There have been a large number of studies on general agricultural land use issues. Many factors affecting agricultural land use change were emphasized as important. Although the affects of individual factors on land use change have been identified, no single factor has provided a complete explanation of agricultural land use change in the peri-urban environment.
Given these general observations, the present paper considers the interactions between factors such as: natural environment factors (land and climate conditions); socio-economic factors (technology and infrastructure, land ownership, modernization and rationalization in agriculture and agricultural policies); and cultural factors (living standards, culture and history of development) with respect to the sustainability and changability of agricultural land use. Motosoja, an area located in the peri-urban sericulture region in Maebashi city, was selected as an example. Land use data were collected with aerial photos (for 1974) and the authors' field survey (for 1986 and 1994).
The results of this paper are summarized as follows:
Two types of combinations of factors affecting sustainability and changability of agricultural land use were identified. One was the combination of agricultural-oriented factors and the other was the combination of urban-oriented factors. The balance of these two types of combinations fluctuated in the peri-urban environment.
In general, land use in Motosoja area changed drastically after the last period of prosperity (the so-called Bubble Economy, or simply Bubble). Before the Bubble, Motosoja area was characterized as land use strongly determined by land condition: paddy fields were in alluvial low land and mulberry fields were in diluvial land. Agricultural land use was sustained by the land-use framework which was supported by the combination of many agricultural-oriented factors, such as various agricultural incentive policies, traditions of sericulture and rice-wheat double cropping systems, changes in cash crop farming, farming on a diluvial land condition, and so on. As for urban land use, a string of commercial land uses appeared on a diluvium along the main roads leading to central Maebashi due to urban expansion of the city. This type of expansion was characteristic of the so-called ribbon development.
After the Bubble, Motosoja area was characterized by land use which reflected strongly urban encroachment. Due to the more urban expansion of Maebashi city, many residences and large-scale shops were built on a diluvium not only along the main roads leading to the city center, but also around the existing urban land uses. The influence became stronger during the Bubble and resulted in the so-called plane development after the Bubble. Some agricultural land use was changed to urban by the land-use framework which was supported by the combination of many urban-oriented factors, such as diluvial land condition apt to change for urban land uses, lack of major cash crops, increasing accessibility to central Maebashi and increasing the ratio of exurbanites to original dwellers, and so on. Another notable land use change in this sericulture region was identified. Many mulberry fields were changed into vegetable fields in this period. As this type of change typically precedes further development, subsequent change in land use should be closely observed.

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This study aims to explain the development process of large-scale residential areas, 20 hectares and over each, in the Morioka urban area, and to compare some features with other urban and metoropolitan areas.
The first large-scale residential area in this urban area was developed by public-developer in the middle of the years of the high economic growth. Since then, some public-developers have played the important role in the development process. They cover over 70% of all large-scale residential area. On the contrary, private developer began to turn the land into large-scale residential area after that period, and covered roughly 20% of all in area. All of them were the nationwide private-developers. The local scale private-developers, which have head office within the Iwate prefecture, have developed residential area under 20 hectares each. We can see the land replotting projects as large-scale residential area in the 1980s. The rate of residential district to developed area is smaller in public scheme than in private enterprise. The differentiation of residential area has been started in the 1980s.
The process, as mentioned above, is similar to that in the Miyazaki urban area where is populated by some 300 thousands people same as the Morioka urban area. In both urban areas, development pattern has some common features. First, public-developers tend to develop relatively larger residential area which is fully equipped with public facilities and isolated from built-up area. Secondly, private-developers tend to develop relatively smaller residential area which is able to utilize the public facilities out of the developed area and are located near built-up area.

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This paper aims to discuss the changing process of agriculture in terms of part-time farm households. For this purpose the author used a cluster-analysis to extract the changing characteristics between 1960 to 1990 and considered the process in progress of part-time farmings for this purpose. The results are summarized as follows.
1) The main trend in progress of part-time farmings, as a whole, was to shift to secondary part-time farmings earned main income from non-agricultural jobs. although, a regional variety in the characteristics was clarified in the study period.
2) In towns and villages located along the major roads and railroads in Aizu Basin, secondary part-time farmings remarkablely increased from the beginning of the study period except for the towns (villages) where full-time farmings predominated.
3) In the towns and villages located at mountainous area, part-time farmings with daylabor and part-time jobs once occupied an important position. Since 1980's, however particularly in the north area, part-time farmings followed the similar trend observed in Aizu Basin. Moreover a regional difference is pointed out between the two that the former experienced more severe depopulation.
4) In towns and villages located along midstream of Tadami River, depopulation continued and now aging society is emerging. As a result, proportion of full-time and secondary part-time farmings increased simultaneously. This trend is also seen in parts of Aizu Basin, however it must be recognized that the characteristics are different each other.

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