"Ie" in this paper means a living unit which not only includes the kinship and at times non-kin relationships, but also shares a surname, property and occupation. In general, "ie" pursues the permanent continuity by the transmission of its surname, occupation and property through one of the children. These are the general characteristics of the Japanese "ie," but it has different structures and functions according to its class or social stratum. In another paper I have proposed two types of "ie"; "holding ie" and "cooperating ie."（"Presidential Address of Japan Sociological Society: Rethinking ‘ie’ and Japanese Society," Japanese Sociological Review, Vol.56, No.1, 2005.) The "holding ie" is a type which lives on the gains of land tenure, and the "cooperating ie" is a type whose livelihood is based on the cooperation of the members of "ie" as might be found in agriculture.
　　Shonai region in Yamagata Prefecture is one of the most prominent rice-producing districts. In the days before the postwar land reform it was famous for its large scale landowner-system which had developed from the middle-Edo period (1603-1867), and flourished in the Meiji era (1868-1912). The Matsuzawa family discussed in this paper had belonged to the samurai warrior class in the early-Edo era, but thereafter became farmers in the Shonai region, working hard and accumulating more and more land. As a result, the Matsuzawa family became a large landowner possessing about 100 hectares in the Meiji era. Therefore, the "ie" of the Matsuzawa family in the Meiji era was transformed into the "holding ie." However, the Matsuzawa family had continued to live in the rural community, and cultivated the field by their own management, and in that sense it can be said that the Matsuzawa family in the Meiji era also had the character of the "cooperating ie."
　　This paper aims to clarify the structure and function of the Matsuzawa family, a large landowner's "ie," specifically the status and roles occupied and played by the members of "ie," including men and women, for the continuance and the prosperity of the Matsuzawa family.

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　　The purpose of this paper is to examine a meaning of preservation of folk rituals. In Japan, not a few traditional rituals are held in depopulated rural areas where the communities themselves are having difficulty to remain. Meanwhile, the traditional rituals, which originally were a part of people's daily life, have been attempted to preserve as important cultural heritage or tourist attractions. Thus, the traditional rituals are encouraged to show more people and last as long as possible. However, as is often the case with cultural heritage, the more intentionally they try to preserve their traditional rituals, the more alienated from the rituals they become. What does the “preservation”mean for the people who actually perform the rituals?
　　This paper refers to a small community which refused to “preserve” their traditional dance, Taiko-odori. Because of severe depopulation, their dance was to vanish in near future. Hence their neighbor communities suggested to “preserve” the Taiko-odori by increasing the members of dancers and performing it altogether.
　　Although the Taiko-odori used to be often performed outside of the community, they refused this suggestion. Paradoxically, the community's decision was to perform the Taiko-odori by themselves until when the performers decrease to two as their ancestors' tradition. For the people in this severely depopulating community, the preservation of their traditional ritual was not to merely prolong the history of the dance nor to increase the performers, but to vanish it by themselves in near future. As a conclusion, even if the traditional rituals were valuable enough to attract tourists or to be preserved as cultural heritage, they cannot be essentially preserved when a social order of performer community is invaded.

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　　This paper is study of how the environment of mountain village area has been transformed by public works of regional development. It is clarified by focusing on following two points: the first point is what kind of social power relations formed local environment. The second point is what local environment was formed under those social power relations. It can be considered that structure of hegemony in regional development and formation of local environment are closely related each other. The case of Nishiyama area in Shiramine Village is targeted here. Land use of this area was changed twice by public works of regional development after shifting cultivation (subsistence activity based on “traditional” relationship between people and nature). The first is agricultural development centered on sericultural project as regional development project. The second is environmental conservation and restoration. These are environmental transformation frequently brought about drastic and severe environmental change.

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