Japanese Journal of Human Geography
Online ISSN : 1883-4086
Print ISSN : 0018-7216
ISSN-L : 0018-7216
Volume 51, Issue 1
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
  • Yoshio SUGIURA
    1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 1-22
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by Edward Ullman in the Quantitative Revolution with special reference to the environment of American geography in the pre-to post-World War II period, using as evidence the tenor of his referee's comments on Schaefer's (1953)“exceptionalism”paper. Ullman well knew the low status of geography, underrated by scholars in other disciplines, through his experience of wartime service in World War II. In addition, he was deeply impressed by the nature of disciplinary prejudice toward human geography, in particular at Harvard University, his alma mater where he obtained employment after the war. Ullman, who had twice experienced the underratedness of geography, was thus driven to innovate the subject, make it more practical and improve its overall social visibility following the closure of the geography section at Harvard. The democratization of the Association of American Geographers after the war might well have provided a favorable environment for Ullman's endeavours in this regard.
    His drive to innovate geography never occurred suddenly in those days, but was rather rooted in the earlier concern with urban studies in terms of the functional (theoretical) perspective as an alternative paradigm to environmental determinism and/or micro regional geography. His theoretical studies, especially those on the location of cities, were quite epochmaking in prewar to wartime American geography. His early intercourse with scholars in other disciplines, such as economists and sociologists, is also one reason why his academic attitude was progressive.
    As part of the postwar trend to a significant shift in emphasis from regional geography to systematic geography, Ullman, specializing in transportation geography, conceived geography as spatial science and elaborated the concept of spatial interaction; the Chicago school, on the other hand, represented by Platt, tried to demonstrate the identity of geography with the functional regional approach, in order to compete with emerging area studies. Ullman did not readily agree with the other spatial science Schaefer had advocated at the same time, in that Schaefer's spatial science could be linked to environmental determinism and micro regional geography in terms of a naive way of thinking and a simple methodology of map overlay, respectively. In addition, this was likely to call to mind a science of static distribution which Ullman planned to overcome. Schaefer's (1953)“exceptionalism”paper, which resorted to the authority of discourses by senior German geographers in a different sense from Hartshorne's (1939) The Nature of Geography, was not attuned to Ullman's academic approach which always demanded originality. Ullman appeared to be self-confident in his spatial science since it could be more rightly located in the context of wartime to postwar American geography than Schaefer's spatial science which was based on exegetical discussions of German geography. Such discussions, which were developed in the first half of the“exceptionalism”paper, were difficult to judge for American geographers. It seems as though Ullman continued to disregard the“exceptionalism”paper throughout his academic life, as suggested by the fact that he never cited that paper.
    In any event, Ullman individually obtained research funds from the ONR, made an effort to secure necessary flow-data, and ultimately proposed a conceptual model explicating spatial interaction. Thereafter, he no longer deepened this research theme, and oriented himself toward applied research, such as regional development, in order to practice his own geography for the benefit of society. The theory-orientedness on which Ullman laid much stress was nonetheless succeeded by the Washington School headed by William Garrison, and resulted in the Quantitative Revolution.
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  • Yasuhisa ABE
    1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 23-48
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this article is to analyze the occupational structure of Chinese workers during the 1920s in Tokyo Prefecture, paying particular attention to the nature of the labor market and to the impact of local community kinship on residential patterns. The data which the author uses were obtained from the Foreign Affairs Section of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The results of the paper can be summarized as follows:
    First, the author notes that most Chinese workers were employed in the construction and labouring sectors. While the occupational structure of traditional Chinese society has been explained in terms of chain migration, the present paper approaches this issue from a political-economic view of the labor market. Thus, the author identifies the interrelations between the occupational structure of the Chinese and their labor market. At that time, heavy and chemical industrialization had occurred, infrastructure had developed and the wage levels of Japanese workers within the economy had been rising.
    Secondly, as a result, Chinese residential patterns were influenced by the localization of their labor market. Indeed, many Chinese workers were segregated in the Sumida and Ara basins. In these areas, manufacturing plants were concentrating, and a great deal of energy resources and raw materials were being imported. Therefore, low-waged labor generated the greatest proportion of their employment. Consequently, these workers lived closer to those plants and Chinese communities were formed in these districts.
    Thirdly, there were many Chinese communities other than in the Sumida and Arakawa districts. These were composed of construction workers working outside of Tokyo Prefecture and itinerant traders, for they had to live close to such persons as contractors, employers of itinerant traders, friends and so on.
