Vol.61 No.4 (2009)
Contents
Article
Distribution, Boundary, and Evolution:
Alfred Russel Wallace’s Biogeographic Theory
NOJIRI Wataru (1)
The Regional Relationship between the City and its Surrounding Areas that Appeared in Early Modern Folk Events:
A Case Study of Rokusai―nenbutsu in Kyoto
HONDA Kenichi (20)
Reserch Note
Changes in Mutual Assistance and Care for the Elderly Accompanying Adoption of a Long―term Care Insurance System :
A Case Study from the Former Village of Sato on Kamikoshiki Island
INADA Nanami (36)
Book Review (56)
Meeting Reports
267th Regular Meeting (58)
114th Meeting of Historical Geography (61)
115th Meeting of Historical Geography (64)
30th Meeting of Metropolitan Area Studies (67)
News (72)
Annual Meeting 2009 Program (74)
Abstracts
Distribution, Boundary, and Evolution: Alfred Russel Wallace’s Biogeographic Theory
NOJIRI Wataru
(Faculty of Economics, Momoyama Gakuin University)
Alfred Russel Wallace （1823―1913） is famous for presenting a theory of evolution with Charles Darwin at the Linnean Society in London in 1858.
This paper traces how Wallace was led from biological distribution to the idea of the theory of evolution, and what the concept of an area of biological distribution and its boundary lines mean within the methodology of geography.
Information about various creatures and their distribution was collected from all over the world during the 18th and 19th centuries. It became clear that species differed in different regions, even those having similar environmental conditions. This was in contradiction to the theory of creationism, in which each species was created to suit its environment.
Wallace, in expeditions to the Amazon, reported finding closely related, yet different, species on opposite sides of a geographical barrier, such as the opposing banks of a wide river.
Wallace thought that groups of what were originally the same species evolved apart from one another over time after becoming isolated from each other. Upon further development of this idea, while in Sarawak, Borneo in 1855, Wallace wrote a thesis and presented the theory that “every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a pre-existing closely allied species.” In other words, he insisted that speciation is not sudden divergence but continuous spatial and temporal evolution.
Wallace’s biogeography integrated geological data and climate data, such as glacial action or sea-level changes based on the permanence of the arrangement of continents and oceans, and comprehensively treated the concepts of migration habits and dispersal, evolutionary adaptation, and the divergence of life as the principles of research. In this way, Wallace’s theory of evolution places more importance on the influence of environment or the geographic distribution of life than Darwin did.
At a macroscopic level, Wallace set out six zoogeographic regions in the world, based on the permanence of the global arrangement of oceans and continents. However, in explaining those boundaries or marginal regions such as islands, the influence of upheavals and subsidence of land masses, the actions of glaciers, and sea-level changes, etc. continued to be of importance.
Also, the Wallace Line discovered by Wallace in the Malay Archipelago is not only a faunal boundary between the Oriental region and Australian region, but it has been seen today as a subduction zone in plate tectonics theory, where the Australian continental crust collides and sinks beneath the Eurasian continental crust.
Key words: Wallace, biological distribution, evolution theory, Wallace Line, zoogeographic region
The Regional Relationship between the City and its Surrounding Areas that Appeared in Early Modern Folk Events: A Case Study of Rokusai―nenbutsu in Kyoto
HONDA Kenichi
(Granduate Student, Graduate School of Letters, Ritsumeikan University)
Originally a medieval Buddhist folk event, Rokusai―nenbutsu （nenbutsu means Buddhist invocation） in Kyoto largely changed into a more entertaining folk performing art in the latter half of the early modern period, i. e., from the late 18th to the early 19th century. Some of the most distinctive features of the invocation can be seen in its performers’ geographic movements and distribution. That is, the performers were peasants who lived in Kyoto’s surrounding villages. Organizing community―based associations （kochu） for the invocation, however, they came to the city to perform at shrines and temples and on the street there.
This article reveals the regional relationship between Kyoto and its surrounding villages in the early modern period by analyzing Rokusai―nenbutsu, what it was and how it changed.
