Street trees in Japan are beginning to be renewed in the face of various problems caused by the enlarged diameter of trees as well as aged trees. In order to promote the renewal without attenuating the value of the current street trees, it is necessary to construct a method that improves the accuracy of tree assessment by employing data easily obtained in Japan and parameters optimized for Japan. In this study, we analyzed the tree structure and estimated tree compensation values based on the tree soundness research data for the street trees in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture. In addition, we quantified and monetized the ecosystem services provided by the street trees by estimating 1) carbon storage, 2) carbon sequestration, 3) air pollutant removal, 4) health incidence and medical cost reductions, and 5) rainwater runoff reduction. As a result, the total number of trees analyzed throughout the city turned to be 8,796, comprised of 100 species. For reference purposes, the estimates are: compensation values of about 770.52 million yen,1) 1,377 tons, about 28.47 million yen,2) 90.0 tons, about 1.86 million yen/year,3) 961.1 kg/year,4)26.5 cases/year, about 11.58 million yen/year, and5) 8917.7 m³/year, about 6.41 million yen/year.

Conservation and Utilization Agreement, prescribed in the Act on Special Measures for the Promotion and Development of Okinawa, is a rule that is autonomously formulated by local tourism businesses and is further enacted after the approval of the governor of Okinawa Prefecture. So far, eight Conservation and Utilization Agreements have been approved. On comparing its operational status with similar systems, this system of rulemaking has proven to be extremely useful. This study attempts to examine the effectiveness as well as shortcomings of this system by analyzing the actual configurations and practical implementations of these eight agreements, based on the information obtained from interviews and other forms of survey. The results confirm that the system is effective in 1) limiting volume of use; 2) general applicability to different areas; 3) monitoring effectiveness among stakeholders; and so on. Meanwhile, the results also highlight issues related to 1) the limits of legal binding and effectiveness; 2) preparatory measures concerning overuse and improper use; 3) reducing the burden on businesses by coordinating with local stakeholders; and so on. Even though this study recognizes the existence of certain shortcomings, it highlights the effectiveness of this system. Furthermore, this study proposes the application of a similar legal system to other parts of Japan, despite it being specifically designed for Okinawa Prefecture.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes that are occurring in the normative views peculiar to reclaimed land and that looks through the axis, and to identify the factors that are contributing to these changes. First, Viewpoints were set where roads and drains intersect with embankments in Tsuda-naiko lagoon reclaimed land. The plan composition, land use, cross-sectional composition, and landscape composition as seen from the embankment were investigated and analyzed at each site. The results revealed the following about the changes that were occurring. Firstly, the presence of obstructing elements and the loss of the axis line made it impossible to see through the axis line. Secondly, with regard to the landscape overlook, the presence of three-dimensional elements around the axial line prevented the view of the field. In addition, the reduction in elevation differences caused differences in the view of the fields. With regard to the symmetry of the fields, there was a lack of symmetrical viewpoints due to the disappearance of the fields and the emergence of three-dimensional elements. For the slopes that existed on the roads, the visual effect was lost due to the loss of the slope.

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that contributes to environmental conservation. However, in Japan, the roles of Eco-tour guide workers for environmental conservation is unclear. On the other hand, the role of assistants to support Park Managers (Park Rangers) is clearly defined. This study summarized the expected roles of eco-tour guide workers based on the literature surveys and the support system of Park Rangers in Japan (Natural Park Instructor, Park Volunteer, Green Worker, Active Ranger). As the result of this study, Japanese eco-tour guides workers are expected to have 6 roles for environmental conservation; 1) instruction to tourists, 2) monitoring of tourists, 3) survey of natural environment, 4) providing information to Park Rangers, 5) facility repair, 6) cleaning.

Wazuka town is located in the southeastern part of Kyoto prefecture and is known as a tea plantation production area. The landscape created by the livelihood has been inherited. This study aimed to show the visual characteristics of the tea plantation landscape in Wazuka town from the viewpoint of visitors and obtain basic knowledge on the enhancement of landscape planning and revitalization of suburban rural area. First, based on the impression evaluation of the tea plantation landscape through a photo projective method, factor and cluster analyses were performed. The first factor was interpreted as the “openness” and the second factor as the “uniqueness”. Second, in classifying landscape photographs, four types were shown: high openness, high uniqueness, moderate openness and uniqueness, and low openness and uniqueness. Third, the relationship between the types of landscape photography and landscape components was analyzed. In conclusion, it was shown that the tea plantation occupancy rate is approximately 60％ or more as a landscape, which has the uniqueness of a tea plantation. Moreover, it was shown the uniqueness of a tea plantation, in cases of the upward view and where the tea plantation occupancy rate is high on the slope, regarding the landscape where the tea plantation occupancy rate is less than 60％.

This article presents the spatial changes in Tsukigase plum grove, which would have changed considerably due to the decline in demand for ‘Ubai’ (a type of plum artifact) after the beginning of the Meiji era. The distribution of plum grove at the beginning of the Meiji era is shown in the 1887 map, and that of plum grove during the Taisho era is shown in the 1921 map. By overlaying these maps and the topographic map on the GIS, changes in plum distribution at Tsukigase from the early Meiji to the Taisho era are clarified. Significant plum losses occurred in Nagahiki, Momogano and Tsukise, while losses in Oyama and Dake were smaller. While plum trees were shrinking, the number of visitors has increased since around 1885. However, from the perspective of visitors, it may be said that efforts to keep the plum trees along the main road to visit and in the view range from major viewpoints might keep the Tsukigase plum grove worth visiting until the time of Taisho era.

