Japanese Journal of Human Geography
Online ISSN : 1883-4086
Print ISSN : 0018-7216
ISSN-L : 0018-7216
Volume 56, Issue 2
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
  • A Case Study of Thanh Mien District, Hai Duong Province
    Yukino TSUTSUI
    2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 113-133
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The Doi Moi (renovation) policy, which started in 1986, converted a planned economy into a market economy. As a result, the economic growth has been remarkable. The effect of this policy has reached even to rural areas and stimulated not only agricultural activity but also side activities like family handicrafts, retail, peddling, seasonal labor, and so on. Moreover, this economic transformation has brought social transformation to Vietnam and this is the reason why Doi Moi is considered as a big turning point for Vietnam.
    Incidentally, Doi Moi has occurred in a rural village in the Red River Delta, northern Vietnam, an area which is characterized by its "autonomy of rural villages" and strength of social bonds. Hence, each rural village in the Red River Delta is wealthy in its uniqueness and diversity.
    The autonomy of villages is considered to be the proximal layer of the Vietnamese society, as shown with term "traditional village." How should we grasp this social proximal layer during the drastic transformation of Doi Moi? It is true that autonomy declined once during the socialization of totalitarianism. However, this autonomy has been activated again under Doi Moi, which can be clearly shown by the reconstruction of such common values and property as the communal house, temple, and village festival, which has enriched the social organization in the village.
    This is to say, Doi Moi has activated not only the rural economy but also the rural society. Yet it is common for economic and social concerns to be discussed individually or in opposition to each other. This is because the comprehension of social mechanisms is different from the comprehension of economic ones; the former is considered to be rational and based on the principle of the market economy but the latter is considered to be under traditional social rules. I, however, think these two are connected to each other. In fact in the Red River Delta, the social network is used practically in the development of economic activity; furthermore, social network is strengthened by utilization in economic activity. The purpose of this paper is to prove this hypothesis and to examine the action between social network and economic activity at the micro level of individuals and households, which reflects these connections much more than when looking at the whole village. This is because individuals are the main components of a rural village and the practical decision makers for the economic activity and the social activity there. Here I will use the term "social network" to refer to the whole "face to face" personal network including both long-established relations based on relatives and the local community as well as newly established relations through personal stages of life like schoolmates and comrades in arms.
    Moreover, this paper aims to analyze on a plural scale: the village level is the micro scale (main scale of this paper) and district level is the mezzo scale. In addition to the viewpoint of the plural scale, utilizing the mezzo scale is original too. With this analysis, it will be possible to grasp a coordinated image of the Red River Delta by combining the macro image from a statistical approach and the micro image from a detailed field survey. The study area of this paper is the Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong province. This is befitting for a study area for two reasons: first because it is located around the middle of the Red River Delta, and therefore represents the delta area, and second because the Thanh Mien district is far from such large cities as Hanoi, and Hai Phong which faces Tonkin Gulf. Therefore, it has less urban or market influences, and hence the village community bonds are relatively tight. In the same way, Pham Tan village was chosen as a study village, because it is one of the most remote villages in the Thanh Mien district.
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  • Discursive Practice on "Padania" of the Lega Nord in Italy
    Shinya KITAGAWA
    2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 134-153
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper is to exemplify an ideological articulation between a movement constructing a place and neo-liberalism and to relate it with the perspective of the new Right, hegemonic ideology in contemporary politics. Neo-liberalism promotes globalization and extends the logic of the market to the social. The approach of this paper is discourse analysis, referring to the problematic of critical geopolitics, centered on political geography since the early 1990s. Its major agenda is to clarify the connections between geographical representations and power in politics.
    The subject of analysis is the discourse of the Lega Nord (Northern League), which is one of the major political parties in Italy. Its fundamental claim is to bring autonomy to regions in northern Italy. In 1996, the Lega began to represent almost the whole of northern Italy as "Padania" and to seek secession from Italy.
    In the context of the rise of this movement, there was a process of transformation from the Welfare State to the neo-liberal state in Italy. While the mechanism of political representation was brought down in the early 1990s due to corruption in traditional popular parties, an economic crisis, changing subjectivities and so on, already in the 1980s small firms of the Post-Fordist mode of production, a so-called "third Italy", in northern and central Italy had developed rapidly. The Lega succeeded in representing such small firms especially in a rural and local area near the Alps, as so-called "Pedemontania". In 1996, also being affected by the external constraint of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) of Europe, the reforms of the Italian Welfare State, for example, federal reforms, deregulation, and fiscal reforms, were important and pressing problems.
