In this paper the term place image is used in its broadest sense to mean all kinds of mental imagery related to a certain place. The recognition of a place is to relate place images with that place. The author defines the idea which arises from this recognition a place. The concept of place implies' both existing space (place) and the image for this place. Therefore every life has this concept of place.
In human society, a place name existing as a sign indicates a particular place. We can recognize in this a symbolic relation between place name as significant and place as signifie. As the symbolic relation once accepted as a social norm is passed on in the social group, in mature and complicated societies, most places alreaday have place names and the society's members must learn the symbolic relations.
To recognize a place indicated by a place name is to have an image for that place. Therefore a place name not only represents a place as a part of space but causes recognition of place by connecting it with a personal place image. Now places and place names are given a variety of meanings and values by the personal place image, so we can understand the relation between man and place, and explain human behaviour by decoding these meanings. We could deal with this as a problem of interpretation of places.
Although each member of the social group has a personal place image for a given place and place name, there is a commonly held part in each place image. As a result of decoding the relation between place, place name and place image, we can communicate a common place image to each other by use of that place name. Such social place images intensify regulation by repeated use in the society. The author calls this process symbolization of place images. We use this social place image in communicating on a social level.
In Japan, place images symbolized on a national level are seen frequently and are most important. Some examples of places influenced by such symbolization are as follows:
1. Artists often make better use of existing place images in their works for communication with their audience. On the other hand, it sometimes happens that the personal place images of artists get symbolized socially through expression in their works.
2. The images of places having a figurative relation to each other can be placed in a certain system and are apt to be symbolized because of the connection of images intensitied by the association.
3. Place image often produces economic values, for example a rise in land prices or an increase in the number of tourists, by connecting with ideas having social values.
4. Once the symbolization of a place name and place image is formed, the relation is not easily broken. Therefore when there is a gap between actural conditions and the symbolized place image, it no longer represents the true content.

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The U.S. Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) in 1978, which put an end to 40 years of air transportation regulation. The author, with special reference to the ADA, tried to make clear: 1) how large an impact the ADA had on the structure of the U.S. nodal regions defined by air transportation passengers, and 2) to what extent the geographical conditions of hubs can explain the variations of the rate of change in the number of air passengers both originating and terminating at hubs before and after the ADA in the Pacific Northwest. The results of this analysis may be summarized as follows:
(1) In general, the ADA has made larger hubs develop and on the contrary, smaller hubs decline by making them compete with each other.
(2) The ADA has effected a considerable amount of change in the structure of the U.S. nodal region. For instance, the Dallas-Ft. Worth hub has become more important for five years (1978-1983) by an increase in the number of hubs, from 6 to 12, which are governed by it.
(3) Two factors are identified which have an influence upon the rate of change in the number of air passengers both originating and terminating at hubs before and after the ADA in the Pacific Northwest. They are a) the total number of air passengers at the smaller hubs which can be reached within three hours by car from each of the given hubs, and b) travel time from the latter hub to its nearest larger hub.

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[in Japanese]

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