We studied the species composition of birds and presence of forest birds in the urban matrix within Kyoto City. Sampling sites of green spaces were extracted from a satellite image taken by SPOT 7 for a mesh size of about 250 m. In total 32 meshes were used as the sampling sites. Bird surveys were conducted five times each during the breeding season from May to June 2017 and the wintering season from November 2017 to February 2018. The results of principal component analysis showed that the amount of green space in and around the mesh affects species composition of birds during the breeding and wintering seasons. Model selection by GLMM showed that coverage of trees in the mesh was significantly positively related to the occurrence of forest birds during the wintering and breeding seasons. Although the number of confirmed forest bird species was smaller than that of the surrounding patches, species composition in the urban matrix within Kyoto City was different from that in the matrix within other cities.

This study focused on local policy regarding canal water conservation of Kanazawa City. The purpose of this study was an analysis of the impact made by the content of deliberations held to coordinate multifunctional use and management of the water on actual conservation standards and maintenance operations. Research methods included analyzing meeting minutes of the water conservation council and fact-finding interviews held in Kanazawa City. With respect to multifunctional use, conflicts over the conversion of canal water from agricultural use to urban use, as well as between creating habitat for fauna versus scenic and citizens’ use were deliberated. Conservation standards were developed, and maintenance operations were implemented by coordinating around these conflicts. The study also analyzed the content of deliberations concerning coordination between usage and management of the canal water and site-specific conservation of canal locations, and the impact of those deliberations on the conservation standards.

In recent years, integrated landscape approaches are gaining attention as an effective policy concept to maintain biodiversity and human well-being in the secondary natural environment. This study ascertained the current status and issues related to recognizing and efforts to implement this concept for Japan's natural environment governance. The study first compared the relationship between this concept and the legal system through a literature review. Following which a questionnaire survey addressed to the Ministry of the Environment, Japan was conducted by the study to analyze the current status and issues related to implementing integrated landscape approaches. As a result, the study found that (1) while this concept has not been widely understood, there are many similar ongoing efforts; (2) there are legal system based efforts and also voluntary efforts as well; and (3) stakeholder participation, consensus building, securing of financial budget and human resources issues are challenges faced for effective implementation. Also, the result indicated additional supports are needed, including strengthening secretariat functions and sharing best practices to promote effective implementation.

The present research focuses on “Engeiko” (1889) by Yokoi Tokifuyu, the first Japanese garden history text. Popular from the time of its publication throughout modern Japan, “Engeiko” has received mixed criticism based on later discoveries that have updated the knowledge on garden and garden texts. Through a careful reading and a thorough analysis of the text in connection with the relevant literature and the background of its publication, I reached the following main conclusions. First, in “Engeiko”, Yokoi Tokifuyu mentions as many as 103 gardens and 177 texts (from garden textbooks to poetry collections), providing valuable information on the way gardens and garden texts were understood in the middle years of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Second, “Engeiko” shows a revolutionary approach to the historical discourse, in which the intention is to summarise the characteristic features of the gardens built in each historical period and identify the predominant garden styles. This approach is still common in today’ s Japanese garden history discourse, and in this paper it was named “periodical style discourse”. Based on the above, we can conclude that “Engeiko” plays an essential role in understanding the garden literature and craft, both in the Meiji period and today.

This research is aimed at the construction of “Sponge City”, which is solving China’s water environment problems, so that the policies and the actural situation in applicable methods of 30 pilot cities could be clarified. Collecting the City Construction Technical Guidelines of Sponge City by each ministry and city a literature survey and an interview survey were conducted. First, the utilization rates of the applied methods described in the guidelines were calculated and categorized and discussed according to the different natural and social conditions in which each city is distributed. Among the 22 applicable methods, six were most commonly used in each city: pervious pavement, sunken greenbelt, rain garden, bioretention cell, stormwater wetland and grass swale. These six methods, are most adopted in each city. The construction of sponge cities varied in construction measures and application methods depending on the regional climate. In the northern region, the emphasis was placed on measures of infiltration, storage, purification and use of rainwater, while in the northwest region, water storage and urban water replenishment were used, etc. On the other hand, no clear differences were found in application methods depending on the size of the cities.

In this study, we investigated the avian species composition at block parks in Kyoto City, and clarified variation of avian species composition appearing at block parks and environmental factors with distance from the large-scale habitats. As a result of the investigation, many urban avoiders and urban adapters appeared at block parks within 200m from large-scale habitat. Within 200-500m, urban avoiders decreased and urban adapters and urban exploiters mainly appeared. At block parks of more than 500m away, urban adapters decreased, and urban exploiters mainly appeared. At block parks within 250m from the large-scale habitats, the green coverage ratio within a small area around the block park had a positive effect on the urban avoiders. At block parks within 250-500m, the green coverage ratio in the block park had a positive effect on urban adapters. At block parks more than 500m away, the green coverage ratio within the wide area around the block park had a positive effect on urban avoiders. In order to improve avian species diversity, priority developments of block parks are improving the green coverage ratio in block parks in the area within 200-500m from the large-scale habitats and increasing the green coverage ratio within the wide area around the block park in the area more than 500m away.

In recent years, a number of nurseries have been established in urban parks. These nurseries can be expected to solve the issues of park management (here in after, called PM) through assisting in various operations. In this study, we analyzed the impact of maintenance activities conducted by nurseries in the functioning of urban parks and clarified the roles that they can play in PM. Questionnaires and interview surveys concerning nurseries and the park managers revealed that nurseries carry out maintenance activities such as cleaning activities, flowerbed management, patrols in the park (among others), which contribute a little to reducing the burden on park managers and reducing maintenance costs. However, it became clear that issues persist - such as an increase in the workload of nurseries in carrying out maintenance.