    In this context, the geopolitics of the Lega Nord is to change the meaning of northern Italy from "Italy" to "Padania", namely to "Europe". First, as a populist party, the Lega Nord represents "people" excluded from political decisions by political class and bureaucratic elites, against the (welfare) state. It then proposes that all the political-economic difficulty in Italy derives from southern Italy. Therefore, it argues that the North should secede from the South, and that only the North should enter the EMU. Second, the Lega defines what place "Padania" is. "Padania" articulates chiefly three elements: "North", "localism", and "Europe". The Lega describes the new history and geography of "Padania". According to the Lega, "the people of Padania", who respect laws, moral norms, and the value of work, constitute local and autonomic communities.
    Such a "Padania" in 1996 was a neo-liberal place. It was the place for economic activities and social integration of neo-liberalism that took no account of the political. After "Padania", however, the Lega Nord increasingly became more conservative and more xenophobic, focusing on the theme of immigration outside the EU. As a far right party, it began to take a strong attitude towards globalization and the EU, claiming that cultural differences must be protected. Thus, "Padania" had become a closed place. Consequently, the popularity of the Lega declined sharply in some elections, even in its strongholds. Such a process of shifting position exemplifies that the articulation, a characteristic of the new Right, between neo-liberalism and neo-conservatives, is unstable and contradictory.
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  • Taku FUKUMOTO
    2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 154-169
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper analyzes the residential concentrations of Korean people in Osaka city and its changes from the end of the 1920s to the beginning of the 1950s. The statistical data and documents on Korean people in the city and their living conditions were obtained from the National Census, Police Survey and local administrative researches. Korean concentrations changed spatially and socially, and the economical and historical factors associated with these changes can be described as follows:
    (1) The formation of Korean concentrations during the 1920s.
    Since the beginning of the 1920s, a great number of Korean people migrated into Osaka city, and most of them were composed of single male workers. During this period, three concentrations were formed: (a) the southeastern ward, which was the biggest concentration of Korean workers who were employed in small factories; (b) the southwestern ward, where industrial, constructional, and odd-job workers were dominant, and (c) the ward south of the Yodo River, where most Koreans worked at medium-size glass and textile factories.
    (2) The expansion of the Korean concentrations during the 1930s to the end of World War II.
    During this period, the Korean population increased rapidly and was four times larger than it was at the end of the 1920s. Newly-arriving Korean people tended to settle into already-established Korean concentrations and surrounding areas. The actual Korean population distribution pattern and its occupational characteristics did not change. On the other hand, social differentiation within Korean communities became distinctive during this period. The most important development was that a few Korean entrepreneurs managed to establish their own businesses in the southeastern and southwestern concentrations.
    (3) The disappearance and remnants of the Korean concentrations in the US occupation period (1945-52).
    Shortly after World War II, many Korean people left Japan for their mother country. The number of Koreans in Osaka drastically and quickly decreased. Because most of the wards in central Osaka had been seriously damaged by the US forces' air attacks in WWII, the Koreans in those destroyed districts lost everything and had no reason to continue their residence in Japan. This situation resulted in the disappearance of the concentration on the south side of the Yodo River. On the other hand, the other Korean concentrations survived in the southwestern and southeastern areas due to less destruction from the air attacks. Fortunately, many Koreans in these areas did not lose their residences and workplaces. Moreover, Koreans who owned a property found it difficult to return to their home country because Korean repatriates were permitted to carry back only a limited amount of money and goods with them. In the remaining concentrations, most Koreans who owned their own business chose to stay in Osaka.
    Based on the above analyses, the following concluding remarks can be made: (a) Since the establishment of the Korean population concentrations in these three areas, local industrial activities were a major influential factor in determining the employment status of the Korean population; (b) During the US occupation period, residents whose homes were destroyed by the bombing in WWII tended to leave Osaka and their concentrations disappeared. The Korean people who were business-owners and who lived in the less-damaged areas remained in Osaka. Consequently, the southeastern and southwestern Korean concentrations still exist even until today.
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  • A Case Study of Fukui Prefecture
    Akihiko NAMIE
    2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 170-185
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In Japan, statistics show that the volume of solid waste being generated continues to increase. While the volume of this waste being disposed also increases, causing such problems as the scarcity of landfills and illegal dumping to worsen, the rate of waste being recycled remains low. According to 2000 government statistics, only 14% of all solid waste generated was recycled, despite continued attempts by the Japanese government to increase recycling.
