Casual Visitors Research Articles

Building suburbs in Japan

As in other countries, most visitors to Japan spend little time in the suburbs, concentrating their time rather in the city centres and historic areas and possibly visiting prominent sites of great natural beauty such as Mount Fuji or a hotspring resort. However, even the casual visitor cannot help but be struck by the seemingly endless urban fringe areas which fly past bullet train windows when travelling between urban centres. The student of urban growth and planning who takes the time to get off the train at a suburban stop and explore these suburbs will be even more perplexed. Why do Japanese suburbs look so different from those of other developed countries? Why, in a country that has practised land use zoning since 1919 is there such a great intermixture of residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial land uses? Why are there so few large-scale suburban housing estates such as those found in other developed countries, and why are there so few of the exclusive residential developments for the affluent that have recently become common in other similarly wealthy nations? Why does intensive agriculture persist as small patches of vegetables or rice paddy in areas that are otherwise mostly built up while at the same time small clumps of houses are scattered throughout areas that are still mostly agricultural? This paper is a product of a larger research project that sought to provide answers to these and other perplexing aspects of Japanese urbanisation.Recent research that examined the role of land development projects on the growth of suburban residential areas in Japan since the passage of the New City Planning Law of 1968 (Sorensen, 1999; 2000b) showed that a predominant characteristic of suburban development in Japan has been the scattering of development, with an extreme form of haphazard, unplanned growth being common in suburban areas outside Tokyo. One of the most interesting characteristics of Japanese suburban development revealed by these studies was the extremely long development periods of suburban residential areas such as those studied. The three case study areas, all located between 20 and 40 kilometres from Tokyo Station, each included about 700 hectares of building land. All were experiencing significant suburban development pressure in 1968, yet by 1992 only about half of all developable land had been built up, with an average of 1.2 per cent of the buildable land being developed each year during the 24-year period studied. Furthermore, rates of build up had actually declined to about 1 per cent per year during the most recent 10-year period; at such a rate it would take another half century to reach completion, for a total development period of some 75 years. That seems an extraordinarily long time for what are really rather small suburban areas. The urban fringe in Japan is thus characterised by a continuity of high-intensity agricultural practice with, in Hanayama's (1986, 36) apt description of the process, the gradual 'diffusion' of urban uses into the predominantly rural landscape as farm landowners sell tiny bits of their land holding (in his sample also at a rate of about 1 per cent per year) (Hanayama, 1986, 69). The process continues until only remnants of agricultural use are left in a general sea of urban development.Such patterns of development seem very different from those found in Europe or North America, where larger planned developments are more common and after an initial period of development and building activity most suburban residential areas are relatively stable in their built form and land use patterns compared with Japan. Indeed, such stability is highly valued in residential environments and local residents are often willing to go to great lengths to preserve their communities and their investments from change (Sies, 1997). Through an examination of the planning and development of a new residential area in Urawa City, Saitama Prefecture-a primarily residential area in the suburbs north of Tokyo-this paper attempts to clarify the impacts of the long construction times described above on patterns of development and on residential environments in such suburban areas in Japan. …

Radon and its daughter products behaviour in the air of an underground tourist route in the former arsenic and gold mine in Złoty Stok (Sudety Mountains, SW Poland)

This paper describes the occurrence of radon and its daughter products in the accessible workings, partially open to the public, in the former arsenic and gold mine in Złoty Stok. The geology of the area and the characteristics of the workings provide the background for explanation of the genesis of radon and its daughter products and of the spatial and temporal variations in their concentrations. The results demonstrate that well-ventilated areas along the tourist route have the lowest values of all the measured parameters and that temporal variations of these parameters are irregular. The highest concentration values for radon (up to 18.50 kBq/m 3) and its daughter products (up to 14.49 kBq/m 3) have been recorded in the workings with obstructed natural ventilation. These are the areas where seasonal oscillations in the concentrations of these isotopes have been registered, with the maxima in summer and the minima in winter. These sections of the workings are inaccessible to the casual visitor. Radon is supplied to the workings from the side walls and its concentration is influenced, most of all, by ventilation and the degree of rock fissuring. The reason is the uniform and not very high content of 226Ra in the rocks where the galleries were excavated. Only locally, in the workings of the Gertruda adit lying outside the tourist route, do open fault zones have significant influence on enhanced concentrations of radon and its daughter products. These fault zones constitute effective routes of radon migration to the workings. In spite of this, it must be stated that neither guides nor tourists are exposed to excessive concentrations of radon or its daughter products in the tourist route area. However, the extension of the route to other workings will require the introduction of forced ventilation in order to lower the concentration of radon and its daughter products.

