With the restructuring of the Japanese economy during the 1980s, many large enterprises were obliged to downsize or shut down mines and industrial plants. In this paper, we explore the closure of the Takashima coal mine in 1986 by its owner Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest corporations, as a typical example of industrial decline in one of Japan's peripheral regions. This coal mine had been operating on the small island of Takashima for 118 years. In particular, the authors examine the difficulties experienced by redundant workers in different hierarchically-defined classes in reacting to the closure and the need to reorganize their lives.
The results of the research are as follows:
(1) During the mining era, there existed a three-tiered social structure, organized by Mitsubishi's mining company, consisting of three differentiated classes of workers: the managerial staff, Mitsubishi's own miners, and miners working for subcontractors. The workers in each class had quite different backgrounds, particularly with regard to educational attainment and occupational skill.
(2) When the mine closed, the managerial staff were not retrenched, but instead were relocated from Takashima island to other establishments owned by Mitsubishi. All of the miners, however, whether employed by Mitsubishi or by subcontractors, lost their jobs, and had to seek new jobs and new lives outside of Takashima island.
(3) In comparison with workers made redundant by other restructuring industries, such as steel and shipbuilding, Mitsubishi's former miners received a great deal of economic support from both the government and the company. Miners previously employed by subcontractors received little help, however, from their former employers.
(4) Former miners, whether previously employed by Mitsubishi or by one of its subcontractors, experienced much greater difficulty in finding new jobs than workers made redundant by other industries. There were also big differences between former Mitsubishi miners and those previously employed by subcontractors in terms of the locations where new jobs were found, the size of their new employers and the salaries they received.
(5) During the six months following the closure, out-migration was highly selective: those most likely to leave Takashima island were people of comparatively high social status, such as managerial staff, Mitsubishi's former miners, and younger heads of households. Since then, the municipality of Takashima has failed to revitalize its local economy and has suffered from severe depopulation and a rapid ageing of the community.
(6) Miners made redundant by the closure of other Japanese coal mines in the 1980s experienced similar difficulties to those experienced by Takashima's miners in finding new jobs and rebuilding their lives, reflecting the common characteristics of miners everywhere.

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A study was conducted on the state of family-owned businesses and associated changes by examining the Yukitsumugi (a pongee produced in Yuki) industry which has relied heavily on family labor. The results are summarized as follows:
Yukitsumugi production has changed considerably over the years. When it was being produced as a side business of extended farm families, there was a distinct division of family labor, including housework and child care. At this time, there were many self-employed hataya, or textile weavers.
However, beginning in the 1960s, the heads of an increasing number of Yukitsumugi households began working in offices and living away from their parents and in-laws. In such families, it became more difficult to run businesses that included the production of pongee. What was once an industry that had a distinct family-based division of labor now became the domain not of work-at-home farm wives, but of wage earners in the families of office workers. This was due to the increase in higher-grade schooling and the diversification of job opportunities for women.
This trend in the production area was necessary to produce high-class pongee. In the Yuki region, high-quality production was achieved by hataya who combined traditional techniques.
However, this type of production started to become much less consistent than that of the old-time farm families. Fewer and fewer skilled workers were employed in the industry, making it increasingly difficult to produce high-quality materials.
Since the 1980s, Yukitsumugi production has been steadily declining as workers retire or leave for other jobs without having a successor to take their place. This has had grave consequences for the industry, especially in the reorganization of the production structure.

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After the late 1960s, the national government shifted its key policy from further economic development to one of reducing the economic disparities which widened during the era of rapid economic growth. As a result of this shift, the government came to favor peripheral areas in the allocation of public investment, and the local civil engineering industry thus developed rapidly in these areas. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development process of the civil engineering industry in the peripheral areas of Japan, focusing on the formation of leading companies and their management strategies. Based on a case study of Shimane prefecture, one of the most remote regions in Japan, some important findings were uncovered and are summarized below:
(1) In the urban areas of Shimane, most of the leading civil engineering companies had reached the top of the industry before 1973. Some of the companies were formed by a government-mandated merger policy known as "kigyo-seibirei" under the wartime regime of World War II.
On the other hand, in the remote rural areas of Shimane, few civil engineering companies were acknowledged as leading companies in 1973. However, several companies succeeded in catching up with the leading urban-based companies in terms of sales volume by the early 1980s. Most of these were companies with foresight and good management abilities, and had originated from urban areas or other industries after World War II. These companies rapidly increased sales by developing new markets both regionally and technically in the 1970s.
(2) In the urban areas, there were many newcomers in the civil engineering industry even after the 1980s, and sales volumes of the companies there polarized between a few leading ones and many medium and small ones, most of which were strongly dependent on subcontracting works.
In the remote rural areas, newcomers in the civil engineering industry decreased after the 1980s because of the slowdown of public investment and strong market barriers. On the other hand, during this period, local civil engineering companies developed evenly irrespective of their sales volume due to suitable work allocation arrangements.
(3) In Shimane, leading civil engineering companies have applied two management strategies for further development. The first strategy is one of business expansion into the architecture industry. Unlike civil engineering, most of the market demand for architectural works comes from private households and companies. Therefore, market barriers are relatively weak and it is easy for leading civil engineering companies to expand their business into architecture. Today, half of the eight companies with top architecture sales in Shimane are such civil engineering companies.
The second strategy is the acquisition and breakup of companies in various territories. With the current condition of territorially-divided markets in Shimane, the acquisition and breakup of companies in various territories is the only effective strategy for further development in civil engineering.

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The purpose of this study is to vividly describe the activities and experiences of street performers and street artists at the micro-scale in the modern urban space. Street performers play the guitar, practice divination, and dance on the street. Their performances attract and entertain spectators and audiences. Street artists draw portraits and sell accessories or illustrations. Street performers and artists are active in Minami, Osaka, especially around America-mura, the Osaka City Air Terminal, and Ebisubashi. This study explores the number, distribution and objectives of the performers and artists through personal interviews and fixed-point surveys.
The characteristics of the three districts are as follows: the number of performers and artists is small around America-mura; street dancers are concentrated near the Osaka City Air Terminal; there are many performers and artists gathering around Ebisubashi; and the kinds of their activities are various. Their activities, experiences and ways of using and consuming urban space vary according to their individual objectives. Their objectives can be classified into four categories. First, they make a living by performing on the street. Second, they hope to become professional musicians or illustrators. Third, they perform for personal enjoyment to encounter and communicate with their audience on the street. Finally, they perform to increase their skills in music, illustration and dancing.
Street performers and artists give new and various meanings to the street by performing actively in urban space. Their activities create new places where people can interact in the modern urban space.

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