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Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is one of most promising means to prevent global warming in the present Japan. Since solar panels mounted on building façades are expected to come into wide use in urban areas, accurate estimation of PV potential of building façades is necessary for urban energy management planning. Accordingly, we have developed a system to estimate PV potential of urban buildings using a 3D city model. The system has two significant features: rapid estimation of hourly solar irradiance of points densely distributed on a building surface, and more flexible estimation of PV potential considering an arrangement of solar panels on a building surface. The paper reports our newly developed method to estimate PV potential of urban buildings considering an arrangement of solar panels using dense solar irradiance distribution on a building surface. The rapid estimation of dense solar irradiance distribution on a building surface enables the system to handle more flexible arrangement of solar panels with providing width and height of a solar panel, and clearance around solar panels. Considering some restrictions such as minimum solar irradiance of a solar panel makes PV potential estimated by the system become more realistic. The paper reports experiments conducted in seven urban districts in Japan to investigate the flexibility of the method by using various settings of panel installing conditions. Experiment results indicate that our developed method can estimate PV potential flexibly considering an arrangement of solar panels corresponding to various settings of panel installing conditions such as size of a solar panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their birth in the 1990s, social enterprises, as a kind of third-party organization with the attributes of both a not-for-profit entity and a profit-making enterprise, have played a significant role in the socio-economic development of cities, in particular those facing the challenge of shrinking. But why are social enterprises so deeply embedded in the regeneration process of shrinking cities, and how do they promote their multi-dimensional revitalization? In order to answer these questions, this paper presents a case study on Shimizusawa in Japan based on a literature review and field research. In line with the embeddedness and institution–function–instrument theories, it reviews the revitalization of Shimizusawa by involving a social enterprise in the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage sites and the development of industrial tourism, analyzes the establishment process and organizational characteristics of this social enterprise, and summarizes the four major experiences of its practice—that is, the governance structure of two types of institutions and two types of functions, the planning for both profitable and non-profitable activities, the operation of both for-profit and not-for-profit businesses, and the fund management of leveraging multiple parties to raise funds and reinvesting the profits locally. The extensive support provided by the Shimizusawa Social Enterprise that creates not only economic value but also social value justifies the significant role of social enterprises in the revitalization of shrinking industrial areas. This case study, together with its analytical framework, may serve as a meaningful reference for the revitalization of shrinking industrial areas in other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese rural communities have experienced an aging population with a drastic decline in its size while more economic functions and workplaces have become concentrated in urban areas. Some rural communities in remote mountainous areas even face the further serious problem of extinction of their own community. Even with such a difficult situation, some rural communities have been successful in achieving the migration of their young generation back to their rural areas, and even in reviving their energy year by year. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to demonstrate how rural communities in remote mountainous areas in Japan can become empowered and resilient regardless of the serious threat of further depopulation and marginal settlement through a case study of a small-scale rural community in a remote mountainous area of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. The paper first overviews how rural communities have experienced depopulation over time together with changes in livelihood along with changes in lifestyle. Then, by describing how a small community in the study area was challenged to implement a series of projects by themselves, utilizing their local resources and cultures, it explains how a depopulated community could revive and gain confidence in themselves while receiving a lot of attention from visitors from outside. The study results show that the aged female population in the community is the key human resource as they can actually play an important role in the rural community, producing local valuable products and services. Moreover, the study points out the importance of maintaining and passing on rural communities' identities to the next generations, while explaining why some of the young population now choose to live in such remote rural areas -- a shelter from the overly globalized and industrialized modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster research predominantly focuses on citizens, not on migrants. This tilted spotlight needs to be readjusted, since many advanced countries around the world have become immigration countries, and safeguarding the lives of migrants at times of disaster has become an important and immediate policy issue. Hence, this research concentrates on disaster management to protect the lives of migrants in a disaster‐prone and de facto immigration country. The particular country and event in question are Japan and the northern Osaka earthquake of June 2018. More than 100 migrants who lived near the earthquake's epicentre rushed to an evacuation shelter managed by the local municipal government of Minoh City, Osaka Prefecture. While non‐governmental organisations attract more attention, this paper centres on a local government and demonstrates the key role that it can play in both bridging and building networks across different communities, and thus in safeguarding the lives of migrants at times of disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 20th century, Japan has experienced a period of very rapid urbanization. Cities have experienced substantial densification and expansion, resulting in gradually elevated flood risk. Urban flooding has also occurred in most large cities in Japan, particularly in Tokyo. In response to this growing problem, much effort and resources have been spent on research and development aimed at understanding, simulating, and