Revisiting Spain as Liberation from the Past in "Irse de casa" and "A Woman Unknown: Voices from a Spanish Life"

The phrase is gained currency during the Franco years as a tourist industry marketing slogan. In that context, Franco's sinister slogan sounds positive, and it was effective in boosting a seriously depressed economy; tourists began to pour into Spain during the 1960s.' The extent to which Spain was profoundly from their home countries was not apparent to casual visitors. For them, different might mean picturesque, exotic, or inexpensive. The effect of their presence was the gradual infusion of ideas and customs that contradicted the official story of Spain that had been developed by the Franco regime, a Spain that had emerged from a second reconquest strong, traditional, united, Catholic, and closed to ideas that might threaten its conservative ideology. For the Republicans and other dissidents who had been reconquered, Spanish culture was oppressive, and change was painfully slow. Women experienced it somewhat differently from men, and in the post-Franco years they have been eager to tell their stories. Two books published in the last two years of the twentieth century offer a retrospective consideration of Spain from the point of view of two women who internalized the oppression that permeated the culture in which they spent their formative years. Carmen Martin Gaite's novel, Irse de casa (1998; Leaving Home), and Lucia Graves's personal memoir, A Woman Unknown: Voices from a Spanish Life (1999), tell the stories of women who escaped from Spain but not from the effect of repressed memories of their lives there.2 For Amparo Miranda Drake, the protagonist of Martin Gaite's novel, and for Lucia Graves, revisiting Spain is an unexpectedly liberating and rich, albeit anxiety-producing, experience. Lucia Graves returns to Barcelona, which she describes as high-tech and postmodern (6), and Amparo discovers that the provincial town in which she was raised has been transformed by the Movida (post-Franco cultural revolution). Irse de casa is a work of fiction that in many ways reads like a memoir, and A Woman Unknown is a memoir that weaves together the stories of the author and several other women in such a way that it reads like a novel. Both works seem to be constructed on the

Spiritual Pilgrims at Mount Shasta, California

Even the casual visitor cannot fail to notice unusual activity on the slopes of Northern California's Mount Shasta. Prayer flags, altars, and crystals are found in the meadows; drumming, chanting, and meditation are commonplace. Non‐indigenous spiritual pilgrims have found Mount Shasta a sacred place. An amorphous group of spiritual seekers, these are sometimes referred to as “New Age” adherents or “Crystal People.” Within the Shasta‐Trinity National Forest, the situation of this sacred site exemplifies the difficulties of reconciling nonsecular claims to public lands with secular management mandates. Spiritual activism at Mount Shasta includes recently successful opposition to development of a Forest Service‐endorsed ski area. Using a questionnaire survey and interviews, we compare the characteristics, activities, and attitudes toward resource management of spiritual pilgrims and others who visit Mount Shasta's meadows. Conclusions are drawn about the environmental values and concerns of all visitors and of spiritual pilgrims in particular, including some that bear on pilgrim activities and ecological restoration efforts.

Inter-acting with the Past - the use of participatory theatre at museums and heritage sites

Given the increasing use made of interactive theatre at heritage sites and museums, this article sets out to investigate some of the ways in which both overt and 'borderline' forms of theatre at heritage sites may enhance the education of casual visitor and schoolchildren alike. Two very different types of 'living history' project are examined-the replica Puritan-settler village, Plimoth Plantation, in Massachusetts and the work of the Young National Trust Theatre in the UK. The educational claims made by projects such as these demand careful attention to the structuring of the visitor's/ pupil's experience, and to this end certain key features of each of the two programmes are considered, specifically: the use of the site as stage set; characterisation (including first-person interpretation); narrative; the mixing of fact and invention; and the differing types of interaction between visitor and performer/interpreter. It is argued that the deployment of widely differing theatre techniques can make distinct contributions to the ways in which we think about the past, but that it has at the same time become vital to develop criteria by which the educationally and theatrically valid work might be distinguished from mere 'heritage industry entertainment'.

