Minshuku are cheap lodging houses or their management in a tourist resort. Most of them are usually operated by farmers and fishers as their side work. Minshuku has rapidly developed since about 1960 with the increase of recreational demands in Japan and minshuku regions have emerged here and there. Generally they were typical agricultural or fishing regions in less-developed areas in Japan. It is an urgent subject to clarify the conditions for the forming process of a minshuku region. The aim of this paper is to present the explanatory model of the forming process of a minshuku region by describing a representative one, in order to make clear where and on what conditions the minshuku region has been formed.
Studies about minshuku are still few and requiring further systematic consideration for the studies. The author already wrote a paper which deals with the actual status of the development of minshuku in Japan. In this paper he made clear that the minshuku regions can be classified into those located at coastal bathing resorts and those located near skiing grounds. For that reason he examines here the forming process of a minshuku region, taking the case of Hakuba Mura, Nagano Prefecture, as a typical latter type.
The results are summarized in Table 6.
The period from about 1910 till world War 2 was the germinal stage for minshuku. In this period the region was primarily agricultural, for each household in this region made a living most by farming. But the agricultural productivity was very low in the case of most other snowy and cold highlands. Hence the farmers had necessarily to supplement their income by non-agricultural economic activities. Such state stimulated the emergence and development of minshuku with the spread of skiing and mountain climbing as sports, particularly since around 1930. Mountain slopes in this highland were generally wastelands or broad-leef woodlands, where the farmers were gathering grasses, straws and fuel woods. Such conditions could easily be used for making skiing grounds.
The second stage was the period from World War 2 to about 1960. In this period the development of the region as a tourist resort got into its stride. After World War 2 the development of tourism such as the installation of ski lifts was made by the local capitals earlier than other similar regions, because Hakuba Mura was already well known as a tourist resort. It attracted the Tokyu capital of Tokyo, one of the greatest private railway companies and nation-wide tourist enterprises, which played later a large role in the development of Hakuba Mura. In these circumustances the farmers have made possible the development of minshuku by the best use of various regional conditions such as the presence of silkworm rearing rooms and stables or the low productive mountain slopes, which originated in the former economic activities. On the other hand, the techniques for rice growing have advanced and the compound management of minshuku with rice growing has been settled, because of the stability of producer price of rice and the better seasonal distribution of labour.
The third stage was the period after 1961. In this period the capital investment for minshuku has been popularized and a result was differentiation of minshuku in respect to the scale of management. Various other tourist developments have also been made. Part of arable lands near the regional center have been converted to tourist facilities like parking places, sports grounds and so on by some of the minshuku which rely largely on minshuku rather than on agriculture. Many parts of wastelands and broad-leef woodlands were changed into skiing grounds and mountain cottage lands. For these developments much of the communal lands have been well utilized.

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When we discuss the problems of today on Japanese mountain villages, it is indispensable to study the conditions of ownership and utilization of forests. Typical populace owned forests in this country are the habitual common owned forests and the privately owned forests which mostly originated therein.
The habitual common owned forests are still existant vastly in Nosegawa village located in Yoshino mountain region, western Japan. Their distribution, however, is uneven. While, we scarcely find them in Nokawa and Kawanami regions where they have been divided among villagers or sold as the local mining and manufuncturing developed in modern times, they are still abundant in Se region which lacked in such conditions.
The functions of the habitual common owned forests at present in Se region are as the following.
1) They have added the private and social capitals, in the forms of the division of ownership, the distribution of profits from selling, the wages from being engaged in the afforestation by the yield-sharing with the public corporation, the various forest products and so on.
2) The institution about, and the cooperation work of, the habitual use and management of them have contributed to the maintenance of the traditional village organization and the social solidarity. But, it is recognized that that out-of-date institution has partly obstructed their rational utilization.
Their social and economic functions as such have weakened in Nokawa and Kawanami regions.
The mountain village population in this country has greatly decreased since 1955. In Nosegawa village as well, its population decreased by 63% from 1955 to 1974. But, in Se region, especially at Kitamata community, the economical benefits and social solidarity, which the habitual common owned forests provide, are contributing to prevent the excessive outflowing of villagers.

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Bastos, lies 700 kilometers northwest of São Paulo, is a municipio supported almost entirely by utilization of the surrounding monocultures. Now it is one largest Japanese colonies like Mogi das Cruzes in all Brazil. The former is the primary focus of Japanese agriculture settlement, and the latter is secondary focus in São Paulo state.
This Japanese colony deserves attention not because it is representative, but it is a facinating example of geographical change among people and land. This Japanese colony was ranked as Brazil's leading producer of cotton and silk. The most important of the changes in the postwar are associated with the decline of cotton and silk and the rise of egg production.
As a result, most of the Japanese had left here for other colony, and the farm had gone to ruin. For the egg production, the villagers settled in the suburbs. In 1955 Bastos produced 4, 000, 000 dozen eggs, and in 1973 33, 100, 000 dozen eggs. Bastos has been known as the country of egg like the peach of Mogi das Cruzes.
Peón for the labor force came from Nordeste, and formed the favela on the west hills of Bastos. Now peóns account for more than 40 percent of the inhabitants. This form of favela has helped to increase residential segregation between peóns and Japanese in recentry years. The total population of Bastos is 12, 000, and the trend to population increase continues.
By the uses the excrement from the chikens, the colonies could plant other crop; watermelon, pineapple and walnut, on their farms. Now monoculture has gone, and polyculture is come here.
The Japanese of Bastos place a strong emphasis on education. Every family sends its boys to high school and university in São Paulo.
The Japanese farmers, who do not cultivate rice, eat rice and Japanese foods. Tea, rice and vegetables are still the favorite diet. The old generation at Bastos speaks only Japanese, but the second also speaks Japanese and Portugues freely. They form the social group of the religion and recreation of Japan. In culture and population Bastos is still a Japanese island on the Paulista frontier.

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