managing urban flood risk in Japan. The objective of this review is to summarize, discuss, and share key outputs from some of the main research directions in this field, significant parts of which have been uniquely developed in Japan and only published in Japanese. After a general introduction to urban runoff modeling, in the next section, key historical works in Japan are summarized, followed by a description of the situation in Japan with respect to observations of precipitation and water level. Then, the storage function model approach is reviewed, including an extension to urban basins, as well as recent experiments with AI-based emulation in Japanese basins. Subsequently, we review the prospects of detailed hydrodynamic modeling involving high-resolution, vector-based Geographical Information System (GIS) data for the optimal description of the urban environment with applications in Tokyo. We conclude the paper with some future prospects related to urban flood risk modeling and assessment in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether Japanese banks followed herd behavior in loan markets during 1980–2000. Using data categorized by bank type and geographical area, we examine leader–follower relationships between the behavior of different bank types. We find evidence of their herding that is not explained by macroeconomic conditions. In particular, regional types of banks always followed banks that had large loan shares in individual areas. Such herding was observed more frequently in regional areas. Unusual herding by major banks was observed from immediately before the Japanese asset‐price bubble in the late 1980s to its bursting in the early 1990s. During the bubble period, the estimated amount of loans raised by major banks' herding in urban areas was greater than 2% of the average annual nominal GDP in the period, overwhelming that of herding by other types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is currently facing serious issues associated with an aging society and negative population growth. Urban structures, remnants of economic prosperity, are now hindrances to sustainable urban development, driving municipalities to seek efficient methods to manage this growth. Japanese municipalities continuously conduct surveys to collect data for urban planning purposes. However, lack of standardization and poor visualization tools prevent coordination and consensus-building among stakeholders during the planning process. The "i-Urban Revitalization" (i-UR) is an information infrastructure promoted by the Japanese government expected to enable municipalities to analyze and visualize their goals related to that process.This paper presents the implementation of i-UR. One approach employed for data standardization is to develop a CityGML Application Domain Extension (ADE) for urban planning that covers detailed attributes of city objects and mechanisms for global representation and analysis necessary for urban planning. The effectiveness of this ADE is being evaluated through data implementation and visualization experiments conducted in three municipalities in Japan. A prototype for the proposed "AR Consensus-formation system" is being developed for further utilization of the ADE. In addition, Ideathon events are being held to develop human resources in municipalities to promote urban revitalization and facilitate i-UR use. The ADE and i-UR tools described in this paper are expected to evolve based on feedback from users and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active thin film electrochromic or thermochromic coatings have been used in smart windows. However, the current cost of active thin film windows is approximately 10 times that of passive film windows. This paper proposes an inexpensive passive thin metal film for all-season energy savings. The proposed passive thin metal film allows heat to flow preferentially in one direction. Thin metal films attached to glass indoor can absorb solar heat and the solar can radiate the heat to a room and to the glass respectively until thermal equilibrium. Because of the heated metal film against the room, as long as the temperature of the film is higher than that of the room, there is no heat flux from the room to the thin metal film which is called perfect thermal insulation. The 960m2 film was installed in an actual hotel in Japan over 10 years and contributed to reducing the energy cost of air conditioning from 54 million yen to 43 million yen, demonstrating an annual energy savings of 11 million yen (US$0.1 million). This paper briefly describes how the proposed economical passive thin metal film will provide all-season energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighbourhood gastronomy, the agglomeration of restaurants and smaller eateries in residential urban areas, contributes to the lives of residents and visitors economically, culturally, and socially. Since winter 2020, neighbourhood gastronomy in Asian cities has been severely disrupted by COVID, compounded by many other long‐term stressors. In urban Japan these stresses include gentrification, the aging of proprietors, urban renewal, and corporatisation of gastronomy. Empirically, this paper discusses how independent restaurants in Tokyo contribute to community life by supporting grassroots creative industries, small business opportunities, meaningful artisanal work, convivial social spaces, local cultural heritage, and a human‐scale built environment. The study uses intensive single‐site urban ethnography to discuss how restaurateurs face immediate and long‐term crises at the community level. By using the "neighbourhood as method," a concept of sustainable neighbourhood gastronomy is developed that should be applicable in other urban contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transmission performance of spatial multiplexing cross-polarized MIMO is studied to determine how to increase the capacity of digital terrestrial broadcasting and make it more robust. In this paper, the performance was evaluated in laboratory experiments and large-scale field experiments in central Tokyo under three deployment scenarios. The results showed that the required received power can be improved by 7.3 dB when MIMO is introduced to enhance transmission robustness, i.e., maintaining the same transmission capacity as SISO. Alternatively, the transmission capacity can be doubled by introducing MIMO for the same robustness as SISO, requiring a slight increase in received power of 0.9 dB compared with SISO. The field experiments were performed by using a prototype transmission system for advanced digital terrestrial TV broadcasting in Japan, but the results obtained are also valid for 5G broadcasting. Regarding the feasibility of the advanced terrestrial broadcasting system operating at a target bit rate of about 60 Mbps to distribute a VVC-based 8 K program within a 6-MHz channel bandwidth, an increased