Japanese Journal of Human Geography
Online ISSN : 1883-4086
Print ISSN : 0018-7216
ISSN-L : 0018-7216
Volume 52, Issue 2
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
  • The Case of Kudoyama Area, Hamasaka Town, Hyogo Prefecture
    Shusaku NAKAMURA
    2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 111-128
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Kudoyama area in Hyogo Prefecture has one of the heaviest snowfalls in the mountainous San'in district. This is a natural environment conducive to seasonal migrant workers in winter. Kudoyama also has a typical mountain village environment, with little level ground, preventing it from expanding its agriculture and cattle breeding as basic industries. Consequently, seasonal worker migration has been essential for the inhabitants to earn a living.
    The purpose of this research is to obtain solutions to the transformations of activity of seasonal migrant workers in the Kudoyama area, the characteristics of their migration behavior and the situation creating seasonal migrant workers.
    The results of this study can be summarized as follows:
    1. The typical occupations of seasonal migrant workers in this area are -running a noodle (udon) stall of a traditional and technical type, sake brewing, the manufacturing of frozen bean curd, charcoal making of a traditional and non-skilled type, and construction laborers of non-skilled and industrial reserve army type. Running an udon stall has been an especially traditional occupation since the Edo era. However, these activities have declined since their peak around 1955.
    2. With little employment to bind them, seasonal migrant workers show remarkable fluidity in terms of occupations and workplaces in their search for better working conditions. This fluidity is highest among charcoal makers, followed by sake brewers and construction workers. However, a closer examination of sake brewers reveals that some people change their place of occupation every one or two years, while others continue working at the same place for a long time. On the other hand, it was found that frozen bean curd manufacturers and those running udon stalls are occupations which possess extremely high degree of stability.
    3. By combining the changing patterns of workplaces and the type of occupation, the types of activity of seasonal migrant workers can be divided roughly into three: 1) single occupation-fixed workplace; 2) single occupation-multiple workplaces; and 3) multiple occupations-multiple workplaces. The characteristics of the activity of each type is also elaborated.
    4. The residential areas in the Kudoyama area can be roughly divided as follows: 1) Kudoyama area as the primary residential area; 2) neighboring areas including Hamasaka, Onsen, Kasumi and Muraoka as the secondary residential area; 3) Tajima district as a tertiary residential area; and 4) the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe (Keihanshin) region as workplaces more removed than Tajima district.
    5. In the Kudoyama area, those who reach working age are motivated by "stimulation from people who live in the neighboring areas" and by obtaining information from various residential areas. After selecting appropriate information about occupations and workplaces for seasonal migrant work, they make a decision and move into the migrant work force. Those who become accustomed and adapt themselves to their occupations and workplaces hold on to their jobs for a long time. However, those who cannot adapt, or those who want better working conditions, start again, select the information, then change their occupation and place of work.
    Although seasonal worker migration has maintained its long tradition and supported the life of residents in mountain areas, these activities have declined markedly in Japan as a whole. This article has achieved its purpose by elucidating the transformations in the activity of seasonal migrant workers, their characteristic behavior, and the situation that gives rise to them at the micro scale level-the village.
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  • Noboru OGATA
    2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 129-148
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper examines the city planning system of the ancient Bo-hai State using recently declassified intelligence satellite (CORONA satellite) photos acquired in the 1960s by the United States. Based on reconstructions made in my recent report, I have tried to make clear some principles shared by those in city planning. It is also intended to prove the usefulness of satellite images in historico-geographical and archaeological applications.
    The Bo-hai State was a kingdom which existed from 698 AD to 926 AD in the northeastern part of today's China. It was formed by the Tungusic people in association with refugees from Koguryo, which had fallen in 668. It actively imported Chinese culture and political system and boasted a high standard of civilization. While bringing tribute to Tang China, it dispatched envoys to Japan many times across the sea. Since records On Bo-hai itself have been lost, we can only obtain a glimpse of its prosperity through Chinese histories and records in Japan concerning envoys as well as archaeological evidence. Xin-Tang-shu, a history of Tang China compiled in 1060, praised Bo-hai as "a thriving country eastward across the sea" which has "five capitals".
