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After the Meiji period, Japanese capitalism facilitated spatial restructuring by exploiting a regional gap to expand its accumulation. Through this process, the regional structure of Japanese society shifted from the dual structure of the developing-country type, with a division of labor between the urban and rural sectors, to the integrated "center-periphery" structure of the advanced-country type reflecting a division of labor by regions and industrial sectors based on the unitary homogeneous system of production. As companies develop an internal international division of labor with globalization, the "center-periphery" structure has been reinforced further, and the industrial structure and the labor market of "peripheral" regions have been restructured under the influence of corporate location strategies. Given these, this paper divides prefectures in Japan into six regional clusters based on indicators of "the prefectural income per capita and the benefit-burden ratio regarding fiscal investment". Furthermore, each cluster is characterized on the basis of social statistical data to reveal the characteristic features of the "center-periphery" structure of Japanese society (in other words, the regional gap). On the basis of the above analysis, municipalities in five prefectures in the Chugoku area are classified into seven clusters in accordance with occupational data by industries to characterize the regional structure of each of those prefectures. Furthermore, the paper focuses on Shimane and Hiroshima prefectures, which are classified as a "peripheral agricultural area" and a "semiperipheral industrial area", respectively, in a regional gap cluster analysis, to characterize the regional policies of both prefectures. At the same time, taking Izumo and Hamada of Shimane prefecture as well as Kure and Higashihiroshima of Hiroshima prefecture as examples, it is revealed how local cities are forced to implement regional restructuring due to the trend of corporate location strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the representation of industrial modernization changed after the appearance of the concept of "industrial heritage," and to clarify its meaning for local communities. At present, local communities are at a crucial juncture facing de-population and financial deficit issues due to giobalization and neo-liberalism. Particularly periled are former coal-mining areas that failed to attract enterprises and to develop tourism. Industrial heritage is expected to be a local resource for new development in such areas. In order to clarify how local people represent industrial heritage in such a harsh situation, this paper analyzes the logic and practice of local people when interpreting the concept of industrial heritage and representing it based on their own experience and memories. The concept of industrial heritage involves promoting the participation of local people in the representation process of industrial modernization. However, in the meantime, this representation inevitably leads to people evaluating industrial modernization including those issues that are politically sensitive. This situation results in local activities utilizing industrial heritage for the revitalization of the local community, which is in a very insecure position. Through representation analyses, participant observations, and interviews with related persons, this paper compares the representation of museum exhibitions and the representation of tour guides in former coal-mining areas. In doing so, it examines how the representation of industrial modernization is changing. Moreover, this paper also suggests that the so-called "strategic" nationalism along with various potential meanings arising from the material presence of factories and apartments can help overcome the abovemenfioned insecure local meaning of industrial modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to consider the analytical framework and basic premises while exploring the situation of multiple second modernities under glocalization. and deals with Japan as a case study. In doing so. the paper sets up as its subject the different patterns of relationships between the individual, intermediate groups, and the state in each locality and pursues the transformation of these patterns in contemporary society. As an implication, it concomitantly explores the relationship between globalization and sociological theory. The structural tensions inherent in modern society between traditional and contractual elements are periodically expressed in the institutional patterns of the relationships between the individual, intermediate groups, and the state in each area. As part of its basic analytical frame, this paper considers the similarities and differences between the theory of glocalization and that of multiple modernities in order to articulate the two approaches; further, this paper tries to form a typology of the "West," "U.S.A." and "Japan" in terms of their relational patterns with respect to the three factors mentioned above. In the age of multiple second modernities, relational patterns are expressed as configurations of individuality (and not the individual), intermediate networks (not intermediate groups) and transforming states (and not just states). To observe the distinctness of each locality in all its plurality, we need to consider not only the institutional structure of the three factors but also the more fundamental logic behind all collective/individual formations in each society in question. In considering these issues, our paper focuses on the case of Japan, in order to analyze contemporary Japan as one of states that exhibits multiple second modernities under the glocalization process. Our findings are based on our observations of Japan's historical and cultural distinctness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the midst of the ongoing cultural globalization, many rural areas in Japan are poorly equipped to enjoy cultural activities. Cultural sociology has worked on political issues that have had ramifications on the popular or ethnic culture, hut not on issues related to institutions that support cultural activities. On the other hand, the regional development movement that uses cultural resources has attracted attention in its practice of regional construction. Some cities obtain cultural resources from all over the world: they attract the people who form the creative class, and are thus in a position to target further cultural development. Other areas, however, are not always able to do that. This paper focuses on the issues of Local diversity and endemism to discuss this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the erosion of communality and solidarity in local communities as a result of the administrative and fiscal reforms associated with the Neo-Liberal or the Koizumi structural reforms (the great Heisei merger), it is time to pose questions about the conclusions that can be drawn from these particular consequences of the processes of globalization. In this paper, I analyze the case of Maki Town, which hosted the first referendum held in Japan on the proposal to construct a nuclear power facility. A majority voted against the proposal and the nuclear power facility project was abandoned as a result of that ; however, in a subsequent referendum, the citizens of Maki Town approved their administrative amalgamation with Niigata City. After studying the narrative accounts of those who played a central role in organizing the referendum on the construction of a nuclear power facility, I conclude that in the study of social movements, it is vital to interpret such narratives in the context of the people's own experiences and their unique sense of reality, while paying scrupulous attention to the complex patterns of social interaction that exist within any given local community and that may compel us to reconsider what appears to be sociologically self-evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]