The processes of depopulation and realignment of local school districts have resulted in reorganization of elementary schools and junior high schools in Japan after the Second World War. This reorganization has also brought regional variations in the public financing of education. Few attempts have been made to study the economic and geographic dimensions of public education financing. There are a number of studies on public works in peripheral Japan, but little is known about the public school financing. This study examines the expenditure for the municipal lower secondary schools in Shimane Prefecture, and clarifies the regional features of public education expenses in peripheral Japan by analyzing financial data quantitatively. The degree of regional disparities in municipal lower secondary schools expenditure is measured at two scales : comparison between the peripheral regions and central Japan and comparison among local governments in Shimane Prefecture based on economic and geographic classification. In order to capture the regional features of Shimane Prefecture, the difference between Shimane and Osaka Prefecture is measured. Using the Theil's measure, geographical inequalities among fifty-nine local governments in Shimane Prefecture are examined. These local governments are classified for the analysis based on the governmentally designated areas of depopulation types. Results of this analysis are as follows: (1) The fluctuation of municipal lower secondary schools expenditure in the peripheral regions is different from that of central Japan. The fluctuation of the central regions marked a peak when suburban residential areas were developed. On the other hand, the fluctuation of the peripheral regions was maximized immediately after the "Great Realignment of Local Governments in the Showa Era". Municipal lower secondary schools expenditure of the peripheral regions is independent of the number of residents receiving compulsory education service. (2) From the analysis of the general financing using the Theil's measure, it can be said that the degree of inequality in depopulated areas is caused by the public grants-in-aid. The grants-in-aid for education are higher in the peripheral regions than in the central regions. (3) The degree of inequality is high especially among the disadvantaged group of governments whose accessibility to the public facilities is relatively poor. (4) The degree of inequality in municipal lower secondary schools expenditure in local governments with smaller population have not experienced the "Great Realignment of Local Governments in the Showa Era". Financial inequalities within these local governments are becoming greater. (5) Based on the grouping of neighboring local governments, the population size of each group greatly influences financial inequalities. If the population size among groups is equal, the degree of inequality between groups would be small. Whether in the peripheral or the central regions, the compulsory education in Japan has many problems. So far various measures have been taken to resolve problems. In the foundation of the measures, the idea of "public responsibility for education" is embodied in the legal regulation of "the equal opportunity of education". In the central regions, public education financing was "equal" among local governments when the process of the "equal opportunity" of compulsory education was carried out. On the contrary, in the peripheral regions, accomplishment of the "equal opportunity" of compulsory education has brought about the "unequal" process of the public education finances among local governments, especially those in depopulated areas. This is the result of the budgeting system controlled by a large proportion of the grants-in-aid for the construction of educational infrastructure rather than the improvement of the quality of education.

