The objective of this study is to clarify how the nature as well as the contents of a dinner time talk between parents and their children has changed over the years. The children under study are those in elementary school and junior high school. For this purpose, the junior high school students' perception of dinner conversation was surveyed and compared to the results obtained of elementary school children. The results are as follows : 1) Junior high school students have conversation with parents less frequently than when they were elementary school students. The percentage of the students who feel happy or useful about dinner conversation is becoming lower. 2) Overall, the conversation seems to be centered around their entrance examinations; more specifically, their academic achievement and future aspirations. The subjects such as their school life, episodes in their younger days, and political and economic issues are less frequently taken up. 3) Among those students who feel happy and useful about the dinner time talk with parents, the junior high school students would want to talk more about subjects such as their academic achievement in connection with their future, social issues, and things about their parents. 4) There is more significant relevance between the children's image of their parents and the contents of conversation than when they were elementary school students.

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The natural dyes of 21 green-dyed silk fabrics called Meibutugire and 11 kinds of Kyoto collection fabrics made during the Edo era were identified by absorption spectra of extracts taken from each fabric. The following results were obtained. 1) All the blue dyes on the samples were natural indigo. 2) The identified yellow plants and the mordants used were as follows : 19 were dyed with amur cork tree and aluminum-after mordanted, 6 were dyed with bayberry and aku-after mordanted, 2 were pomegranate and aluminum-after mordanted, 1 was pomegranate and aku-after mordanted, 2 were milobalans and aku-after mordanted, and 2 were unidentified. This result means that most of the samples were dyed with amur cork tree with aluminum-after mordanting. 3) From the CIE L^*a^*b^* values of dyed fabrics with these dyes, the color of amur cork tree and eulalia gave a greenish yellow color and the gardenia gave a bright reddish yellow color. Therefore, amur cork tree was preferred for green dyeing, while the gardenia was not appreciably used; rather pomegranate and bayberry were used.

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This paper deals with the actual conditions and awareness of neighboring communication. The author conducted a questionnaire survey of the inhabitants of the detached-type housing areas in which were found detached houses, terrace houses and public housing. The results are as follows : Those living in the detached-type houses go outdoors more often than those in high-rise housing. Between thirty and forty percent of males and 60-70% of females have close relationship with their neighbors. Those enjoying a roadside chat are greater in number in the detached-type housing area. It is common for the inhabitants of the terrace house and public housing to exchange greetings with their neighbors because their houses are structurally regarded as one unit. Neighboring communication generally starts from children or at the inhabitants organization level. The doorway or the street thereby is the place for chat. The inhabitants seem to be in need of a daily community space such as a bower, a rental vegetable garden or benches. Relationship is not necessarily close among the immediate neighbors. Between seventy and eighty percent of inhabitants would rather have relationship with those having common interest although they may not live in the immediate neighborhood. The most popular form of neighboring communication is represented by exchanging souvenirs from trips, keeping deliveries while consignees, neighbors, are not at home, or sharing food. A form of enjoyable communication such as going out together can take place by two households not in the immediate neighborhood. Opinions for and against neighboring communication is just about equal in number.

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In the Kishi and Arida valleys of Wakayama Prefecture, it is common to find farmhouses with a compacted earthen room which is partly furnished with a raised floor area. This raised floored area is called the agarito in these districts. This agarito is used in everyday life as a space for receiving guests, and also used, on the occasions of ceremonies, as an extension area of the zashiki, the Japanese formal style guest room. This paper aims to trace the formation process of the agarito and to clarify the reasons for its formation. The agarito does not have a long history. It first appeared in upper class houses during the Meiji era. During the Taisho era, it found its way into middle-class farmhouses and a house plan with the agarito incorporated was employed for new houses. The main factors for the development of the agarito were the local tradition of having the daidokoro space expanded into the earthen floor room, and the traditional local practice of using the daidokoro space for receiving guests in addition to its normal use as a family gathering place.