received power of 3.7 dB compared with SISO was required for MIMO to achieve a higher transmission capacity in the worst case for 28 reception points evaluated in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Geographical Sciences (0286-4886) is the property of Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, I demonstrate how long-term multigenerational minorities and Japanese residents engage in the current socio-political discourse of "multicultural coexistence" society (tabunkakyōsei shakai), which had not previously been integral to the vocabulary of national rhetoric in Japan until the 2000s. I argue that the lack of clear definition and goals of multicultural coexistence by the current Japanese government generates obstacles in the attempt to build a multicultural society. While local municipalities' programs, such as multilingual services and lifestyle support, are certainly needed, long-term foreign residents with linguistic and cultural competence are suspicious of the concept of multicultural coexistence due to their own embodied marginalized positions. Taking a local municipality's intercultural event as a point of reference, this paper explores how long-term minority residents perceive their positions at the crossroads of seemingly paradoxical forces of multicultural trends and an ongoing national identity founded upon ethnic homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staying unmarried and not starting a nuclear family is increasingly common around the globe. At the same time, living arrangements are diversifying. Both living alone and sharing housing are growing trends, especially in urban areas. This is also true in Japan, where experts anticipate the emergence of a so-called 'Hyper-Solo-Society', despite the norm to get married remaining strong. In this regard, Japan can serve as an excellent case study for investigating the relationship worlds of unmarried adults through and in relation to their living arrangements. My data draw on a qualitative study of unmarried individuals—primarily women—between the ages of 24 and 45 in different living arrangements in Tokyo and Kyoto and point to a diversification of relationship worlds, offering insights into how this development is interwoven with the diversification of living arrangements and revealing the shifting, partly blurring boundaries of dwelling, relating, and belonging. Furthermore, the data indicate that 'new' spaces of relating and belonging—spaces of one's own, spaces of (unfocused) embeddedness, and spaces of togetherness with friends, partners, or one's family of choice—are emerging and/or actively being created. These spaces, which partly break with conventional gendered configurations, are fluid and comprise ambivalences and ambiguities, but they can play a salient role for shifting notions of what 'home' and 'belonging' mean. By identifying changing perceptions of home and belonging, this paper contributes a new perspective to current global debates on 'singles' and their practices of relating and belonging at the intersection of gender, mobility, and space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of New Architecture is the property of New Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, urbanites' outmigration to Japan's rural areas received considerable media attention. However, outmigration from urban areas is small and not evenly distributed across prefectures in Japan, with prefectures in peripheral locations receiving fewer migrants than those closer to urban centers. This paper analyzes the representation of rural spaces in recruitment strategies, promotional activities, and information events conceptualized and organized by two such peripheral prefectures, Saga and Ōita in Kyushu, to understand the role of these representations in the inter-prefectural competition for new residents. Based on the analysis of promotional videos published online by both prefectures, it was found that despite recent changes in rural Japan the promotional videos published by Saga and Ōita prefectures portray the two prefectures as a »rural idyll,« rather than as innovative, open, and diverse. In this way, the promotional materials echo older discourses about rural areas from the fields of tourism, consumerism, and the media, which portray rural Japan as an idealized but homogeneous space. Since the representations of the two prefectures differed only slightly and could hardly be distinguished from each other, it is questionable whether these materials can help potential new residents make an informed decision before moving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks play an important role in enhancing the lifestyle of the community by providing functions which support the environment, safety, health and well-being. This paper examines the determining factors for the development of urban parks, taking into consideration the supply side and demand side factors and past conditions of urban parks. Japan prefecture level data between 2001 and 2014 were applied to a panel data analysis. The results found that, for the supply side factors, the share of gross production by the construction industry and the financial strength of the local government, and, for the demand side factors, the preference towards the environment, health, well-being and safety, all have impact on the urban park area per capita at a statistically significant level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducted a questionnaire survey of evacuees (residents of public-funded rented housing, home buyers, etc.) from Tomioka Town, who were displaced because of the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011. It aimed to understand the characteristics of the wide area residents' associations as the “Third Place" by examining the relationship among the neighborhood association before and after the disaster, the neighborhood association at the evacuation district, and wide area residents' associations. It was revealed that wide area residents' associations could function as a relative Third Place, because the evacuees had a weak connection with the places they live in after evacuation, although they continue to have strong links with the neighborhood associations in the places where they lived before the disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of spring 2018, evacuation orders have been lifted from the entire area of Naraha Town and most of Tomioka, except for certain areas. While many evacuees have chosen their evacuation destinations as their permanent residences, some have returned to their former towns. This paper examines the factors involved in the “differentiation" and “integration" of Naraha and Tomioka residents before and after the disaster and the various forms they assume, based on the results of questionnaire surveys conducted in 2012 and 2015 as well as interviews conducted on a continuing basis since the disaster. In this process, it has become apparent that a split exists between Naraha, whose residents are moving toward “integration" with the lifting of the evacuation order, and Tomioka, whose residents are progressing toward “differentiation." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights critical issues in restructuring food policy in Japan under the coming revision of the Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas Basic Act. First, food security needs to be conceptualized from the capability perspective to cover one's total quality of eating. Second, urban areas (not just rural areas) should play a key role in the territorial anchoring of the food policy. To illustrate this feasibility, insights are extracted from the pilot study on the territorial food projects in Kyoto City. The recent food policy in France is also referenced to highlight challenges in future food policy in Japan in terms of its political coverage and decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borehole logs are important geospatial data for understanding subsurface geological and geotechnical conditions. Recently, many borehole logs in urban areas have been open to the public on the Internet in machine-readable file format. However, a few simple methods allow us to construct a voxel model of geological and geotechnical characteristics with high objectivity of the modeling process. Our work aims to develop a simple method that facilitates the use of open borehole logs in geological and geotechnical investigations in urban areas. In this paper, we propose a voxel modeling method of geotechnical data using the machine-readable open borehole logs. The method is designed to construct voxel models of lithofacies and standard penetration test results by stacking a series of horizontal two-dimensional grid data that are created by natural neighbor interpolation using geotechnical data stored in borehole logs at regular elevation intervals. A test calculation to evaluate the proposed method was performed using a large number of borehole logs in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. Results confirmed that the proposed method not only allows us to ensure the objectivity of the modeling process but also provides a good overview of the three-dimensional distribution pattern of the subsurface geotechnical characteristics without any setting of complicated calculation parameters. In conclusion, the proposed method improves the efficiency of geological analyses, such as stratigraphic correlation using borehole logs, and facilitates the use of open borehole logs in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper proposes a computational landscape design method, called the Seeds Scattering system (SS system), that was developed by the AnS Studio to carry out the Sony forest project in Japan. This method enables us to manage various environmental conditions in design processes, to design 'natural' in urban areas, (i.e., people perceive a forest in an urbanized area as if it is natural although the forest is not genuinely natural). First, this paper discusses the limitations of the conventional method of landscape design. In Section 3 to 4, we describes the SS system together with the design process of the project. In Section 5, we present the system from a different perspective, that is, as a method for satisfying social requirements to gain human appreciation. The designer's role in this system is not to manipulate geometries or compositions of tree groupings but to design the fundamental rules that underlie them. As a result, the designer can create a landscape in an interactive manner, thereby producing one that inherently belongs to its site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the strategies employed by Japanese rural municipalities to support growing numbers of older people in the face of dwindling financial and human resources. Drawing on case study research from a study visit made by the authors, the paper considers the social and economic benefits gained by taking a community based approach as seen in Kuriyama and an older-person centred approach to spatial planning as seen in Nanporo. It concludes by considering what lessons rural municipalities in the UK might draw from these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new notion on prominent areas of a city defined by two types of comprehensive prominence for identifying urban spatial structure. Not only geometric attributes and topological attributes but also thematic attributes of irregular areas (e.g. districts of a city) are used to define these indices. In the paper, first the topological prominence related to geometric attributes such as size, location, and shape of areas is constructed by spatial weight matrix. Second, for finding comprehensive prominences, the principle axis factor model is adopted, and the first factor score is defined as the comprehensive prominence 1. Then, the proportion of thematic attributes of each area occupied in across the city is used to define the comprehensive prominence 2. Finally, we use these comprehensive prominences to extract some important regions in Matsudo City of Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The areas composing those regions show a high topological prominence, have a large population, have many offices, and are located around the train station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coping with intergenerational conflicts is one of the fundamental keys to building a sustainable society. However, current decision-making systems tend to be inclined towards the preferences of present generations, simply because future generations do not yet exist and therefore cannot participate in present-day negotiating processes. In this paper, with an aim towards reconciling possible intergenerational conflicts, we present the first attempt at creating a participatory intergenerational deliberation practice by creating "imaginary future generation" groups to represent future generations and negotiate with present-generation groups regarding future visions and associated decision making. To accomplish this, a series of workshops were organized in a local municipality in Japan in which participating imaginary future-generation groups and present-generation groups first deliberated separately, and then worked together, to form a consensus over prioritizing policy measures associated with their separate visions of the municipality in 2060. We then analyzed deliberation and consensus-building processes used and observed a stark contrast in deliberation styles and priorities between the groups. For example, imaginary future-generation-group measures were primarily characterized by utilizing existing local resources, while the present-generation groups aimed more at solving current problems. Notably, the consensus-building processes resulted in choosing more than half of the measures originally proposed by the imaginary