The purpose of this paper is to examine the ideological establishment of the geopolitics of Saneshige Komaki (1898-1990), who was a Professor of Geography at Kyoto Imperial University, and a well-known advocate of “Japanese Geopolitics” during World War 2, and accordingly a remarkable figure in the history of Japanese geography. Approaching this subject biobibliographically, I focus on the personal background of Komaki. Using his own bibliography, and through an analysis of his written works, I trace the development of his thought.

To begin with, I demonstrate the ideological background of Komaki’s geopolitics. Komaki had a great antipathy toward Western imperialism. In addition, immigration issues closely related to racial discrimination were his great concern. He held the view that geography in those days had lost its social relevance, and that the nature and culture of each land should be maintained under an indigenous order.

Next, I examine the ideological composition of Komaki’s geopolitics. His geopolitics began before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937. He asserted that “Japanese Geopolitics” was indigenous and one which attaches importance to the autonomy of Japan, after he had criticized the history of Western exploration, conventional geography, and Geopolitik. His geopolitics tried to clarify what was destroyed by Western colonization and had an historico-geographical and irrational character.

Lastly, I point out some of the positive and negative aspects of his geopolitics. The social relevance of geography, his criticism of Western colonialism and the issue of positionality in research can be seen the light of Japan at that time. On the other hand, the lack of an attitude to relativize Japan and the subjective/intuitive judgement in the reasoning process were negative aspects. However, the positive and negative are not clearly divided. “Japanese Geopolitics” has suggested important issues in connection with the political nature and the social relevance of geography and geographical knowledge, although it served to justify the aggressive wars of the Japanese Empire.

ベトナムでは1986年以降，社会主義下での市場経済導入をめざしてドイモイ（刷新）政策が急速に推進され，活力をとりもどしつつある。とりわけ農業部門では，1988年の共産党決議によって農業合作社と耕作農民の間に農地契約システムが導入された。1993年の土地法ではその方式がいっそう拡大され，農民が20～50年の長期的かつ永続的に土地を利用できる道が開かれた。そのため，農業生産の合理化にとって，零細な耕作地が分散していることは深刻な問題を投げかけている。このような農地分散は，程度の差こそあれ，ベトナム全土で共通してみられる。

本稿は，現代ベトナムにおける農地制度の大きな変革である農地改革と農地分散を軽減するための農地整備過程を一連の流れとして扱い，地理学の立場から両者の制度分析を目的とする。具体的な研究の重点は以下の3点である。(1)1945～1953年の農地改革の過程とその功罪の評価，(2)国・行政村レベルにおける農地整備の制度的分析，(3)行政村レベルにおける農地交換分合・整備の実施手順の分析とその経済効果の計測。事例としては，とくに農地分散の著しいベトナム北部紅河デルタの沿岸農村地帯であるタイビン省ティエンハイ県をとりあげた。

その主要な結果は，以下の2点に要約される。

第1に，1953～56年の期間にベトナム北部農村で実施された農地改革は3つの段階を経て実施された。この改革の主要な目的はフランス人植民者，郷紳，地主などの旧勢力の影響を排除することであった。政府は彼らの土地を接収して，81万ha以上の農地を210万4138人の土地無し層や832万3636人の農民・農業労働者に再配分した。

第2段階としての農地整備過程の重要な結果として，ドンロン行政村（＝社）の例では，細分化した耕地の筆数が約50％減少し，加えて，農村に以下のような影響をおよぼしている。(1)農民は自宅と農地間の移動距離を短縮することができた。ゆえに，労働コストを削減することができ，純利益が増加した。(2)行政村レベルでの農業生産における人民委員会や農業合作社の管理法が，共有地の合筆と長期発展計画の策定が可能になったことで合理化された。

Recently, economic geographers have shown an interest in the spatial implications of Just-in-Time (JIT). Some research papers have emphasized the agglomeration of automotive parts suppliers around car assemblers. Others have attached importance to the dispersion of suppliers away from car assemblers in pursuit of compliant rural laborers. In this study, the authors have investigated the practice of JIT by some suppliers located around Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in order to attempt to resolve these discussions.

The automotive parts suppliers around Ueda City are located in a distant place from each car assembler, because they were relocated from the metropolitan areas to escape war damage during World War II. The miscellaneous kinds of parts for many car assemblers are produced on the same intensively invested assembly line in a search for efficiency. The network of subcontractors has been developed in this region. Cheap labor from rural areas is utilized.

How has the JIT system been executed in such a distant location? The information about production and logistics can be exchanged immediately by electronic data processing. This enables suppliers to maintain about five days’ lead time between production and delivery. In logistics, the parts are dispatched to depots by large trucks to raise loading efficiency in middle and long distance transportation. The parts are then frequently delivered in small lots from the depot to the car assembler on schedule.