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This paper is a part of the comparative studies concerning living information available for university students in two different areas, Tokyo Metropolis and Akita City in northern Japan. The authors will examine an appropriate medium to enhance satisfaction with the information they obtain. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 1998 on 618 university students in the two areas concerning media utilization. By principal component analysis on the basis of the media application, twenty-three pieces of living information were classified into two principal components, consumption/culture and district/administration. The cumulative proportion thereof was 93.8 %. The media constitution of the former classification was mainly occupied by magazines including those solely related to information, while that of the latter classification was mainly occupied by mass media. Based on the characteristics of media and those of information contents obtained from the survey, the authors propose some new subjects to be studied from the viewpoints of media characteristics as well as the characteristics of information contents.

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The aim of the present study is to examine how fathers' and mothers' sex cognitions influence their sex education at home by focusing on their attitudes toward intercourse. Analytic models are 188 pairs of fathers and mothers who have junior high school students. Findings are as follows : In each sex cognition contained in 5 portions, mothers are more denial and ascetic than fathers. There is a great difference in attitude between fathers and mothers toward the affirmation of pleasure and a view that women are instrumental to sexual satisfaction for men. On the mothers' side, the section of ascetic necessity is closely related to the portions of affirmation of pleasure and men tend to see women as sexual targets. About 50% of both fathers and mothers hesitate to discuss sexual matters with their children. Unexpectedly, there are many parents who can keep their composure when a love scene goes on the air while they watch TV with their children. In addition to this fact, 50% of mothers are also able to keep their composure. The same number of items, 5 out of 10, was chosen respectively by fathers and mothers as the item that should be picked up as contents of sex education at both school and at home. However, these contents of each portion that should be taken in at school and at home show contrast with each other. There are only 2 or 3 items that actually parents could take in and deal with their children. Both fathers' and mothers' facts show that there is a close relationship between an educational need and what is actually taught at home. In the latter, it is directly related to the fathers' reluctance toward a talk related to sex, while it is indirectly related to the mothers' awareness of the necessity of sex education at home. Moreover, in their sexual cognition, there is a relation between the awareness of ascetic necessity and the reluctance or resistance to having a talk on sex.

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Onion was fried in 10% its weight of oil for a long time until brown. Onion soup was then prepared from the fried onion. The relationship between the frying time and color, taste, smell and texture was examined for both the fried onion and onion soup. During the process of frying, the characteristic stimulus of the onion disappeared, and the taste and smell changed in order to sweet, aromatic, sour, bitter, and crispy. The glucose and total free sugar contents both decreased. The onion soup and fried onion required a different taste and smell, and it was necessary to obtain the best soup flavor by frying the onion for longer than is required of fried onion as food. The onion in the soup become softened after being fried until crisp. The strength of the sweetness of the fried onion did not agree with the sugar content.

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The bioavailability of niacin in instant coffee was investigated by using weaning rats fed with a niacin-free and tryptophan-limited diet. The growth rate was significantly improved by supplementing instant coffee powder to the niacin-free and tryptophan-limited diet, and the niacin coenzyme levels, NAD and NADP, in the blood and liver were significantly increased. The urinary excretion of nicotinamide and its catabolic metabolites, N¹-methylnicotinamide, N¹-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, and N¹-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide, were significantly increased by the addition of instant coffee powder. These results suggest that instant coffee contains very useful precursors of pyridine nucleotide coenzymes to mammals.

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The purpose of this study is to reveal the nature of the consumer problems experienced by women's university students and to analyze how these problems, the behaviors of the consumers, and the consumers' personality traits are interrelated. This study also examines the effectiveness of the consumer education at university level, and suggests ways to improve the consumer education so as to raise students' awareness and produce consumers capable of making appropriate decisions based on their own value systems. The results are as follows : 1. Ten percent of all students surveyed experienced some sort of serious consumer problem. Cosmetic purchases and aesthetic services accounted for the largest share where dishonest business practices were involved. 2. Students' unrealistic attitudes toward purchases on credit contributed to impulse purchases. 3. Students who are not independent or reluctant to decline an offer tended to be drawn into a problematic situation at the time of signing a contract. 4. Ninety percent of respondents have been given consumer education, and of those, seventy percent stated that they were given consumer education at their high school home economic class. 5. Many of those who were given consumer education in university demonstrated greater understanding of what could lead to serious consumer problems.

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