Geographical Review of Japan
Online ISSN : 2185-1727
Print ISSN : 1347-9555
ISSN-L : 1347-9555
Volume 76, Issue 9
Displaying 1-4 of 4 articles from this issue
  • General Managers' Point of View
    Akihiro TAKINAMI
    2003 Volume 76 Issue 9 Pages 621-644
    Published: August 01, 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper examines the question of ambience in tourism. Some researchers argue that ambience is a key concept in tourism. According to MacCannell (1987), tourists pursue feeling, style, and ambience, and Briton (1991) suggested that the special ambience of a hotel is an indispensable commodity for tourists. But the expression “special ambieance of a hotel” is vague and one aim of this paper is to clarify its meaning.
    A case study was made of famous urban hotels in Geneva, where the hotel industry is regarded as very important, to demonstrate what the ambience of a hotel actually means. The following points were noted: each hotel's brochure composed of photographs and text and the general manager's comments about the ambience of the hotel. The brochures were collected in the reception areas of hotels in Geneva. The comments were gathered by sending out open questionnaires. Responses to questions like, “What is the atmosphere in your hotel?” and “Is the atmosphere important for your hotel?” were studied.
    In analyzing the brochures collected in each hotel, two trends emerged. First, there is a close relationship between the word “ambience” and the words “warm” and “relaxed.” Another point is that the word “ambience” is most often used in the description of restaurants, cafes, and bars. In the hotel brochures, ambience was exclusively used to mean a warm and relaxed atmosphere of a hotel's restaurants, cafes, and bars.
    On the other hand, the general managers' comments were more original and diverse. For example, the general manager of the Hotel Beau Rivage, the most famous hotel in Geneva, insisted that a refined, peaceful, and elegant atmosphere is created by the hotel's history, architecture, and personnel. In the Beau Rivage, the ambience symbolically represents the history and landscape of Geneva. The general manager of the Hotel Noga Hilton, the largest modern hotel in Geneva, stated that the hotel's ambience is created by people assembled in hotel's theater or people crossing the entrance hall. The Noga Hilton strives to create the dynamics of a small town atmosphere. The general manager of the Hotel De La Cigogne, the only member of the celebrated international “Relais et Chateaux” association of hotels in Geneva, said that it is the visitors themselves who feel the ambience of the hotel: in the discovery of a new decoration, or the recollection of an antecedent stay. In La Cigogne, the image of a charming Swiss house is presented to visitors.
    The wide range of comments by the different general managers illustrates that every hotel uses the discourse of ambience to constitute and diffuse to the public its original social and spatial territory: the Beau Rivage is a symbolic and legendary palace; the Noga Hilton is a vivid and crowded town; and the La Cigogne is a warm and friendly home.
    Download PDF (5951K)
  • Focusing on Local Governments with Small Population
    Shin KAJITA
    2003 Volume 76 Issue 9 Pages 645-667
    Published: August 01, 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper makes a quantitative analysis of changing distribution of local allocation tax in postwar Japan and tries to interpret the results in three aspects such as the introductory process of the welfare state, changes in regional structure during the economic development and horizontal political competition. The distribution is analyzed in the following three steps: 1) share of local allocation tax in total local governmental revenue; 2) share of municipalities and prefectures; and 3) degree of inclined distribution for local governments with small population. These analytical procedures serve to clarify changing intergovernmental relations.
    In the early stage of the high economic growth era, the central government gave priority to further economic development and left the fair distribution problem largely untouched. But, as the Japanese economy reached a certain stage of development, the public come to seek an improved quality of life. Following this public opinion, the central government changed its prior policy to provide better welfare services and to reduce various disparities widened in the economic development This change occurred in the mid-1960s.
    In public welfare provision, municipalities serve as the most important agents because municipalities directly relate to the daily lives of inhabitants. Therefore rapid progress in welfare provision occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, induced an increase in the municipal share in the distribution of local allocation tax. At the same time, the degree of inclined distribution for municipalities with small population was raised sharply to secure sufficient financial revenue for increasing of services.
