The rainy season in 1732 persisted for some 50 days. In the intercalary month of May, it rained day after day. Around May 10th, there was heavy rainfall resulting in extensive flood damage. Fortunately however, as the rain fell comparatively early, it was possible to minimize the damage by replanting the seedlings and also by switching to dry field farming. Following the rainy season, rainfall was moderate but the weather was unstable with thunderstorms, mixed sunshine and rain, and drizzles frequently occurring, lowering temperatures. The presumption is that the unfavorable conditions which had continued since the planting of the rice plants resulted in their feeble growth.
There was an abnormal outbreak of planthoppers immediately following the end of the long rainy season and it was widely believed that this outbreak of planthoppers was related to the prolonged rains. However, recognition of the insect outbreak was based on theories of natural causes and the “In-yo-Gogyo-setsu” (Yin-yang and the Five Elements). Naturally, it was concluded that the extended rain had caused air borne planthoppers to arrive in great numbers. The presumption is now that the scant sunshine and high humidity prevailing during June and July, together with the growing conditions of rice plants, resulted in even heavier damage by the planthoppers.
In the Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku districts, all private and Shogunate domains sent in urgent warnings (notifications) concerning the outbreak of planthoppers to the Shogunate government. Even when we examine the detached territories, we find that it was only the Mimasaka domain of the Annaka Clan that failed to send in a notification. In the Kinki district, 21 private clan domains (out of 57) and 11 magistrates' offices of the Shogunate domains (out of 15) sent in urgent warnings. The majority of the private domains in Kyushu also sent in their notifications at an early date. With respect to the private domains in Chugoku and Shikoku, the periods when notifications were sent in differed between the western and eastern halves of the districts assuming that a line is drawn from north to south down the center of these two districts. Notifications from private domains in the eastern parts of the Chugoku and Shikoku districts were sent in a at a later date as was the case with the Kinki district. Their notifications were sent in late because it was after harvesting that they realized than the damage was far worse than first expected.
In Kyushu, abnormal insect damage caused by white-backed rice planthoppers occurred from the beginning of June. The Omura domain suffered severe damage in early June, and similar damage, the “Kabudae” phenomenon, struck the Isahaya and Saeki domains in mid-June with the result that these three domains resorted to switching to dry field farming. In Westen Japan, abnormal insect damage had occurred in almost all areas by mid-July. Particularly in villages in the Suo Hagi and Aki Hiroshima domains, rice crops were completely destroyed in a matter of a few days around July 15th. This date coincided with the period when late rice formed ears. The damage suffered during this period was that caused mainly by brown rice planthoppers. Shiinoki Village of the Chikuzen Akizuki domain experienced damage from both white-backed planthoppers and brown rice planthoppers. However, around July 11th the principal cause of rice plant damage changed from white-backed to brown rice planthoppers.
Discovery of the oiling method to exterminate planthoppers marks an epoch in the history of agriculutral techniques of the modern age, but there is as yet no established theory concerning this method. Information on the oiling method spread primarily around the Fukuoka domain, the Omura domain and the territory controlled by Hitadaikan. In the Fukuoka domain, the villages were notified to adopt the oiling method as a “divine message from the Tenman-sama.”

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In former geographical studies, the regional disparities of education levels were little emphasized in Japan. But education levels and locations of educational institutions and their inflow areas cannot be examined separately. Also, the disparities of education level are closely related to that of social level and economic conditions. So the regional disparities of education levels are closely related to those of social level and economic conditions. Therefore the regional disparities of education level between core and peripheral regions correspond with that of economy which are closely connected with the social level. Furthermore, to understand the regional disparities it is important to study the distribution of educational opportunities.
The purpose of this paper is to make clear the regional disparities and longitudinal change in education levels in Japan and to analyze mechanisms of regional disparities.
The results obtained are summarized as follows;
1) The location of institutions of higher education tended to be concentrated in larger cities, especially in core regions of Japan, such as the southern Kanto and Keihanshin metropolitan areas. The national educational policy played an important role in this location.
2) In peripheral regions, students who wish to go to colleges go out to core regions because of the small capacity of institutions of higher education in their own region. On the contrary, core regions absorbed them. These processes created the great regional disparities in the number of undergraduate students between core and peripheral regions.
3) Return migration of university graduates decreased the disparities of higher education level between core and peripheral regions. But the regional disparities of job opportunities and quality of jobs made students stay in the core region and migrate to the core region. These processes made the higher educated concentrate in the core region.
4) Since the 1970s, the institutions of higher education have increased in the peripheral region assisted by the location policy of institution of higher education.
So the capacity of students in higher education increased. And job opportunities were enlarged in the peripheral region. So the regional differences in educational level decreased. Nevertheless, the higher educated still tend to leave peripheral areas, and the core areas continue to absorb them. This shows us that the mechanisms of increasing regional disparities are still at work.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the evolution of employment structure of the rural hill region in Himi, Toyama Prefecture. While previous studies of the employment structure in rural areas have been concerned with plains and mountains, they have largely neglected hills. This paper analyses the changing processes of agriculture and other economic activities in Shiura and Tsuboike settlements, located on the Hodatsu Hill area.
The evolution of the employment structures in both settlements consists of three stages, although the shift from one stage to another proceeded faster in Shiura. The first stage continued until 1960 in Shiura, and until 1965 in Tsuboike. In this stage, the farmers were engaged in side businesses such as peddling, charcoal and dried persimmon production with the resources in their settlements to supplement agricultural income from rice production. The second stage lasted between 1960 and 1975 in Shiura, and between 1965 and 1980 in Tsuboike. In this stage, the farmers began to work on a daily wage basis, although rice production continued. A land improvement project in Shiura and a main road improvement in Tsuboike offered them job opportunities. The third stage started in 1975 in Shiura, and in 1980 in Tsuboike. The progress of farming mechanization and the increased employment opportunities lead to many full-time business laborers. The change in the employment structure of Shiura was five years earlier than that of Tsuboike. After 1960, the employment structure in the two settlements changed from the combination of agriculture and side businesses in the settlements to the dependence on commuting to the cities on the plain for full-time business labor.
A rapid agricultural mechanization was feasible in Shiura, located at the foot of hill, because of the better access to cities and the job opportunities created by the land improvement project in 1966. By contrast, the modernization was slower in Tsuboike because of the late road improvement and the difficulty in commuting, especially during snowy seasons. The time lag between the two settlements reflects a regional expansion process of full-time business employment from the Toyama Plain to the Hodatsu Hill.
By improving the roads and the agricultural land, the settlements on the hill could change their employment structure into that on the plain more easily than mountain settlements. While full-time business labor dominates in the two settlements, such side businesses as peddling and dried persimmon production and unstable daily labor also continued. The farmers must combine various activities to earn a sufficient livelihood, because they have only small areas of farmland. The combination of various activities characterizes the employment structure of the rural hill settlements. This character reflects the geomorphological and locational features of the hill areas between the plain and the mountain.

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