future-generation groups, thereby indicating that decision-making preferences had shifted to future generations. We contend that our approach, which is based on introducing imaginary future-generation groups as stakeholders, could provide indicators towards coping with intergenerational conflicts via present-day decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper systematically reconstructs the path of 'the model of a core of a future city' concept, from formation to culmination, proposed by Uzô Nishiyama's team for the Master Plan of the site of the Osaka World Exhibition of 1970. Although it was not realized, what was important was the proposal to build, in the Expo 70 site, a structure that could be used for the event and which could later become a model for a future city centre area. The main objective of this paper is to clarify fundamental elements of that idea through an analysis of Nishiyama's plans from 1960 to 1973, which define a singular period within his whole career. Nishiyama was an important figure in Japanese urban planning, relatively unknown abroad because few of his plans were realized. His importance lay in his work developing a critique of current planning practices in Japan. Support for his ideas led him to become Vice-President of the Architecture Institute of Japan in 1959 and to be consulted on major planning projects of national importance. The new concepts he proposed during the peak of his career will be contextualized within the historical process of Japanese urbanization, showing that Nishiyama developed his ideas by responding critically to the system of planning then in place. This paper uses, among others, primary sources collected in 'The Memorial Library of Uzô Nishiyama' and aims to introduce Nishiyama's work in detail, almost unknown internationally. Also, this investigation gives a new perspective on the site planning process of Osaka Expo 70, commonly regarded as a project developed mainly by the Japanese architect Kenzô Tange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to its role in news dispersal, the newspaper has been cited for its potential in both education and identity creation and confirmation. This paper will examine the Newspaper in Education columns in a rural Japanese setting, revealing how these columns, while framed toward education, also address local identity creation through what is termed `locally scholastic' content. The Newspaper in Education (NIE) practice is dated in America to the 1930s and in Japan to 1988. This paper will briefly outline the NIE concept and general NIE activities in Japan before hypothesizing the role of NIE in local identity creation and presenting a case study of NIE columns from two newspapers in Aomori Prefecture, Japan - one prefecture-wide and the other a local newspaper - over the period from January to May, 2002. The examination used a team of native-speaker readers in order to establish the readability and balance of `scholastic' versus `local' content and orientation of the columns. This paper ultimately contextualizes how the NIE columns of these two newspapers contribute to both education and local identity creation in this rural Japan setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position of a city in any hierarchy of world importance is not a static phenomenon. This paper takes the example of Tokyo and explores its interaction with the dramatic economic and political events in Japan over the past 20 years. Although Tokyo is widely regarded as one of the top three 'world cities', the argument is supported that it retained many national characteristics, partly based on its location in a 'developmental state'. As national fortunes have changed, so has Tokyo's relationship with its global environment. The paper focuses on strategic urban policy and the way that this reflects Tokyo's world role, as perceived by national and city governments. Three phases in approach are identified since the 1980s. Twenty years ago Japan was experiencing economic boom and this was reflected in dramatic development projects in Tokyo. The concept of 'world city' was used at this time to legitimise such development. The 1990s were viewed in Japan as 'the lost decade' with great uncertainty over policy direction as the boom collapsed and urban policy in Tokyo entered a phase of inertia. It is argued that the city is now entering a third phase in which a new competitive attitude is emerging regarding the role of Tokyo and this is leading to changes in strategic urban policy. However, this new approach is still embedded in old structures and conceptions and hence there are tensions in developing future policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The willingness to purchase a house is closely related to previous experiences with housing market changes. This paper establishes the variable effects of willingness to purchase a house based on experience to analyze how experience with the Lost Decade (1991 to 2001) in Japan has influenced its housing market. This study finds that when the regional house-price levels are less deviated from those of Tokyo, willingness to purchase a house is relatively higher, which inhibits the growth of rent prices. Grouping data into urban and non-urban areas shows that the negative impact of willingness to purchase a house is higher in non-urban areas. This indicates an urban-rural gap in the country and house prices in the urban areas can self-adjust so that willingness to purchase a house does not reflect significantly on the rental market. Experience with the cumulative house prices of each prefecture from 1985 to 2015 relative to the Tokyo standard is calculated for deviation to determine whether the cumulative experience of longterm past losses could be used to analyze divergence in the regional housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the emerging practices in Japanese local municipalities, in which participatory methods are applied to envision sustainable future and relevant target settings. We selected three local cases: Higashiomi city, Kizugawa city and Nagakute city as emerging initiatives. A comparative analysis was carried out to identify commonalities and differences, and to derive lessons for appropriate governance and systems for participatory deliberation in future visioning. We argue that the deliberation processes served as a platform for effective communication, and that installing a mechanism that allows reflexive deliberation processes is the key to make participatory methods fully functional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streamlining urban areas to appropriate sizes based on the current population structure is an important and urgent issue. Therefore, Japan enacted the Location Normalization Plan in 2014, and a shift toward a more compact regional structure is underway. However, this plan cannot force people to migrate to the target area. Consequently, the