    With changes in the view of the welfare state after the Oil Shock and the following fiscal crisis, most developed countries began to seek “smaller” and “efficient” governments. This movement is well known as the New Right. Japan's national government also followed various policies for reducing public expenditure in the early 1980 s, but it made little reforms in local allocation tax because the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was politically supported by peripheral regions.
    With the aging of Japanese society, new needs of welfare provision emerged after the late 1980s. As the result of continuous selective outmigration, the percentage of elderly inhabitants in the peripheral regions became much higher than those in other regions. This led to an increase in the municipal share and more inclined distribution for local governments with small population in local allocation tax, again.
    Nevertheless, with the severe fiscal crisis by the long-term depression in the 1990s, it became more difficult for the national government to guarantee each municipality sufficient local allocation tax to meet its increasing fiscal needs. Additionally, urbanites began to criticize the extremely inclined distribution for municipalities with small population.
    Finally, the national government changed its stance on local allocation tax and began to drop the degree of inclined distribution for municipalities with small population after 1992. On the other hand, the national government established the Special Municipal Merger Support Law (Shichouson Gappei Tokurei Hou) and gave strong fiscal support to newly merged municipalities. The national government put strong pressure on municipalities with small population through this fiscal squeeze and guiding policy for merger and various merger plans were proposed nationwide.
    These contrasts between local allocation tax policies in the early 1980s and after the collapse of the Bubble economy strongly reflect the results of horizontal political competition between urban and rural areas. In particular, the Liberal Democratic Party‚s record defeat of the 1998 House of Councilors election in metropolitan areas accelerated the conversion of the national government‚s local allocation tax policy.
    Download PDF (3479K)
  • Yoshimichi YUI
    2003 Volume 76 Issue 9 Pages 668-681
    Published: August 01, 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Single parent families are increasing due to divorce in Japan, and they have several problems in metropolitan areas. Most single parent families are women-headed families, and many mothers have multiple responsibilities, for example, finding a job and working, housework, childcare, and nursing. In spite of the high rent, single parent families tend to migrate to urban areas, because it is easier to find jobs and they can be freer from prejudices in urban areas than in rural areas.
    This paper aims is to clarify the regional differences in the housing conditions of women-headed families in Japan. The paper also tries to consider the housing conditions in welfare facilities for single parent families and their residental lives in metropolitan areas and local cities.
    Single parent families usually face serious housing problems. When women-headed families cannot find a place to live in the private housing market or they must be sheltered from domestic violence, some families are permitted to live in welfare facilities for single parent families. However, those facilities are provided only for temporary users. According to questionnaire results from sampled facilities in Tokyo and suburbs, the Kanto region, the Osaka metropolitan area, and Ishikawa and Hiroshima Prefectures, it is clear that the reasons why single parent families enter welfare facilities differ by region. Most dwellers entered when they divorce. But in Tokyo, the rate of runaways from home is higher than in other areas. Many dwellers were victims of domestic violence and needed shelter urgently.
    Half of dwellers in the facilities are in their 30s, and became single parents due to divorce. In the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas there are many unmarried young residents with infants. While many middle-aged dwellers use the facilites in suburbs and local cities.
    It is hard for single parent families to find jobs because they must take care of their children. Consequently, many dwellers in the facilities receive livelihood assistance. Their jobs are very unstable and low income, because most of them are part-timers. Some dwellers cannot find jobs because they are mentally disturbed as a result of domestic violence.
    It is difficult for most single parent families to move out of the welfare facilities because it is very costly for women-headed families to live in privately rented houses. It is difficult to get the permission to live in public housing, because the supply of public housing in Tokyo is extremely fewer than demands of single parent families.
    Download PDF (1801K)
  • 2003 Volume 76 Issue 9 Pages 682-684,iii
    Published: August 01, 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (1297K)
feedback
Top