| Project/Area Number |
63043039
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Overseas Scientific Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | Field Research |
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| Research Institution | Faculty of Agriculture, Univ. of Kyoto |
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Principal Investigator |
HANDA Ryoichi Fac. of Agriculture, Univ. of Kyoto, Honorary Professor, 農学部, 名誉教授 (00026387)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ROBERT Lee ワシントン大学, 森林資源学部, 教授
MITSUDA Hisayoshi Fac. of Sociology, Bukkyo Univ., Professor, 社人学部, 教授 (60131306)
MATSUSHITA Koji Experimental Forests, Univ. of Kyoto, Instructor, 農学部附属演習林, 助手 (90199787)
IWAI Yoshiya Fac. of Agriculture, Univ. of Kyoto, Associate Professor, 農学部, 助教授 (40093190)
AKAI Hideo Fac. of Agriculture, Univ. of Kagoshima, Professor, 農学部, 教授 (90041665)
LEE Robert G College of Forest Resources, Univ. of Washington, Professor
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| Project Period (FY) |
1986 – 1988
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1988)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
Fiscal Year 1988: ¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
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| Keywords | timber price / timber export / depression / the location of the mill / the change of materlals in the sawmill / Dimension lumber / 単層的産業構造 |
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| Research Abstract |
This research is based upon the fact-finding survey both in the U. S. and Japan. However the survey in Japan mainly done by the invited U. S. professor does not yet come to the end. Meanwhile, the main results brought from the inspection in the U. S. are as follows.
We organized into three teams. The first referred to the state of the demand and supply of the timber and the change of the timber price in the U. S. particularly in the Pacific Northwest. The second referred to the movement of the management of the sawmill, and the third referred to the movement of the social and economic structure in mountain villages.
The timber price in the U. S. greatly rose in the end of 1970's. Then the pnw was most favorable owing to the activity of the timber-export to Japan. But during a few years after 1980 housing starts in the U. S. were sluggish. Though since 1983 housing activity has recovered, the timber price rose little till 1987. It was partly due to the hot competition with Canadian logs,
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but mainly due to the change on the supply side. That is, the processing of the timber has been markedly improved and the sawmill has innovated the installation, in order to reduce the producing cost, which enabled to use the middle and small size logs easily. Furthermore, the manager of sawmills has eagerly tried to reduce the wage of the employee. Thus a lot of giant firms have been established, which deal with over 300 thousand cubic metres of logs per year.
And it is worth notice that a good many sawmills are located in the mountain village in the PNW. They provide the main working opportunity to local inhabitants. It is remarkable because there are little self-supporting farmers, which differs from the state of Japan. Therefore local communities are extraordinary dependent on the behavior of sawmill managers. But the tide is turning now. Some local communities are eager to rid themselves of the yoke of the monopolistic large large lumber industry and work on their own account. For that purpose the tourism is frequently introduced. Less
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