This research is limited to the female disabled persons whose hearing is impaired (Deaf Women), and considers the state of their family resource management that fosters their independence of life. The purpose of this research are twofold; (1) To clarify any difficulty regarding food, clothing or shelter in the lives of Deaf Women, and to explore the opportunity of life subject formation for such persons, and (2) To reconsider the "Domestic life" classification of the WHO's ICF. The research method is based on a questionnaire sent to Deaf Women by E-mail. The results are as follows: (1) The following were pointed out as problems in the lives of the deaf women who do not appear to be disabled to ordinary persons: practical household activities, conversation during meal time, child rearing, and community activities. It was part of questionnaire respondents to facilitate or overcome the difficulties. (2) It was clearly shown that it was impossible for the "Domestic life" classification of WHO's ICF to encompass the life needs of Deaf Women.

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The second report on the study to clarify the relation between "the flow of play and "daily work schedule" compares the results of study respectively made in 1987 and 2007. Both researches were based on the observation of children's actual behaviors in kindergarten and nursery school. Children do not go into play as dictated by their internal time immediately after coming to school in the morning. In other words, they would need time to shift to the play mode. Once they get into the play mode by their internal time, on the other hand, they seem to maintain the uplifting feeling for some time whether or not the scheduled activities are changed as the external time progresses. This indicates that it is important to allow children to have a morning-type lifestyle, i.e., going to bed early and getting up early. It should be noted that even 3-year-old children at preschool are able to pay attention to and accept the external time, and seem not to stick to the continuation of their play. It is found that the influence of the external time on children has become stronger in these two decades.

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Elderly women have difficulty in putting on clothing. We analyzed the motion of 71 healthy elderly women aged 65 to 99 years putting on three types of jackets (Jacket A was of normal ease, Jacket B had more ease in the back, and Jacket C had a diamond-shaped gusset in the underarm area) by first recording their motion with eight digital video cameras and then conducting three-dimensional motion analysis. The length of time it took to prepare to put the second wrist through the armhole was significantly longer when putting on Jacket A compared to putting on Jacket B. By analyzing the video images and three-dimensional locus of the upper limb, we found that some elderly subjects could not put their second wrist through the armhole in the first attempt because the wrist did not reach the armhole of Jacket A; however, when putting on Jacket B, they could pull the armhole forward and put their wrist through the armhole smoothly. A diamond-shaped gusset alone may make it easier for elderly women to slip their arm through the sleeve.

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Thread-tying tests and questionnaire surveys were conducted on 247 boys and 271 girls in elementary schools from July to November, 2007. The questionnaires asked the participants' about their frequency in engaging in play, their confidence towards play, their study preferences, and their consciousness towards making things by hand. We analyzed how their skill or lack of skill in using their fingers and hands was related to the results of the questionnaires. The results were as follows: (1) The mean number of knots made in a five-minute thread-tying test was 6.4 for boys and 10.2 for girls, showing a significant difference between boys and girls. Comparing these results with the previous results in 1995, skillfulness in fingers and hands among elementary-aged children appears to be declining. (2) Boys and girls with abundant indoor play experience tended to have higher skillfulness in fingers and hands. As their degree of confidence towards play using their hands declined compared with the results in 1995, a change in the way they play can be considered as one of the reasons for their decline of their skillfulness in fingers and hands. (3) Boys and girls with higher skillfulness in fingers and hands tended to like studies which require the use of their hands and other studies that require repetition. This tendency is more prominent among girls. (4) Sewing seems to have a mutual relationship with skillfulness in fingers and hands, abundant play experience, preference towards studies using the fingers and hands, and consciousness towards making things by hand. Therefore, it can be suggested that sewing studies can nurture positive attitudes towards various other kinds of learning and activities using the hands, as well as develop skillfulness in fingers and hands.

