Recent changes in plant phenology such as budding, flowering, and change in color and falling of leaves are related to global warming and heat islands developing in city areas. Some studies have evaluated how secular urban climates influence the flowering dates of cherry blossoms (Prunus yedoensis). However, few studies have observed both the spatial urban climate and the flowering dates of P. yedoensis at the same time in a city. In this study, the authors researched the relationship between the spatial urban climate and the flowering dates of P. yedoensis in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It was clear that the flowering dates of P. yedoensis corresponded to urban temperatures. It is concluded that heat island effects influence the flowering dates of P. yedoensis, and therefore those flowering dates are possible indicators of climatic change and urban warming. Moreover, it is possible to evaluate the effects of urban warming by applying the spatial variation in Kumagaya City to the year-to-year variation in flowering dates of P. yedoensis at the Kumagaya Meteorological Observatory.
The authors analyzed the urban climate in Kumagaya City, including a comparison with urban climate data from 1956. The horizontal and temporal changes of heat islands were closely related to degree of urbanization in the urban area and the physical nature of surface coverage (values of 1/cρ√κ)

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The aim of this paper is to reexamine the role of historical geography in studies of local environmental problems through analysis of a littoral zone landscape, particularly a coastal lagoon around Lake Biwa.
There were more than 40 coastal lagoons around Lake Biwa, called Naiko in Japanese, but most had been reclaimed by the 1940s for the purpose of agricultural development. Although numerous studies have been made of national reclamation projects in the 1940s, little attention has been directed to the causes of degration of the environment of Naiko leading to the reclamation. In this paper, the author discusses the traditional lifestyle of the local people who made use of natural resources around Naiko before they were reclaimed, and the process of aggravation of the environment of Naiko, through a case study of Irie-naiko.
This study clarifies the interactions among people, other organisms, and the environment of Naiko, i.e., the entire ecosystem of the littoral zone including human beings, by historico-geographical analysis of the landscape in each era since the premodern period.
In Iso village, located on the shore of Irie-naiko, people's livelihood was traditionally based on a combination of subsistence fishery and rice cultivation. Many living activities utilized the natural resources of Naiko, such as waterbird hunting, reed gathering, water weed gathering, etc. Until the Taisho era, a diversity of traditional culture could be observed in utilizing the natural resources of naiko as well as biodiversity in this littoral zone. One of the important points to note is that the diversity of local culture functioned as a system for preserving the environment of Naiko.
The environment of the Naiko and the traditional system for utilizing it began to collapse in the early years of the Showa era for several reasons. First, the national policy of maintaining a low water level in Lake Biwa caused a decrease in bioresources in Naiko. Second, the traditional combination subsistence in the village shifted exclusively either to fishery in Lake Biwa or to rice cultivation around Naiko. At the same time, the multiple values existing in the space of Naiko changed into the single value that Naiko were suitable for arable land. This specialization of space can be considered as a major factor in the reclamation promoted as a national project during wartime in the 1940s.

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A new working form called “telework” has attracted much attention with the rapid progress of information technology since the 1990s. Telework involves 1) working at home or in offices distant from headquarters, and 2) using electronic communication methods. A dispersed office is a typical site for telework. Research was conducted for the f our companies that employ telework systems. The activities and locations of their dispersed offices in the Tokyo metropolitan area were analyzed based mainly on data from interviews with promoters of telework in the companies concerned.
The progress of information technology enhances telework-related activities in dispersed offices. The use of electronic equipment, databases, and software has helped individual employees to do daily desk work efficiently, and telecommunication tools have enabled group work among employees in the main and dispersed offices, which had been considered impossible without face-to-face dialogue. The dispersed offices of the four companies concerned were located mostly in southwestern suburban cores within 30km of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The teleworkers who moved their work places from the office in the urban center to dispersed offices save significant amounts of commuting time.

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