Though subsistence-oriented slash-and-burn rice production is still the major land use in the hilly areas of Northern Laos, it is now increasingly problematic, especially in areas adjacent to main roads. Due principally to increased population pressure, the period of fallow has declined and labor requirements for weeding have dramatically increased. In addition, the Lao government considers shifting cultivation to be a major cause of deforestation and has recently initiated a series of policies to restrict it. The main policy now being implemented is the 'land allocation program' which aims to stabilize shifting cultivation and to promote permanent agriculture by allocating a limited area of agricultural land to each household.
On the other hand, market-oriented agricultural activities of shifting cultivators, such as cash crop cultivation, collection of forest products, animal husbandry and teak plantation forestry, are now becoming increasingly important since the Lao government adopted a policy to revitalize the market from 1986. As a result, a cash income has become very important in rural and urban areas. Among these activities, cash crop cultivation is now widely adopted in some areas of Northern Laos, influencing local land use and livelihood. This is due in part to the policy of the Lao government; the government is now promoting intensive agriculture with cash crops as an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production.
The present study aims to reveal the influence of the introduction of cash crop cultivation on land use in the hilly areas of Laos, with a focus on Number 10 Village, which is located 25km to the south of Luang Prabang, the largest town in Northern Laos. The main ethnic group is the Khmu. In this village, the upland fields planted with both upland rice and cash crops (Job's tears and paper mulberry) were mapped by means of GPS to describe today's land use. Interviews were also conducted with every household to investigate the household economy and land use history of each field.
The conclusions are as follows.
In Number 10 Village, the land allocation program was conducted in 1996 and afterwards intensive cultivation of cash crops was promoted by the local government and international organizations as an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production. Due in part to this policy, many households have started cultivating Job's tears and paper mulberry, but it has never been an alternative to slash-and-burn rice production. Job's tears is a cereal crop which is exported to Thailand and Taiwan, and is then processed into beer, sweets and health foods. Although cultivation is usually highly profitable, households cannot rely permanently on it due to large price fluctuations. Paper mulberry is a tree crop, the inner bark of which is exported mainly to Thailand and is processed into paper. It has a rather stable price and is easy to cultivate, but is rarely cultivated intensively because of its low profitability.
On the other hand, upland rice cultivation is still the most important land use practice in the village, engaging 88% of households at the scale of 1.13 ha per household. Most households continue production without observing the rules established by the land allocation program. Today, they practice it under the rotation of shorter fallow and an increased cultivation period, which has caused a very significant increase in the labor requirements for weed control. If the rotation is intensified by limiting agricultural land, it cannot be continued. Therefore, many households still continue on land where cultivation is prohibited according to the rules established by the program.
Most households combine subsistence-oriented rice production and market-oriented cash crop cultivation. This combination has important merit for them in that they can mitigate the risks associated with cash crop failure or a fall in the market price due to this subsistence production.

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The main purpose of this article is to analyze the process of demographic urbanization during the Meiji and Taisho periods in the Tokai area, central Japan, using "Kokoh-Chosa", the population statistics which were available before modern censuses began. The study period covers the years 1885-1920. In those times, Japan experienced a rapid population increase and an important urbanization process never seen before. The reason for these changes is attributed to modernization, and many researchers have been interested in such vicissitudes.
Although population changes in modern times have been considered to be as a result of a demographic transition, some historical demographers in Japan argue that this started around 1920. They insist that the beginnings of population increase trends were derived not from decreasing mortality but from upward fertility trends, so that the demographic transition occurred much later than the start of population growth trends. Moreover, in such processes there seemed to be some differences between cities and peripheral areas, and such regional differences are associated with urbanization processes.
Geographers have attempted to portray the processes of urbanization in those times in terms of social and economic indices. However, only a few studies have focused on the processes of Japanese demographic urbanization since "Kokoh-Chosa" possesses some significant problems as discussed below. In this paper, the problems of "Kokoh-Chosa" will first be made clear, and then there will be an attempt to adjust the data. "Kokoh-Chosa" gives us demographic information over 50 years before modern censuses, and it includes much valuable data, such as the numbers of births and deaths in all cities and counties. Thus, by adjusting the data and then using it, discussions on the processes of demographic urbanization become very fruitful.
The most serious problem of "Kokoh-Chosa" was that the population was overestimated, especially in city areas, and that this accumulated from year to year. This problem resulted from the population registration system of those days which was defective due to its complexity. While the population of "Kokoh-Chosa" was overestimated, this problem was recognized in those days and thus the excess population was sometimes removed. That kind of process was referred to as "Kiryu-Seiri". As a result, there were sometimes some sudden gaps in the population data series. The author solves the problem of Kiryu-seiri by calculating the excess population.
Using the adjusted data, the author firstly analyzes the changes in crude birth rates and death rates in cities and counties. This has much to do with the discussion about demographic transition processes. Secondly, urbanization processes are analyzed by means of several maps showing the population change every five years. In particular, the author separates total population growth into its natural and social components, and discusses the geographical differences in population dynamics.
The results of the discussions are summarized as follows.
Population increases, which may cause demographic urbanization, were due to high fertility, mainly in county areas. On the other hand, there are few changes in mortality trends in the study period with a few exceptions such as the mortality crisis in 1918. Birth rates were higher than death rates at almost all times in all regions, but natural increase rates in cities were lower than those in county areas. Thus, we can say that demographic urbanization was due to many migrants from counties to cities.
In the late 19th century, demographic urbanization had already appeared, but the net-migrants were mainly seen in the cities and their neighbors, while there were very few net-migrants in peripheral counties. Since the 20th century