    The five capitals of Bo-hai referred to in Xin-Tang-shu included Shang-jing Long-quan-fu (Northern Capital), Zhong-jing Xian-de-fu (Central Capital), Dong-jing Long-yuan-fu (Eastern Capital), Nan-jing Nan-hai-fu (Southern Capital) and Xi-jing Ya-lu-fu (Western Capital). Dong- jing was also referred to as the gateway to Japan. Among these capitals, Shang-jing (Ning-an, Heilongjiang Province), Zhong-jing (Helong, Jilin Province) and Dong-jing (Hunchun, Jilin Province) were researched and identified by Japanese archaeologists in the 1930s and in the early 1940s. From the reports of these researches, it is known that Shang-jing is the most important ruin having a triply nested structure consisting of rectangular innermost, inner and outer city and grid-pattern streets. This method of planning was borrowed from China's capital Chang-an and shared by the capitals of Korea and Japan of that period. As for Zhong-jing and Dong-jing, the remains of rectangular inner cities were evident, but the existence of the outer city and grid-pattern streets has been questioned.
    Based on my recent report, remains of the plans of Shang-jing, Zhong-jing and Dong-jing were reviewed using satellite photos. Shang-jing was said to be the king's capital of Bo-hai for the longest time. From the satellite photo over Shang-jing, the remains of the rectangular city walls and grid-pattern streets are very clear, reconfirming that it is the most important among the ruins of the Bo-hai State. It is evident that the main street from the palace gate to the main city gate is of considerable width. Among the lateral streets, the street adjacent to the southern side of the Palace site (innermost city) seems to be wider than the others. It demonstrates typical city planning shared by the East Asian ancient states. Fig. 2 shows my reconstruction of Shang-jing using satellite photos.
    Zhong-jing was said to be the king's capital for a short period circa 750. The existence of an outer city wall and grid-pattern streets around the already-known inner city was examined using satellite photos over Zhong-jing. Patterns of fields and snow marks show the remains of the main street and the lateral street along the southern side of the inner city. Patterns of the canals also suggest traces of the outer city wall. From these traces, the reconstruction of the whole city is presented (Fig. 4).
    Dong-jing was said to be the gateway to Japan and the king's capital for a short period circa 790.
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  • Perspectives and Directions
    Koji OHNISHI
    2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 149-172
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this paper is to systematize the study of children from a geographical viewpoint and to identify new perspectives in children's geography or the geography of children.
    From the 1960s to the 1970s, studies of children in geography began with the progress of behavioral geography. Summing up 1960s-1970s findings, the area perceived by children and the action space of children increases as children grow older.
    In the 1970s, time geography appeared and some geographers thought that constraints could explain human activities. Children's life space was re-interpreted from the viewpoint of constraints.
    From the 1980s to the 1990s, gender and postmodern geography developed. Gender geography's concern with children is that children are born and brought up by women, and that gender roles determined children's spatial activity range. Postmodern geography's concern is with children as "others" and the objection to the image of childhood made by modern society. Gender and postmodern geography's concerns have produced more articles on children's geography than ever before.
    Until the 1990s, children's geography explained and interpreted children from an individual perspective. From the 1990s, children's behavior has been explained in relation to their socioeconomic context in geographical studies (a contextual approach).
    The future directions of these studies are summarized as follows: 1) more consideration should be given to children's lived experience in places; 2) we should explain children's life space from a socioeconomic context; and 3) we should consider the process of how the image of childhood creates children's life space. It would be especially useful to use an institutional approach.
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  • A Case Study of Kawanami, Shiga Prefecture
    Akira IMAMOTO
    2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 173-189
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A great deal of effort has been made to study social relationships in the village, but no attention seems to have been paid to the smallest unit-area. The purpose of this paper is to explain social unity in the smallest unit-area and to analyze the relationships among social groups within the village. Social groups may be divided into two types-lineage and territorial groups. Although we regard territorial groups as important in geographical studies, we have to pay attention to lineage groups as well as territorial ones. We cannot identify the smallest unit-area without understanding the two types of social groups simultaneously.
