This paper deals with the relation between forest utilization, vegetation, and human cognition of the environment through local people's traditional agriculture. It also attempts to recomprehend the primitive attachment to the broadleaved forest. The author studied the case of Oguni-machi at the foot of Mt. Aso, focusing on the land use transition of the town's common land.
In Oguni, there was previously a vast pasture owned by the town for breeding cattle, which was used for cultivation and beef production. In 1959, the ownership of the pasture was divided among individual farmers. As a result, some hayfields which had been traditionally used by individuals was divided, and Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) afforestation took place during the nationwide boom of planting it. But there was another aspect in Oguni : the common meadow was not divided and subjected to official afforestation efforts. But with both the decrease in the cattle population and degradation of the pasture, local people began to plant Japanese chestnut oak (Quercus acutissima), for timber of which the trunks can be used for mushroom production.
Oguni farmers planted Japanese cedar in former hayfields based on economic motives due to their expectation of a rise in price of timber and were proud of their afforestation efforts. On the other hand, the Japanese chestnut oak in the common meadow was chosen based on the background of the succession in the meadow, economic motives, and their attachment to the former vegetation which was dominated by coppices of oak. They also took pride in their Japanese chestnut oak forests. This cognition of vegetation has functioned as a factor in the change in local afforestation management.
Key words: common land, afforestation of Japanese cedar, afforestation of Japanese chestnut oak, cognition of the environment, Oguni-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture

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In recent years, as the number of pupils has been decreasing, there has been a surplus of classrooms in the municipal schools. In Yokohama, community houses for lifelong learning have been established to replace those classrooms. The purpose of this study, based on questionnaire surveys, is to examine the development of lifelong learning activities at dual-use facilities with schools. The results of the surveys are summarized as follows.
In 1997, there were 69 community houses that had been established since 1990. .The total number of users in 1996 was 862, 873, and 72.3% of them were females. The accommodations were occupied at a ratio of 48.1% a year on average. In each community house, regular staff adjusted the occupancy between groups for circle activities. They also conducted various independent projects for the cultivation of lifelong learning.
Over 80% of the user groups were classified as various hobbies, physical training, or recreation. Nearly half of the groups used not only community houses but also other facilities. One-third of the groups, which were organized after the community houses had been established, moved from other facilities. Those groups tended to maintain their utilization patterns. The most important reason to use community houses was their close location to the members' residences.
The managers gave high scores on the evaluation, especially for the occupancy adjustment. Low scores were given for budget, cooperation with other facilities, and quality of accommodations, with the exception of air-conditioning. The scores for the dual-use system were divided into high or low. The users evaluated the community houses higher than the managers. It can be concluded that the community houses are recognized as one of the most familiar facilities for lifelong learning activities.
There were many cases where the school accommodations had been used for various projects of community houses. However, there were few cases where the accommodations and functions of community houses had been used for school programs. To take advantage of dual-use facilities, this research suggests that they should improve their independent projects and cooperation with schools.

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