These days, interest in the durability of native culture has greatly increased, and researchers have been attempting to explain the process and energy of modernization in Asia through the local history and native value system in Asia. I think that this main theme of ours is held in common with that of sociologist-anthropologists, represented by Fei Xiao-tong (費孝通, born in 1910), in the 1930's and 1940's. To measure the effectiveness of our research ideas, I will examine Fei's aspects and concepts in his study of China. The distinctive features of Fei's aspects consist of three points. The first point is his holistic viewpoint of grasping Chinese society. The second is that he constructed his anthropological-sociological concepts from Chinese native ideas. The third is that he argued Chinese social changes as cultural problems. These three points are related together and constitute his original, unique anthropological-sociological theories. The purpose of Fei's studies was to give an analysis of the society to release the people from starvation and construct a peaceful life in society. For those ends, on the one hand he empirically analyzed the real state of rural communities and rural-urban relationship. On the other hand, he constructed theoretical concepts of social structure based upon native ideas in China. These two ways of his study form his anthropological-sociological concepts: (1) a set of conceptual models of social structure, (2) concrete analyses of social structure by using these concepts and (3) proposition of a practical diagnosis to restore social health. Fei considered Chinese social changes to be cultural issues. China was just in the age of reformation, but it could not make a clear picture of the future of the nation in its own tradition. Fei suggested that, even though China might import technologies and institutions from the West, Chinese society could not achieve equality with the West at one stretch. He insisted that, in order to seek for any ways of radical change in China, he had to reveal the actual conditions of traditional social structure. Fei suggested that social change in China meant the entire change of a billion lives. Therefore, social change was to be studied based upon the logic inherent in the native cultural and social structure. Tsurumi Kazuko said that Fei's viewpoint had something in common with Yanagida Kunio's folklore studies. It would seem that the worth of Fei's works consists in the following two points. For the first point, Fei devised lots of original concepts from the native languages to explain Chinese society. He verified his concepts by looking back at the root of sociological-anthropological concepts, and polishing up Western concepts through Chinese native language and culture. For the second point, Western anthropologists recognize the worth of Fei's works, because they can objectively review Western society themselves through his works. Malinowski must have foreseen the destruction of Western society and its loss of the sense of honor and of the sanctity of obligations. This is why he gave high praise to Peasant life in China (1939). In Fei's attitudes toward his study, he had a self-culture-oriented aspect that was oriented to his own culture and study of Chinese society as unique. And at the same time, he had a universal aspect that could interpret Chinese historical experiences from the viewpoint of worldwide history. In other words, Fei had two aspects combined. On the one hand, he had a particularism in methodology with which he studied Chinese society through the ideas of native people. On the other, he had a universalism with which he introduced new knowledge from his China study to re-construct the sociological-anthropological concepts of the West. I think his two closely-related aspects are worthy to be linked with our own topics, which intend to construct a theory of social change based on the reality of Asia.

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Althogh economic rationality is a dominant factor affecting the spatial configuration of human settlements in modern societies with developed market economy, its role in pre-industrial societies has been under debate. To demonstrate that economic rationality significantly regulated the spatial distribution of settlements at least in some pre-industrial societies, we take Classic Maya scociety as an example, and examine archaeological settlement data from the La Entrada region, Honduras. We apply central-place theory, which proposes that a regular hexagonal distribution of hierarchically ordered central places is optimal for minimizing the cost of travel and transport and for maximizing economic profits. Although the theory deals primarily with the distribution of retail markets, we believe that the essence of central-place theory can be legitimately condensed to the theoretical spatial distribution of nodes of human activities that minimizes the cost of travel and transport. Then, the theory may be applicable even to societies without market economy, since any society tends to minimize cost or energy expenditure to some extent in locational decisions for nodes of human activities. Our analysis of settlement data from the La Entrada region focuses on the Late Classic period, particularly the eighth century A.D., when the region was most densely occupied. The rank-size relation between centers shows a typical plural distribution, indicating that the central-place system of the La Entrada region is likely to have consisted of more than one center of the highest level. Most large centers are distributed fairly regularly along the rivers with the interval of 6 km. The three largest centers, El Abra, Los Hisos, and Techin, are roughly 18 km apart from one another, suggesting that they were central places of a higher level. Glyphic texts and stone sculptures found at Los Higos and El Abra also indicate the political importance of these centers. Thus, there appears to have existed a central-place system with a two-tier hierarchy. The distribution roughly corresponds to a central-place system based on the administrative principle. The presence of a central-place system demonstrates the strong tendency to minimize the cost of travel and transport. Yet, the pattern based on the administrative principle implies that political factors were also strongly operating, controlling certain areas of economic activities. We test the hypothetical central-place system against the intraregional distribution of obsidian artifacats. The La Entrada region is located between two different obsidian source-areas: Ixtepeque, 115 km to the southwest with high quality obsidian; and the San Luis area, 30 km to the east with low quality material. The distribution of obsidian from the two source-areas shows clear differences between the hypothetical sustaining areas of Techin, El Abra, Los Higos, and Roncador, indicating that the circulation of obsidian was politically controlled. Furthermore, the higher portions of Ixtepeque obsidian at large centers than at small sites within each area suggest that obsidian from this source was supplied mainly through redistributive channels. These data corroborate the existence of the central-place system based on the administrative principle. In central-place theory, distance itself is a significant factor, as compared with population density or the size of centers. Classic centers in other parts of the Maya area are spaced with intervals similar to those between Los Higos, El Abra, and Techin. Distribution with 15 to 20 km intervals was probably most efficient and effort-minimizing for local exchange. We further argue that basic factors underlying the regular spacing of Classic Maya centers are: (1) the ineffective transportation with a lack of beasts of burden and wheeled carts; and (2) the system of staple finace in political units, that involved obligatory payments of

