The present paper attempts to geographically analyze the nature of the life space humans organize in their everyday life. Our findings are summarized as follows:
1. We attempted to clarify the structure of life space by examining various organizations on which people depend in their daily life. Dejima-mura of Ibaraki Prefecture was taken as an example. There are two types of organizations in the village: functional organizations under the local government's control, and traditionally maintained teritorial organizations. Administrative village organizations, producers' trade associations, social-educational organizations, and recreational organizations belong to the former. Such organizations, to which either individuals or households belong as basic units, are stratified within the village, while being structured within larger organizations beyond the village domain. Producers' trade organizations, social-educational organizations, and recreational organizations are fairly recently established, having clearly defined functions, to which individuals are affiliated by their own free will. Traditionally sustained organizations are mainly for religious purposes, such as Buddhism, festivals, and various folk beliefs. Each organization, where a household is the basic unit of affiliation, has a limited sphere of influence. These organizations are gradually reducing their integrity and cohesiveness with diversifying modes of living and daily life behaviour. On the other hand, commercialization of farm products and ever-increasing social educational demand as well as leisure and recreational activities have augmented the importance and influence of producers', social-educational, and recreational organizations in the community life. With the expanding role administrative organs play in local areas, village administrative organizations are increasingly exerting their influence on the villagers' lives. However, these newly established modern organizations are largely based on the traditional teritorial organizations composed of individual household for their foundation and activities.
2. Three types of work activity space are identified in Dejima-mura of Ibaraki Prefecture (located in the outer suburban farming zone of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area), by examining the characteristics of workers, type and means of work, sphere of activities, and land use. The subsistence farming space, to which people move on foot, is found within a short distance from the house. Only economically viable farm households and those mainly engaged in non-farming activies but still practicing some farming own such space for subsistence crop production while non-farming households do not possess such space. The commercial crop farming space is characterized by such crops as lotus roots, pears, Japanese chestnuts and rice, taking advantage of its locational accessibility to the large metropolitan market. The main labor force in their productive ages who are engaged in farming activities there, move by means of small pickups, motorcycles, or bicycles. The space is physically characterized by such typical facilities as farm workshops, produce collection sheds, and agricultural cooperatives. This type of space is not owned by non-farming households and by farm households mainly engaged in non-farming activities. The non-farming employment space, on the other hand, extends to neighboring Tsuchiura-city beyond the village domain. Young couples, particularly husbands, and younger workers are the dominant force of labor in this space. They use automobiles as their main means of transportation. Non-agricultural land use predominates over this work space, where establishments of the secondary and tertiary industries provide the younger labor force with employment opportunities.

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Water resource problems in Japan have changed dramatically as the high rate of industrialization and urbanization have slowed down. The problems occurring in recent years seem to be quite different from the past because of the change of the socioeconomic environment surrounding water resources. The purpose of this article is to clarify the relationship between the change of water utilization and resulting water resource problems in the case of the basin of the Kiso River.
Three aspects have been considered for investigation: (1) areal and structural change of water demand, (2) relationships among water user sectors, and (3) conflict and adjustment of water resources among the local governments, which make plans for public water supply service and management.
The results of the study may be summarized as follows:
(1) The area of public water supply has been much expanded spatially recently. The dependence on water of the Kiso River as a source has been much strengthened. This is due to the increase of water demand and the change of water management authority within the last two decades.
(2) The increased water supply for urban users from the Kiso River has influenced agricultural water users, who were formerly the leading sector in the water users of the Kiso River. Now the intake of water from the Kiso River is under state control based on the quantity of flow at standard points, for example at Imawatari. The state control of the river water has been gradually intensified and as a result, traditional water use of agriculture has been increasingly regulated.
(3) water conflicts have ocurred among different urban water users in the process of water resource development planning. A severe conflict arose between Aichi and Gifu Prefectures. Aichi Prefecture has immediate used for water, and Gifu Prefecture is willing to reserve water resource for future use. So the political negotiation was done in the course of water resource development planning. But this negotiation has resulted in an inequalty of water service and demand-supply gap between the prefectures.
These structural changes mentioned have brought an instability in the structure and management of water utilization. It can be pointed out that this has become one of the most influential factors causing today's water resource problems. Particularly the control of the water flow at the standard points by the state is less effective and has caused water scarcity in some regions. In addition to this, the state control of the river also raised many problems. One of the most serious ploblems is the disproportion of projected water demand with actual demand in the agricultural sector, as the actual water demand is usually much larger than the projected one.
Recently the quantity of agricultural water use has been increased because of the change of structure of water use with urbanization and the increase of part-time farmers. Moreover, the leakage of the surface water of the paddy fields to the underground also increased the use of agricultural water. However, this seems to coutradi ct the aim of the government's policy of water transfer from agriculture to urban users. Therefore, the river management system which is now being controlled by the government needs immediate modification for the betterment of the water users and the country as a whole.

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Recently, the ratio of elderly (65 years old and over) is increasing rapidly in Japan. In Japan, there are some examples of studies that have examined the ageing phenomenon, however, it is very hard to find studies conducted from the view point of geography. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Japanese studies. on the ageing phenomenon have weaknesses concerning spatial or regional considerations.
The purpose of this article is to make clear the areal distribution of the ageing phenomenon in the city and its promotive elements. In this study, the author fucuses on the increase of the ratio of elderly by out-migration of non-elderly from the districts. All analysis in this article is done at the scale of the census tract in several cities, for 1970, 1975 and 1980. The reason for this is that the current Japanese census tracts have been established since the population census in 1970.
The methodology and results of this article are summarized as follows:
First, the census tracts that have a relatively high ratio of elderly from 1970 to 1980 are obtained by using the mean and the standard deviation of the ratio of elderly. These census tracts are called Aged Population Special Districts, and are classified into three types, and their areal distributions are mapped. In the case of Sendai City as a regional central city, Aged Population Special Districts (APSD's) have distribution only in the central area of the city. However, in the case of the other five cities, they are distributed in the central area of the city and in the urban periphery.
Second, the census tracts that show a remarkable decrease in population (from 1970 to 1975, and from 1975 to 1980) are obtained by using the mean and the standard deviation of the index of the increase in population. These census tracts are named Special Districts of Decreasing Population. These areal distributions are overlain on to the same maps as for the APSD's in the respective cities. In the case of Sendai City, Special Districts of Decreasing Population (SDDP's) have a more restricted distribution than the APSD's in the central area of the city. In the case of the other five cities, the SDDP's have a wider distribution than the APSD's in the central area of the city, but a more restricted distribution than APSD's in the urban periphery. Judging from the differences of areal distribution between the APSD's and the SDDP's, we can be predict the differences in the causative elements of ageing between the central area of the city and in the urban fringe.
To verify these predictions, cohort analysis was carried out in the respective cities: in the central area of the city, in the urban fringe, and in other areas of the city. Judging from the results of the analysis, especially in the central area of the city, outmigration of non-elderly from the district is the main cause of ageing, and in the urban fringe, an absolte increase in the ageing population is the main cause of ageing, added to the out-migration of non-elderly from the district.
All of upper results are made into a final figure at the conclusion of this article.

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