In this article I firstly mention about the characteristics of shrinking society in rural region that shows decrease of population, amalgamation of municipality, retreat of public service & rise of living cost of beneficiar. Secondly I illustrate the data of questionnaire survey data of consciousness about amalgamation to the habitant of Iwate prefecture. Then I introduce several types of new policies and activities of habitants in foot-hill and mountain areas and analyze that process in Iwate prefecture.

　After these works I point out that new policies of recent years have made much of function to public interests rather than public utility. In other words in the shrinking society, the function to public interest from rural areas and afro-forestry activities are more emphasized than public approach to improvement of living condition of inhabitants. For the strengthen of that function, they try to expand the stakeholders which involve the habitants in urban area, non-farming habitants in rural areas and private enterprises and non-profit organizations as well as to utilize rural community as the active subject.

　In the end, I try to order the issue of the possibility of bridge over shrinking Society in the rural region in the severe economic and social condition.

　The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between “Shrinking Society” and foreigners. In these days, there is a strong expectation that problems based on depopulated society in Japan can be settled by admitting more foreigners into a country. In this paper, I try to criticize this expectation by analyzing discourses in political and business circles and my research data in Aichi Prefecture and Nishio City.

　Through these analyses, two findings are conducted.

　Firstly, on macro level, the expectation for foreigners means not for “foreign residents” but for “foreign workers”.

　Secondly, on community level, “Japanese residents” tend to have negative consciousness toward foreign residents who do not settle down in Japan permanently and participate in neighborhood association.

　These findings imply that admitting more foreigners into a country could not be the solution of “Shrinking Society”, both on macro level and community level.

　This paper aims to clarify local industry possibility that supports the region. Many of local industries of Japan have declined. However, some local industries support the region by absorbing labors of the housewife and the senior. In this paper as a case the ceramic industry of Aichi Prefecture Seto-city is discussed. This paper insists as follows.

　First, the local industry is supporting the region. However the local industry basically becomes decline, the new industry is generated and stabilizes by the local industry, and supports the region by inventing employment.

　Secondarily, the local industry becomes sustainable by absorbing labor of the housewife and the senior. Moreover, local industry is inventing employment for these groups. In general, becoming labor is difficult for this group. For instance, they cannot spent time for commuting.

　Thirdly, the reason why life-work balance exist in the local industry originated from the adjacently of working and the living area.

　Fourthly, the form of adjacently of working and living area supports local populace’s life totally. For instance, the low income doesn’t immediately become poor as a result life in the local industry city.

　Industrial independence and securing labors are the big problems in a Japanese society of the future that receives the shrinking society. The experience of learning from the local industry will play important role for the solution.

　Yahagi dam was constructed in 1972. Its height is about 100 meters. As the result, a drastic change has occurred in dry riverbed. Huge forest appeared here and there. The huge forest has threatened people s life-environment.

　This study analyses one area in headwaters of Yahagi River. In this area, people unite themselves across the boundary of communities and the border of town-administration. This crossover union is not only recent phenomenon. In Edo era, similar crossover union and medium scale structure have been emerged repetitiously. Thus, it is not citizen’s movement appears in cities after Modernization, but like as Gemeinshaft over rural communities. This Gemeinshaft can be guess as potential to recover rural communities functions lost with depopulation and aging to regulate themselves from environmental changing.

　The abolition of supply-and-demand adjustment regulation by revisions of public transport act leads to decrease/discontinuance of local trains and buses. As a result, in local provinces which are faced with aging and decreasing of the population, the size of vehicle is getting smaller from trains into buses, then into taxis. There come to be seen so-called unconventional transport services such as demand taxis and voluntary car pools.

　This paper takes up community transport in rural area, and argues the epoch and process of collaboration between community and local government as follows: (1) the development and logic of petition movement after the abolition of public transport, (2) the impact of deregulation to local government and the social experiment of community transport, (3) the logic of administration and its organizational change towards institutionalizing community transport, (4) the logic of agreement among residents about cost sharing for community transport. Through the description and analysis, this paper aims to make clear the meaning of ‘new publicness,’ which involves the complementary solution by both community and local government.