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Low-gel-strength agar (LGSA), which has recently been developed as a material close to gelatin in its physical properties, was used in this study to prepare samples for evaluating the factors facilitating swallowing. The subjects were assigned to two groups of 20 healthy young persons (22.1±1.7 years) and 12 healthy elderly persons (72.2±3.3 years). The physical properties of each sample were measured with a creep meter. The hardness of the tasty samples [sweet (saccharose), salty (NaCl), and sour (citric acid)] was a little higher than the samples without taste. The sensory evaluation at swallowing was assessed in respect of the LGSA concentration (hardness), taste and amount of the sample. The healthy young subjects reported that a 1.1% LGSA concentration, sweet taste, and 5.0 g amount, produced a sample that was pleasant in the oral cavity, facilitating swallowing. The healthy elderly subjects evaluated only a sweet taste, as facilitating swallowing. The results of the sensory evaluation and physical properties suggest that relative hardness (a 1.1% concentration of LGSA), sweet taste, and 5 g amount resulted in samples that were pleasant in the oral cavity, thus facilitating swallowing.

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"Notes on Confucian Household Festivities and Events," written by the scholar Shunsui Rai in ca. 1808, is an important historical document for studying Confucian household festivities conducted during the latter part of the Edo era. These notes are in three parts: house cleaning at the end of the year and ceremonies for the New Year; the schedule for each month; and the preparation and conduct of Confucian household festivities. These festivities celebrated the conjunction festival, full moon festival, auspicious day festivals (1/7, 3/3, 5/5, 7/7, and 9/9), anniversaries of ancestors' deaths, and seasonal festivals (chosai and jisai). More than 40 festivities in total were held in each year. Sake and relishes were conventionally prepared as a votive offering for the conjunction festival, tea and sweets for the full moon festival, rice porridge with seven spring herbs, side dishes and sake for January 7th, lozenge rice cakes for March 3rd, rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves for May 5th, and melon for July 7th. Seventeen ancestors' death anniversaries were celebrated going back to the great-grandparents and other relatives. Seasonal festivities were held in February and August, jisai in particular being a grand banquet to which many relatives and close acquaintances were invited. New Year's breakfast consisted of rice cakes boiled with fish and vegetables, and an event for cutting New Year's rice cakes is also mentioned in the notes. Entries on the death anniversaries of successive lords of the Hiroshima feudal clan indicate the feudalistic ideas of the Edo era.

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This study investigated the effects of camisole lining on the comfort of woolen one-piece dresses for the spring and summer seasons. We compared the comfort of camisoles made with four types of lining fabrics consisting of different fiber materials and yarn types. The clinging behavior of the lining fabric and the water absorbency property were observed with a strain gauge under both dry (without perspiration) and wet (with perspiration) conditions. Furthermore, the comfort of five one-piece dresses-four with camisoles having different lining fabrics and one with no camisole-was compared under two different wearing environments, one in a cool air-conditioned environment, the other in an environment with high temperature and humidity. The results were as follows: (1) In the air-conditioned environment, spring and summer woolen one-piece dresses with camisole linings received higher evaluations for texture and softness than those without camisole linings. However, under a hot and sweaty environment, clothing comfort deteriorated due to an increase in clinging to the skin and the humidity. (2) Tests conducted to reveal the differences in clinging behavior as determined by the moisture content of the fabrics proved that lining fabrics with smoother surfaces woven with filament yarns tend to cling to the skin more easily with sweat than lining woven with false twist or spun yarns. It can be considered that the use of certain filaments can lead to less contact area between the material and the skin and thereby less clinging to the skin. (3) Wearing tests of the one-piece dresses under different environments showed that camisoles with smooth-surfaced soft conventional cupro linings were preferred in the cooler air-conditioned environment, while linings woven with false twist yarns or spun yarns were preferable in an environment where there was more sweating. Camisoles with cupro linings of spun yarns received the highest evaluations and showed no significant difference in comfort in either environment.

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As regards the table and social manners, an investigation was made on how people have acquired their manner consciousness and behavior under what sort of situations. We dealt with three groups of people with a view to determining the factors affecting their manners. The findings of the investigation are as follows. 1. Manners tended to do disregared when there was no one around to observe their behaviors. The table manners were often neglected at the family dinner, and the social manners were ignored when they were with their friends. 2. Many people had learned the table manners from their family, while the social manners had been taught by their family and society. 3. Those having had no opportunities of learning manners had bad manners, which showed the importance of teaching manners. Family, friend, society, teachers and books are the useful tools for the acquisition of good manners. 4. The group consisting largely of those with bad manners was considered to have had less chance of enjoying meals with their family.

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