Industrial Areas In Japan Research Articles

Size-classified aerosol-bound heavy metals and their effects on human health risks in industrial and remote areas in Japan

Airborne aerosols were collected in six size classes (PM<0.1, PM0.1–0.5, PM0.5–1, PM1–2.5, PM2.5–10 and PM>10) to investigate aerosol health risks in remote and industrial areas in Japan. We focused on heavy metals and their water-dispersed fractions. The average concentration of heavy metals was 18 ± 25–86 ± 48 ngm−3 for PM<0.1, 46 ± 19–154 ± 80 for PM0.5–1 ngm−3, 98 ± 49–422 ± 186 ngm−3 for PM1–2.5, 321 ± 305–1288 ± 727 ngm−3 for PM2.5–10 and 65 ± 52–914 ± 339 ngm−3 or PM>10, and these concentrations were higher in industrial areas. Heavy metals emitted from domestic anthropogenic sources were added to the long-range transport component of the aerosols. The water-dispersed fraction of heavy metals contained 3.3–40.1% of the total heavy metals in each size class. The relative contribution of Zn and other species (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Mn, V and Cu) increased in the water-dispersed fraction. Smaller particles contained greater proportions of the water-dispersed heavy metal fraction. Carcinogenic risk (CR) and the hazard index (HI) were estimated for each size class. The CR of carcinogens was at acceptable levels (<1 ×10−6) for five particle size fractions. The HI values for carcinogens and noncarcinogens were also below acceptable levels (<1) for the same five size fractions. The estimated CR and HI values were dominated by contributions from the inhalation process.

Contribution of industrial and traffic emissions to ultrafine, fine, coarse particles in the vicinity of industrial areas in Japan

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in industrial areas is typically enriched with potentially toxic trace metals. However, measurements of ultrafine particles (PM0.1) in industrial areas, and the source apportionment of PM0.1 based on these results, are limited. Robust source apportionment studies are therefore necessary in order to identify the source of toxic emissions and to develop measures for reducing such emissions. The present study sought to clarify the contributions to PM mass of ultrafine, fine (PM2.5), and coarse particles (PM10 – PM2.5) in an urban–industrial area with multiple emission sources. We performed both online measurements of PM at a high temporal resolution and size-resolved offline measurements. Source apportionments were then performed for each particle size range by combining a positive matrix factorization method applied to organic aerosol data measured using an aerosol mass spectrometer, a twin-site study, and elemental tracer methods, and then assigning PM mass concentrations to 13 emission sources. The major contributing emission sources for PM0.1 were automobile exhaust (30%) and coal combustion, possibly related to integrated steelworks (24%), in winter, and fuel combustion (39%) and automobile exhaust (11%) in summer. Despite conducting measurements at one of the most heavily polluted traffic intersections in Japan, more than half of the anthropogenic primary emissions of PM0.1 and PM2.5 measured at the intersection were derived from sources other than automobile exhaust emissions. Since PM emissions from stationary-source flue gas has historically been less well regulated than automobile exhaust emissions, further mitigation measures need to be implemented in order to reduce atmospheric PM levels.

Measurements of 50 Non-polar Organic Compounds Including Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, n-Alkanes and Phthalate Esters in Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in an Industrial Area of Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Quantitative data of 50 non-polar organic compounds constituting PM2.5 were continuously collected and analyzed from June 2016 to October 2017 (approximately 17 months) at Ichihara, one of the largest industrial areas in Japan. Target non-polar organic compounds including 21 species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 24 species of n-alkanes and 5 species of phthalate esters (PAEs) were simultaneously measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Basically, the average concentrations of the total PAHs, n-alkanes and PAEs in each season remained nearly level, and seasonal variations were little throughout the study period. These results suggest that the emission sources, which are not influenced by the seasons, are the dominant inputs for the target organic compounds. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs, assessment of n-alkane homologue distributions, carbon preference index, and the contribution of wax n-alkanes from plants were used to estimate source apportionments. These results indicate that anthropogenic sources were the main contributor for most PAHs and n-alkanes throughout the study period. The concentrations of PAEs selected in this study were low because emission amounts of these chemicals were little within the source areas of the sampling site. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to simultaneously measure a high number of non-polar organic compounds in PM2.5 collected from the ambient air of Japan, and the resultant data will provide valuable data and information for environmental researchers.