Reaching a Broader Audience

I HAVE VERY PLEASANT AND NOSTALGIC MEMORIES of Saturday mornings spent visiting the Ipswich Natural History Museum in Suffolk County, England. There were the stuffed animals, the rows of mahogany and glass cases with study collections of butterflies, birds, fossils, the smell of mothballs, the black cotton covers over the most light-sensitive objects that had to be carefully rolled up to reveal the contents, and above all the quiet of the place: very much like a cathedral, I thought. We knew, my brothers and I, that we were to be on our best behavior--one raised eye-brow from the stiffly uniformed guard, or worse yet, from my grandmother, was enough to temper the high spirits of energetic and impressionable school-boys. I like that quality about traditional museums. There is something very comforting and right about all of the imposing architecture, the sense that we may not quite be worthy of being here; however, if we are on our best behavior, and are willing to pay our respects to the icons, and to our betters (the curators, who as high priests of our historical legacies permit the intrusion of the casual visitor), then we could enjoy the museum and emerge with the sense that we must be in some way better-intellectually, perhaps, or spiritually or even morally-than when we entered. Putting in an appearance at an otherwise unfamiliar church for the celebration of Easter or

Babbitt Who? The Decline of Small-Town America

towns of our cultural imagination are now the schmaltzy vision of Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A., and the parody of The Simpson's Springfield. Small towns hardly register anymore. Even Babbitt, once the symbol of all that was malignant in small-town America, is largely forgotten, his name no longer a sign of anything to most people. Actual small towns, of course, are in dire straits. As Richard O. Davies states in Main Street Blues: The Decline of SmallTown America, America, with its dominant urban culture, has now passed them by, relegating them to the cruel obscurity that comes from being abandoned by a railroad or left off the federal interstate highway map (p. 1). The casual visitor to most of these towns will note this decay immediately. Central business districts are devastated, shopfronts are boarded up, and both streets and once elegant houses are in advanced states of disrepair. It is those features not automatically apparent to casual visitors that constitute the real tragedy of modern small-town life. Populated primarily by the elderly and by families attracted by the cheap rents, towns of less than 10,000 have larger concentrations of the poor, on a percentage basis, than cities do. Health care is generally inadequate, and both underfunded schools and social services are severely taxed, while domestic abuse, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy are on the rise. Richard Davies grew up in one of these towns, Camden, Ohio. Today Camden is caught up in a slow but sure downward spiral, from which there is no escape. The town will not die, but neither will it flourish. A mood of quiet resignation seems to hover over the small valley in which it is located (p. 2). But during Davies' youth, Camden was a very different place,

Special cultural events: do they attract leisure tourists?

Within the casual tourist market – is there potential for cultural tourism? This article compares economic (expenditure) and demographic data for casual (leisure) visitors to Orlando with those who attended a cultural exhibition in Orlando. The groups differed as to their expenditure patterns and demographic factors. The exhibition attendees had higher incomes, were older, and were better educated. The ability of a “cultural experience” to tap a large casual tourist market appears limited.

Worldwide wish: better care for the dying

Frankly frill free, this site offers a meeting place for those who provide and are interested in palliative care from around the world. It addresses the growing awareness that the difficulties of providing palliative care in the developed world pale into insignificance when compared to the experiences of patients and workers in other countries. While an invitation is made within the site to join the International Hospice Institute and College (IHIC) much of the information on the site is available to the casual visitor and so allows easy investigation of what this group can offer.

