A contemporary life style is based on the ability to participate in social activities, such as working in a work place, making purchases in retail stores, taking lessons at a school, and receiving medical treatment at hospitals because modern cities are characterized by high spatial differentiation of various activity opportunities. Persons with physical impairments are, however, restricted by different barriers to access activity opportunities inherent in the urban built environment. The following features of the built environment are barriers in the way of the activities of persons with lower limb impairments: 1) buildings with an entrance that has a level difference, stairs or a heavy door; 2) street paths with a slope, stairs or irregularities; 3) public transportation with stairs at the entrance or a gap between platforms. In an urban space full of such barriers, persons with lower limb impairments have difficulties accessing activity opportunities so that they are prevented from participating in social activities and are thus marginalized from the mainstream of modern society.
This article has two purposes: 1) to examine the characteristics of the urban built environment in terms of barriers that restrict the activities of persons with lower limb impairments; 2) to elucidate the extent of inaccessibility in urban spaces that contain barriers through analysis of spatial accessibility by persons with lower limb impairments to local activity opportunities, taking into account barriers related to entering/exiting buildings and travelling on streets. The author selected the early developed area of Tama New Town, Tokyo, as a study area for the above purposes.
The results of the analysis are summarized as follows. Accessibility measurement values were considerably lower when considering barriers than when not considering barriers. When considering barriers, accessibility decreased dramatically around the main regional center and sub regional center as well as along the main roads, and the distribution of points having relatively high accessibility tended to be localized. On the other hand, the decrease in accessibility when considering barriers was moderate around neighborhood centers, but, in absolute terms, the extent of accessibility was not high. Such (in)accessibility patterns are related to the fact that there are many barriers to travel on streets because of the large undulations in the northern part of the study area, the fact that there are many buildings with barriers at their entrances along the main roads, and the fact that there are many buildings with a flat entrance, with the exception of clinics, in neighborhood centers located in relatively flat areas on pressure ridges.
If one considers that outside stairs, street inclinations and a level difference or stairs at the entrance of buildings represent formidable barriers that cannot be negotiated by persons with lower limb impairments, the results of analysis show that access to activity opportunities by persons with lower limb impairments is restricted to a very considerable degree. Such inaccessibility for persons with physical impairments seems to suggest that Tama New Town is an urban space created for able-bodied persons. However, due to the aging of the local population, discrepancies currently exist between those able-bodied persons who are implicitly assumed to be residents in the development plan and those who actually live in the study area. The results of this article, therefore, suggest that middle-aged or elderly persons are likely to experience severe restriction with regard to social activity participation after becoming physically impaired, since various features of the built environment turn into disabling barriers. This inaccessibility issue is expected to become broadly manifest in residential areas developed on hilly terrain at an early date and where the local population has been aging, such as the area covered by this study.

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"Shudan-shushoku", the administrative young workers' labor migration program, was carried out under the control of the Japanese Ministry of Labor in the high-growth period of Japan (1955-1973). This system was also applied to Okinawa (Ryukyu), although Okinawa was ruled by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) until 1972. The Government of Japan had "residual sovereignty" over Okinawa and was able to include it in the Japanese labor market. When and how was this program of migration from Okinawa to "mainland" Japan started? Why did the Government of the Ryukyu Islands have to start and maintain such a migration system? And what did young workers from Okinawa think of the geographical/social distance between the homeland and "mainland" Japan?
The purpose of this paper is to clarify some aspects of this migration program. The paper focuses especially on the acts of the three Governments: the USCAR, Ryukyu and Japan, and on the thoughts of young workers themselves. The results of this study are summarized as follows.
In the 1950s, because USCAR had to employ a large labor force for American military bases in Okinawa with small salaries, the growth of industry in Okinawa was restrained by economic policies. Since the labor market in Okinawa had few employment opportunities, the Government of the Ryukyu Islands negotiated with the Government of Japan on this problem, and finally USCAR also allowed migration to "mainland" Japan. As a result, "Shudan-shushoku" was initiated in December 1957. Because the labor force had been undermanned in the high-growth period of "mainland" Japan, job offers to young people in Okinawa were increasing year by year.
As the numbers of labor migrants to "mainland" Japan increased, some social problems (e.g. suicides, neuroses, or crimes) caused by young workers frequently occurred. Because there was a geographical/social distance between the homeland and the "mainland, " some young workers did not assimilate into the culture of the "mainland" and were often discriminated on the "mainland." Therefore, the Government of the Ryukyu Islands held training sessions for young migrants to assist in dealing with these issues from 1961. However, in 1963, the High Commissioner of USCAR, Paul Caraway, ordered the suspension of "shudan-shushoku." The USCAR explained that the reason for this suspension was that '"our people" are discriminated in "mainland" Japan.' The Governments of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands criticized USCAR and it revoked this suspension but claimed that the system of labor migration must be improved. As a result, the "Regulation" of labor migration to a foreign country was enacted by the Government of the Ryukyu Islands in 1964.
Migrants themselves had an intention that differed from that of both governments. Many of the migrants decided to migrate to "mainland" Japan because it was not only difficult to get a job in Okinawa, but also because they were attracted to city life in "mainland" Japan. It was said that some migrants even used this labor migration program for the purpose of travelling to the "mainland." However, the real "mainland" was not the same one that they thought it would be before migration. Some of them did encounter discrimination in their workplaces.

