The Tokyo Metropolitan Community Medical Plan was formulated to contribute toward the construction of a medical care provision system based on 2025 objectives. The Islands Community Healthcare Concept Coordination Meeting was established in 2017 as a conference for the islands’ communities, which are collectively grouped as one of Tokyo’s secondary medical areas. I evaluated the prospects of medical care for Tokyo’s island communities based on the published minutes of the meeting from the beginning to the 7th. A wide range of issues was discussed, from emergency systems to temporary staffing, but the central issue was related to medical cooperation. In particular, various opinions related to discharge support, information sharing, and home-transfer support were voiced. To enhance information sharing, opinions were exchanged on a range of measures, from the utilization of the web conferencing system introduced in 2010 to the construction of network systems. The geographical characteristics of each island and problems in their individual communities were also introduced and discussed, especially those related to home-based medical support. In addition, residents’ other medical issues, such as those related to cancer treatment, were also discussed. Interactive and lively discussions are required to continue evaluating the delivery of medical services, and meetings serve as a platform to exchange opinions for a better future for the medical care of those living on the islands. In order to fully meet the future role of our hospital as a core hospital for the islands, I would like to provide effective feedback to the hospital and strive to improve the system.

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In this study, the changes in natural utilization in the forest area of Sumiyo Town and the changes in residents’ awareness of nature are clarified. In the center of the Sumiyo Town, the Takabachi Mountains line, which forms the boundary between the two parts of the town, is located. And there are seven roads around the line. The roads are used for human traffic, forestry, and management of facilities built by Sumiyo Town. The natural environment around the roads was a part of the common living environment for the residents. Although the forest area was familiar to the residents, it had no use value except for the period when it was used for forestry. The awareness of nature among the residents of Sumiyo Town has changed due to the promotion of the registration of the Amami Islands as a World Natural Heritage site and the fact that the town became a target of tourism. The residents of Sumiyo Town recognize nature through the externally given value of World Natural Heritage. Then, with the development of the night tour, they have become aware of the preciousness of nature through the Amami rabbit. From here, the residents of Sumiyo Town have two views of nature: one given to them by the outside world, and the other mediated by the Amami rabbit. The former was not acquired by themselves, and the latter was not the result of direct experience with nature. In other words, both are based on indirect recognition. This dual indirectness is a major characteristic of Sumiyo residents’ view of nature.

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The village-level ritual prayers in the Ryukyu Islands have been performed by the female priests called Noro or Nigami. Most research about the priestess on this island had been focused on their roles, tenures, and selection processes. And also, facts and connection between priest and priestess have not been investigated because the priestesses have treated as symbolic roles. In this paper, as a stepping stone to clarify the actual situations of the priests in Okinawa, comprehensive investigation about the village-level ritual prayers has been made in the northern part of the island. In addition, the results has been analyzed their universality and distinctiveness, and the role of the male priests. The regional differences are also examined. As a result of the analysis, the priests are divided into seven categories,（1）public female priestess,（2）female priestess,（3）male priest,（4）female priestess from private citizens,（5）relatives from venerable family,（6）village officials（7）village citizens. In addition, it can be classified into 8 types:（1）,（2）,（2）＋（3）,（4）,（5）,（6）,（6）＋（7）,（7）. In most cases（mid 80％）are the village priests（1）,（2）,（3）. The most of village priests（4）,（5）,（6）are from relatively newly founded villages which are originated from samurai class antecedents or divided from the old villages. Firstly,（1）public female priestess has been found in the north part of 30 to 40％,（2）female priestess was found in 80-90％. There was no regional difference. This is an important achievement in understanding the placement criteria of （1） by the royal government. Therefore, the periphery propagation theory for this result is not an effective methodology. Secondly, all 42 cases of（3）male priests are exist as pairs of（2）female priestess. Their role names, Shidu and Shidugami are not common names but there are many other variations. The cases of（2）female priestess in the north are distinctively more than the south. The regional difference is positive and the Periphery Propagation Theory is an effective methodology. Therefore, this result provides the clues of historical transition. There are two possible reasons can be stated. One possible reason is that there were male priests as an originated style in the north part from ancient times, the other was there were a lot of male priests on the north side of the north part. Accordingly, the first possibility is reasonable focusing only on the island of Okinawa. However, considering entire the Ryukyu Islands including Sakishima, the southern part of islands, there are seldom male priests. Thus, peripheral propagation theory is not applied as distant coincidence is not completed. A further analysis should be conducted in the south-central Okinawa Island and the Amami Islands in order to clarify the facts.

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The government of Japan and the Republic of Korea, are both claiming that Takeshima is one part of their territory. But when we look at the reality, that island is influenced by the latter. For this point, the Japanese government took several measures when there were actions taken by Korea, regarding to that island. In 2018, the Japanese government has presented “The Third Basic Plan on Ocean Policy”, and it was clear that an important decision was made. Japan has insisted that they had gave high priority in constructing an MDA (Maritime Domain Awareness) system, and in Japanese territorial waters, they also mentioned that Japan is going to build the system by their own assets alone. This meant that the Japanese government will take actions in order to monitor the territorial waters of Takeshima. But on the contrary, The Japanese government is having a hard time checking the projects held by the Korean government in that disputed sea area. This paper will discuss the reason, why the Japanese government is facing such difficulty in checking the waters of Takeshima, by considering “The Third Basic Plan on Ocean Policy”. The author will insist that a serious problem was embedded into it. As conclusion, this paper will mention that the plan did not take any special measures for the disputed waters from the first place. The plan has insisted that they will gain the ability to monitor the territorial waters of japan by their own assets. But the system which the Japanese government were making, was a system which could not check the reality of the nearby waters of Takeshima.

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