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This paper examines previous studies on the labor market, and reviews research issues concerning its spatial structure.
In labor market studies, it has been recognized that the labor market is not a homogeneous structure but a segmented one, due to differences within the labor force in terms of wage disparity, labor movement, and so on. In recent years, much research indicates that the boundaries of the segmentation of the labor market are fluid and indistinct. Labor economists are not very interested in issues related to spatial relations.
In Geography, labor market studies have changed in scope since the 1970s. In previous labor market research, there was a tendency to emphasize locational change of manufacturing industry and rural districts, using the local labor market as an approach in dealing with research issues in each field. As a result, these studies did not focus on the spatial structure of the labor market on a national or district scale.
In order to further develop research methods in this field, several issues need to be resolved.
Firstly, we must examine the spatial structure of the labor market on a national or district scale. It is necessary to regard the local labor market as a labor market area formed by the interaction of its supply and demand-side, and to examine its spatial structure. One of the most effective methods to understand its spatial structure is via cluster analysis which describes local labor markets on variables representing labor market conditions.
Secondly, we must consider the mechanisms that operate the spatial structure of the labor market. Although the influence of the location of industrial job opportunities mainly affects the labor market, we need to consider other factors to explain its spatial structure. It is necessary to examine the labor supply structure in each local labor market, the distance from the central city, changes in industrial structures, locality, longstanding conventions, and so on. Since the 1970s, the major proportion of employees in the employment structure of Japan has shifted from the manufacturing to the service sector. Following the collapse of the "bubble economy", the number of young people entering the labor market as non-regular workers has increased in metropolitan areas. When we analyze factors other than the core-periphery relationship, it is expected that the mechanisms causing regional differences in labor market conditions, such as unemployment and labor supply and demand, will become increasingly clear.

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In contrast to previous studies of embeddedness of multinational corporations' overseas subsidiaries network, internal factors of managerial adjustment were integrated into the model. A questionnaire and interview survey was carried out and statistical and geographical analyses were made. The degree of embeddedness was formulated by internal and external adjustments. New spaces of managerial innovation were visualized by identifying clusters of hybrid factories. The implications of the cross-cultural management strategies for industrial space were discussed. Thus, the notion of international management studies not only as a new research subject but also as an analytical tool was introduced to human geography.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relation between Japanese trading firms and their chicken procurement bases in China, from the viewpoint of economic geography. The results of this analysis are summarized as follows.
The import quantity of chickens into Japan has expanded since 1985. In this expansion of imported chickens, Japanese trading firms have played a very important role. In particular, the top 10 chicken importers procured more than 50per cent of raw chicken products imported into Japan in 1992.
The chicken procurement strategies by Japanese trading firms are examined, taking the cases of three typical firms ("S" Bussan Corporation, ITOCHU Corporation and Marubeni Corporation). These three firms held positions in the top 10 chicken importers in 1992, but procured chickens by different strategies. As the result of this analysis, it is clear that the three firms have increased their procurement quantity of processed chicken products in China since 1993. However, in China, they are apt to ensure multiple chicken suppliers, so they seem to develop their procurement bases inefficiently.
In China, the number of chicken suppliers exporting their products to Japan increased remarkably in the 1990s. In 1999, more than 50per cent of these chicken suppliers were located in Shandong province, where the increase rate of chicken production in the 1990s was the highest in China. Thus, the chicken procurement strategies by Japanese trading firms have had an influence on the remarkable development of chicken production in Shandong province. In fact, most of chicken suppliers of the three firms are located in Shandong province.
The selection mechanism of chicken suppliers by the three firms is examined. As the result, it is clear that they make much of the procurement alliances with foreign capital suppliers in China. As the foreign capital suppliers have the largest and newest processing factories, Japanese trading firms can procure chicken products stably. Moreover, the three firms think much of the procurement alliances with suppliers located in Shandong province. In Shandong province, they can procure various sub-materials for processed chicken products and can give frequent technical guidance to their suppliers.
Eventually, the chicken procurement strategies by Japanese trading firms are founded not only on reductions in costs, but also on dispersion of risk and diversification of procurement items.

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