問題発見能力を育成する中学校社会科地理授業の設計 : 単元「日本の工業立地」の開発

問題発見能力を育成する中学校社会科地理授業の設計 : 単元「日本の工業立地」の開発

In-Situ Corrosion Monitoring of Iron and Zinc in Atmospheric Environments

Traditionally, for evaluating corrosion resistance of materials used in atmospheric conditions, exposure tests in the actual environment and accelerated corrosion tests in the laboratory have been widely used. Till now, it has been very difficult to estimate in detail corrosion rate variations caused by the change of each environmental factor such as temperature, relative humidity, amount of airborne sea salt during the test periods. Also, it requires a long time period to evaluate the corrosivity in actual corrosive atmospheric environments. For these reasons, an in-situ corrosion monitoring technique is useful. Time variation of corrosion rate has been successfully monitored by using an electrical resistance corrosion sensor, which converts the increase of electrical resistance caused by metal consumption to corrosion loss. Additionally, a new accelerated corrosion test was authorized as ISO 16539 Method B on March 1, 2013. This test has good correlation with corrosion behavior in an actual corrosive atmospheric environment. In this study, the details of the corrosion rate of steel and zinc were evaluated by the accelerated corrosion test (ISO 16539 Method B) and atmospheric exposure test. In addition, the relation between corrosion rate and each environmental factor was analyzed. Two kinds of electrical resistance corrosion sensors, an Fe sensor (250 µm thick) and a Zn sensor (50 µm thick), were used. In the accelerated corrosion test (ISO16539-Method B), the corrosion depth as evaluated by the sensors displayed a good correlation with that of the exposure test samples. The variation in the corrosion rate could be evaluated by the sensors. And also, it was confirmed that the corrosion rate increased during the wet stage and decreased during the dry stage in both sensors. In exposure tests in Okinawa and Kawasaki, the variation of the corrosion rate due to the effects of changeable environmental conditions throughout the year could be evaluated by the sensors. Okinawa is seashore area at the s southern island in Japan, and Kawasaki is industrial area in Japan. The corrosion rate in Okinawa as evaluated by the Fe sensor was greater than that found in Kawasaki. However, the corrosion rate in Okinawa as evaluated by the Zn sensor was almost the same as that in Kawasaki. The corrosion sensors could clarify the difference in corrosion behavior between steel and zinc. Furthermore, the relationship between the corrosion rate and the environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity, amount of airborne sea salt, etc.) was analyzed. The corrosion rate of steel had a positive relation with temperature, relative humidity and airborne sea salt. The dependence of corrosion rate of zinc on environmental factors was also investigated. Comparison of corrosion behavior and its dependence of environmental factors between iron and zinc will be discussed.

Intercomparison between a single particle soot photometer and evolved gas analysis in an industrial area in Japan: Implications for the consistency of soot aerosol mass concentration measurements

Abstract Mass concentrations of soot (typically comprising black and elemental carbon; BC and EC, respectively) aerosols, were measured at Yokosuka city, an industrial region in Japan in the early summer of 2014. The results of laser–induced incandescence (LII) and evolved gas analysis (EGA) techniques were compared using a single particle soot photometer (SP2) and semi-continuous elemental/organic carbon analyzer (EC/OC analyzer), respectively. We revisited the procedure of SP2 calibration with a focus on investigating the relationship between LII intensity ( S LII ) and refractory BC (rBC) mass per particle ( m PP ) for some BC-proxies in the laboratory, as well as for ambient rBC particles in order to discuss the uncertainty of the SP2. It was found that the m PP – S LII for the fullerene soot and carbon black particles agreed well within 3% and 10%, respectively, with that for ambient rBC particles. This is the first time to suggest the use of carbon black as a reference material. We also found that the m PP – S LII for the aqueous deflocculated Acheson graphite particles with the correction factor given by Baumgardner et al. (2012) was still biased by around +20% to that for ambient rBC particles. EC quantified by the semi-continuous EC/OC analyzer using a thermal-protocol similar to that of Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE–like), systematically showed higher concentrations than rBC measured by the SP2. The uncertainties related to SP2 cannot fully account for this difference. This result was likely caused by the contribution of charred organic materials to EC, which can be affected significantly by thermal-protocols for the EGA. The consistency and differences between rBC and EC are discussed with regard to comparing their respective mass concentrations.