Tourism and legends archaeology of Heritage

The heritage industry and archaeology have had an uneasy relationship in the United Kingdom, a country with several sites and monuments of world touristic importance. This paper explores this interface within a distinctive locality, the village and Castle at Tintagel, Cornwall, where Arthurian legendary and literary associations have come to dominate many visitors’ expectations. The site is analysed as an integrated ‘‘heritage complex’’, where the commercial, literary and officio-academic ‘‘signs’’ currently create a measure of ambiguity and uncertainty for the casual visitor. The nature of the dilemma for officio-academic interpretation of the site is considered, as are ideas circulating among archaeologists vis-à-vis the provision of alternative accounts of the meaning and context of the complex as a whole.

Constructing a science gallery for children and families: The role of research in an innovative design process

We describe the role of research in designing ScienceWorks, an innovative gallery at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The gallery, intended for 6–10-year-old children and their families, was constructed on the basis of existing and new research concerning how children think and learn about science. The gallery is atypical in several respects, but perhaps most fundamentally in its overarching agenda, to foster children's understanding. Each major component in the gallery contains a broad array of activities to support learning for casual visitors, but also includes opportunities for successively deeper levels of learning and engagement. Existing research on science learning was reviewed to develop the theoretical framework that guided the design process. Moreover, research informed the development of each of the major gallery components and its associated learning activities. Current ongoing research focuses on identifying effective forms of mediation in the gallery, which is more accurately conceived as a collection of tools for supporting children's learning at various levels of engagement, than as a series of stand-alone “exhibits.” © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 81:781–793, 1997.

An Overview of Waterloo's Database Software for the <em>OED</em>

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, dictionary can be either a book dealing with the individual words of language... or a repository of knowledge, convenient for consultation. An effective dictionary database must serve both roles simultaneously; that is, it must be capable of answering precise questions about the written dictionary text as well as the language described by that text. An effective representation for the OED has been based on the recent text structuring technique known as 'descriptive markup', which introduces tags into text stream. Thus, dictionary components are explicitly identified and delimited, so that, for example, an entry is marked by ... , an etymology by ... , usage label by ... , and cited work by ... . The most visibly successful aspect of our research is embodied in the flexible and efficient search and display software. LECTOR is general-purpose browser that takes as input stream of tagged text and formats it to the screen using typography to illustrate its structure. It uses specially-designed formatting, or display-specification, language to accomplish this, through which the choice of typographical strategies is user-selectable. As complementary software component, efficient retrieval is provided by the PAT text search engine. Each entry in the search index designates 'semi-infinite' string that starts at critical point in the text (e.g. at word start) and continues uninterruptedly to the end of the text. Text regions (e.g. those representing individual dictionary components) can be specified to limit the scope of material being searched or displayed. Used together, PAT and LECTOR form powerful query facility for text databases. Examples drawn from our experiences with researchers and casual visitors illustrate the application of these tools to exploring the OED.

For Richer and Poorer

At Cordoba's University City one can still see the concrete and steel foundations of the military bunkers that a dozen years ago surrounded Argentina's oldest college of philosophy and letters. But the casual visitor would not notice such things. Unlike international wars, civil wars, and revolutionary wars, counterrevolutionary wars-of governments against their own citizens-leave few visible scars; but the wounds take longer to heal. In late 1994, Brazil and South America's Southern Cone seemed caught in a time warp. One who was here 30 years ago, as I was, might expect to have a sensation of dejea vu. When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile in the early 1960s, President Jorge Alessandri, a Conservative, was about to be replaced by a Christian Democrat named Eduardo Frei. In Argentina at that time, a civilian of the Radical party had just replaced a military regime with the help of the Peronist vote. In Brazil there was a president backed by organized labor and a nationalist movement promoted by dependency theorists such as Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In Chile 30 years later, a Christian Democratic president named Eduardo Frei had defeated a Conservative named Alessandri. (On the campaign trail, Frei had quipped that he had just two things going for him: one was his last name, Frei, and the other was his first name, Eduardo.) In Argentina, a Peronist had replaced a Radical who had taken over from the military. In Brazil, a popular labor leader running for the presidency on a nationalist, dependency-type platform had been overtaken and defeated by a candidate representing the center-right-the same Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Does this mean that the political and economic game has come full circle in 30 years? No. The ghosts of democracies past are just that. Now, as in the