    Fourthly, these concentrations of Chinese residents were reinforced by some ecological factors. For example, the occupational form of itinerant traders was based on the relationships between employers and vendors and affected their residential patterns. Thus, different groups of itinerant traders from Shandong, Zhejiang and Hokkien Provinces organized their own communities in Tokyo Prefecture.
    On the other hand, cooks and barbers tended to rely on kinship in the local Chinese community. However, some cooks and barbers worked for Japanese owners probably to obtain better working conditions. Indeed, there were approximately 500 Japanese owners of Chinese restaurants in Tokyo Prefecture and they provided the Chinese with considerable job opportunities. In addition, these factors resulted in a further dispersal of Chinese cooks.
    Lastly, the author examines how Japanese Government employment controls affected residential differentiation. During the early 1920s, it is noted that there were loopholes in the law, antipathy toward Chinese people within the Government, and a lack of integrated regulations related to their activities among Prefectures. Therefore, it can be said that employment regulations were fragmented at that time and that these in turn came to influence the occupational and residential patterns of Chinese people in Tokyo Prefecture from the late 1920s.
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  • Hiroshi MORIKAWA
    1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 49-71
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In Germany, similar to the rest of Europe, the planning of urban networks has been well-known for many centuries. However, it was in the early 1990s that the concept was introduced as a new form of planning after the market integration of the European Union. What was adopted, in a form adding to the traditional "development strategy based on central places and development axes", resulted in an epoch-making conversion of Germany's traditional Regional Planning Policy (Raumordnungspolitik). This does not mean, however, that traditional planning strategy has become outmoded and already unused, since it remains alive and with a clear definition in the 1998 Federal Regional Planning Law which also has a new emphasis on the 'sustainable development of a region'.
    Nowadays, many regional problems which single communities cannot sufficently solve have increased; for example, economic uses of land, traffic problems, tourism, cultural entertainment, and so on. Therefore, corporate works between cities or regions became necessary in order to solve such regional problems. Urban networks formed 'from the bottom' by a voluntary corporation between cities were considered to be a new and effective instrument of Land and Regional Planning since they can flexibly respond to today's rapidly changing socio-economic condition. At the same time, they can assist in reducing the cost of regional planning.
    Compared to other advanced countries, Germany has a highly balanced structure of settlements which has played an important role in strengthening competitive forces with other countries. In the future, the further development of the settlement structure based on decentralization can be expected through the networking of cities or regions. However, urban networks, unlike central places, cannot be developed everywhere within a state.
    As shown in the "Oriented Guideline of Regional Planning Policy" the aims of urban networks are different in each of three regions. In the former West-German region, they are formed in order to unburden a central city in densely inhabited areas, on the one hand, and to increase functional efficiency by the corporation among small and medium-sized cities in rural areas, on the other hand. In the former East-German region, where central place systems are not highly developed, corporate works between cities must be introduced in spite of the difficult situation. Moreover, the development of European metropolises is necessary to strengthen competitive forces in the regions of the European Union.
    In Germany, urban networks' research has been initiated and is in an experimental stage. It is expected that urban networks will be diffused to other regions of Germany after experimental research using twelve urban networks' models obtained excellent results and the law was enacted as previously scheduled.
    However, there are some problems associated with urban networks. It is questionable if each aim in various urban networks can be reached by the same planning strategy. On the other hand, it is possible for the formation of urban networks to impair the fundamental principle of German Regional Planning Policy of 'living conditions of the same value' by selecting several cities from the same hierarchical order. Since firms and enterprises are not so interested in urban networks, it is doubtful that regional disparities will increase as a result of forming a new intermediate order of urban hierarchy, even if urban networks rapidly diffuse. It seems that regional development through creating urban networks will be delimited as a special category, since the latter are not formed by actual functional linkages between cities but only by the activities of agents in cities.
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  • the Case of the West Coast of Hokkaido, Japan, 1865-1869
    Shinobu YAMADA
    1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 72-86
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In early modern Japan, fish meal made from herring was used as a fertilizer in cash crop production. Herring meal was produced in the northernmost island, Hokkaido, and shipped in kitamaebune (vessels operated by independent shippers and merchants involved in the herring trade) to ports in Honshu (the main island of Japan).
    This paper examines a shift in the system by which herring cargoes from Ezochi were collected in the Matsumaechi port town of Esashi between 1865 and 1869. Matsumaechi was the southwestern periphery of Hokkaido; it was distinguished politically from the rest of the island (known as Ezochi) during the Edo period. Esashi was the center of the herring trade on the west coast of Hokkaido.