According to my analysis based on many historical documents, the invocation in the latter half of the early modern period, and its performers’ geographic movements and distribution, demonstrate a stronger relationship with Kyoto City than in the earlier period.
This is because Rokusai―nenbutsu became more entertaining, thus popular in the city, which also meant that the performer―peasants could expect extra income in their off―season. They therefore needed to form a stronger relationship with Kyoto as the place where they could be rewarded both aesthetically and financially.
This stronger relationship can be also interpreted as a reflection of Kyoto’s cultural influence over its surrounding villages, and how strongly they became culturally connected to each other. This can be demonstrated by the distribution of Rokusai―nenbutsu associations, their concentration within an approximately eight―kilometer radius from the center of the city, which occurred during that period. This phenomenon can be regarded as the city’s cultural influence that manifested as “a selection of cultural phenomena （based on a major geographic factor）.”
Not only the Rokusai―nenbutsu but also city festivals in Kyoto in those days showed a similar pattern, i. e., a stronger cultural relationship between the city and its surrounding villages. This can be contextualized in the larger flow of the social and cultural history of the “behavioral culture” that gained popularity nationwide.
Key words: early modern period, city and its surrounding areas, regional relationship, folk event, Kyoto, Rokusai―nenbutsu （invocation）
Changes in Mutual Assistance and Care for the Elderly Accompanying Adoption of a Long―Term Care Insurance System： A Case Study from the Former Village of Sato on Kamikoshiki Island
INADA Nanami
(Urban Research Plaza, Osaka City University)
In the late 1990s, the problem of care for the elderly was a growing concern in Japan. Under these circumstances, care services for the elderly in the former village of Sato attracted the attention of many specialists who regarded it as having the most developed community―care system. In general, it is believed that the provision of medical welfare services on remote islands is mediocre in comparison with the standards of the mainland. This paper discusses the process of the provision of high―level care for the elderly in the former village of Sato, which is located on an island handicapped by socioeconomic problems. In addition, the paper also clarifies the impact that the provision of care for the elderly has had on the local system of provision of services for the elderly, after the implementation of long―term care insurance in 2000.
The former village of Sato is located on Kamikoshiki Island in the East China Sea, 30 km west of Ichiki―Kushikino, Kagoshima. The production system reflected the characteristics of an isolated island, such as low land productivity and an economic discrepancy with the mainland, which was augmented by mutual aid between island residents and the remittances of migrant workers who went to mainland cities to work. However, this production system was changed as a consequence of the revenue transfer stipulated by the Law for Promotion of Detached Islands and the Law for the Development of Depopulated Areas. Consequently, a considerable number of young workers migrated to the city, leading to a rapid decrease in the village population. Moreover, the proportion of elderly people in the village rose quickly, and the problem of care for the elderly accelerated in Sato. Subsequently, a system of care services that included mutual assistance was formulated. Consequently, in Sato the quantity and quality of the level of care services for the elderly improved.
This system had a structure that included resident health care volunteers and provided the necessary manpower, which included professionals. Moreover, it not only corresponded with the needs of the elderly who wished to continue living happily on the island, but also provided the elderly who were still active with the opportunity to achieve something significant by becoming volunteers. However, this system was forced to undergo large―scale reorganization with the implementation of the long―term care insurance system in 2000. As a result, a conflict arose between the norms of the local care system in Sato and those related to the care provided by the long―term care insurance system. This was because the norms based on the long―term care insurance system were unable to adequately cater to the needs of the elderly. Moreover, the incentive for participation as a volunteer was reduced after the introduction of the social insurance system.
In conclusion, the long―term care insurance system seems to have disturbed the community that existed in Sato and was supported by mutual assistance. Further, the income transfers between areas were further reduced. In addition, in detached island areas where autonomous discretion has been reduced, it is urgent that local governance over elderly care should be implemented because, at present, social security funds are decreasing and decentralization is being strengthened.
Key words: long―term care insurance system, mutual assistance, community―care ability, care norm for the elderly, Koshiki Island, isolated island