This study was made on the geomorphological developments of the western part of the Shimôsa Upland in the north of Chiba Prefecture. The results are summarized as follows:
(1) Landf orm surfaces of this region can be divided into Shimôsa Upper Terraces, Shimôsa Lower Terraces, Chiba 1st Terraces, Chiba 2nd Terraces and alluvial surfaces. Land-form surfaces except alluvial surfaces are covered with volcanic ash layers (so-called “Kantô Loam”).
(2) Shimôsa Upper Terraces are coastal plains formed by marine Pleistocene strata mainly comprising sand and silt. In the Shimôsa Lower Terraces, coastal districts of Tôkyô Bay are coastal terraces formed by pebbles and sands, while the downstream basins of the Tone River are flood plains consisting of river-made sand. The Chiba 1st Terraces and Chiba 2nd Terraces are river terraces formed by river-made pebbles.
(3) Shimôsa Upper Terraces are 25 to 35 meters above sea level. Their principal parts extend from northwest to southeast and form the waterhead between the Tôkyô Bay drainage system and the Tone River drainage system. The Shimôsa Lower Terraces are 10 to 25 meters above sea level. They are distributed along the northeast coast of Tôkyô Bay at the edges of the Shimôsa Upper Terraces by making gentle inclination toward Tôkyô Bay. They can be traced further to the north along both Tone and Kinu Rivers, and also are developed in the region between Lake Inba and Lake Taga. The Chiba 1st Terraces and chiba 2nd Terraces are distributed only partially along the valleys carving the terraces. From the aforementioned status of geomorphological surface distribution, it was clarified how the sea piling up sea layers to form the Shimôsa Upper Terraces had retreated.
(4) With Kanto Loam as a key bed, a comparison was made with various terraces surrounding it by the so-called tephrochronological method. As a result, it was clarified that the land- form surfaces which have hitherto been divided into two terraces, namely Shimosuyoshi Terraces and Musashino Terraces, should be divided into three terraces, namely S₁, S₂, and M. Among them, those widely distributed as the principal terraces of the Upland are S₁ and S₂ Terraces, and the existent Musashino Terraces are distributed only in an extremely limited area.

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1. There has been a special type of the agrarian land delivering system called warigae since the 13th Century to this date.
In the regions where this system is adopted, the agrarian land under this system belongs to the village for a common use, not to individual farmers, and only the yield from each field under their management belongs to each farmer. With a certain cycle, i. e. 3 or 4…20 years, the land is exchanged between the farmers by lot. This is an abnormal form from the view-point of private use of agrarian land, typical of the captalistic system.
This system is to be seen mainly in the paddy field areas, but is also seen in the case of the agrarian use of forests, sea, rivers and lakes. From the geographical viewpoint, it is seen in the regions where production is excessively low and natural calamity occurs frequently. Though the agrarian land was at first equally divided among farmers in many villages, some farmers became very poor due to the selling of their land because of their impoverished living, which made it increasingly necessary to equalize their income in order to continue the village life.
The quality of each paddy field was considered by lot, and profit of each farmer was to be secured. Then, by and by, the agrarian land was divided into smaller portions, and the distance to each cultivated field from his house was extended. This is one of the weak points of this system. The farmer tends to feel less affection to his land and the yield declines, which also is its defect. The practical technique for the preparation of the lot is very complex. It is very interesting to see that it has been continued even for 400 years in some places, in spite of such many weak points.
2. The areas where the delivering system is practised are to be found in various parts of Japan, from Ryûkyû to Hokkaidô (Fig. 1) . The structure of the delivering system has a large variety, which shows that this system has regional aspects. In each area it is closely related to the austerity of the village life, and is aimed at equalizing the local difference of production within a limited space of village area, on which the rural life is performed. It is an attribute of a village to endeavour to realize the equality of the life within itself.
Although this system was first established in the medieval age, it underwent a remarkable development in the following feudal age, as it was utilized in the agrarian policy then. However, in many villages it was maintained until the Meiji Era, or originated in the Meiji or even in the Showa Era, and exists now. It can be noted that this system is related more to the village life and the regional character of rural areas than to the age or economic, political and social environments.
In the rural areas of Japan where rice is the main product, it is closely related to the flood area, though it cannot be said that all the flood areas are the areas where the delivering system is practised.
3. In the Takanosu Basin along the River Yoneshiro in northern Akita Prefecture, the delivering system was introduced to three village communities (buraku) between 1948 and 1960 for a part of the paddy fields. In these villages, which are typical of northeastern Japan with medieval character like other villages neighbouring them it was intended to realize the equality of the village life by securing the common land of the village communities, and by adopting the delivering system.

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