Landscape preferences and behaviour of visitors to Spanish national parks

During the last decade recreational use of Spanish national parks has grown considerably, and is now posing a threat to nature conservation and the possibility of offering a satisfactory recreational service. There is a great variety of landscapes in Spain's national parks and this is one of the most attractive aspects for visitors to these unique areas. In this article we look at the preferences visitors have for the landscape of the park they are visiting, compared with the landscapes of other parks. Four Spanish national parks were compared. Different visitor types were distinguished by cluster analysis of 50 items relating to behaviour, expectations and attitudes. Landscape preference factors were obtained from a survey composed of random pairs of photographs of landscapes from the four national parks. Visitors expressed different degrees of interest, knowledge and dedication to their visits. Landscape preferences were significantly different amongst visitors to different national parks and, within each park, amongst groups of users. The results show that the landscape preferences of more casual visitors do not correspond to the features of the park they visit when these landscapes do not conform to those generally thought of as ‘beautiful’ (mountains, water and vegetation). The implications of the massive influx of visitors on the state of conservation of valuable areas such as national parks leads us to contemplate the importance of visitor management. Special attention should be paid to those visitors who are more casual and less sensitive to the landscape of the areas they visit.

A House Is Not a Home: Hollyhock House as "Art-Theater Garden"

Aline Barnsdall9s letters to her friends and associates in the American theater community in the 1910s provide the starting point for a discussion of her central role in the planning of Hollyhock House, the sprawling mansion that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for her on Olive Hill in Los Angeles (1919-1921). With its open courtyard, roof terraces, and semicircular garden, Hollyhock House has long been recognized by both Wright scholars and casual visitors as a flexible yet rather awkward open-air theater. An outspoken feminist and ardent supporter of populist causes, Barnsdall sought to make her home the centerpiece of an extensive theatrical community on Olive Hill. She was also devoted to outdoor theater, a form which she and other progressive thinkers viewed as a way of bringing significant ideas to the American public in healthy surroundings. Reexamination of the project in light of these circumstances suggests not only the sources for Wright9s design in contemporary open-air theater but also the specific symbolic and functional role that Hollyhock House was to play in the overall project. Wright9s correspondence with Barnsdall and the description of her in his Autobiography reveal the intensity and ambivalence of his response to the commission and to his brilliant, outspoken, creative-and undoubtedly infuriating-client.

The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide

Tibet, the mysterious mountainous plateauland that separates India and China, remained inaccessible to the outside world until the 1980s. At first only a few highly priced tour groups were allowed into Lhasa but in 1984 the Chinese, who have controlled Tibet since 1959, began to encourage all forms of tourism in an effort to earn foreign exchange. In recent months the riots in Lhasa have disrupted this traffic and in Spring 1989 halted it completely. The situation is still fluid and any intending visitor should check with tour agents before departure. The Tibet Guide offers detailed descriptions of the most important and accessible religious sites in Central and Western Tibet. The second edition, due to be published by 1990, adds a scholarly account of the monasteries in Eastern Tibet and an update of travel possibilities within the country. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with excellent modern colour photographs and several black and white images of old Tibet. History and religion are well covered and the iconographical section will prove very useful for visitors to the recently reconstructed temples and monasteries. Religious life is at the centre of Tibetan culture but by concentrating only on this topic the Tibet Guide ignores several fascinating aspects of the country. Mount Everest for example barely gets a mention and the book will be of little use to mountaineers. Tibetan flora and fauna are likewise ignored despite the interest generated by the work of Kingdom Ward and other naturalists earlier this century. However, the most serious lapse in this guidebook is the lack of information about the lifestyles of the Tibetans, an integral part of this unique culture now threatened by increased Chinese immigration and its first real contact with the outside world. Despite these reservations, The Tibet Guide does cover its chosen subject in commendable detail and is presented in a format that will attract the casual visitor and the armchair traveller, as well as those more intimately concerned with the country. As its title implies The Pilgrim's Guide is not a standard tourist guidebook, it is a description of the history, location and significance of religious sites in Central Tibet. The book is based on a translation of a work by a nineteenth century Tibetan monk whose observations have been edited and updated by Keith Dowman, a Tibetan scholar who has lived in the East for many years. As well as covering every valley in Central Tibet in considerable detail, the author also includes descriptions of the major sites along the Lhasa to Katmandu road, now easily within the reach of the modern visitor. Many of the side valleys described by the author are little known to Western academics and the excellent maps include all roads and major footpaths. Only a short description of each site is given and as a result some visitors to major monasteries may find the coverage scanty. However for those with time to visit the more remote temples and caves The Pilgrim's Guide is indispensible. It is written in a style that is accessible to the interested layman as well as the Buddhist scholar. Together The Pilgrim's Guide and The Tibet Guide offer a well researched and informed look at Tibetan religious culture and have helped to pierce the veil that has hidden this remarkable land from the outside world for so long. A. B. ROWE

