The author has researched the surface configulation of the lower plain of the Ôi River in Tôkai Region.
To realize this objective, he tries three phases of work: the first is photo and map interpretation, the second the utilization of the ancient documents and maps preserved by old houses in this area, and the last includes intensive field survey.
Conclusions are summarized as follows;
1) This plain is divided into nine landform types including alluvial fan upper, alluvial fan lower, lagoon and beach ridge.
2) Throughout many ages, this river had many distributary channels, and the volume of each channel water varied from flood to flood, and at the same time temporary channels developed out of original ones.
3) The shore-line was changed with the shifting of river course. For example, the shoreline between Tajiri and Shizunami underwent a change from concave to cuspate type.
4) In the past one thousand years, most of floods in this area were repeated near the banks of the present main stream.
5) The low bluffs that stand in the areas between 20 and 45 meters above sea level and “Sankaku Yashiki” (Triangular sites) along the abandoned courses seem to indicate the flood-danger zones and degree.
6) The remains of “Wadju” which protected the houses from flood disasters exist in some downstream parts of this fan.
7) Throughout the historical age, the area on the fringe of Makinohara Upland and slightly raised areas of fan margin, especially Fujimori village were relatively free from flood dangers as residential place.

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The purpose of this study is to present and discuss the process of the remarkable development of the textile industry and the bases of its existence, in the agricultural area of Kumihama town in the last decade, in order to make clear the mechanism of formation of cottage industry regions.
Tango district is one of the developing textile industry regions in Japan and has recently exhibited the marked increase in the number of textile enterprises; from 2117 in April 1957 to 7010 in May 1967. During this decade, many farmers beginning textile businesses as subcontract ones, the number of these farmer-manufacturers rose rapidly from 509 to 2641, which shows that, under the general labour-shortage, medium- and small-scale textile capitals find, in the agricultural area, the smaller-scale enterprisers who can manage with the lower wages.
Kumihama town is the newly-developed textile industry area, locating in the northwestern part of Tango district and has 525 textile enterprisers in May 1967, who distribute almost all over the agricultural settlements of this town. Most of these enterprisers are farmer-manufacturers weaving “wool Omeshi” crape as a subcontract domestic industry under the double controls of Nishijin brocade companies and their Tango agents.
(1) The textile industry was first introduced into Sano section of Kumihama town in 1958. In those days the agriculture of this section, depending mostly on rice and tobacco, had no promising future, while, with the Kimono boom, the subcontract system of Nishijin brocade companies was gradually spreading in Tango district. In these circumstances, in 1958 and 1959, the introduction of the textile industry into Sano section was encouraged by the government under the name of “Project of New Village Construction”, as a means of improving farmers' domestic economy. Then, 35 farmers began weaving by the loans of the Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corporation. As most of them were small-scale farmers in this section, the loans played a great role in their starting businesses.
At this first stage of introducing looms, the initiative was taken by Sano Agricultural Cooperative and Kumihama Textile Cooperative organized by these farmer-manufacturers. The former undertook to sublease the loans of the Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corporation for farmers and led them to receive orders not through Tango agents of Nishijin companies but through the Yarn Dyed Textile Cooperative (in Nodagawa town) which secured them comparatively steady trades. The latter, Kumihama Textile Cooperative, meeting with Tango agents and then excluding them with the power of organization, made efforts to protect the members' interests in transaction.
(2) Seeing that farmer-manufacturers could get a large income from their textile businesses, more and more farmers set about the business and the number of weavers newly-started were at the peak of 1962 and 1965 respectively 125 and 196.
At the expansion of the industry, the agricultural cooperative began to loan the starting and working expenses, and Kumihama Commerce and Industry Association rendered services in prevailing weaving technique, mediating various loans, and giving advices about matters of tax.
Since 1960, comparatively large-scale farmers in this town, whose income was consisted of only or mainly agricultural one, have come to start the textile manufacture.
(3) The farmers can begin weaving with comparatively small funds because-1) they own their lands and houses as the place of weaving, 2) equipments needed are only looms and their attachments owing to the development of division of labour in Nishijin textile industry, 3) subcontract system cuts down expenses of the yarn, 4) the monthly instalment sale of looms prevails in this region.

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