This paper analyses the origins and effects of the local government reforms in 1884. The reforms consisted of the enlargement of the jurisdictions of village and town heads(kocho), making the post kocho appointive, and enforcing regulations on village and town assemblies. In Chapter I, the author examines the thinking of bureaucrats and prefectural governors. From this analysis, we find that the 1884 reforms had two different phases. One was the reform of the office of kocho(kocho-yakuba); the other the reform of village and town assemblies. The former was a measure against to correct instability in kocho-yakuba, and the latter was a reaction against People's Rights Movement. In Chapter II, the background of the reform of kocho-yakuba is analyzed by examining the case of Saitama Prefecture. In the period preceding the reform, kocho was in a weak posion vis-a-vis villagers. The reason for this was that villagers regarded kocho as a protector of private interests, and thus kocho could not carry out procedures that were against villagers' private interests, such as the exaction of taxes. However during this period this idea became a fiction, because the interests of villagers were no longer homogeneous. As a result, the administration of kocho-yakuba became unstable and its reform necessary. In Chapter III, the effects of the reform are analyzed. By separating kocho from the villagers, the reform made it possible for the former to assume stronger attitudes towards villagers. Up until now, other studies of local communities in modern Japan have understood the reform in 1884 as a matter between the central government and kocho. This paper, however, argues that the reform was a matter between kocho and villagers. In other words, the author believes matters between the government and the middle class should be distinguished from matters between the middle class and people.

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Several attempts have been made by scholars to interpret the Bogomils. J.Gouillard(1965)and A.Rigo(1989)have regarded them as members of Byzantine mysticism. H.G.Beck(1993)explained them as ordinary men who led a life with holy modesty and with an attitude of passive resistance against the extravagant Orthodox church. However, many scholars have thought them to be one type of dualist heretic or a revival of the Manichaeans, following St.Runciman(1947), D.Angelov(1947)and D.Obolensky(1948). The author believes that the Bogomils were not only a group of intellectuals, but also an expression of contemporary theological and social problems in 12th century Byzantine History. However, if we presuppose the Bogomils to have been like a school of thought, dualists or mystics or whatever, we cannot understand the real Bogomils on the historical scene. When we examine a social problem regarding"heresy", we have to understand first the reasons why contemporaries treated someone as a heretic. The author, focusing on this way of understanding and treating the Bogomils, surveys them in trials held during the first half of the 1100's in Constantinople. In so doing, this article shows several points that differ from the views of former theses. First, 12^<th> Century contemporaries were unaware of the two precedent sources, the Presbyter Cosmas's Discourse against the Heresy of Bogomil and the Euthymius of Acmonia's Contra Phundagiagites. Secondly, the name"Bogomils"is just one of the criminal labels, which the Orthodox-Byzantines could apply to non-conformers arbitrarily. Thirdly, for the Byzantines, Gnostical cosmology or demonology was not an essential element of the teaching of the Bogomils. There is no identity with thought, theology, moral-code, sectarian movement under the label of Bogomils. On the other hand, in the trials at Constantinople, we find that all of the accused Bogomils equally respected monastic life. The Bogomil-problem first appeared on the official documents after the 10^<th> century. From that time, the power of the monasteries rose, and the number of monks increased. From antiquity, Monks had been very popular in the Byzantine Empire. There were some deviational monks prior to this period, but the subsequent increase in"bonafide"monks also brought its faire share of deviants. This caused growing concern for the Orthodox Church, and in particular regarding their non-controlled activities. If some of them preached heterodoxical sermons to the people, heresy could be easily spread. The insecurity of the Church can be seen clearly in contemporary sources. In conclusion, Byzantines constructed a new type framework for understanding heresy, namely"the Bogomils". They thought deviational monks should be controlled under the heretical label of"Bogomils"as a tool for moral control. In the Constantinople in the 1100's, they were not considered to be dualists. The Bogomils were an indicator of the existence of behavioral problem in those days.

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This Paper investigates the specifics of how the general populace overcame illness in early modern society by using sources from those who received medical treatment. The author focuses on the diary left by the Imajuku family, whose head served as a representative to the village cooperative(soshoya). In recent years, researchers have pointed out that those who made up cooperative bodies in villages attempted to handle even the health problems of the villagers at a cooperative level. This being the case, it is not possible to consider the problems of illness and treatment in early modern Japan without analyzing social structure. Keeping this in mind, the author asserts that by looking at the actual conditions of life and production, we can also understand Owaki district as a diverse union of localities. First, the author analyzes the daily interactions recorded through their diary records, then describes the geographical environment in which these interactions took place. Next, the author takes up the many diary entires related to medical treatment by making the following observations (1)the diary details frequent medical consultation by the familyhead, wife, and children of the Imajuku family throughout its pages ; (2)in the end, the choices and initiatives of medical treatment received rested on the side of the patient, not the physician ; (3)in cases when children were sick or illnesses were serious, the family often used on prayer, but this was regarded as a complimentary or secondary measure to the doctor's treatment ; (4)there were never more than three doctors in Owaki district ; (5)this being the case, medical resources could never satisfy the demand of patients, so people sought treatment outside of the locality through the advice of relatives, friends, and acquaintances ; and(6)the Imajuku family spent a great deal on prescribed medicines, but this was an economically special case and was not indicative of the circumstances of the general population.

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Tanaka Shozo's antiwar argument has been studied almost solely in view of the postwar pacifism in Japan. In contrast, the author takes notice of the fact that Tanka belonged to the hawkish foreign policy party before coming out against war. The author analyzes this extreme conversion from the point of view of the formation and structure of his antiwar argument. Looking back at the Shino-Japanese War, it is revealed that Tanaka's hawkish foreign policy stand assumed precedence of internal affairs over external problems. Because of his principle, he never abandoned his critical attitude toward the government during the war. After the war, he continued to hold this principle, and his devotion to the mine pollution problem around the Ashio copper mine was one of its applications. However, the government set aside the pollution probrem, and the hawkish foreign policy party ignored his appeal for help. There appeared in his mind, the idea that Japan had perished, and because of this idea contrasted with the stateimage of the hawkish foreign policy party, he withdrew from the party and discarded its ideology. From this idea that Japan had perished, and from his religious thought, which had been developed as the spiritual condition of the revival of Japan, foreign affairs lost significance for him. Here lies the structure of his antiwar argument. Moreover, during the Russo-Japanese War, he entered Yanka village which had become the focus of the mine pollution problem. There he saw the real perished Japan, after which he stregthened his antiwar argument. After the Russo-Japanese War, he continued to preach the antiwar argument and disarmament, criticizing the annexation policy toward Korea. Underlying such activities was the mine pollution problem, the scene of perished Japan. As long as stood at that scene, his antiwar argument could never be shaken. That is the distinctive feature of his antiwar argument.

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