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This paper investigates, from an anthropological perspective, representation of migrants' identity with reference to tombs built by Koreans (particularly first generation) who have migrated and settled in Japan. That is the plurality of identity which also includes ethnicity. The tombs which are dealt with in this paper stand in private cemeteries for Koreans in Japan (namely, an exclusive one for the Kyoangsan Kim family association and a communal one at Korai-ji, a Korean temple). Most families involved in building them could be described as active participants in the Korean community in Japan. Tombs in such cemeteries do not differ in their shape from other Japanese tombs. However, the contents of the inscription on the tombstones are original and very distinct from their Japanese counterparts. The deceased's real name in Korean is inscribed in front of the tombstone, and in the Confucianist manner, kani (government position) and bonkyan (family origin) are also added. Even those which have adopted Japanese style inscriptions such as "so-and-so family (or ancestral) tomb," can be differentiated from Japanese tombs as they bear the first names of first generation individuals beside the surnames. This can be seen as a representation of the first generation individual as the "starting point" for the family in Japan. Also, many other headings are often included in inscriptions such as the genealogy of the original ancestor, paso, or iptocho, personal history with a migration diary, profession, and achievement, or a final message or teaching, poems and writings. Next, the paper focuses on family and individual and evaluates two very interesting cases. One of them is the tomb of the S family at the Korai-ji, which possesses the size and decorations matching royal tombs. Its burial master is the Kyoangsan Kim family, though it was not built in their private cemetery. The deceased's family has been working on various sources to classify the tomb as the "Japan ancestor" for the Kyoangsan Kim family. However, from the results of my research and analysis, this huge tomb has been regarded as the starting ancestor and the symbol of family rise in Japan for the S family only, rather than as the "Japan ancestor" for Kyoangsan Kim family. Another example is Mr. P, who is still alive, and who has built his family tomb at Korai-ji. The tomb holds a specially ordered family album and genealogy of present relatives sealed and placed where their ashes are supposed to be laid, for the forthcoming (though it is not known specifically which generation) descendants who might be searching for their own and their ancestor's roots. The album shows photos of the Korean hometown, ancestral tombs, and group photos of all present relatives in Japan and Korea. Each photo bears explanations written by Mr. P himself. Mr. P, who has built his own tomb specifying each small detail himself, is not a special case among those who have their tombs in this cemetery. From unconstructed interviews, it could be said that this phenomenon is the result of worry among the first generation who could not expect the tomb they require from the second generation, their sons, who have a different sense of values. From all tomb inscriptions in these two private cemeteries and the cases of P and S families, it can be considered that it is compatriots in Japan rather than Japanese society in general, of which the individuals and the families who build the tombs are conscious. In other words, individual tombstones are, in the first instance, media for private self-representation, in individual or family units, to other Koreans in Japan. An individual tombstone is a mechanism by which individuality is expressed to comrades in Japan who have their tombs in the same cemetery, the difference (individuality) and the status within the group are expressed, and these expressed

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Until today, the academic field which studies the culture of the Ryukyu Islands has been called Okinawagaku i.e. "Okinawa-ology". This term has been used by almost all people interested in Ryukyuan culture, except for a few researchers who lay stress on the narrowness of this naming. They emphasize that "Ryukyu-ology" would be much better to indicate the studies of culture in the Ryukyu Islands, which include the Amami, Miyako and Yaeyama Islands. I will side with them too. For progress in research, it may be necessary to generalize from phenomena in Okinawan folk customs: however, the local variations in folk customs are so considerable that generalization is rather difficult. In this paper, I mention for illustration the difficulty regarding local variations of the kamiyaku (priest) system in Okinawa Island. Until recently, the main concern of Japanese folklore study on the Ryukyu Islands was to find the prototype of Japanese culture. Though we can find original types of Japanese culture in the folk customs of the Ryukyu Islands, according to its geographical and historical situation, Ryukyuan culture had different characteristics from mainland Japan. The close relationship with mainland China from 14th century especially brought unique changes. In the field of linguistics or dialectology, the languages (or dialects) of the Ryukyu Islands are regarded as one of the two main clusters of dialect which compose the Japanese language, with the other cluster on the mainland. In the field of folklore study too, as in linguistics, we may consider Japanese folklore to be divided into two main clusters, i.e. the mainland and the Ryukyu Islands. For progress in research in the future, we have to define the distinctive features of folklore in the Ryukyu Islands through comparison with not only the mainland also other Asian areas.

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When employing the term "Okinawan culture" as a concept in cultural anthropological research, what exactly is the extent of the area indicated by the word "Okinawa"? And what criteria govern our use of these terms? Attention should be focused here on the consistency of folk concepts of geography of the people in this region. For example, the folk concept of "Okinawa", and the political/administrative concept are quite different. From the point of view of anthropology, more importance must be attached to the folk concept than the administrative one. Through analysis from the shima (village) level up through higher orders of social organization, it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the folk concepts of identity. The largest region encompassed by folk concepts of non-Yamato identity extends from the Amami Archipelago in the north, to the Sakishima Islands in the south. Although there is no overt folk concept which unambiguously expresses a common identity of all of the people from Amami to Sakishima, a consciousness of being non-Yamato people is clearly evident. The consciousness of non-Yamato identity is itself an aspect of culture, and the people of this region have a strong sense of not being part of the dominant culture of Japan. The people of this area identify themselves as Japanese (Nihonjin), while still maintaining a consciousness of non-Yamato identity. The area in which the people share this non-Yamato consciousness is what we should consider the Okinawa culture area.

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[in Japanese]

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