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According to previous studies, the main characteristic of the ancient manorial maps made in the Nara era is that two contexts coexist. One context is based on the combination of letters, of which the jori indication system (jori kosho) is constructed, and the mesh (hokakusen). The other is based on pictures. Previous studies have paid attention to the letters and to the mesh, but not to the pictorial representation. Consequently, the pictorial representation was not seriously taken into account when the landscape or the jori plan is reconstructed.
The purpose of this study is to explain the characteristic of the pictorial representation, especially of the mountains, since this can be compared with the present landscape. Therefore, to appreciate the characteristic of the pictorial representation, it is necessary to understand the relations of two contexts. Therefore, the author examines the map of Kusooki-mura, Echizen Province (Fukui Prefecture in central Japan), which previous studies have examined in order to understand the characteristics of the pictorial representation of the mountains.
There are two sheets of the Kusooki-mura map. One was made in 759 (referred to as Map A in the paper) and the other was made in 766 (Map B). Each map depicts the mountains surrounding Kusooki-mura. The landscape and jori plan can be reconstructed on the bases of the representation of the mountain, mountain ridge lines depicted on Map B. However, the representation of the mountain on two sheets of the maps was depicted by different modes of representation. Although previous studies had concluded that the jori plan represented in Map A differed from that in Map B, the author understands that the reconstructed landscape and jori plan of Map B correspond to the contents, the depicted landscape and jori plan of Map A.
When Map B is compared with Map A, it is clear that there is a difference in the methods of depicting the mountain. The author examined points from which the mountain was drawn in each map. Consequently, the mountain on Map A is represented from one view point, while more than one view point was used in Map B. By using more than one view point, Map B was able to represent the area with great precision. On the other hand, Map A represents the area by depicting the foot of a mountain line.
As a result, the representation of the mountain in ancient manorial maps partly represented the geographical features of the depicted area and helped to clarify locations that were shown by the letters and the mesh. Therefore, the pictorial representation of the mountain occupied an important part in the ancient manorial maps.

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In this paper, I explore various aspects of the geographical concept of homeland and the case of some homeland movements in Wakayama city in the early days of the Showa era.
Generally, homeland is considered to be an important geographical concept because it is deeply related to forming individual and national identities. More precisely, I regard a homeland not only as the center of one's identity, but also as the other place upon which one's ideals or desires are projected. That is, one can realize a homeland in another place. To consider this ambivalent geographical concept, I focus attention on individual and social relationships, imaginary and material factors, and some geographical points of view: moving, positionalities, spatial scales, and so on.
In 1931, Iba Takeshi, who advocated promoting the Homeland Art Movement, founded a magazine, "The Nanki Art", in Wakayama city. Nanki, another name for Kishu, is the old name for the geographical region covering Wakayama city and the areas to its south. He said that his lovely homeland of Nanki was suffering severely low cultural activity, despite the fact that Nanki had flourished culturally during the old Edo period. This was because most cultural activities had become excessively concentrated in Tokyo in modern Japan. Influenced by discussions of Romain Rolland's "The People's Theatre", Iba dreamed of his homeland of Nanki becoming a center of culture that could produce better works and a happier life than Tokyo. Thus, he published an enlightening magazine to stimulate a renaissance in his homeland, including many high cultural works created by famous writers and painters. Ironically, he had been a Tokyo dweller, and Nanki had not been his birthplace. When moving to Wakayama city from Tokyo, however, he felt that Nanki was his homeland. Thus, the homeland of Nanki for Iba was not his birthplace but an other place. Therefore, this homeland concept had the ambivalent nature, that was to say, he regarded it as a culturally inferior place, yet idealized it as a region that had the potential for new creations.
After this magazine was discontinued in 1934, some of its contributors and local intellectuals organized a cultural group called "The 10th Day Club". This group hoped to boost Wakayama city's cultural life and improve its comfort level. The group's key person was Kitamura Susumu, who had contributed some writings to "The Nanki Art" and, in 1933, had returned from Tokyo to his birthplace of Wakayama city because he had felt a fondness for his homeland. He also felt that there was a possibility of leading a humanistic life, as opposed to the mechanical lifestyle of Tokyo. However, on his return, he criticized Wakayama as a confused and dirty city. He wanted to emphasize the city's attractions for tourists and boost the City Beautiful Movement. At first, the concept of homeland for him had been almost the same as Iba's, but, because his practices had a closer relationship to a real homeland, he gradually noticed his homeland's negative aspects. Furthermore, he criticized Wakayama people because he felt that they were too egotistical and needed to possess a public spirit from his city dweller's point of view.
To compensate for his disillusionment, he gradually focused on his homeland's great history, and paid attention to the discussions of the Homeland Education Movement, which was concerned with nourishing the public spirit, the love for one's homeland, and the national soul. Because of these changes, The 10th Day Club's activities eventually ceased. The Research Institute of Kishu Culture was established in Wakayama city in 1936, and was joined by several intellectuals involved with participants of the Homeland Art Movement and many local teachers.

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