    Throughout Japan, the volume of waste generated per capita and recycling rates vary widely among municipalities. Differences in regional characteristics such as residential composition, the living and natural environment, types of industries, municipal policies regarding waste disposal, and community-based recycling activities are considered to be the causes of these variations.
    This study examines the interregional differences in both the generation of solid waste (excluding industrial waste) and the recycling of solid waste in Fukui Prefecture by classifying its municipalities according to several factors.
    Following the analysis, this study found three main interregional differences in solid waste generation. The first interregional difference in the generation of solid waste exists between rural and urban municipalities. The volume of solid waste generated per capita in rural municipalities, which tend to have larger residences, is lower due to the tendency of residents with larger homes to store items regarded as waste instead of disposing of them. In contrast, the volume of solid waste generated per capita is higher in urban municipalities, where stores and restaurants tend to concentrate. This is likely due to the fact that business waste from stores and restaurants is combined with household waste.
    Second, interregional differences in solid waste generation exist among municipalities due to their varying policies regarding the sorting of solid waste. In this study, the volume of solid waste generated was found to be higher in municipalities that sort more waste to be recycled. Because residents are allowed to dispose of more types of items, the volume of all wastes generated (both recyclable and non-recyclable) per capita tends to be higher. On the other hand, municipalities with fewer waste sorting options tend to have less overall waste generation, but the percentage of waste which is recycled in these places is actually lower.
    Finally, two specific municipalities, Izumi Village and Ooi Town, each have unique circumstances that distinguish their solid waste generation from all other Fukui municipalities. Both generate considerably more solid waste per capita than other municipalities for vastly different reasons. Izumi Village is a tourist destination with a small local population. Thus solid waste generation per capita appears to be larger than normal. In the case of Ooi Town, on the other hand, all solid waste that is not incinerated or recycled is buried in a landfill in the local bay. In this case, the soil that must be mixed with the waste is also regarded as solid waste and thus greatly increases the per capita volume of waste generation.
    With regard to the recycling of solid waste, the relationship between community-based and municipality-based recycling determines interregional differences. Briefly, community-based recycling (CBR) consists of local groups collecting recyclable items and selling them to dealers, particularly in areas where local governments offer fewer recycling options. On the other hand, municipality-based recycling (MBR) refers to the collecting, sorting, and recycling of solid waste by local governments.
    This study classified municipalities in Fukui under four types, based on their use of CBR and/or MBR. The first type of municipality relies on and financially supports CBR.
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  • 1953-1975
    Tsukasa WAKAMATSU
    2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 186-204
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper is a case study of the Dowa districts in Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture. It attempts to describe the processes by which residents and their organizations transformed their living space under the Dowa Assimilation Projects and focuses on the social relations among agencies related to these projects. An important theme in human geography is the understanding and analysis of the roles of agencies in spatial transformation. A case study of the Dowa districts will contribute to the exploration of this theme.
    The Buraku Liberation League (BLL) is a private agency whose purpose is to liberate the "burakumin", an outcaste group formed in the feudal Tokugawa Era. As part of its policy, the BLL constructed a theory that ascribed such discrimination to governmental administration and thus developed a methodology for governmental assistance for the improvement of their living spaces. With this methodology, the physical aspects of the Dowa districts have bgen dramatically improved.
    In 1955, the Shingu Branch of the BLL was organized. The Branch participated in the Dowa Projects, building connections with local communities and local governments. This paper describes the development of two Dowa Projects-the Local Improvement Project and the Model Districts Project in order to illustrate the relations of the BLL with local communities and local governments. In Shingu City, the Local Improvement Project was implemented before the BLL was organized. In 1953, public housing for the burakumin was constructed for the first time in Shingu City. This implies that Local Improvement Projects by the city government controlled the buraku liberation movement in the city.
    The Model Districts Project was carried out from 1961-62 and was severely criticised by the BLL headquarters at that time. However, the Shingu Branch accepted the implementation of the project but the stance of the branch was inconsistent. While the Shingu Branch had relations with the BLL headquarters concerning the movement, it maintained relations with members of the city assembly and the city government, and these latter relations were more effective in promoting the projects. However, the projects promoted the suburbanization of the Dowa districts and negatively influenced the buraku liberation movement. It was after 1975 that the Shingu Branch mobilized residents for the liberation movement and thereafter reduced this negative outcome.
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  • 2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 205-214
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • 2004 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 215-219
    Published: April 28, 2004
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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