The parts suppliers which are the objects of this study have a high market share. They are relatively large-scale producers of systematized and modularized parts. This enables them to trade automotive parts with car assemblers even at a long distance and to impute transportation costs to the price of parts.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between metropolitan size and the population redistribution pattern within metropolitan areas in Japan, in the period following 1965. The procedure for the analysis is as follows. First, by using the dichotomy of the central city and its suburbs, an average relationship in population growth between the two is analyzed. Next, the changes in the degree of population concentration among suburban municipalities as well as the changes in the population growth of individual suburban municipalities are analyzed. Finally, the above results are summarized, and the relationship between metropolitan size and the population redistribution pattern within metropolitan areas is discussed. In this paper, the Standard Metropolitan Employment Area (SMEA) — advocated by Yamada and Tokuoka — are used to delineate the metropolitan areas. The results of the analyses are summarized as follows.

First, from the analysis using the dichotomy of the central cities and their suburbs in terms of population growth, it was confirmed that the larger the metropolitan size, the faster and larger is the population dispersion.

Second, the following results were obtained from the analysis that considered the various trends in suburban municipalities. The dispersal of population initially advanced until 1995. During that period, a tendency was observed whereby the equalization of the population density distribution progressed in larger SMEAs, and the degree of inequality of population density distribution was greater in smaller SMEAs.

Moreover, a result similar to that obtained in previous research was observed as a relationship between metropolitan size and the population redistribution pattern within metropolitan areas — population dispersion had advanced earlier, was on a larger scale, and was spatially wider with an increase in the size of the metropolitan area. Furthermore, by taking into account the variations in suburban municipalities in order to understand the spatial range as being influenced by population dispersal, it became possible to examine the spread of a sector as well as its distance from a central city. This leads to the conclusion that the sector that witnesses a growth in population is narrow in the smaller metropolitan areas.

Further, an observation of the trend from 1995-2000 in the large metropolitan areas revealed that suburban municipalities that recorded increasing trends in population reduction exhibited a tendency towards a concentration of population in the suburbs. This is a trend that is observed in small-and medium-sized metropolitan areas. If Japan continues its population decline in the near future, there is a possibility that the experience of small-and medium-sized metropolitan areas will precede that of large metropolitan areas in the future process of population redistribution within a metropolitan area.

As mentioned above, in this paper, it is possible to present some interesting findings that go beyond the scope of existing research — findings about the relationship between metropolitan size and the population redistribution pattern within metropolitan areas — by taking into consideration the diversity among suburban municipalities. However, the findings in this paper are restricted to the quantitative aspect of the process of change in population redistribution. Therefore, it will be necessary for future studies to verify a concrete process that leads to such a change. For example, there is considered to be a difference in the process of formation of a metropolitan area based on its population size. In order to verify this point, it will be important to explore the relationship between population growth and the change in the member of residents in municipalities within metropolitan areas. This issue will be the subject of future research.

A stone tidal weir is a traditional fishing method that is constructed on seaward slopes or within a fringing reef. It is basically a semicircle-shaped or horseshoe-shaped stone wall and the construction of it has a close relationship to tidal change. The fish swim or are driven into the weir during high tide but cannot find their way out during low tide. They are then caught in the shallow water within the weir by hand, dip net and so on during low tide.

Many types of stone tidal weirs are found mainly in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific areas. In Taiwan, they are called chióh-hō. According to recent intensive research, over 550 chióh-hōs are still found in the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. It is said that the Penghu Islands is the most concentrated area of stone tidal weirs in the world.

A few recent reports on chióh-hō fishing in Taiwan have elaborated various geographical, ecological and historical perspectives. However, chióh-hōs have already fulfilled an economic role. During the last few decades, most of them have gone out of use with the introduction of more effective fishing methods and modernized fishing boats and gear. It is, therefore, an urgent task for researchers to study the role and function of chióh-hō in local small-scale fisheries and the process of their disappearance.

The aim of this essay is to discuss the conditions of chióh-hō fishing in the Penghu Islands in the early 1910s using some papers relating to chióh-hō fishing rights, which appeared in documents of the Taiwan Government General. Discussion points are on fishing activity, period of construction, and ownership.

178 chióh-hōs were distributed in the northern part of the Penghu Islands in the early 1910s. Most of them were located mainly in semi-farming and fishing villages in Pai-sha Island and in the shore areas of solitary islands like Chih-pei, Ta-Tsang, and Niao Yu. Chióh-hō can be classified into three types: (1) semicircle-shape, (2) semicircle-shape with partition walls, and (3) two stone lines with a circular enclosure. Type (3) is the most advanced and efficient type.

According to the time when chióh-hō were constructed, the oldest ones were built early in the 18 century under the Ch’ing dynasty. On the other hand, the new ones were built early in the 20th century.

The actual possession of chióh-hō was shared by owners who invested their money and labor to construct them. They shared fishing rights and operated fishing by taking turns. In addition, they were under an obligation to maintain the chióh-hō.

In the latter part of this essay a variety of ownership and utilization patterns of 70 chióh-hōs in Chih-pei Island are discussed, where the author researched chióh-hō fishing activities in 1995.