Review of insects associated with cowpea: the case of Maiduguri in the semi-arid zone of Nigeria

A total of 110 species of insects were found associated with cowpea in the semi-arid zone of Nigeria out of which 21 species were found to have got the potential to reach major pest status under certain circumstances. They are indicated as major pests in the list. Sixty three percent of the insects collected were associated with the preflowering stage, 10 percent with flowers and 19 percent with pods of the cowpea crop while 8 percent were casual visitors. A list of insects arranged according to the phenology of the crop is presented. Certain differences were noted between the insect fauna of cowpea in the semi-arid north (as reported here) and other parts of Nigeria (as per other reports) which can be attributed to the differences in climate

The Edinburgh Observatory 1736–1811: A story of failure

Summary In 1736 Colin MacLaurin, Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh petitioned the Town Council for permission to erect an astronomical observatory in the College to broaden the research and teaching base of the University. After MacLaurin's death, the Town Council and University Senate, more concerned with the promotion of the Infirmary and associated medical teaching, took no further action. The funds raised by MacLaurin were lent to his successor, and largely dissipated. In 1776 the balance was transferred to the proposed Calton Hill Observatory. This private scheme was to be financially self-sufficient, generating income from the casual visitor and fees charged to students. It too failed. Funds were wasted on unnecessary architectural elaboration, the Town Council failed to meet their financial obligations, the University acquiesced in the total inactivity of the Regius Professor of Astronomy, whilst the commercial management-base of the Observatory vitiated any serious scientific...

Sojourners and lodgers in a provincial town: the evidence from eighteenth-century Ludlow

Urban historians have recently shown an increasing interest in the development of England's provincial centres and smaller market towns. Although they lacked a strong manufacturing element and did not expand at the same rate as the emerging industrial centres of the north and the midlands, towns like Canterbury, Ipswich, Lutterworth and Ludlow played a fundamental part in eighteenth-century urban history. They acted as distribution points for an increasing range of agricultural goods and manufactured products. They helped to stimulate the expansion and diversification of England's traditional crafts. They fostered the development of urban culture and in doing so they attracted large numbers of immigrants and casual visitors. There were occasions when even the smallest market town opened its doors to a large contingent of outsiders, be it for one day in the week when the market was held or at an annual fair, whilst people attending court or the fashionable season would temporarily ‘swell’ the population of centres like Bath and Bristol or of cathedral and county towns like Gloucester and Canterbury. Some of the people who were drawn ‘townwards’, and these are the people we know most about, eventually became integrated into the community and set up their own homes and businesses. But there were other groups too, groups which tend to get neglected for they feature so rarely in our records. There were the men and women who disappeared without trace after quartering in a town for a night or a couple of weeks and whom we only learn about by chance.

Pollination mechanism inCoriandrum sativum Linn. (Apiaceae)

Exposed nectar, abundant pollen production, zygomorphic flowers and compact umbels are the contrivances which attract in large numbers a wide variety of insect species to coriander flowers. Some of these visitors carry coriander pollen from one flower/umbel to another and by so doing act as potential pollinators; others are only casual visitors.