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This paper focuses on the relationship among ethnicity and economic activities of Teams (xiaozu) 1 and 11 of Najiahu Village at Yanghe Township, Yongning County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), PRC. The research was carried out from August to October 1997 and from September 1998 to August 1999. The total population of the Teams studied here was 437(92 households), of which 305(66 households) were Hui and 132(26 households) were Han at the end of 1998. Both Teams comprised the Hui and the Han ethnic groups. The Teams are located about 5 kilometers away from the Yellow River and about 17 kilometers away from Yinchuan City, the capital of NHAR. Main crops of this area are rice, wheat and corn. Due to the rapid growth of population, the average area of arable land per person is barely 1.4 mu (9 ares). When private farming was reintroduced in 1981 under the "Reforms and Open Policy", the land was equally distributed among the members of the Teams regardless of ethnicity, age and sex, having scarcely changed thereafter. Consequently, the scale of farming is almost similar to each other. As well, no difference of cultivation and crop combination is observed between the Hui and the Han because the total farming practice including crop rotation is decided by the village administration authority under the collective ownership of the PRC. However, various differences between the Hui and the Han are observed in livestock raising and off-farm activities. In livestock raising, because of the Islamic taboo on the eating of pig, only the Han keep hogs. Sometimes disputes arise between the Hui and the Han because the Hui are displeased with the Han by raising hogs in the village. Regarding sheep raising, most of the Hui farmers keep small numbers of sheep for domestic use to slaughter them and make a feast at Islamic festivals such as Id al-adha. In contrast, some Han farmers raise sheep on a large scale to sell them at local markets around the village. In terms of off-farm activities, numbers of farmers are in need of off-farm jobs in order to supplement their income. Most of them, however, fail to find permanent jobs due to the lack of development of commercial, manufacturing and construction industries in the area. Consequently, only 17.4 percent of the economically active population of the Teams is engaged in stable non-agri-cultural jobs such as working in companies, factories, construction sites or grocery stores. Only the Hui are engaged in the slaughter, processing and sales of mutton because the mutton slaughtered by the Han out of the Islamic way cannot be sold to the Hui. Only a few Hui women are employed by the companies and factories, while many Han women are engaged in these kinds of job. The author often heard about negative views on the work of women in off-farm activities especially from elderly Hui. The employment between the Hui and the Han takes place only when the work is short-term and less complicated. The employers tend to be worried if the difference of lifestyle and sense of values between the Hui and the Han may damage the efficiency of the activities. In the author's prospects, if the economic policies of PRC keep to encourage the development of stock raising and off-farm activities, the difference of lifestyle between the Hui and the Han will be magnified in the study area. This will result in the intensification of ethnic identity of each ethnic group.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of the labor market in the prefectural capitals in Japan's peripheral regions, focusing on medical service industry. The example area is Miyazaki public employment security office district (Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district) in Miyazaki prefecture. For this purpose, the author discusses the following two points: 1) the roles and position of Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district in Miyazaki prefecture, 2) the characteristics of the nurse labor market in Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district. The cluster analysis on four variables is used for the classification of P.E.S.O.districts in Kyusyu district. Interview and questionnaire surveys are used to clarify the nurse labor market condition. The results are summarized as follows. The cluster analysis points out that Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district shows better labor market condition than other districts in Miyazaki prefecture in three variables ; the employment insurance recipients ratio, the cash earnings per person engaged in manufacturing industry and the ratio of new high school graduates job applicants who found the employment in other prefectures. Some of new high school graduates in Miyazaki prefecture have tended to move to Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district for getting their jobs. Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district plays a role in giving employment opportunities for new high school graduates in this prefecture. Since the late 1980s, the medical service industry in this district has increased in employment remarkably. The nurse labor market in this district was divided into two segments: nurses and nurse's aids. There were great differences between those segmented markets concerning the educational career, the working conditions and the native place of supplied labor. The position of nurses was composed of skilled labor that hold license, while that of nurse's aids was composed of unskilled new graduates and married female labor. The working conditions of nurses were characterized by high wages and stable status, while those of nurse's aids were characterized by low wages and unstable status. The native place of nurses was spread over the whole prefecture, while those of nurse's aids was constrained into narrower areas, mainly being limited to Miyazaki P.E.S.O.district.

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In this paper, we recognize that self-sustained regional economy development has a tendency to increase the individual capital circulation within a certain enclosed geographical area. Assuming a prefecture as a geographical area, this paper investigates firms that are located in Kumamoto Prefecture. The firms are put into two classifications: the regional enterprises, which are located in the prefecture, and large firms, whose head offices are located in other prefecture. The geographical area, within which each of these two types of firm engages in trading, is investigated using financial statements corresponding to the two firm classification types. For firms located in the prefecture, it is shown that the ratio of trade to "profit transformed to cost" is higher than that for firms outside the prefecture. Here, "profit transformed to cost" is described as the deductions from profit gained from the activities of a firm. The flow of money created by trading of firms is defined as the phenomenon of individual capital circulation, and the money that is spent, as "profit transformed to cost", is included in other individual circulations of capital. Therefore, the fact that local firms have a higher ratio of trade to "profit transformed to cost" means that the tendency to enclose individual capital circulation is higher. Consequently, the more firms there are in a certain area, the easier it will be for the region to attain self-sustained economic development.

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In recent years, both the legal and technical status of waste products has been greatly changed in Japan. This paper considered the disposal and movements of waste products in Nagano prefecture, as a waste problem research from a geographical viewpoint. The amount of domestic waste is influenced by industrial structure, especially by service industry and tourist industry in each municipality. The system of domestic waste collection is influenced by the amount of waste and its disposal process. In Nagano prefecture, most of the intermediate treatment of waste is incineration treatment, and municipalities or joint administrations manage the incineration facilities. The reason to adopt joint administration is mainly the financial capability of municipalities. Because of these situations, waste movements are limited within their municipalities or neighboring municipalities. In the future, however, waste movements of intermediate treatment will be more extensive due to reorganization of the intermediate treatment range and the enlargement and continual of incinerators after the introduction of new guideline in 1997. As for the final disposal, on the other hand, difference of waste movements can be seen between inert wastes and incineration ashes. Most movement of inert wastes were limited in their municipalities, or moved to a few fixed municipalities within the prefecture. The choice of cross-border movements is affected by financial power of municipalities. In the case of incineration ashes, only a few municipalities complete its movement within their area while most of the cases are movements to the outside of their area. Furthermore, there are some movements to a landfill site, located outside the prefecture, which is managed by private sector, and many movements to specific municipalities within the prefecture. Such differences originate in the strengthening of regulations of landfill site. While the capacity of public landfill sites becomes filled up, the consignments of waste disposal to the private sector are increasing. And the capacities of landfill sites of private sector are now gradually filled up, both inside and outside the prefecture. Therefore, it is considered that waste movements become much more wider in future.

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[in Japanese]

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