This paper examines the smoking behaviour in each of the forty-nine major cities of Japan. Taking into account variation in income, cigarette tax reform, the TASPO age verification policy, and demographic disparities, this study seeks to measure how individual cities respond to changes in these variables and establish whether geographic location or neighbouring cities can influence cigarette demand. Using monthly time-series data for households of two or more people, the unit-root and cointegration tests were conducted, followed by a log-linear error-correction estimation for each city. Based on the estimation results, cluster analysis was then applied to determine the consumption pattern. The study concludes that cigarette consumption has no neighbouring or regional similarities as the clusters do not have anything to do with geographical distance.

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This article aims to examine various background factors determining sustainability of the persimmon tree ownership program through a case study of Higashi-Izumo in Shimane Prefecture. The results of the ordered logit model based on the individual data obtained from our mail questionnaire survey targeted towards participants of the ownership program, suggest that the stronger their awareness to support agriculture and rural communities are and the more participants satisfy with farm work and harvested persimmons in quantity and quality relative to membership fees, the more will they continue to participate in the ownership program for a longer term.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the substitution effect between agricultural machinery and labor in China. China's agricultural mechanization is proposed by the government after the establishment of new China and it has been evolved since the people's commune period. Compared with the average level in the world, the agricultural mechanization level of China is still low. In order to achieve "agricultural modernization" earlier, improving agricultural productivity has become an urgent task to the labor-saving machinery. In brief, let the mobile rural labor force transfer to other industries and restructuring agricultural production structure which are necessary based on the Mechanization. For this purpose, by using data from China Statistical Yearbook and empirically analyses the substitution effect between agricultural machinery and labor. As a result, with the increase in labor wages, Marginal rate of substitution of labor for mechanical has gone up. Marginal rate of substitution is 0.425〜1.226 from 1983 to 2009, in China.

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A parthenocarpic tomato cultivar, 'MPK-1', was cultivated in a plastic film house with a thermal curtain without heating from October to April in Takatsuki, Osaka to investigate the possibility of saving fuel by producing tomatoes under lower temperatures. The daily mean temperature was kept at over 8℃ through the period, but the daily minimum temperatures sometimes dropped to under 5℃ from December and did not reach over 10℃ until late in March. The yields of the 'MPK-1' planted in October were estimated as 213-283kg/a from December to April. However, most of the harvested fruits in April were small and not suitable for market. And yield of those planted in November, December or January, were below half of that of the one planted in October. The parthenocarpic tomato clutivar can thus be used to produce tomatoes under lower temperatures and thus save fuel.

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