　It has been pointed out that resistance to non-family members’ entering the home is substantial, that is to say, the “Boundaries of Family” are strong in Japan. In this paper, I have examined the mechanism of how non-family members enter a home and support childcare, and whether or not the mother’s sense of resistance is actually softened by the mechanism. The data for this paper was collected from interview surveys from a case involving the childcare support non-profit oganization, NPO ”Y”, in Kohoku District, Yokohama City. “Y” operates a “home visit service” whereby students visit the home in which children are brought up.

　The survey analysis highlighted the polite and careful coordination between the home and students conducted by the NPO, which played an important role in mitigating boundaries and enabling the students to visit the home and support childcare.

　The mother’s sense of resistance varies and can be classified into four types. The first type of resistance is to non-family members entering the home. The second type stems from anxiety that her children will cause problems for the students. The third type is resistance to students who lack child-nurturing experience. The last type is the husband’s resistance. Though the first and the second types of resistance have been eased through these services, the third and the fourth ones have not necessarily been eased. In particular, the fourth one is a formidable barrier when we make the “Boundaries of Family” weakened, and make childcare opened up to the community. A childcare support system in a community, however, meets various types of resistance, and at the same time it is an area where latent needs exist. That is why, we should consider every possible way of continuing the childcare support system involving NPOs and the wider community.

　Since the 1990s, languages, cultures and educations of ethnic minorities have been changing rapidly in China with the development of market economy. In this paper, I try to clarify a part of the transfiuration of the society in the minority region investigating some cases of the ethnic Mongols in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, especially on the point of language and education.

　In Inner Mongolia, most of the Mongolian have been living in rural areas. However, the Mongolian moving to city area has been increasing with the development of market economic. Academic background has become to be considered as the important cultural capital, and the school enrollment ratio of the Mongolian has improved. Moreover, the Chinese language usage has risen in the ordinary life of the Mongolian, as well as in the market. On the other hand, the practicality of Mongolian language has diminished, and the number of students studied with Mongolian language has been decreasing sharply in Mongolian.

　This paper uses the data of interview investigation that executed in Khorchin District, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to approach the problem from the viewpoint of qualitative grasp on the life realities and the educational strategies. The results of this analysis are as follows. (1) The educational strategies of ethnic Mongols various very much in the Area and Stratification.(2)The increase of the ratio of Chinese language education in ethnic Mongols resulted from the expansion of economic disparity which has come from the difference among areas (urban and rural), and occupational stratifications, rather than language selection.(3) The education disparity are growing not only between the Chinese languages’ schools and the Mongolian languages’ schools, but also among each languages’ schools.(4) Unlike literary, oral Mongolian language has inherited in Some Mongolian families across the Areas and Stratifications.

　Today, the aspect of “Shequ” is more important than “Work-unit” in discussing the policy in Beijing. “Work-unit” is out of date, owing to a flowof population into Beijing, then Shequ is introduced. This paper refers some findings of community theory that Shequ does not improve community consciousness. Thus so far, some researches of Shequ insist that Shequ is not always community because of lack of cooperation from interviewed data.

　But we found that inhabitants’ participation - self administration - in Shequ improve consciousness of satisfaction with environmental policy in Shaqu by using 693 data analysis. And public policy is not related to consciousness of satisfaction. Then, Shequ has a character of community because inhabitants’ participation connect consciousness of satisfaction.

　At the same time, however, consciousness of satisfaction are formed by authoritarian attitude. Shequ is made and controlled by Chinese Government, therefore, it is said that authoritarian person would cooperate with Shequ policy. That is to say, Shequ is new authoritarian communities. From data analysis, it is examined that this view is correct. But, public policy is not related to authoritarian attitude. Then, both authoritarian attitude - obedience to government - and self administration improve consciousness of satisfaction with environmental policy in Shaqu. The consideration about the Shequ community connects to consciousness of satisfaction in contrast to public policy.