    This study is based upon the records of Sekigawa Yozaemon, an Esashi herring-meal merchant. The Matsumae domain recognized Sekigawa as a wholesaler (Esashi ton'ya) and granted him a contract to collect commodity taxes and port charges levied on commodities and boats passing through the Esashi customs house (Okinokuchi yakusho). Accordingly, the Sekigawa records can be regarded as official documents: they offer extremely detailed information concerning the shipping of herring by-products. The study's findings, based on an analysis of the records, can be summarized as follows:
    The Esashi ton'ya had monopoly rights to herring from western Ezochi during the first half of the nineteenth century. These rights derived from their roles as supply merchants, in which they provided loans to fishers living in and around Esashi in return for exclusive access to the herring caught by their clients in western Ezochi. However, when eight villages along the northern coast of Matsumaechi between Esashi and the Ezochi border came under the direct administration of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1855, the ship owners and fishers in the villages were permitted to trade directly with other districts, including the Tohoku region and other parts of Honshu. In other words, they were allowed to fish and trade herring independently of the Esashi ton'ya. This led to an upheaval in the system of collecting herring in Esashi.
    In 1864, the eight villages were returned to the Matsumae domain, with the result that all ships from Ezochi once again had to discharge their cargoes at Esashi. Ship owners and fishers living in the eight villages opened branch stores in Esashi, through which they started selling herring meal directly to the Esashi ton'ya, without borrowing money or supplies such as nets and boats from them. At the same time, the number of kitamaebune entering from Honshu peaked: they were employed by Esashi merchants in shipping herring loads from Ezochi to Esashi. Consequently, the function of collecting herring became concentrated in Esashi once again.
    In sum, systems for collecting herring loads from Ezochi to Esashi were reorganized by merchants, kitamaebune ship owners, and fishers living in and around Esashi between 1865 and 1869.
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  • from the Viewpoint of the Theory of Endogenous Development
    Kazunobu TSUTSUI
    1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 87-103
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Following the second world war, Japanese mountain villages have been experiencing depopulation and decline of basic industries such as agriculture and forestry. Consequently, local governments have been attempting to introduce enterprizes such as manufacturing plants in order to revitalize such areas. In addition, in recent years, regional revitalization projects (Machi-zukuri or Mura-okoshi) have been initiated by local residents.
    In human geography, much research has been conducted on the theme of the regional revitalization of mountain villages. Few studies, however, are available which take the viewpoint of the theory of endogenous development. The main focus of such studies of endogenous development is the arena of local public finance. In the present study, the author examines Nichinan-cho, which is located in the Chugoku Mountainous District. To attain regional revitalization, the residents of Nichinan-cho established the Yukinko-mura project in 1994 in order to attract tourists. The author analyzes the case of the regional revitalization of Nichinan-cho, especially in terms of the process of the construction of Yukinko-mura, from the viewpoint of the theory of endogenous development. The author uses four check points proposed by Hobo (1996)-(1) long-term plan, (2) funds and capital, (3) existence of leadership and (4) resident consciousness towards the project, but places especial emphasis in his analysis on the latter two.
    There are 25 leaders in charge of regional revitalization consisting of individuals such as a manager of a construction company, landowners, former local government staff, and so on. Although they have a respectively different commitment toward regional revitalization, they can be divided into two categories of main-leaders and sub-leaders. The main leaders have especially acted to generally enlighten regional residents and have motivated them to revitalize Nichinan-cho through personal and community relations.
    Of the four check points, resident consciousness seems to be critical. (1) Whether residents are in favor of or against regional revitalization, they are likely to demonstrate their interest in or show indifference to the project. (2) Interest for Yukinko-mura is also related to the degree of consciousness for the issues of Nichinan-cho. Residents who embrace a deep attachment to their living place tend to be more concerned about the Yukinko-mura project. (3) Younger generation residents under 34 years of age do not show much concern for the project. (4) Housewives tend to share the same opinion as their husbands. This is probably because Japan's traditional family system is still operative in mountain villages.
    In conclusion, the author presents a model of endogenous development processes in a depopulated mountain village (Nichinan-cho). This model depicts the current understanding that leaders play a central role in the general enlightenment of regional residents and in executing these kinds of projects in order to arrest the vicious circle of depopulation in mountain villages. The author also presents his view that the theory of endogenous development is not defined as a theory of policy but should be developed as the practice of residents' organization.
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  • 1999 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 104-108
    Published: February 28, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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