Since the late 1970s, the structures of Japanese urban areas have been diversifying significantly due to industrial transformation and motorization. In recent years, urban structures have attracted attention with regard to the concept of a compact city. However, it has not yet been clarified how urban structures differ among cities and which factors result in those differences. Therefore this paper elucidates urban structure based on the employee density distribution from 1981 to 2001 and discusses the factors influencing urban structure diversification in Japanese cities. A grid-square statistic-based analytical method was employed to consider as many cities as possible. The advantage of this analytical method is that it identifies the processes of the expansion and shrinking of urban areas. In addition, this analytical method can target urban areas as a substantive region irrespective of municipal limits. The following four points summarize the results of this analysis.
First, the general tendency of the “hollowing out” of agglomeration districts (ADs) has been observed in most Japanese cities since the 1990s. In particular, in medium- or small-sized cities belonging to the lower-order class, the outflow of employees from ADs was observed to increase; this was because of the lack of office agglomeration. Second, the decentralization of the employee density distribution, which began in the 1980s, was a widespread phenomenon observed across all urban hierarchies. Third, the differences in urban structures were considered to be attributable to urban hierarchies. This depends on the industrial concentration in cities belonging to the higher-order class of urban hierarchy, without a counterurbanization era in Japan. Therefore, since the 1980s, the differences between cities belonging to the higher- and lower-order classes of urban hierarchy have been widening consistently. Fourth, the changes in urban structures differ according to whether the cities are located in the core or peripheral regions of the country. In cities belonging to the core regions, decentralization advances rapidly; in this case, the hollowing out of ADs by an outflow of central management functions to Tokyo and the growth of the suburban district (SD) due to factory locations based on the R & D style are the most marked factors. On the other hand, in cities belonging to the peripheral regions, the industrial outflow and inflow were small, and the urban structure remained stable as well.
In addition to these conclusions, evidence of recentralization was observed in a few old industrial cities in the countryside where the decrease in the number of employees and shrinking of urban areas preceded that in other cities. It is suggested that the downsizing in the number of employees and reduction of urban areas balance the urban structure at a certain stage and promote recentralization.
Based on the above results, it is clear that the formation of urban structures is affected by the urban hierarchy and location of cities in the core or periphery of the country.

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Recently, short food supply chains (SFSCs) have been closely watched as a new supply style. SFSCs result from the active building of networks by various agencies, such as farmers, food processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. A key characteristic of an SFSC is its capacity to short-circuit the long, anonymous supply chains peculiar to the industrial mode of food production. Therefore, producer-consumer relations within SFSCs are physically and socially shortened. In Japan, the SFSC is one of the key dimensions of new rural development and advocated as a possible strategy for differentiation by regional enterprises and farmers.
The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of establishing and expanding an SFSC, focusing on the partnership between sake brewers (locality-based enterprises A and B) and rice farmers. It first investigated the features of the cooperative relationship between the brewers and farmers. It then examined how the partnership is built and shaped over time. Finally, how the partnership affects each agency's interpretations and behaviors was examined.
The results are summarized as follows. 1) The partnership between sake brewers and rice producers was established through the concurrence of each agency's expectations for social alternatives of close relations (such as “personal interactions” and “close exchanges of information”). 2) In the cooperative relationship, alternative qualities of sake rice (“organic”, “natural”, “safe”, etc.) and spatial proximity among agencies are stressed. Therefore, in the evolution of cooperation, agencies' expectations for partnerships have converged through natural food networks and neighboring relations inside the producing district in addition to approaches from brewers or rice farmers. 3) The effects of the partnership on sake brewers and rice farmers include the following five. First, the partnership creates mutual trust between sake brewers and rice farmers. Second, it results in the evolution of networks in which each of them takes part. Third, it requires financial support for rice farmers by brewers. Fourth, it boosts the market competitiveness of brewers and rice farmers. Finally, it increases the risk of rice production and procurement.

