The discussion about the appropriateness of underground spaces for office use has been intensified during the past few decades due to the problem of growing population density and rising land prices, especially in Japan. However, the human reactions towards underground and windowless offices are not yet well understood. The present study focused on: 1) the perceived importance of windows in the work place, 2) the perceived lighting and visual conditions in the underground and above-ground offices, and 3) the general perception of the office interior in the surveyed offices. The results confirmed that windows were strongly desired in work places, especially by employees working underground and not having windows. The underground employees also evaluated their lighting conditions more negatively than did the above-ground workers, although the actual lighting conditions were very similar. Finally, the results showed that the underground office was perceived less pleasant, less stimulating and more enclosed than the above-ground offices with windows. Considering that the design and layout of the offices, as well as other environmental factors, such as type and level of artificial lighting, temperature and noise level, were very similar in the underground and above-ground offices, it is concluded that the perceived need for windows, and the perception of the lighting conditions and office interior in our study was more strongly influenced by psychological factors, such as the awareness of being underground and lacking windows and daylight, than by merely the physical characteristics of the work environment.

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Most pedestrians recognize surroundings greatly depending on visual information. However, visually handicapped pedestrians depend on auditory and tactile information instead of visual information. The aim of this study is to lay the foundation of sound environment designing for safety and certainty of visually handicapped pedestrians by studying their spatial cognitive process which puts emphasis on the utilization of auditory information. Four visually handicapped persons walked two unknown routes three times. At first, the routes were remembered based on the distance of straight line, the direction of turning at the corner and the vague image of space. In the early stage, around corners where it was hard to find, they came to look for some signs. With the discovery of these signs, information was sorted out. Where there were prominent signs, they were able to follow the routes without remembering information.

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The number of kindergartens using open space in a house or changing the traditional arrangement of desks for children's play activities has been steadily increasing in recent years. This leads to two important areas of study. The first focus is as follows: (1) to study these changed spatial variations and playing equipment and note their effects on the social behavior of the children, and, (2) to study the attitudes of the teachers in these changed classroom environments and note the resulting effects on the social behavior of children. The second focus is to determine their combined effect on the social behavior of children. This study was conducted from 1991 to 1994 based on questionnaires completed by kindergarten student teachers. The survey focused on raw data about the number of children per class, crowded classroom conditions, methods of desk arrangements, teachers' attitudes , and children's social behavior. The results of the survey indicate the following results: 1. Many student teachers indicated that the size of the classroom was appropriate for traditional teaching styles but was inappropriate for children's free play activities. 2. Teachers who attached importance to children's voluntary play and free play changed the traditional arrangement of desks and chairs, or they excluded much of the play equipment and just prepared for open space for children's free play.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify stress symptoms and psychological anxiety in about a month from the date of South Hyogo Earthquake. Three subordinate purposes were set as follows. 1) To accurately understand the content and extent of stress symptoms which appeared in about a month from the date of earthquake. 2) To research what worried the sufferers in about a month from the date of earthquake, and understand how the sufferers' anxiety has changed as time passed. 3) To analyze the data according to the factors including shelter situation, sex, and generation. The research into stress showed that the sufferers living at refuges had been under severer stress than other sufferers, and especially significant on women and sixties. The research into anxiety showed the anxiety about starting their lives anew has replaced the desire for physical safety as time passed. Especially, younger generation persisted in the image of their lives before the suffering, and there was a wide gap between their demand and realities in their presence.

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