The development of condominiums has recently increased in the centers of Japan's major cities due to the decline in land prices and the sale of land assets by debt-ridden companies. Studies on the characteristics of condominium residents and their residential preferences are important for an understanding of recent changes in the urban residential structure. These studies should also contribute to urban housing policies. Regarding the city center of Sendai, which is the primary city of the Tohoku district, this article aims to clarify the effect of the growing supply of condominiums on the population recovery, the characteristics of condominium residents, the reasons for taking up their residence, and their attitude toward permanent residence. The following points have been identified as the result of analyses of questionnaire data.
1) The development of new condominiums has been a major factor behind the population increase in the center of Sendai from the mid-1990s. Highly educated white-collar workers make up the largest percentage of new dwellers, but they are varied in household type.
2) Except for households that move due to work, households that purchase a condominium either move within the city center, or from the suburbs to a more central location. The main reason for such choices is proximity to various activity opportunities such as work places, medical facilities and public facilities.
3) The fact that the lifestyle of residents of city center condominiums is based on proximity to these opportunities in the city center is also evidenced by the strength of their attitude toward permanent residence. A large percentage of households consider the city centers to be ideal residential areas, and the majority of households that purchase a condominium plan to continue living in the city center.
As described above, an increasing number of condominiums are being developed in central areas of Sendai City, resulting in a localized population increase. Furthermore, it has been shown that residents consisting mostly of highly educated white collar workers, who have a certain level of economic power and whose choices of lifestyle are largely based on proximity to the city center, are moving in city center condominiums in increasing numbers.

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This study discusses factors affecting the cognition of city names and locations in Chiba Prefecture. A questionnaire survey was conducted of students in a public junior high school in Chiba City, and 309 samples were collected. The questionnaire asked whether and how they knew the names of 31 cities in the prefecture, and then asked to indicate the location of each city on a map of the prefecture showing only the administrative boundaries of cities. The main results are summarized as follows:
The students well answered the names and the locations of cities nearer from Chiba City. The factors affecting the cognition of names and locations of cities are then examined with a multiple-regression analysis. As a result of the analysis, a route distance between cities is a major predictor of the answers given by the students. They learned the names of cities locating outside of their living area mainly from their familiar persons. Thus, the cities in northwest area in the prefecture are not well known because of a few familiar persons in contrast, the cities in southernmost area are well known because of visits to these tourist cities, reducing the distance decay effect.
The cognition of city locations is strongly influenced by a visual effect on a map. The students could locate the cities at the edge of prefecture especially well. Other visual effects such as area or distinctive shape of cities don't very much help the students to identify the cities. It is possible that the students could remember the locations of cities through the experiences of using maps during visits but boundaries of cities are mostly ignored.
These results suggest that the factors affecting cognition and learning process of place names are different from those of place locations.

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The objectives of this study are to clarify geomorphologic development of landslides distributed in the upper course of Yunosawa River, Shirakami Mts., Northeast Japan, based on tephrochronology. Most of large-scale landslides in this study area were formed in the Last Glacial Age before 13ka, because debris mounds are covered with non-deformed tephra layer of Towada-Hachinohe Pumice (To-HP: ca 12-13ka). On the other hand, small-scale landslides developing along valley floor occurred in Holocene, considering that To-HP is included within debris deposit or that tephra layers of To-HP are severely dislocated.

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