A number of traditional events have recently been on the verge of extinction in Japan, mainly because of the lack of successors. Fortunately, traditional bullfighting has continued in the Uwajima district of Japan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons why this traditional sport has survived, with special attention to the actors who play important roles in a bullfight. The roles of the ushinushi (bull owner), seko (bull motivator), and hiiki (bull owner's fans) in particular are
analyzed. The three main factors are as follows.
First, the origin of bullfights can be traced to the time they were a source of entertainment for farmers, who used bulls in agriculture from the 18th century to the first half of the 20th century. However, that use has disappeared as a result of the mechanization of agriculture.
Second, bullfighting was revived as a tourist attraction. Organizations of ushinushi began to hold bullfight events. They tried to obtain strong bulls to entertain tourists and competed with each other to gain control of more ushinushi. After such severe competition, only two organizations havesurvived, i. e., one in Uwajima City and the other in the Minami-uwa district. The former prominentlyadvertised bullfights and achieved relative success as a tourist attraction. The latter did not gainnationwide fame, but is known for its local-based show. Although both organizations faced difficulties due to the scarcity of bulls owing to increasing urbanization, it is noteworthy thatpresently they cooperate with each other by exchanging bulls in order to coexist.
Third, the human relationships developed through bullfights play an important role. Newushinushi inherits knowledge on caring for bulls through information exchanges and during practice sessions among actors. Therefore individuals who are not related to the stock-raising industry cankeep a bull irrespective of their job or age. They enjoy not only the fights but also the regularfriendships developed through bullfights. Typically, seko help ushinushi to lead their bulls to victoryby risking their lives. In the process, they develop an intimate relationship through dailycommunication, for example, during the training of bulls and sharing meals. Generally, an ushinushi selects a seko who lives in the same town as a partner. However, presently the partnerships arespread extensively as a result of private exchanges inside and outside the organizations. Hiiki support ushinushi mentally and financially. The ushinushi invite them to post-bullfight parties thatpromote friendship while drinking and discussing the bullfights. The reason for the continuation ofthe bullfights has changed from farmers' need to tourist attractions and organizations that promoterelationships developed among actors.

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Various studies have been conducted on accessibility in the field of geography. Diverse accessibility concepts were used in those studies and many methods for measurement have been developed. Improved models of existing accessibility continued to be contrived, which made accessibility concepts complex.
This paper has two purposes. First, the author classifies the quantitative measurement methods for accessibility and points out the features and problems of each model. The second aim is to investigate the changes in accessibility studies with advances in geographical information systems (GIS).
The themes of accessibility that have attracted the most attention are transportation, spatial equity in service, and living behavior of residents. Quantitative accessibility is composed of relative accessibility and integral accessibility, in particular the latter has been mainly used for a long time. It is considered that the most useful measures of accessibility are the gravity-model measure and cumulative-opportunity measure. However, it has been pointed out that these measures of integral accessibility include some problems.
GIS provide very useful functions for measuring accessibility. One is a tool for determining the shortest path in a network, and the other is a tool for spatial analysis such as buffering and overlay. Due to the drastic reduction in the time required for measuring accessibility, the trend in accessibility studies has changed markedly. Precise studies using large amounts of data have increased, and new accessibility measures based on the concept of time geography have been established.
In contrast with integral accessibility, “place accessibility, ” the new space-time measure, “individual accessibility, ” has been introduced. The latter enables to measure the accessibility by individuals. The space-time constraints in individual and multiple-stop trips are taken into consideration in the space-time measure, so that the problems of integral accessibility are overcome. However, the space-time measure has some problems not seen in integral accessibility. Further improvements will continue to be made, and analysts must choose which measure to use according to the purpose of analysis.

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In this paper, the author analyzes the distribution of rice under the changing food policy, focusing on the rice vinegar industry in Japan. Many nation-wide vinegar processors are increasingly dependent on minimum-access rice as their raw material, while locality-based processors tend to develop different strategies. A local case study in Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, was conducted to verify this trend.
The results were as follows. First, there has been little immediate impact of the change in the system of rice distribution on local enterprises. They emphasize the quality of material to position themselves as separate from big enterprises. This reinforces their relations with farm producers unlike big enterprises.
Second, local enterprises try to expand their product distribution across the country, as the case with big enterprises. However, the character of each market is different. Products of local enterprises have features that appeal to consumers based on safety and origin, making it possible for local enterprises to enter markets for premium food.

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