There exist two monuments at Tohni-cho in Kamaishi-city (Iwate pref.) built by Kasai-Masahiro in 1814, in commemoration of the land survey carried out by Inoh Tadataka in 1801. Kasai had described the latitude measurement by Inoh as 39°12′N. The most important part of the inscription based upon this value is his requirement to the future generations to confirm a prediction on gradual motion of the Earth due to the European theory. As the result of the examination on the description in connection to the level of Japanese astronomy before around 1800 era, the author concluded that two astronomical concepts, the polar motion and the nutation, should be considered as candidates of gradual motion of the Earth. The author is also concerned with the subject what kind of channels were available in distributing the newest scientific information to northern Japan, and how.

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This study is to clarify the market cycle of travelling merchants and the spatial behavior of consumer's commodity purchasing, its reasons and purchasing region of each commodity in Okchon, Ewon, Chongsan periodic markets, that is three of central places in Okchon county.
The data used are the results of interviews with 82 travelling merchants from September to November, 1997, and questionaire survey taken to 185 parents of students of Okchon middle school, Ewon middle school and Chongsan middle school in Okchon county.
Study area is typical agricultural and rural industrial estates taking the role of central places to provide rural service and is comparatively important periodic markets.
Some of findings are summarized as follows:
(1) Until 1970's, appearance of closed periodic markets is caused by the population decrease in rural region, income increase, and rising of living level according to the Five Years Planning of Economic Development, appearance of chain stores of agricultural co-coperative and of supermarkets, changes in distribution mechanism by increasing consignment volume of agricultural products through agricultural co-coperative, and the development of transportation in Okchon county. These, too, became the reasons for the decline of the periodic markets in Okchon county.
(2) Most of the travelling merchants visiting the Okchon periodic markets are from thirties to fifties years of age, and they sell the miscellaneous commodities and agricultural products. And about two-third of travelling merchants reside in regions with periodic markets and in Taejeon of higher order central places.
(3) Travelling routes visting periodic markets can be simplified to three types. The patterns of travelling merchants visiting periodic markets are classified into the type of everyday visiting of periodic markets, the type of merchants visiting from two to four days of five days from merchant's residence to market, and the type of merchants visiting one day's of five days. On days that travelling merchants don't visit periodic markets they purchase the commodities in higher central places.
(4) Consumers who use periodic markets are from thirties to fourties years of age. Consumers visit periodic markets on foot or by private vehicle and intra-county bus.
Consumers purchase the necessaries of life in periodic markets, and other commodities are purchased in Taejeon and Seoul city. But consumers purchase the goods (convenience goods, shopping goods, and specialied goods) largerly in Okchon and Youngdong, because expensive, varieties of commodity and multi-purpose purchasing for purchased goods in others regions.

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In this paper, the author attempts to articulate various problems which lurk with representations in a magazine for women. Especially, the information about rooms for rent is the subject of this analysis. Hanako, which is a weekly magazine for women distributed only within Tokyo Metropolitan area, aims to propose an alternative women's lifestyle.
Some critics had examined gender representations in advertising, and clarified the complex relations between the two sexes. The gender representations produce desires that promote our consumption. Housing advertisements represent patriarchal gender relations.
Hanako is a magazine with an element of advertising, providing the information which relates to consumption. Its information about rooms for rent was for single working women in particular. But, its intention was not to mediate rooms for readers, but to suggest various life styles suitable for various types of rooms. As a result, Hanako categorized its readers by their tastes and classes. At the same time, in this magazine each apartment house represented the image of the place where it has been built. These special issues presented the editor's mental map of Tokyo.
Lastly, men hardly appeared in the expression in Hanako, but the expressions of women as a single sex were a peculiarity of this magazine.

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