In the year 735-737, during the reign of Emperor Shomu, a smallpox epidemic occurred that caused severe damage. This paper verifies the damage caused by the epidemic and then focuses on the examination of various phenomena concerning traffic with the purpose of revealing the reality of the epidemic from a variety of perspectives. Specifically, this paper discusses the Michiae-sai Festival held to drive off the epidemic, the possibility of epidemic incursion accompanied by external traffic, the delivery method of the Daijokanpu (an official document) that described the treatment, wooden charms relating to a noble named Fujiwara no Maro, and the construction project for connecting roads in the Ou region (currently Tohoku).

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Taking Awashima in Sanuki Province (now Kagawa Prefecture) and Hayase in Wakasa Province (now southwestern Fukui Prefecture) as examples, this paper uses the “Passenger Ship Book” (1744 to 1901) in the Shimizu Family Collection in Tonoura, Hamada, Iwami Province (now western Shimane Prefecture), to discuss the history of maritime culture regarding Kitamaebune. Besides ship marks and sail signs, information such as ship names, registries, ship owners, offshore captains, arrival and departure dates, etc. were included in the book. Furthermore, it is possible to learn about product distribution at the time through the book’s trading record. Awashima located in the Seto Inland Sea and Hayase in Wakasa Bay played an integral role as a junction port to areas along the coast of the Sea of Japan and neighboring countries, and to Osaka on occasion.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify factors that widely support inter-city railway fares by time slot and by day of the week in France from both a social and cultural aspect. The first aspect being that in France, there is a clear distinction between inner-city transportation, which is mainly for commuting workers and students, and inter-city transportation, which is mainly for tourists. The second aspect being that engineers working for the government worked on setting prices for public transportation and theorizing differential charges, which is specific to France. As a result, it was revealed that differential charges were convincingly shown to serve the interests of society as a whole.

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The automobile has greatly influenced our daily lives, and has given birth to the culture of automobiles in various places. Among them is the culture of material related to the automobile itself but there are also many cultures of lifestyle that are developed by automobiles in various aspects of life. Here, we will introduce the interfaces as a culture of material, and the dining-out culture and outdoor life culture as cultures that have been developed through the use of automobiles, including their historical background.

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The issue of income inequality in the United States has been structurally emerged in metropolitan areas such as Chicago, and transit systems are also engaged in this inequality structure. Residential areas are segregated by race and income, which influences people’s mode of transportation. The wealthy live in suburban counties and commute by their own cars, while the poor live in the urban area of the big city and use public transportation such as subway and bus. This paper defines the economic and cultural values or behaviors in transportation people usually recognize as “transit culture,” and evaluates the reasons and significance of welfare policies supporting poor residents in urban areas, by using the idea of an income redistribution policy.

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Japan’s bicycle culture has developed in a unique way that is different to the West. This paper begins by organizing factors that make up the environment in which bicycles are used from the author’s perspective, and then from the viewpoint that the mamachari (mom’s bike) has played an important role in shaping Japan’s bicycle culture, it examines such actions as riding with an umbrella up, using a smartphone while riding, and cycling with a small child onboard. Finally, while introducing the author’s research results so far, this paper attempts to give the author’s thoughts about bicycles as a means of transportation in urban areas in the future.

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With regard to urban bus systems in urban transportation planning, this paper develops a discussion using specific examples based on the cultural perspectives of buses. Three points of view are taken into account concerning the characteristics of buses: availability, diversity, and durability. Based on this, three important key words for the future of urban transportation are also discussed in connection with buses—“walkable,” “reliable,” and “enjoyable.” In using the aforementioned topics as a basis, this paper considers how urban bus systems should be in the future, following the new era of mobility with automatic driving and MaaS as representative examples.

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“Tobidashi-boya” (jumping out boy) is a signboard with a picture of a child to prompt drivers to be aware of areas where children rush out into the street. There are many tobidashi-boya set up in Shiga Prefecture. These signboards are installed voluntarily in residential areas by local residents from neighborhood councils and PTAs, and also installed by local traffic safety associations when requested by local residents. This enables drivers to know which locations are considered dangerous by the local residents. In this study, the current installation conditions of “tobidashi-boya” in four elementary school districts in Kusatsu City and Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture are surveyed, and the characteristics of these installation conditions are analyzed.

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