雪と地域社会

Abstract

Rapid economic growth in post-war Japan resulted in the great change of regionaleconomy and social structure from the late 1950s. As a result of the change, the alleviation of snow problem has become an important subject in the snowy regions.Snow problem is a broader concept than snow damage. It is a comprehensive regional problem includes obstruction of social activities by snow and utilization of snow, which are not necessarily included in snow damage concept.This paper examines historical development and present situation of snow problem, and tries to point out some implications on the necessary conditions of countermeasures for snow problem in future.At first, the changing process of snow problem is summarized, and the signification of the change is examined from the viewpoint of local community. Next, some focal points of snow problem and expected countermeasures are described through an examination on the background and mechanism of contemporary snow problem. The third part is a statistical analysis on regional variations of snow problem, with a consideration of natural and social factors, supposed to be related to the formation of the regional variations. Data from inquiries into 966 municipalities in the snowy area of Japan carried out by National Research Center for Disaster Prevention (NRCDP) during 5 winter periods from 1978/79 to 1982/83 are used in the statistical analysis.The changing process of snow damage and snow problem in Japan can be divided into three historical periods. These periods correspond to an expansion of the contents of snow damage, from a problem of individual safe, to a socioeconomic problem, and finally to a problem of social function. Impact of snow to local communities had been limited to the safety problem for long time, but now it affects almost all social activities. As a result of the change, countermeasures for snow problem are expected to be a structural element of administrative planning system for regional development, not merely a protective measure for natural disaster in a narrow sense. Three focal points of contemporary snow problem are pointed out. These are, obstruction of lifeline functions in winter period, way to suffice the highly advanced requirements of local residents, for example, amenity of winter life, and establishment of organization and manpower to treat snow problem. Regional systematization of snow treatment, improvement of snow resistibility of urban space, and activation of industries and civic life using snow as resources, are also suggested as main targets for administrative organizations correspond to above mentioned problems.Remarkable regional variations are found among the occurrence patterns of various kinds of snow damages and municipal manager's estimation of criticalness about snow problem. The variations mainly correlate with two climatic regional characteristics, namely maximum snow depth in average year and coldness of air temperature in winter period. However, it must be stressed that some social conditions, for instance population of municipality, degree of urbanization, and aged dependency ratio, are playing an important role in the formation of the regional variations. Careful check of the regional variations should be required for administrative policy making and its implementation to counter snow problem.In a concluding paragraph the importance of local community is emphasized as a unit to counter snow problem through systematization of cooperation between administrative organization and local resident.