Ama-divers are specialised to collect a certain variety of shellfish and seaweed with virtually no equipment. They have been engaged in diving in the vicinity of the seacoasts of Japan for centuries. Ama-machi is one of the well-known community of those divers situated in the present city of Wajima, at the northernmost tip of the Noto Peninsula.
In this study recent changes of fishing activities and social structure of Ama-machi are discussed, and factors affecting decrease and survival of Ama-diving are analysed.
Results are summarised as follows.
1) As a major means of fishing, diving was by far the most important in Ama-machi until 1955. During the period from 1955 to 1965 most households engaged both in diving and in rod-and-line fishing. After 1965 means of catch is diversified, and at present such various types are found as diving, gill net, trawling, long line, and round haul net.
2) Formerly a firm communal structure was characteristic of Ama-machi. The fishing village consisted of quite a few number of managements and many labourers until 1955. Since then influences of the managements gradually decreased, and more and more labourers became independent fishermen. As the communal structure began to disintegrate and made loose, villagers were organized in Ama-machi neighbourhood association, and this helps to keep the unity of the village.
3) As to the living place before 1965, the villagers, all members of the family together, used to migrate to the Hegura islet in June, returning back to Ama-machi in October. But controlled migration of the whole community ceased in 1965. Today, most of the households permanently live either in Hegura or in Ama-machi, and only a few still continue seasonal migration between the two places, staying only summer in the islet and the rest of the year in Ama-machi.
4) In all the types of fishing activities, diving at present loses the past preeminence in terms of quantity and value. Nevertheless, there are about 200 Ama-divers, all of them female in sex. Ama households, one or more members of which regularly dive, belong to the poorer class in the community.
5) In the examination of the factors affecting survival of diving, the followings can be pointed out. Certain measures are taken to preserve and increase marine resources. Organization of fishermen is formed to self-control misconducts by divers and to assure cooperation work in diving. Diving still holds an important position in the household economy of fishermen who are regarded to belong to the small income class.

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In medieval Japan a number of feudal manors were developed in certain parts of the country, and from those manors the tributes were despatched to the nobles' residences, temples, and shrines in Kyoto-Nara area and their vicinity. The interest of the author in this paper is focussed on sea-borne transportation of tributes from feudal manors in Aichi and Shizuoka areas to Ise Jingu Shrine in the present Mie prefecture, during the period from the 11th to the 15 th centuries. Since the manors in these areas were not linked directly with Kyoto, the sea-borne transportation routes have not been studied so far.
The author made an examination of the following manors. Numbers (i) to (iii) were situated in the medieval province of Totomi, western section of the present Shizuoka Prefectue, and (iv) to (vi) in Mikawa, eastern section of Aichi Prefecture.
(i) Hamana-Kanbe Manor
(ii) Miyakoda-Mikuriya Manor
(iii) Kamata-Mikuriya Manor
(iv) Atsumi-Kanbe Manor
(v) Akumi-Kanbe Manor
(vi) Irako-Mikuriya Manor
Kanbe was a kind of manors which had originally been establihed in the ancient times, from which sake wine, silk, textiles, etc. as well as rice were sent as sacred tributes to Ise Jingu Shrine. The tributes from Mikuriya manors consisted mostly of rice and fish, whereas those from Misono manors were a variety of upland field products. In any case the medieval manors were developed either on the sea-coasts or along the river courses, and it is easily imaginable that some sort of facilities for water transportation were generally available to most manors.
Through a study of selected manors, several points of interest seem to be disclosed. They are summarised below.
1) Feudal manors of Ise Jingu Shrine situated in Mikawa and Totomi most probably depended on the sea-borne transportation as a means of despatching tributes.
2) The tributes from Kanbe manors, which had been established earlier, were very much ceremonial in nature, and there remains a doubt as to actual importance of despatching goods.
3) There were several newly developed Misono manors surrounding Kanbe. Harvests in Misono were sent to storehouses in Kanbe manors to be accumulated there.
4) Each of Mikuriya manors had a group of fishermen, and these people were engaged in transporting tributed goods on board to Ise Jingu.
5) A tribute transporting system covering those manors was formed at this early stage, and dispersed manors were organised in a network which was ultimately connected with Ise Jingu.

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The expansion of built-up area in western Kobe is quantitatively analysed and mapped through trend surfaces. Two trend surface techniques, 3-variable and 4-variable trend surfaces, are fitted to the distribution of gross floor index calculated by census tract-wise.
First, by using 3-variable trend surface analysis, six cross-section surfaces are mapped at five years intervals from 1950 to 1975 (Fig. 2 a-f). Between 1955 and 1960, we find remarkable expansion of the built-up area into the southwestern suburbs, which is more adequately presented through quartic surface. From 1960, therefore, we change the degree of trend from cubic to quartic. Each map of isopleth lines lucidly explains the regional trend of expansion.
Secondly, 4-variable trend surface analysis, which unites time and space coordinates, is applied in order to consider the spatial-temporal process of expansion. Time slices over the study periods present almost same results as in case of 3-variable trend surface fitting (Fig. 4 a-f).
Regional trends are largely composed of the following three elements; the westward principal expansion from the high density core area which involves maximum in isopleth pattern, the northern mountain parts which shape minimum and work as hindrance to the advance of built-up area, and the recent construction of large-scale public housing estates which are found in southwestern parts and form newly emerged maximum.
Residuals found on the 4-variable trend surface are carefully considered from both spatial and temporal series. Various factors affect the functional characteristics of dwelling agglomeration in each census tract. The following factors, which are considered as significant to interpret the deviation from general trend patterns, are pointed out.
(1) Relative rapidity and delay in expansion of built-up area with comparison to the neighbouring tracts, which particularly explain residual occurences in temporal series.
(2) The differences in land use and residential use. Especially the high ratio of industrial area is a factor for negative residuals, and the presense of commercial area is related to positive residuals. As for residential use, high ratios of row houses and dwelling houses combined with other uses, distribution of which coincides with densely inhabited area, account for positive residuals.
(3) Moutains and relief energy as physical barriers against the expansion. This factor, however, gradually loses its hidrance effects through the progress of civil engineering technology.
(4) The development of large-scale public housing estates, which brings about the drastic changes in residual values and keep the values high and stable hereafter.
Among above factors, factor (2) is considered as most important. The effects of factor (2) on residual distribution are confirmed through principal components regression analysis (Tab. 1. and 2).
Two suggestive conclusions are obtained from the present article.
(1) We can safely say that the temporal change such as the expansion of built-up area may well be examined in a spatial-temporal system.
(2) Spatial autocorrelation problem has been curiously considered to be removed as a noise. However, spatial autocorrelation in residual distribution patterns should be positively incorporated into spatial models, for it seems to have possibility to offer new angle to interpret spatial patterns. It will open the way to overcome the limitation of trend surface analysis as a simple procedure for areal smoothing and to construct the more strict spatial model which would lead to further refining of spatial forecasting.

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