formation of a compact regional structure is expected to persist for several decades. It consequently is crucial to shortly convert to a compact regional structure based on the voluntary migration of residents before the living environment outside residential zones deteriorates. This study analyzed the time required for the population to reach zero in urbanization-promoting areas excluded from residential attraction, using spatial statistical analysis. We assumed that multiple generations were the targets of the migration promotion policy, and considered the differences in each scenario. The results demonstrate that >100 years would be required before the natural withdrawal of target areas, and that migration policies targeting pre- and post-retirement generations were the most effective. This paper's contribution is valuable in that it discusses the importance of promoting relocation based on the viewpoint of the shortest possible shrinkage to the compacting measures currently being undertaken worldwide in matured cities. • Targets of the migration promotion policy • Importance of promoting relocation based on the shortest possible shrinkage • Policies appropriate for specific time periods and age groups should be implemented. • Migration policies targeting pre- and post-retirement generations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Bow-Wow Patrol (BWP)', established to avert local crime by encouraging dog walking, may help build social relationships among individuals through dog walking. However, details of its social influence remain unclear. Thus, this study aimed to elucidate the social roles of BWP in the urban areas of Japan. A total of 18 BWP organisation members from two Tokyo municipalities were recruited using snowball sampling between November 2021 and July 2022. In an interview, participants were asked about their perceptions of changes in their social relationships through the BWP. Qualitative content analysis was conducted after text mining using the KH Coder software. The mean age of the participants was 63.9 years, and 83.3% engaged in BWP 7 days a week. The content analysis revealed six social roles of the BWP: establishment of social networks with schools as the centre, establishment of loose networks inside and outside the BWP organization, enhancement of a sense of trust among neighbours, enhancement of a sense of trust in communities, norms of reciprocity among dog owners, and dog and owner characteristics. This study found that the BWP in urban Japan strengthens social cohesion and expands social networks among dog walkers, encouraging them to continue walking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to apply the so-called Tiebout hypothesis empirically to Japanese cities. 117 cities in the Tokyo metropolitan area and 72 cities in the Osaka metropolitan area are respectively classified into eight clusters using public expenditure densities as attribute variables. The land price of each city is then regressed on per capita income, population density and dummy variables corresponding to the clusters. High statistical significance of the estimated coefficients of the dummy variables can be taken meaningfulness of the initial classification of cities in which individuals of varying preference to the different patterns of public expenditures reside, Through this procedure, the authors reached the conclusion that the Tiebout hypothesis is applicable to cities in Japanese metropolitan areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents several multi-modal 3D datasets for the problem of categorization of places. In this problem. a robotic agent should decide on the type of place/environment where it is located (residential area, forest, etc.) using information gathered by its sensors. In addition to the 3D depth information, the datasets include additional modalities such as RGB or reflectance images. The observations were taken in different indoor and outdoor environments in Fukuoka city, Japan. Outdoor place categories include forests, urban areas, indoor parking, outdoor parking, coastal areas, and residential areas. Indoor place categories include corridors, offices, study rooms, kitchens, laboratories, and toilets. The datasets are available to download at http://robotics.ait.kyushu-u.ac.jp/kyushu_datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive planning has been a key activity of local governments in Japan. This paper discusses the history of the comprehensive planning concept and argues that the purpose of comprehensive planning in large Japanese cities (dai-toshi) differs from that in Western cities. Specifically, Japanese comprehensive plans reflect Japan's distinctive planning and political culture, such as the country's history of granting gradually increased local autonomy to its cities under the Local Government Act, and the implementation of top-down plans prepared and implemented by powerful mayors and bureaucracies. Since year 2000 comprehensive plans for Japanese large cities have begun to change due to lower rates of economic growth, population stability, and ageing, alongside the challenges of introducing more efficiency and effectiveness into the planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the research-based photographic projectContact Zonethat is conceived through the study of the Japanese period of self-inflicted Westernization beginning shortly after the middle of the nineteenth century. Considering especially the emergence of Western style architecture in the new capital of Tokyo, the paper presents working methods of German architects, who were invited to Japan to build new governmental buildings in the 1880s. The description of the historical situation serves as a basis for the presentation ofContact Zonephotographed by the author in 2006. Contact Zoneis a documentary art project dealing with the appearance of Japanese cityscapes in the beginning twenty-first century. It focuses on the integration of Western style architecture from the nineteenth century and different architectural styles and periods in Japanese cities. The work shows that Japanese contemporary urbanity isnotcompletely contrasting the appearance of European cities today, but that it has absorbed Western influences into its own fabric. The idea is to show an image of the global Japanese city today that features historical and cultural influences from the West. Whereas many photographic works by Western photographers usually present Japan and Japanese cities as completely deviant from Western cities, thus concentrating on Japanese Otherness, the photographic projectContact Zonefocuses instead on similarities in the visual fabric of contemporary Japanese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

