Koshiro Shimizu

The Development of Cities by the Mining Industry during the Meiji Period

After the Meiji Restoration, the new Government adopted a policy of ‘Rich Nation, Strong Army’ to catch up with the west. The policy consisted of developing unused land and launching various industories. Among these industries, mining had an important role.In this study, we focused on a mining town called Kosaka which was one of the three big mining centers in Japan throughout Meiji period. How did this tiny, sleeping hamlet in Akita prefecture grew into a modern city with such infrastructures as housing, rail-roads, water, electricity, hospital and theaters. Our study shows that the modernization of Kosaka was part of an industrial evolution which was promoted by Meiji Govement at the beginning and later on by private enterprise.

A STUDY ON DRIVING ABILITY OF ELDERLY DRIVERS AND THEIR EVALUATION OF TRAFFIC ENVIRONMENT

交通安全における高齢者の自動車利用の問題点に関しては, 全体的な傾向はあるものの, 高齢者の個体差が大きく, 加齢による問題としてだけ把握することは難しい. 本研究では, 高齢者の自動車利用を考える上で, まずはじめに年齢の違いによる自動車利用状況, 交通事故の特徴, 自動車走行環境に対する評価の違い等, 70歳以上の高齢者層について全体的な特徴を明らかした. ついで, 自動車の運転特性は個人間で大きく異なることから, 認知, 判断, 操作といった一連の運転操作特性を把握するため, 同一の被験者に注視点調査ならびに警察庁方式CRT運転適性検査を行った結果から, 一連の運転行動と, 走行環境に対する評価特性との関連について分析し, 高齢者に適した自動車利用環境について考察を行った.

Growth trends of metropolitan areas in Japan: application of the concept of P-M curve.

The aim of this paper is to illuminate basic characteristics of metropolitan areas in Japan. We first delineate the boundaries of ninety-eight Japanese metropolitan areas based on the concept of cut-off point on the P-M curve the idea of which was originally developed by Ogawa in 1957. Secondly, we carry out empirical analyses on spatial structure and growth patterns of those metropolitan areas by use of 1960 and 1975 data. The results of the analyses partly support the theory of urban metamorphosis suggested by Klaassen, Bourdrez and Volmuller in 1981.