Estimate of Regional and Broad-based Sources for PM2.5Collected in an Industrial Area of Japan

In order to estimate the influence of sources on PM 2.5 in the industrial area of Japan, we carried out a source analysis using chemical component data of PM 2.5 . PM 2.5 samples were collected intermittently at an industrial area in Japan from July 2010 to November 2012. Water soluble ions (Cl-, NO₃-, SO₄ 2- , Na+, NH₄+, K+, Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ ), elements (Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Pb), and carbonaceous species (OC, EC) of the PM 2.5 (a total of 198 samples) were analyzed. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model was applied to the data of those chemical components to identify the source of PM 2.5 . At this observation site, nine factors were extracted. The major contributors of PM 2.5 were secondary sulfate 1, in which loading factors of SO₄ 2- and NH₄+ were large (percentage source contribution: 20.9%), traffic, in which loading factors of OC (organic carbon) and EC (elemental carbon) were large (20.8%), secondary sulfate 2, in which loading factors of K and SO₄ 2- were large (8.0%), steel mills (7.8%), secondary chloride and nitrate (7.0%), soil (5.0%), heavy oil combustion (3.8%), sea salt (3.8%), and coal combustion (2.3%). The conditional probability function (CPF) and the potential source contribution function (PSCF) were carried out to examine the influence of a regional source and a broad-based source, respectively. CPF results supported local source influences such as steel mills, sea salt, traffic, coal combustion, and heavy oil combustion. PSCF results suggested that ships in the East China Sea, an industrial area of the east coastal region of China, and an active volcano in the Kyushu region of Japan were potential regional sources of secondary sulfate 1. Secondary sulfate 2 was affected by the burning of biomass fields and by coal combustion in Chinese urban areas such as Beijing, Hebei, and western Inner Mongolia. Source characterization using continuous data from one site showed a potential source representing fossil fuel combustion is affected both by regional and broad-based sources.

Origin and Transportation Course of Heavy Metal Elements in the Particulate Matter (PM) at the Hachimantai Mountain Range in Northern Japan

Particulate matter (PM) was collected at the Hachimantai mountain range in northern Japan. In the present study, the origin and transportation course of the heavy metal elements were discussed for PMfine and PMcoarse, determined by using PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) and back trajectory analyses. The result shows that the PMfine emitted mainly from artificial sources, compared with the PMcoarse from natural sources, since the Enrichment Factor (EF) value and S/K ratio of PMfine was one order higher than that of PMcoarse. The origin of Pb in PM at Akita Hachimantai mountain range has both of the anthropogenic and the metal refining origins, using the analysis of Pb/Br. Furthermore, from result of back trajectory analysis when the air mass was transported over the Japanese Islands, the air mass was mainly passed over the large-scale industrial area in Japan. The origin of As and Se were mainly gasoline and coal combustion, and were transported from Chinese continent and/or Korea peninsula. NMCC ANNUAL REPORT 16 (2009)

Chlorinated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments from Industrial Areas in Japan and the United States

Chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs) are widespread environmental pollutants in the urban environment. Nevertheless, there is little information available regarding the occurrence and profiles of ClPAHs in environmental matrices. In this study, residual concentrations and profiles of 20 individual ClPAHs and 16 US EPA-priority PAHs were determined using high- resolution gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry in sediments from water bodies near industrialized areas: Tokyo Bay, Japan; the Saginaw River watershed, Michigan, USA; a former chlor-alkali plant, Georgia, USA; and the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site, Massachusetts, USA. A sediment core from Tokyo Bay showed temporal patterns in the distribution of ClPAHs from the 1950s through 2004. The fluxes of ClPAHs and 16 priority PAHs in Tokyo Bay sediment core were 0.029-0.57 ng/cm(2)/year and 85-609 ng/cm(2)/year, respectively; fluxes were lowest in the 1950s and highest in 1989-1990. In the United States, a high mean concentration of ClPAHs was found in sediment collected near a former chlor-alkali plant [8820 pg/g dry weight (dry wt)], and lower mean concentrations were found for New Bedford Harbor (1880 pg/g dry wt) and the Saginaw River watershed (1140 pg/g dry wt). Among individual ClPAHs, 6-ClBaP and 1-ClPyr were the dominant compounds in sediments; this pattern is similar to the pattern reported in the literature for waste incineration and ambient urban air samples. Significant correlation between SigmaClPAH concentrations and Sigmaparent-PAH concentrations in Tokyo Bay sediment implies that the sources and distribution of ClPAHs are directly related to those of parent PAHs. We also analyzed ClPAHs and parent PAHs in blue mussels from New Bedford Harbor. The mean concentration of ClPAHs in mussels from New Bedford Harbor was 21 ng/g lipid weight, a concentration three orders of magnitude lower than the mean concentration of parent PAHs. Low-molecular-weight ClPAHs predominated in mussel tissues. Toxic equivalents (TEQs) of ClPAHs analyzed in sediment ranged between 1.1 fg TEQ/g dry wt (Tokyo Bay) and 2.4 fg TEQ/g dry wt (Saginaw River watershed). The dioxinlike toxicity contributed by ClPAHs in sediment from contaminated areas was five orders of magnitude lower than that previously reported for dioxins.