City branding is a managerial procedure which offers any given city a distinct identity; providing cities with a chance to present as different, positive and distinguishable from other competitors. In Japan, the use of mascots for city branding is often part of urban planning strategy.Kumamonis the most successful regional mascot in Japan and offers an opportunity to explore the nature of mascot city branding strategies. Employing a large number of promotional strategies, the local prefecture created a uniqueKumamoncity brand and enhanced the local image, resulting in significant economic benefits. The paper argues that five main factors contributed to the success ofKumamon: government support, power of emotional attachment and anthropomorphism, efficient public transport and tourism services, the mascot branding, and social media. Understanding howKumamonmascot branding succeeded can assist makers to decide whether to replicate the use of mascot branding in other cities and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the governance structures of Biosphere Reserves (BRs) in Japan by focusing on six criteria that elucidate the main characteristics therein: general information (nomination process, year of designation, size, and population), legal frameworks, stakeholder identification, and decision-making processes (number of municipalities and role of consociation), administrative institutions (human resources, budgetary situation, and expense distribution), executed BR implementation activities, and participatory/collaborative frameworks. This research consists of a literature review, a questionnaire administered to the secretariats of seven existing BRs and follow-up interviews. Three main characteristics of BRs were identified. First, a responsible local government(s) is nominated to manage the BR rather than the central government. Consequently, BR implementation in Japan is led by those municipalities that have strong motivations for regional development using the BR concept. Second, two types of BR governance structures exist in Japan: the single municipality type and the multi-municipality type. All BRs have so called Kyougikai, a consociation for decision-making, consultation and/or collaboration among stakeholders. In the single municipality structure, the consociation includes diverse actors from private and community sectors, while in the multi-municipality structure, consociations are based in more diplomatic settings and only include members of the public sector. Third, gaps between pre/post-Seville BR implementation sites were identified. The motivations for the formation of pre-Seville BRs, which were designated in 1980 in a top-down fashion prior to an awareness of BRs, varied greatly from those BRs nominated by municipalities after 2010. The authors identified fewer administrative resources and activities associated with the pre-Seville sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies urban–rural mobilities in contemporary Japan using several island communities in the Setouchi region of the Seto Inland Sea as a case study. It seeks to examine the phenomenon of den-en kaiki (rural return) with a focus on young Japanese urbanites moving to depopulated regions outside large cities. Based on a 15-month ethnographic study, the paper draws on original in-depth qualitative interviews with 35 individuals in their 20s–40s. The findings show that while some may be more traditional "lifestyle migrants," many are adopting rural living as a temporary escape from the city and are not necessarily committed to staying long term. The narratives reveal diverse mobilities as a reflection of the changing attitudes of young Japanese attempting to find meaning and satisfaction while sustaining a livelihood in post-growth Japan. The growing importance of the "relationship population," referring to urbanites who spend extended time in rural communities but do not live there, is discussed to broaden existing conceptions of rural mobilities from the Japanese context. The messiness of rural mobilities in contemporary Japan highlights the need for an expanded understanding of concepts such as counter-urbanization to include various forms of exchange and consider how they can contribute to the future sustainability of rural spaces. • Fluid urban-rural mobilities are reflective of new values amongst young Japanese. • I-turners displayed varying levels of commitment to rural living while U-turners are more likely to settle. • Ethnographic data reveal a desire to explore alternatives to traditional lifelong employment. • Urban-rural migrants struggle to balance financial security with lifestyle aspirations. • More study on the 'relationship population' as a growing influence on the future of rural Japan is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of collapsing block walls widely used in Japan, this study proposes a method for extracting block walls using 3D point cloud data measured by the Mobile Mapping System (MMS). Unlike conventional methods, this method identifies block walls based on geometric features without relying on MMS trajectory data or deep learning inference results. In addition, the computational load is low and manual correction can be minimized. In our experiments, we used point cloud data collected in urban areas in Japan and achieved a precision of 0.750, recall of 0.810, and F-measure of 0.779. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method for automatic extraction of block walls and rapid assessment of collapse risk and are expected to contribute to safety measures in areas with high seismic risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The shortage and aging of surgeons in regional surgical care has been remarkable, and the importance of surgical education for young surgeons in the region is only increasing. However, there are very few reports about regional surgical education. This study aimed to clarify the current status and issues regarding surgical education in regional surgical care and to examine the ideal way to provide surgical education in the region. Methods: Two questionnaire surveys were carried out. (1) "Survey on the awareness regarding the education of young surgeons" was conducted by mail in institutions where surgeons worked. (2) "Survey on the current status of surgical education for young surgeons" was conducted via the Internet with surgeons under 40 years old and mentors at the same facility. Results: There were 175 respondents to survey (1), among whom 131 (75%) surgeons were interested in educating young surgeons, and 112 (64%) were actively participating in this educating. Regarding the best evaluation methods for mentors who are educating young surgeons, the most frequent answer was "I don't know (51%)". The number of respondents in survey (2) was 87, including 27 (31%) young surgeons and 60 (69%) mentors. Although there was no difference between young surgeons and mentors in the level of satisfaction with the current status of young surgeons, 37% of young surgeons in urban areas were dissatisfied with their current status, compared to 0% in the