    The author selected Kawanami as a typical example of a village in which there are two types of groups. Both lineage and territorial groups in the ko (fraternal society for religious bands). Kannnon-ko and Yakushi-ko are organized on a hierarchy of lineage. Six sets of Jizo-ko are organized in terms of territorial relations. All households of the village join Kannnon-ko or Yakusi-ko and at the same time they join Jizo-ko.
    Kannnon-ko is organized by the upper class (Moroto) and Yakusi-ko by the lower class (Hira). Moroto class had the privilege of autonomy in the village during the Edo period, but in the late Edo period, Hira class has had a greater say. Since Hira class has become equal to Moroto class, Kannnon-ko and Yakusi-ko have formed as dual organizations.
    Six sets of Jizo-ko (by the place name of Satonaka/Hinode/Daimon/Kitago/Nishide/Yanagi) were organized by territorial groups. The former four sets of Jizo-ko were organized in the late Edo period. Jizo-ko of Nishide seceded from Jizo-ko of Daimon in the early Meiji period, and Jizo-ko of Yanagi seceded from Jizo-ko of Hinode in the Taisho period. Jizo-ko, as territorial groups, appeared to weaken social unity in the village as the smallest unit-area.
    As mentioned above, there is simultaneously in existence two type of groups; on the one hand, small territorial groups act to weaken social unity and on the other hand dual organization acts to strengthen social unity in a smallest unit-area from the end of Edo period to Meiji period.
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  • A Comparative Analysis of Migrants Returned to Nagano and Miyazaki Prefectures
    Yuji ESAKI, Yoshio ARAI, Taro KAWAGUCHI
    2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 190-203
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In post-World War II Japan, rapid economic growth prompted many youngsters to migrate to metropolitan areas which had abundant employment. Existing researches pointed out that many returned to their home prefectures, but this has not been satisfactory substantiated mainly due to a lack of migration history data. In a previous study (Esaki et al., 1999), we conducted a questionnaire survey and investigated this kind of return migration, namely U-turn migration, to Nagano Prefecture, which is within medium distance from the three largest metropolitan areas (Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya). This study applied the same methodology to people born and raised in Miyazaki Prefecture, which is located in peripheral Japan, and aimed to obtain a general understanding of U-turn migration.
    Our questionnaire survey in the present study examined 1, 509 migration histories of male graduates from six high schools in Miyazaki Prefecture (1966-1968 and 1976-1978 graduates). A comparison of the survey results of the two Prefectures, Nagano and Miyazaki, revealed the following facts.
    First, the rate of U-turn migration from the three largest metropolitan areas to Nagano and Miyazaki was progressively higher for the younger generation. Among the younger generation, the return migration at graduation from university accounted for the larger proportion of all cases of U-turn migration, reflecting a rise in educational background.
    In case of the two Prefectures, the tendency of U-turn migration returning to the municipality where he had grown up becomes gradually stronger for the younger generation. Migrants' preference for their home municipalities, however, was slightly weaker in Miyazaki Prefecture. On the contrary, there were more 'J-turn' migrants, that is, U-turn migrants who returned not to their home municipalities but to the leading city in the Prefecture, namely Miyazaki City.
    Esaki et al. (1999) demonstrated that the birthplace of a man's wife was a very strong factor in his decision-making in favor of U-turn migration, although his academic background and whether or not he was the eldest son also affected it. This study confirmed the applicability of the results to the case of Miyazaki, in which those married with women born and raised in Miyazaki Prefecture were more likely to return than those married with women from other Prefectures.
    In terms of the timing of U-turn migration in accordance with an individual's working career, this study revealed that the majority of the migrants returned to Nagano and Miyazaki Prefectures within five to eight years after getting their first job. This indicates that U-turn migration mostly occurred shortly after they had started their lives in metropolitan areas. Therefore, we can conclude that U-turn migration is an option that young migrants who move away from rural regions may choose at the first turning point in their careers, with relatively little restriction regarding occupational and residential choice.
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  • 2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 204-209
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • 2000Volume 52Issue 2 Pages 209-215
    Published: April 28, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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