I propose a new paradigm for community development, from a small rural community in Yamagata prefecture called “Oisawa”. I have been to this small community in this forty years, and am given a new chance for investigating this site for a new project concerning the low-carbon society. The goal of this new project is realizing distributed power generation facilities using renewable energy sources in rural area, and my task is that how people in a rural community adopt this.
　　　　Looking back to the history of Japanese agricultural policy after World War Ⅱ, the pro-capitalistic way of thinking has been dominant in the 20th century. But this way of thinking brought us many inconvenient truths, and we expected the Nature to wash out those inconvenient ones. Those affected this small rural community; young people did not follow their fathers' job, so that numbers of agricultural labor forces in this community declined, proportion of the aged people increased to more than 50％. But people in this community do not think themselves to live in “a marginal area”. One of the community leaders told that they do not think they lived in a marginal area, rather they enjoyed active lives. Although they have their problems which are almost common in Japanese rural areas such as decreasing successors and increasing aged people, people in this community recognized their assets: variety of natural and historical resources, which are not measurable in monetary value. For the 21st century rural community revitalization, we need re-evaluation of values which are not measured in monetary value.

抄録全体を表示

　　　　This paper investigates the structure of Diligence in the thought of Rônô（Peasant leaders）. The thinker whom I studied this time is Ishikawa Rikinosuke（1845～1915）. He was a Rônô who played an active part in Akita in the Meiji era. His thought and behaviors exemplify diligence as an essence of thought that Rônô held at that time.
　　　　Ishikawa was one of the famous Rônô from the Meiji to the Taisho era. He is known as an ideologue of Kinken（diligence and economizing）. He directed peasants to work extremely diligently and economize even in an unhealthy and extraordinary manner. The above is the past interpretation.
　　　　However, if the concept of Yosan（Budget）is focused on, another interpretation is possible. When I reexamined it, I found that Ishikawa encouraged the peasants to make and carry out rational plans in their work. Also, his thought demanded calculatedness not only in management but also in life. It is this characteristic that this study clarifies as follows.
　　　　1）His thought should be understood in specific context. The context is condition of farm villages in Akita in the 19th century. The solution of problems that the farm villages faced was important for him. 2）The concept of Yosan was going to realize the rationalization of the farming. He denied any economical actions that were irrational and/or uncalculated. The labor value that may have hurt the health of the person himself and the family was not considered. Also, management and farming techniques had to be constantly improved on. 3）The concept of Yosan was not confined to the rationality of management. It demanded the change of a traditional lifestyle since the Edo era. Ishikawa insisted on setting life aims consciously, and thought that a human being should have an organized life aiming at attaining objectives reasonably.
　　　　In conclusion, this reexamination shows the many aspects of the meaning of diligence for Rônô.

抄録全体を表示

　　　　International marriages between Japanese men and Asian women started in rural Japan in the mid 1980's and continue up to today. This paper studies marriage migrants' adaptation and acceptance processes and the social acculturation of rural Japan. Its analysis is based on the result of the survey of foreign residents in Minami-Uonuma-shi in Niigata implemented in 2007 and the four in-depth interviews with marriage migrants there.
　　　　We find that:（1）the channels of international marriage are multiple, and its choice depends on both the stage of socioeconomic development of the sending countries; major countries of origin of women marriage migrants shifted from South Korean to China; and the gender factor is often found to be more important than economic factors for marriage migration;（2）women marriage migrants have developed their capability as an active agents of social change, contrary to the stereotype image of victims established by the media and the earlier literature in 1980s and 1990s;（3）social networks associated with child-rearing, schools, working places, women's association and neighborhood community are all important for the process of the adaptation of marriage migrants and their acceptance by their families and communities;（4）about 180 women marriage migrants（1.0％ of the households）live in the city, and their fraction is higher in the peripheral of the city with decreasing population; but international marriage is not likely to solve the problem of break of the family tree;（5）only 13 out of 45 marriage migrants plan to naturalize to Japan and some of them plan to return to their home countries when they get old or when their child-rearing is over. The last observation indicates that the level of adaptation and acceptance of women marriage migrants in rural Japan is not yet well established.

抄録全体を表示

　　　　In this paper, several studies on The Village Community in Japan are reviewed for the purpose of developing a theory of Community. Special attention was paid to studies on the self-governed villages by Hitoshi Saito and Keiji Ushiyama, a study on communities which have centered around the rice irrigation system by Yoichi Tashiro, who thoroughly criticizes the above-mentioned studies by Saito and Ushiyama, a study on Chinese rural village societies by Michitaka Kaino, and studies on villages in early modern Japan based on the theory of a socially stratified society in the early modern age, which has been dominant since the 1980s.
　　　　From the viewpoint that the village communities in Japan are historical and change with time, the present paper criticizes the irrigation village theory for its nonhistorical view and for giving exaggerated importance to the disharmony between the ‘Oaza’ （historically designated units within a community）and the ‘Nogyo Shuraku’ （rural community）. On the other hand, with regard to the self-governed village theory, present paper argues that a tradition in the caste system of early modern society, namely, an aspect of status society in rural villages, which is overlooked in the self-governed village theory, has become an important factor for sustaining modern and contemporary villages without changing their inherited structures or losing the autonomous functions which are pointed out in the self-governed village theory.
　　　　As a whole, this study tries to develop a community theory based on the self-governed village theory through its adjustment, and to clarify the framework of the study for modern and contemporary villages in Japan.

抄録全体を表示