A Study of Transformation Processes of Rural Societies in Hyogo Prefecture

2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 10301009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A).
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 社会学(含社会福祉関係)
• Research Institution: KOBE UNIVERSITY
• Principal Investigator: FUJII Masaru Kobe University, Faculty of Letters, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (20165343)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YUI Kiyomitsu Kobe University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (10200859) ; SASAKI Mamoru Kobe University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (60136398) ; IWASAKI Nobuhiko Kobe University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (20086052) ; NOZAKI Toshiro Bukkyou University, Faculty of Sociology, Associate Professor, 社会学部, 助教授 (40253364) ; TAKAI Yasuhiro Otani University, Faculty of Letters, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (00216607)
• Project Period (FY): 1998 – 2000
• Keywords: Hyogo / rural area / social change / developing heterogeneity / neighbor hood organization / creation of culture / Muraokoshi (rural development movement) / tourism

Research Abstract

Based on the fieldwork in the Hyogo Prefecture, the purpose of this study is to reveal the transformation processes of contemporary rural societies in Japan. We divided the rural area in Hyogo into two categories, namely, the suburb area and rural area. As cases for the former category, we selected Himeji city and Sanda city, while as cases for the latter category, we selected Muraoka town. Furthermore, we conducted case studies of "muraokoshi"(rural development movement) to grasp the characteristics of contemporary rural development. The followings are findings of our research project in the respective research sites.
1.In Himeji city, we conducted research on social changes due to the establishment of a steel-manufacturing mill of Hirohata. We observed that the increasing heterogeneity of rural societies constitutes a significant context of both difficulty of neighborhood organizations' activities and uneven demographic development where the aged increased considerably.
2.In Sanda city, one of the major "bed town" in Kansai area, we examined the influences by the rapid population growth. While the tensions arise between the native residents and new migrant residents, we identified the development of newly formed social networks that tie rural and urban residents and the movement for creation of local cultures among them.
3.In Murooka town that suffers from continuous people's exodus and subsequent increasing rate of the aged, we conducted intensive interview on the history of migration and adaptive processes to the contemporary social changes by utilizing the existing social relations.
4.In the research on "Muraokoshi", we took three examples in Hyogo prefecture. By conducting interviews and research on the various forms of printed materials and information on the web sites, we described the identity formation processes of local communities under the significant influences of commercialization and tourism in the rural societies.