In this paper, I investigated the following two points: 1) the current status of the leather shoe-making industrial district in Taito-ku, Tokyo; and 2) the effect of the “Artivery (artisan + very) Project, ” which is one of the programs to promote high value-added production systems in the shoe-making industry.
As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that the majority of enterprises tried to counter lower-cost imports by further improvement of processing technology. The processing technology is the most important selling point for companies. However, their technologies have been transferred to the developing countries with the passage of time. In addition, the number of craftsmen is gradually decreasing in this district. That is, the improvement of processing technologies alone are not the fundamental solution in high value-added production. To increase or to maintain production, enterprises should strengthen not only the processing technology but also the marketing orientation such as cooperation with foreign enterprises in Western Europe where fashion is up to date.
Under such industrial conditions, a variety of local industry promotion plans are in place in Taito-ku, Tokyo. The Artivery Project is one of those plans. This project was established in 1999 to create a regional brand of Taito-ku. This project has facilitated the uniting of the five types of business (footwear, bags, handbags, belts, and hats) related to leather goods.
A competition for regional brands is held once yearly. In the competition, a fashion show and an exhibition are also held as advertising activities. Although a few problem have been encountered, the implementation of the Artivery Project has created new regional advantages in this industrial district. Product design, skill in manufacturing, and ability to promote each enterprise have been fostered by this project. As a result of the integration of the various businesses, these markets have been able to cater to all fashion sectors.
In addition, the number of young applicants to technical colleges interested in studying design in the leather shoe-making industry has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Young people who participate in the exhibitions of the Artivery Project have also been gradually increasing. If the combination of skilled workers and young fashion designers in this industry progresses, this industrial district will lead to the creation of a further regional advantage in the future.

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In local cities in Japan, the hollowing out of central urban areas has become increasingly serious. To revitalize a central urban area, it is important to entice inhabitants. Once people begin to live there, various urban functions for residence will follow, and a “community town” will be built. In this study, various questionnaire surveys and interview surveys were carried out in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture. The survey results were analyzed from the perspective of both residents and housing suppliers, clarifying the existing conditions of residence in the central urban area in a medium-scale Japanese city. The findings were:
1) There are an overwhelming number of rented apartments in Toyohashi City, and the core area of the locations has shifted from the central urban area to surrounding areas.
2) Sites in the central urban area are small and not suited to condominium construction in terms of scale and shape. Furthermore, landowners' interest in land utilization has been lukewarm, and hence there has so far been a small supply of condominiums in this area.
3). Since around 2001, many condominiums have been built in the central urban area and surrounding areas. The reasons were a) relatively large plots of land suited to condominium construction have been supplied; b) Toyohashi City, which had been less successful in supplying condominiums, became a new target market; and c) a redevelopment subsidy was injected into the central urban area, which had higher land prices than in the suburbs. As a result, project profitability was ensured.
4) Most households expressing interest in residing in the central urban area are a) mainly young, single-person households wanting convenience in commuting, who had moved from outside the city and the suburbs, or had relocated within the central urban area; b) young nuclear households regarding access to public transportation and parents as important, who had relocated within the central urban area or had moved from the suburbs; and c) middle-aged nuclear.households regarding access to public transportation and shopping convenience as important, who had relocated within the central urban area.
5) Although few, there are a certain number of households who express interest in living in a central urban area. Depending on the supply of condominiums, central urban area residences may appear even in medium-scale cities such as Toyohashi.
6) Condominium residents in the central urban area often focus on urban conveniences rather than the amenities of the residential environment. However, it would be much more important to supply such amenities as spacious living areas and parking spaces for the establishment of a central urban residential area.
In small and medium-scale cities where detached homes in the suburbs are most common, central urban area residence cannot be explained only by economic reasons. It will not occur unless there are administrative supports and sincere actions of inhabitants on the basis of social necessity. The establishment of a central urban residential area depends on public opinion of the social meaning of a central urban area in the future.
Because the results in Toyohashi City and data from other cities in Japan were not sufficiently compared, the generality and uniqueness cannot be analyzed in this paper. Therefore, it will be necessary to accumulate findings from other studies to broaden our understanding of central urban area residence in medium-scale cities in the future.

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The electoral system of the House of Representatives in Japan was reformed in 1994 from a multimember constituency system to a new system, which combines a single-member constituency system and a proportional representation system. The purpose of this paper is to examine the spatial transformation that is occurring with regard to the organizations of Diet members to garner votes after introducing the new electoral system.
Most assemblypersons have maintained their own personal support organizations from the former system after the introduction of the new system. This is because constituencies in the former system, which lasted for about 70 years, have a strong influence even at present on the awareness of assemblypersons and their supporters. It also indicates that even if supporters live outside the present constituency, they give various forms of support (not including voting) to assemblypersons during elections.
However, assemblypersons in the Nagasaki third constituency are negative toward maintaining their former personal support organizations. This is due to the geographic condition that traffic access to the entire area is inconvenient. Moreover, for some assemblypersons who became members of the House of Councillors or the governor after being members of or candidates for the House of Representatives, it is difficult to establish personal support organizations that cover the entire prefecture. Accordingly, the spatial range of their organizations is limited to the former constituency.
There are also some differences in these organizations between political parties. Assemblypersons of the ruling party can receive support not only from their own support organizations, but also from members of local assemblies and various local organizations supporting the ruling party. However, members of the conservative opposition party tend to depend on their former support organizations, as they cannot expect the support received by ruling party members.
As mentioned above, assemblyperson's personal support organizations, which play important roles in the Japanese political system, are being transformed into spatially different forms due to the geographic situations in the constituencies, party affiliations, etc. over the 10 years since the 1994 electoral reform.

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