regional area (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Although surgeons did not have confidence in their own education, the level of satisfaction among young surgeons was high even in those providing regional surgical care. Development of an evaluation system for surgical education is necessary for young surgeons to receive more effective surgical education in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tsunamis resulting from earthquakes can cause extensive damage, including infrastructure destruction, injuries, and fatalities. To address these risks, numerous tsunami evacuation simulations have been conducted to assess evacuation strategies and identify issues, particularly in Japan, where the Nankai Trough earthquake is anticipated, affecting underground malls in urban areas. Our previous research primarily focused on evacuating from underground to the surface, neglecting surface evacuation. Therefore, this study extended the previous study to include horizontal evacuation following the exit from the underground mall to ground level. It also considered the impact of pedestrian road crossings as interactions with vehicular traffic within the simulation to enhance realism and verify the evacuation risk. The study also explores scenarios where evacuation guide stairs are unavailable, comparing the effectiveness of alternative staircases in the evacuation plan. Results indicate that while using alternative staircases temporarily increases the number of evacuees reaching the surface, road crossings on evacuation routes become significant bottlenecks, leading to surface congestion and delayed evacuations. This raises doubts about the effectiveness of alternative staircases and highlights the need to consider alternative evacuation routes as a secondary plan. Additionally, the study reveals that reduced pedestrian flow at road crossings can significantly impact on evacuation times. Ultimately, this study demonstrated that achieving a short evacuation time from underground malls to the ground level might not always yield the best evacuation plan. It underscored the importance of considering aboveground factors in evacuation planning to ensure safety in the event of a tsunami caused by an earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation-disadvantaged groups have been defined in previous studies as those who are low income earners, are family dependent, have limited access to private motor vehicles and public transport services, and are obliged to spend relatively more time and money on their trips. Additionally the disabled, young, and elderly are commonly considered to be among the transportation-disadvantaged. Although generally this definition seems correct, it is not specific enough to become a universal definition that could apply to all urban contexts. This paper investigates whether perceptions of travel difficulty vary as does the definition of transportation-disadvantaged in socioculturally different urban contexts. For this investigation, the writers undertake a series of statistical analyses in a case study of Yamaga, Japan, and compare the findings with a previous case study, in which the same methodology, hypothesis, and assumptions were applied to a culturally and demographically different settlement in Aydin, Turkey. After comparing the findings observed in Aydin with the statistical analysis results in Yamaga, this paper reveals that there can be no detailed, universal definition of the transportation-disadvantaged. The writers conclude that the characteristics of the transportation-disadvantaged are not globally identical, and policies and solutions that work in one locality may not have the same results in another sociocultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on ongoing work on comprehensive revision of Japan's City Planning Law (CPL). The basic framework of the current CPL was established in 1968. During the 1960s, rapid population growth and population concentration in urban areas took place, and sporadic developments on the urban fringe were encroaching on farm and forest lands. One of major purposes of enacting the CPL was to prevent disorderly urbanisation of such lands from expanding. The background which existed when the current CPL was enacted has been completely changed, however. A low birth rate and ageing population are a serious problem, and the population is expected to begin a perceptible decline around 2010 in Japan. To respond to such changes in socio-economic circumstances, the Japanese government has started a comprehensive study for revision of the CPL. The main issues it is exploring for a new framework are: how to achieve integrated land use and development control of urban and farmland to prevent suburban sprawl, how to refine regulations on building construction to achieve desirable land use (particularly in urban areas), and how to introduce a time-management system in planning and developing public facilities such as roads and parks. This paper introduces interesting phenomena happening in the city planning field and shows new proposals to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is expected that this paper will show people in the city planning field challenging work on a new city planning scheme to respond to population decrease, especially in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In Japan, 1,968 municipalities have merged between 1999 and 2005. It seems that this large-scale merging of cities, towns and villages had a great influence on the public libraries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues discussed at the time of the merger and to define the future issues of libraries in such merged municipalities. Methods: Questionnaires were sent out to main libraries of 483 municipalities that had merged into a single one respectively. Among them, 321 (66.5%) libraries responded the questionnaires, which are analysed in this paper. Results: The problem discussed most frequently at the time of merging is how the level of services can be adjusted between individual libraries after merging, e.g., adjustment of opening hours or library regulations for lending books. On the other hand, the issue of unifying library policies was not considered so much. These results show that the libraries have to give priority to issues on services that directly affect the users, because library staff didn't have enough time for discussion on them before the merger. The most common issue after the merger is to obtain enough budgets for purchasing library materials. Reorganization of the library is a future issue, too. Moreover, the libraries must consider how the service should be provided in geographic areas increased newly by the merger in a situation of severe fiscal limitations. To study more detailed library policies and organization in post merger of municipalities are also further research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]