deposits of these terraces were almost worn away. The first two are cutting into the east flank of the backbone range, and there Uppermost Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene sediments fringing the range were perhaps lost.
The next terraces are the Lower Ishuzaka terrace (less than 150 m at the lowest) of Isawa Upland and the Suganodaira terrace (130 to 140 m) of East Iwai Hills, eastern half of Iwai Hills. The Lower Ishuzaka terrace has a wide surface and thick terrace deposits covered with volcanic ash and pumice fall. The Suganodaira terrace has no wide and flat surface, and the hill ridges of East Iwai Hills make an undulating erosion surface (Tomisawa surface) cut into the Nakayana Formation, the upland gravels and its bedrocks. The restored summit level (Suganodaira surface) shows that the accordant hill tops are depositional or erosional in origin according to the interpretation of the age of the Nakayama Formation, that is, the interpretation of the time gap of the contact between the formation and the underlying Pliocene Mataki Formation.
The Suganodaira surface is concluded to be a fill top terrace surface based on the following facts;
a) Accordance of the restored summit level (fig. 1).
b) The coincidence of the Suganodaira surface with the distribution of the Nakayama Formation and partly with the low interfluves (fig. 1).
c) The Nakayama Formation is consisting of fluvial sediments of 40 meters in thickness at maximum, sand and gravel (10 m) at the base and clay and cross-laminated sand at middle and upper beds (fig. 3).
d) The base of the Nakayama Formation has valley form matched with the geological structure of bedrocks underlying it perhaps in discomformity (fig. 4).
e) No deposits cover the Nakayama Formation, and the upper member may be flood plain sand and silt.
f) The Nakayama Formation is sheet typed, which is as wide as the present Kitakami river plain (fig. 1).

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