Vol.67 No.5 (2015)
Contents
Article
SUGANO Taku
Configuration and Locality of the Third Sector Dealing with a Social Problem :
A case study of the reconstruction assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake (1)
Research Notes
Johannes KIENER, Geerhardt KORNATOWSKI
Guesthouses for Foreigners Businesses in the Inner City and Their Neighborhood Impact : the Case of North Nishinari, Osaka City (25)
MIZUTANI Tomoo
The Process of Institutionalization of the Natural Landscapein the Department of Home Affairs (42)
Book Reviews (60)
Meeting Reports
139th Research Seminar of Historical Geography Study Group (64)
140th Research Seminar of Historical Geography Study Group (68)
141st Research Seminar of Historical Geography Study Group (69)
138th Research Seminar of Historical Geography Study Group (71)
33rd Research Seminar of Education of Geography Study Group (71)
34th Research Seminar of Education of Geography Study Group (76)
35th Research Seminar of Education of Geography Study Group (78)
55th Research Seminar of Metropolitan Area Study Group (80)
56th Research Seminar of Metropolitan Area Study Group (84)
16th Research Seminar of Political Geography Study Group (87)
News (89)
Notes for Contributors of Japanese Papers (96)
Notes for Contributors of English Papers (102)
Abstracts
Guesthouses for Foreigners Businesses in the Inner City and their Neighborhood Impact: the Case of North Nishinari, Osaka City
Johannes KIENER
Urban Research Plaza, Osaka City University
Geerhardt KORNATOWSKI
Urban Research Plaza, Osaka City University
The aim of this paper is to examine the characteristics of guesthouses （GH） in the inner city and to discuss their impact on the local community and real estate market. Company X, which runs eight GH buildings in Osaka City’s North Nishinari area, is used as an example, and based on a sample of 30 residents the business strategy for this area was analyzed.
Because of its poor reputation and the low living quality standards, North Nishinari is not popular among younger residents and is turning more and more into a welfare district for elderly people. Against this background, Company X initiated its GH business, in order to bring younger residents into the area. The comparatively simple-to-start GH business is a new business model for landlords with little private capital unable to participate in the welfare business. GHs provide a living environment and services that encourage foreigners to move in, appealing especially to people who stay for a fixed period of time in Japan, like working holiday makers and foreign students.
The characteristics of these GH residents are that most of them are foreigners from Asian countries, more than half of them are male, and they are employed in part-time jobs. These findings show that by following a clear business strategy in line with the conditions of the inner city, Company X attracts a distinctive type of residents, differing from guesthouse residents in other areas.
However, this inner city business strategy influences the GHs capability to contribute to the local community. Its effect in solving the increasing social isolation in the local community is low, because the GH residents are not original members of this community. Furthermore, interactive events between guesthouse residents and members of the local community, necessary for a wider contribution to the local community, were stopped, because they had no direct effect on profits. the example of Company X shows that the guesthouse business in the inner city has the capacity to revitalize the real estate market by making effective use of old vacant housing, but its impact on the social issues of the local community is quite limited.
Key words : guesthouse, shared residence, inner city, working holiday, real estate business, Osaka City, Nishinari Ward
The Process of Institutionalization of the Natural Landscape in the Department of Home Affairs
MIZUTANI Tomoo
Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment
The institutionalization through law of natural landscapes for use and conservation in Japan began with the enactment of two laws ― the National Monuments Preservation Law of 1919, which defined meisho（ places of scenic beauty）, and the National Parks Law of 1931, which defined national parks.
This study details the administrative affairs of parks and meisho through the Meiji era and discusses the influences of those affairs on the institutionalization of the use and conservation of natural landscapes. The research method used in this study is based on the analysis of contemporaneous material, including administrative papers, magazine reports, and press reports.
The Geography Bureau and the Geography Division of the Department of Home Affairs were in charge of the administrative affairs concerning parks and meisho. These affairs were based on the perspective of state-owned land management.
During the period from 1900 to 1910, the Geography Division with the Shrine and Temple Bureau investigated the preservation of historic sites and meisho, leading to the National Monuments Preservation Law. Around the same time, the jurisdiction over parks was moved to the Sanitary Bureau. After the jurisdiction was given to them, there was little work concerning parks.
From 1910 on, requests were submitted to the Diet asking for the establishment of large parks in the Mt. Fuji or the Nikko areas. However, in response to these requests, the Department of Home Affairs did not consider the establishment of parks, but instead considered the preservation of these areas as meisho. After the Sanitary Bureau presented intensive research on parks in 1920, the Department of Home Affairs changed its approach and considered both perspectives on the use of parks for recreation as well as for the preservation of meisho.
Although members of the National Monument Committee conducted the research regarding the preservation of meisho, the investigators’ views of the natural landscapes were different. Therefore, their work did not result in the institutionalization of large natural landscapes. In contrast, the research of the Sanitary Bureau led to the enactment of the National Parks Law of 1931.
The origin of the institutionalization of natural landscapes for use and conservation in the Taisho era was in the administrative affairs concerning parks and meisho beginning with government decisions in the early Meiji era. The transfer of jurisdiction of parks around 1897 had an impact on the enactment of the National Parks Law.
Key words : park, meisho （places of scenic beauty）, national park, Department of Home Affairs, landscape
Configuration and Locality of the third Sector Dealing with a Social Problem : A case study of the reconstruction assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake
SUGANO Taku
Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution
1995, the year in which the Kobe Earthquake occurred, has been called the “first year of voluntarism.”
Individuals who voluntarily acted to help earthquake victims without seeking financial compensation became the objects of attention and led to the establishment of qualifications for non-profit corporate status, especially through the Law to Promote Specified Non-Profit Activities.
Enacting such laws influenced the founding of many third sector corporations, and third sector associations were active during the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, enough so that the larger society began to take notice of them. However, the third sector in contemporary Japan is still at the stage at which some basic understanding is needed, and the actual activities of the third sector after the Great East Japan Earthquake are still unclear. In this paper, therefore, we will consider the forms that the third sector takes in contemporary Japan, focusing on their independent reactions to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the greatest social problem in the country today. We took the geographic scope into consideration as we conducted our research, mainly through surveys of victim support associations, surveys of residents’ consensusforming associations, which are the citizens’ associations involved in the recovery of damaged communities, and through interviews at third sector associations.
As a result of our analysis, we have learned that associations such as specified non-profit activities corporations and general corporations, unlike the benevolent corporations that existed under the former civil law, carried out a variety of activities at the national, prefectural, municipal, and community level, financed largely by contributions and other private funding. We can infer that the third sector associations that carry out voluntary activities in contemporary Japan are composed of these kinds of organizations. Organizations that have their main offices in the Kanto region, especially international NGOs, have a strong presence, and even in the disasterstricken regions, activities centered on local organizations are possible only in the city of Sendai, with its population of 1 million. For that reason, we have concluded that the accumulation of capital, including funds, facilities, and human resources, determines the ability of third sector associations to solve social problems, and that there are large geographical disparities, especially between the cities and the rural areas. Moreover, third sector associations are becoming an increasing presence even in the communities that are smaller than cities, towns, or villages. Yet they are not governing specific regions in place of traditional local organizations. Instead, both types of organizations exist alongside one another, and third sector associations help revitalize activities of traditional local organizations.
Key words : Great East Japan Earthquake, third sector, NPO, NGO, recovery programs