Geographical review of Japan, Series B.
Online ISSN : 2185-1700
Print ISSN : 0289-6001
ISSN-L : 0289-6001
Volume 63, Issue 2
Displaying 1-4 of 4 articles from this issue
  • Tadashi NAKAGAWA
    1990 Volume 63 Issue 2 Pages 139-155
    Published: December 31, 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study attempts to make a geographical analysis of cemetery landscapes in Louisiana. Based upon the assumption that, ultimately, only individuals can play a causative role in the making of the cemetery landscape, a theory is constructed by examining individuals' actions. Operationally defined, culture is the expression of the individual's voluntary group identity that can be identified by comparing groups. This study attempts to identify cultures by comparing the cemeteries of the following groups: (1) North and South Louisiana and (2) Catholic and Protestant.
    As a result of systematic analysis and synthesis of 236 selected cemeteries, the superiority of this theory over the traditional superorganic theory is demonstrated. The survival of theory through empirical tests demonstrate its effectiveness for the explanation of distribution, for systematic description, for regional classification, and for understanding group characteristics.
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  • Jun MATSUMOTO
    1990 Volume 63 Issue 2 Pages 156-178
    Published: December 31, 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The seasonal variations of global wind fields in the tropics mainly at 850 mb and their relation to the cloud distribution revealed from outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) are studied based on 5-day mean data.
    Some abrupt changes in the location and/or regional extent of the equatorial westerlies are recognized at 850 mb during the progression of seasons. They occur in early March, late March, mid-April, mid-May, mid-June, late July, early September, the beginning of October, late October, mid-November and late December. The OLR fields also change dramatically at these periods. Therefore, eleven natural seasons can be recognized according to these periods.
    Seasonal composite maps of wind and OLR fields are constructed and features of these seasons are described. Differences in the characteristics of seasonal transition processes on each continent are pointed out. In individual regions, the seasonal changes of wind and OLR fields do not always occur simultaneously. Schematic illustrations representing the seasonal transition processes of the equatorial westerlies, which are revealed to be different among longitudinal belt, are shown in three types. A map showing the locations in northernmost, southernmost, and the minimum regional extent seasons of equatorial westerlies is presented.
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  • Takaaki MASUHARA
    1990 Volume 63 Issue 2 Pages 179-187
    Published: December 31, 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Vertical thermal diffusion coefficients (Kz) were calculated in the surface layer by using tower data in and around Tokyo; then the Kz difference between urban and non-urban areas was examined on a seasonal and hourly basis.
    During the night-time (except for during summer), the urban Kz substantially exceeds the non-urban Kz, especially in December. The maximum Kz appearing in the midday is about 40-80 times the minimum Kz in the early morning in the non-urban area, and about 10-20 times in the urban center. The roughness length doesn't remarkably affect Kz as compared with the diurnal range of Kz, but it affects Kz more at night than during the day.
    Following this, simple numerical simulations of CO concentration were carried out from evening to midnight on highly polluted days. Through these simulations, urban and non-urban types of hourly concentration variation can be properly explained by the difference in the hourly trend of the Kz likely to be attributable to the fact that the surface inversion strength intensified more rapidly in the non-urban area than in the urban area during the early evening.
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  • Makki Muhammad AZIZ
    1990 Volume 63 Issue 2 Pages 188-197
    Published: December 31, 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Although records show the increasing role of endogenous mortality, exogenous causes still represent a serious threat to health in Kuwait, where they accounted for over 40 percent of the total mortality in 1985. This paper is concerned with the spatial distribution of these diseases. It will also help to reflect the influence of various social, economic, and demographic factors on the patterns of distribution.
    Mortality rates are calculated for 100, 000 persons of the country's two communities: Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis.
    The seventeen major causes of death incorporated by the international classification are adopted and split into two major groups: infections and parasitic diseases, and all other causes excluding cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms and accidents.
    Although the role of infectious and parasitic diseases is declining, they were still responsible for nearly 10 percent of total deaths in 1980. Mortality figures were higher among Kuwaitis, and the majority were male.
    In some parts of the country, and the Capital governorate in particular, nearly half of the deaths were caused by parasitic diseases. Other major causes are tuberculosis and intestinal infections.
    Mortality rates of the remaining exogenous causes run at a level of 40 percent compared with 60 percent in 1970. Death tolls among Kuwaiti nationals are more than twice those of non-Kuwaitis. Mortality figures are highest among Kuwaiti males and non-Kuwaiti females.
    The number of deaths is higher in the densely populated areas of both communities, particularly those in remote areas. Diseases of the respiratory system seem to be the major cause of death, especially among Kuwaiti citizens. Other prominent causes of death in some areas are those related to conditions of the perinatal period, congenital anomalies and diseases of the digestive and urinary systems.
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