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Spatial data are created at different levels of detail (LOD), for example, a road network is sometimes represented only by intercity roads or sometimes by both intercity and intracity roads. This difference in LOD causes a problem because it affects spatial analysis.
This paper deals with this LOD-dependent problem, specifically focusing on network K-function analysis, which is frequently conducted for interpreting point patterns. First, a mathematical model is developed based on a simple radial network. From this mathematical model, it is explicitly found that the lowest limit, K_low(h), of estimated K-values exists independently from the LOD of network data. Second, to extend the considerations into K-functions to actually observed networks, road network data are considered in which K-values are computed using Monte Carlo simulation. The obtained K-values imply that the lowest limit, K_low(h), also exists in networks in the real world. This result suggests that spatial analysts are empirically, in some cases, able to interpret point patterns without taking into account the LOD of network data.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify changes in Japanese books and articles about “Karafuto” (South Sakhalin) in the 20^th century. The author generally calls them “Karafuto opinions.” The changes are considered from the three viewpoints based on Japanese geographic knowledge of Sakhalin Island: 1) the relationship between Karafuto and the Asian Continent or North Sakhalin, and Karafuto and Hokkaido; 2) the relationship between the rise and fall of the geographic knowledge of Sakhalin as a whole island and governmental territories divided between the north and south areas of the island by N. L. 50°; and 3) the relationship between the historical viewpoints of possession and restoration in which the southern half of Sakhalin Island surrendered to the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War. The results of this paper are summarized as follows.
The author divides Karafuto opinions in the 20^th century into four eras: immediately after possession by Japan; the dispatch of the Japanese Army to Siberia; the 1930s; and the 1990s. Because many Japanese often considered Karafuto to be an extension of Hokkaido Island after possession by Japan, geographic knowledge of South Sakhalin (Karafuto) increased. However, Japanese geographic knowledge of Sakhalin was limited to the southern area.
Karafuto opinions related to the Asian continent considered Sakhalin Island as a whole island with the dispatch of the Japanese Army to Siberia. After that, numbers of Karafuto opinions decreased, and geographic knowledge of Sakhalin became limited to the southern area again. However, because an agricultural research institute and some university forests expanded, many papers were published on the physical sciences based on research there in the 1930s. Since government territories affected physical sciences, the authors partly considered Sakhalin as a whole island.
Although Japan was interested in the mineral deposits in North Sakhalin, its geographic knowledge was separated by N. L. 50° during World War II. Little information on Sakhalin was introduced to Japan during the Cold War in the 1950s.
The Far East area in Russia opened after the Soviet Union collapsed. Because Russia has permitted Japanese voyages to Sakhalin, many Japanese have visited. As a result, Japanese geographic knowledge of Sakhalin Island changed from Karafuto to Russian Sakhalin in the 1990s. Such changes in Karafuto opinions have always been determined by the governmental relationships between Japan and Sakhalin Island.

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The investigation of the spatial characteristics of consumption is one of the main issues in economic geography. However, as compared with the general field of study, there has been very little research on the spatial characteristics of promotional activities for consumers. In this paper, the author examines the spatial characteristics of outdoor advertising campaigns as an example of promotional activity.
The field survey was conducted along major roads, measuring up to 103km, in the Tango region in northern Kyoto Prefecture. A total of 1, 021 outdoor advertisements and 491 advertisers were identified. Regarding the location pattern of outdoor advertisements, the following findings were confirmed. There are few advertisements in the urban center, while many advertisements can be found on the outskirts of cities. In addition, a number of advertisements can be observed outside the urban area.
With regard to the advertisers, the following two trends were clarified: 1) The spatial range of outdoor advertising campaigns differs among industries. Advertisers of halls for ceremonial occasions, real estate agents, tourist facilities, and general merchandise stores are more active in outdoor advertising. The spatial range of their advertisements can extend up to a distance of nearly 10km from the location of the business establishment. On the other hand, those of convenience goods shops, catering establishments, and gas stations extend beyond 5km from the location of the establishment. 2) Business institutions tend to be more active in conducting outdoor advertising campaigns in unfavorable environments such as remote areas or areas on the outskirts of cities where daily customer interactions are relatively fewer.
Outdoor advertisers tend to be located on the outskirts of the cities, where they can easily display their outdoor advertisements. Therefore we can conclude that the distribution of outdoor advertising indicates a concentric pattern, corresponding with the urban spatial structure.

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We performed pollen and tephra analyses and radiocarbon dating measurement on sedimentary drilling cores in Harukoyachi Mire (460m a. s. l.), Iwate Prefecture, northeast Japan. These cores included Akitakomagatake-Yanagisawa pumice, Akitakomagatake-Horikiri pumice, Towada-a volcanic ash, and Iwate-Kariya scoria. The local vegetation changes around the site since ca. 13, 000cal yrs BP were reconstructed as follows: Betula forest mixed with cool temperate broad-leaved forest in ca. 13.4-13.0ka; transitional forest from Betula forest to cool temperate broad-leaved forest in ca. 13.0-10.5ka; cool temperate broad-leaved forest composed mainly of Quercus subgen. Lepidobalanus in ca. 10.5-1.4ka; cool temperate broad-leaved forest and Cryptomeria japonica forest in ca. 1.4-0.2ka; and Pinus densiflora secondary forest and Cryptomeria japonica plantation forest in ca. 0.2ka-present. These vegetation changes indicate that the climate in this region was cool in ca. 13.0ka, followed by an abrupt increase in temperature during ca.13.0-10.5ka, and finally warm similar to the present.

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