It is important to clarify the concept of a climatic boundary, in order to delimit a region climatically. In this paper, the author discusses on the meaning of climatic boundaries in static climatology and in dynamic climatology. In addition, the problems related to “efficiency”of meso-climatic boundaries are discussed with a conclusion that the concept of climatic boundaries in macro-scale are not always adequate to be applied in meso-climatic studies.
Since climate should reflect a series of normal weather conditions for each season of the year, an areal extent with common characteristics of weather throughout the year must be a climatic province. That is, a weather boundary in normal conditions in an arbitrary season should be consequently the climatic boundary. On the other hand, different climatic provinces may not always differ in weather characteristics in some seasons. Therefore, in the study of mesoclimatic boundaries the pattern of normal weather conditions should be analysed for each season respectively.
For that purpose, a detailed investigation in synoptic climatology must be conducted. In addition, the nature of the local wind system should be investigated as it reflects the air mass in meso-scale. This is because the actual boundary, not as delineated by convenience, will be discovered in its relation with substantial phenomena.

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The author analysed the structure and distribution of retail services, taking the examples of several central shopping-streets by the characteristics of commodities, “shopping” and “convenience goods”.
(1) An intense, mutual relations are found between the size of the population of the built-up areas in the cities, and percentage of the shops dealing in shopping goods in the central shopping-streets of the corresponding cities.
It is generally considered that when the former increases in geometrical series, the latter does so in arithmetic series.
(2) The core of a central shopping-street is formed by the concentration of department-stores and convenience shops. This district also has the highest land value among different kinds of the shopping-streets.
(3) The growth and expansion of the cities, based on the distribution of retail services, and the shops for convenience and shopping goods, are summarized and are shown in Fig. 7.
(4) Characteristics of central shopping-streets are closely related to the size of the population in the built-up areas within the same cities, but are not always determined by it.
(5) The final stage of a central shopping-street seen from the tendencies of successive changes is such in which the streets are almost entirely consisted of shops for shopping goods.

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The Innai Silver Mine, located at Okachi-machi, Akita Prefecture, was discovered in 1606 and it had been one of the most important silver mines in Japan in the feudal age.
The author studied the history of the development of the Innai Silver Mines, and its exploitation, and tried to analyse their effects on the development of neighboring communities.
(1) This silver mine, which had been in the course of decline, came remarkably active after Furukawa Kogyo Co. began to run this mine. Its decline restarted since 1907, and it was closed in 1954 (see fig. 1).
(2) There were several phenomena associated with the activity of the mine. Such were migration of inhabitants, appearance of silver towns, development of agriculture and forestry in the adjacent areas, growth of big land owners, etc.
(3) Areas influenced by the above-mentioned phenomena were the Yokote Basin and its neighborhood, Yuri County in Akita Prefecture and Mogami County in Yamagata Prefecture. The most strongly influenced area was the upper reach of the Omonogawa River.
(4) At present Innai, once the mining town, is changing into a forestry village.

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The Nonodake Hill is an isolated hill surrounded by the alluvial Sendai Plain. It is consisted of two-storied erosional surfaces, the Nonodake (180-220m) and the Ishibotoke (100-140m) surfaces, which cut the bedrock of alternating Miocene breccia and conglomerate, Pliocene tuffaceous sandstone and shale formations. On the Ishibotoke surface, wide open and concavesloped valleys belonging to a former cycle of erosion are preserved. In these valleys the Ishibotoke surface appears as a rolling surface with low interfluves and gently concave profiles of slopes. Along the northern foot of the hill, a dissected terrace, the Osato surface (30-40 m), is distributed.
The following conclusions are obtained from the geomorphological analysis of the hill :
1) After the erosional surfaces with the concave-sloped valleys had been formed, there arose a tilting upheaval which lifted the northern part of the area more than the southern.
2) As a consequence the erosion was rejuvenated and the uplifted block suffered the dissection in the form of retreating knickpoints in the dissecting valleys, then the concave-sloped valleys and the rolling surface diminished to be preserved partly near valley heads and divides. Some tributaries of the concave-sloped valleys were captured by the younger streams.
3) Through the last tilting movement emerged the Osato terrace surface, which was also dissected later.
4) Recent transgression which was common to whole Japan spread into this area and the dissecting V-shaped valleys were transformed into Solthin-kerbtal as are seen today.
5) The asymmetrical drainage pattern and topographic profile in the hill are attributed endogenetically to the tilting movements, and exogenetically to the existence of steep scarp at the northern fringe by the lateral erosion of the Hazama river, and proceeded rejuvenation in the southern area of the hill.

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There are several levels of river terraces at different heights along the course of the Shiroishi-gawa and the Matsu-kawa. The author classifies these levels of river terraces based on his field survey and air photo analysis as shown in Fig. 1.
He also explains how the features of terrace surfaces were effected by the volcanic ejecta of the Aoso and the Zao volcanoes, or by the tectonic movement around the area.
(1) Along the Shiroishi-gawa and the Matsu-kawa, there are four different levels of terrace surfaces.
(2) The terrace surfaces are generally covered with veneers of thin gravel beds.
(3) The terrace bedrocks are composed of the Shirasawa Formation, the Matsu-kawa mudflow, and a portion of the Enda Formation. With the exception of the Enda Formation, most of them are composed of volcanic mudflows, and they have an effect on the features of terrace surfaces.
(4) As the influence of the volcanic activity, chiefly of the Zao Volcano, a great quantity of debris was supplied into the Matsu-kawa, and recent depositional terraces and a number of fans are constructed with this debris.
(5) In the northern part of the surveyed area, the overlain volcanic ash layer is thicker, and it fits with the gentleness of the mountain slopes.

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