This study aims to clarify how marketing factors and information network system change the locations and function facilities for a Japanese brewery. There are two principal marketing factors that effect Japanese brewerys : the rising number of brand extension and the rising frequency of small-lot deliveries. Efforts to achieve both brands extension and just-in-time delivery are incompatible in terms of inventories. To reduce these enormous costs, the consumer goods distribution sifts toward differentiation according to order volume and delivery frequency. Such differentiation effects profoundly upon the locations of factories and delivery centers, and also gives change on the functions of individual delivery bases scattered widely. This paper discusses such changes by referring to the case of Kirin Brewery. The results are as follows. (1) The physical distribution of consumer goods is differentiated according to product sales volume and order frequency. (2) Products whose sales volume is large and turnover rapid are directly delivered in large lots from the plant to wholesalers and retailers. Conversely, products whose sales volume is small and turnover slow are delivered through small-lot picking facilities. (3) To reduce personnel expenses, inventory-management costs, and land rent, such facilities are integrated into delivery centers over the long term. (4) An information system will play an important role for the delivery centers to extend lead time in using the facilities. The upper limit on brand extension is defined by the plant's proquirements capacity. More practically, the upper limit must meet business requirements, including lead time and delivery lots. The manufacturer must be able to deliver goods within strictly budgeted distribution costs.

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The purpose of this thesis was to elucidate the dynamic effect of the regional structure of finance to the locational structure of a corporation in growth. In Japan, the feature of the regional structure of finance has been the extreme concentration of head offices and/or major branch offices of large financial institutions, security companies, and the largest capital market of Japan in Tokyo. The author did a case study, and as a sample of the analysis, Snow Brand Milk Products Co., Ltd. (founded in 1925), Japan's largest dairy products company, was selected as a case study because of its abundant data concerning its financing. and location. The results of the empirical study are summarized as follows : Since the company's foundation until having established its management base in the Hokkaido area, the company's financing had depended on the local financial institutions. And its Finance Dept., with the rest of the company's headquarters, had been located in Sapporo, the largest city of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. But, as the company gradually expand edits operational space nationally, the volume of financial demand dramatically increased and its financing came to depend on large financial institutions based in Tokyo and finally the Finance Dept. was transferred to Tokyo. Its gradual transfer started in 1958, just before the company began its nationwide expansion, and took about two years to accomplish. Then, the transfer of the Finance Dept. caused a gradual transfer of the rest of the company's headquarters to Tokyo. The transfer of the Finance Dept. was planned responding to the regional shift of the distribution of fund suppliers. The processes of the regional shift of fund suppliers are different by methods of financing. As for the loans, loan suppliers' share gradually shifted from the company's own executives and/or local financial institutions in Hokkaido to larger financial institutions based in Tokyo. As for the company's capital, capital suppliers' share shifted from local farmers in Hokkaido to larger financial institutions based in Tokyo. As for the corporate bonds, larger financial institutions and/or security companies based in Tokyo were the main bond holders. As for subsidies, the main suppliers were the local and/or the central government. Responding to the regional shift of fund suppliers, the Finance Dept. gradually transferred, dividing itself spatially into two sections : the financial negotiation section and the financial planning section. At the time of its foundation, financial negotiations in Tokyo were held by sending one of the company's executives, but then as the financial demand grew, apart of the financial negotiation section was located in Tokyo. The rest of the financial negotiation section was located in Sapporo with the financial planning section. Then, just before the nationwide expansion of the company's operational space, the financial planning section and the rest of the financial negotiation section were transferred to Tokyo because it was necessary to have close contacts with the large financial institutions and capital market, which could supply huge volumes of funds necessary for the business expansion. The transfer of the finance planning section caused the transfer of all the rest of the company's functional departments such as the Planning Dept., the General Accounting Dept. and the Board of Directors to Tokyo. The financial negotiation section, for the exchange of specialized information through face-to-face contact with the financial institutions, could easily be spatially divided regarding the spatial distribution of these institutions. The financial planning section was very centralized and was difficult to be divided. And the need for the exchange of specialized information through face-to-face contact with other departments

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Since the I97Os, influenced by nationwide socio-economic changes, detached islands in Japan have been declining the economic base. In detached islands, physical characteristics such as detachedness and narrowness have accelerated these processes. Especially, declining the economic base of detached islands caused shutdowns of local retail shops so that it made consumption life to be more difficult. In this paper, the author shows purchasing behavior patterns in Kishiku-cho as a case region of detached islands, makes clear factors which affected these patterns. Firstly the data of purchasing behaviors were collected by distribution of questionnaires to households living in Kishiku-cho. Summary of this survey are as follows : women perform the greater part of purchasing ; the mode of transport utilized for purchasing is almost a car; lower order goods such as foods and drinks are purchased frequently at the neighborhood retail shops in Kishiku-cho ; middle ones such as books and stationery are purchased at either the neighborhood or distant retail shops in Fukue-shi, a central city of this region; and higher ones such as clothes and furniture are purchased at Fulcue-shi. More higher ones, high class clothes and accessories are purchased at Nagasaki-shi and Fukuoka-shi which locate out of the island. Underwear and childwear are purchased through mail order by some employed women. Secondly in order to elucidate factors which affected the purchasing behavior patterns, the author analyzed the influences of the socio-economic attributes of women and their residence location upon these patterns by Quantification Theory II. The main finding of this analysis is that the distribution of purchasing opportunities and occupational character of women influence upon these patterns. The distribution of purchasing opportunities relates to there are few opportunities forhigh order goods at Fukue Island. In terms of the occupational character of women, occupational properties such as the working hours and the location of working place are affected the purchasing behaviors. Women engaged in farming and self-employment tend to purchase goods at the neighborhood retail shops, because their working hours are long and uncertain so that times allocable to purchase are short, and working place is within Kishiku-cho. Those who are employed construction and service establishment tend to purchase at retail shops out of Kishiku-cho, mainly in Fukue-shi. This reasons may be that their working place is Fukue-shi or their working hours are certainly. Those who are worked at the local government or public organizations purchase at the neighborhood retail shops, because their working place is within Kishiku-cho. Those who must make mainly domestic affairs have flexbility for times allocable to purchase, but tend to purchase at the neighborhood retail shops. These relationship between working and purchasing plays important rolls in the purchasing behaviors. As a result of so far examination, it made clear that the time allocation of employed women and the decreasing of purchasing opportunity mainly prescribe the purchasing behavior patterns in Kishiku-cho. Moreover, the characteristics of these patterns in detached islands are that when it is impossible or difficult to purchase some goods in the island, the detachedness strongly restrict purchasing out of the island through time and economic constraints, and the purchasing through mail order is useful.

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