The inscription of past memories in landscapes requires a historical and geographical perspective. As Okinawa is where the battle of Okinawa took place in 1945, it is a suitable place to understand such landscapes. Most studies on war commemoration spaces in Okinawa have been based on case examples from Itoman, which is famous as the last battlefield. With reference to the geographical conditions, this paper examines the diversity of the death and commemoration spaces in Okinawa, through a study on the development of war monuments up to 1972 in Yaese Town, which, like Itoman City, is located on the last battleground. The analyses particularly examine the memorials in the Tomori and Gushikami areas in Yaese Town as examples of the collaboration of the many different actors; the war-bereaved local residents, the Okinawa local government, the Okinawa war-bereaved family association (Okinawa izoku rengoukai), and other war-bereaved groups outside Okinawa prefecture; in order to design and maintain these special memorials. In addition, some historical and geographical contexts are examined as factors for the selection of an appropriate location.

With the overall population on the brink of decline, Japan is faced with a full-scale depopulating society. Understanding the relationship between an aging society with a decreasing population and housing supply and demand is an important focus of urban studies research. In this study, we analyze residential relocation through the purchase of secondhand condominiums in the Tokyo metropolitan area in the 2000s based on a questionnaire survey. Secondhand condominiums in Japan are empty and unsold because most Japanese people aspire for a newly built condominium. This oversupply is at its worst in the Tokyo metropolitan suburbs, with Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures, which are located over 40 km from downtown, particularly suffering from this problem. However, older people who take walks every day have forced a re-evaluation of the benefits of secondhand condominiums. As the number of secondhand condominiums is greater than the number that are newly built, general consumers can select between different types based on size, price, location, etc. Thus, a segment of the elderly population is liable to concentrate on secondhand condominiums located in the vicinity of stations so that they can meet their daily needs by walking and without using a car. In other words, secondhand condominiums contribute to creating a walkable city.