The purpose of this study is to review the previous studies of brewing/distilling and drinking of traditional alcoholic beverages with a focus on Asia which is widely using molds of the genus Aspergillus for alcohol brewing. Traditional alcoholic beverages of Asia can be roughly divided into Sake type（Japanese refined alcohol）, Doburoku type（unrefined alcohol） and distilled alcohol type. As a result, in terms of brewing and distilling, research trends varied from type to type. Whereas molds of the genus Aspergillus and these regional differences are actively discussed in Doburoku type, many studies on factors of brewery location and movements of seasonal brewing workers are accumulated in Sake type. Regarding distilled alcohol type, formation of the main distilling area and the geographical indication from the industrial geographical point of view are major research topics. The studies of Sake type and distilled alcohol type are mainly conducted in Japan as a research area. As for the study of drinking behavior, there was no systematic framework. The authors, therefore, classified the purpose of drinking into three categories: ritual, hospitality and daily life. In East Asia, some studies refer that the origin of drinking traditional alcohol beverage was closely related to agricultural rite which have communication with the gods. An another role of drinking is to give hospitality to guests. In any cases, Asian regions had norms that people drink traditional alcohol beverage together in groups, and solitary drinker cases were seldom to find. However, people can get alcohol anywhere and anytime, and expand opportunities to drink alone. Accordingly, problematic behavior is increased by the modernization. At present drinking norms are greatly changing. Through the discussion so far, this study presented the three research perspectives to grasp traditional alcoholic beverages in Asia: firstly, the elucidation of the regionality which has not been established research methods; secondly, re-thinking cultural significance of traditional alcoholic beverages in the region, thirdly, adopting a multilateral research approach from a geographical comprehensive point of view for elucidating the regionality of traditional alcoholic beverages.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Myanmar migrants in Thailand have been increasing in number since the late 1980’s, due to the rapid economic growth of Thailand where the demand for labour has increased enormously. Also, the start of the Myanmar military regime in 1988 became the main push factor for many Myanmar citizens to emigrate abroad. Large numbers of Myanmar migrants can be observed in Bangkok, its neighboring prefectures and border prefectures with Myanmar. In Samut Sakhon Province, located in the suburbs of Bangkok, due to the high labor demand from primary and secondary industries, such as fisheries and marine product processing industries, the largest Myanmar communities in Thailand have emerged. The aim of this paper is to analyze the adaptive style of Myanmar migrants in local Thai areas, using case studies of Myanmar communities in the central parts of Samut Sakhon Province. Thus, this study has paid special attention to the Myanmar migrant’s social attributions, residential patterns, occupational preferences and modes of life. Myanmar residential patterns were examined by dividing them into three types: small-scale residential areas at peripheral sites, medium-scale residential areas in the industrial zones, and the large-scale residential area in the town centers. Each type of residential area is different, consisting of Myanmar migrants of diverse social attributes and occupations. In the small-scale residential areas, there was a tendency for the communities to consist mainly of one ethnic group, which is due to the chain-migration of the same ethnic groups from Myanmar. On the other hand, in the medium-scale and the large-scale residential areas, there is a diversity of Myanmar migrants in terms of ethnic origins as well as occupations. However, some of the Myanmar migrants move out from the large-scale residential area to live in other areas, according to their adaptive stages to Thai society. Moreover, large-scale residential area functions as an important center to support the Myanmar migrants as a whole, because many kinds of information and products from Myanmar are concentrated and available here.

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