Applying heat integration total site based pinch technology to a large industrial area in Japan to further improve performance of highly efficient process plants

“Area-wide pinch technology” which consists of R-curve analysis and Site Source Sink Profile (SSSP) analysis, was applied to Kashima industrial area, one of the biggest heavy chemical complexes in Japan. This case study demonstrates that despite the very high efficiency of the individual sites in the complex, there is a huge amount of energy saving potential through energy sharing among the various sites. In addition it was found that appropriate use of the available pinch technology tools and techniques allows an industrial area of enormous scale and complexity to be analysed conveniently. This has resulted in practical area-wide energy saving projects being proposed and implemented.

Site-model utility system optimisation – Industrial case study of KKEPC

Kashima-Kita Electric Power Corporation (KKEPC) is a utility supplier, which serves the eastern part of the Kashima Industrial Area in Japan. The utility system of KKEPC involves many steam and electricity generating equipment units. Although a large number of equipment units provide the system flexibility, it induces lots of complicated internal interactions. In order to handle the trade-off between the flexibility and the interactions, all units in the utility system should be managed simultaneously. This eventually creates a large-scale site-wide optimisation problem. A powerful optimisation tool, site-model, has been therefore introduced to KKEPC for solving the complicated problem. The site-model is a linear mathematical programming model with considerations on all site-wide information of utility and material balances. It is noted that the flexibility and the efficiency of the KKEPC utility system has been enhanced after adopting the site-model. The site-model can also explore further opportunities for the future plan. In this paper, several case studies of the KKEPC utility system optimisation will be presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the site-model.

東京低地における工場等の分布を主体とした土地利用状況の変遷―明治初期から平成１７年まで―

Modern manufacturing factories in the Tokyo Lowland-the developing eastern part of Tokyo Metropolis-were originally constructed by the national government at the beginning of the Meiji era in about 1870. Subsequently, the area developed as one of the important industrial areas in Japan. In particular, industrial development was remarkable during the period from about 1950 to about 1960. However, this extreme industrial development brought overpopulation and public nuisances such as air and noise pollution and vibration from plants and manufacturing sites in the Lowland. To ease this serious situation, the national government and the Tokyo metropolitan government took measures such as restricting construction of new factories and strengthening regulations on the operation of factories.Through these measurements, the increase of manufactories in the area stopped in about 1955, and many have disappeared since about 1960 because of their transfer to other cities or manufacturing operations shutting down.According to this investigation, many sites of factories and warehouses had their use diverted by citizens to facilities such as condominiums, general residential areas, parking lots, schools, and parks. In particular, conversion to residential use has been remarkable.

DISTRIBUTION CHARACTERISTICS OF ACID-DISSOLVED TRACE METALS OF SUSPENDED PARTICULATE MATTER (SPM) IN KURASHIKI, JAPAN

This study was undertaken to examine the distribution characteristics of such trace metals in fine particulate (especially with diameters of less than 2.1 μm). The acid-dissolved metals in suspended particulate matter (0.1–9.0 μm) were examined with consideration given to particle size over a 2-year period. It became clear the metals of artificial origin such as Pb, V, Cd, Ni, Cr exist in fine particulates (0.1 or more 2.0 μm), whereas metals of natural origin, such as Ti, Mn, Mg, and Sr primarily exist in coarse particles (2.1–9.0 μm) in Kurashiki City, near the Mizushima Industrial Area in Japan.

Levels and ages of selenium and metals in sedimentary cores of Ise Bay as determined by 210-Pb dating technique.

Ise Bay is connected with estuaries of Nagoya harbor which is one of the most active industrial areas in Japan. Nagoya harbor estuaries are recipient of a large quantity of municipal and industrial discharge. The land boundaries of estuaries are sites of the manufacturing industries and they are utilized by oil tankers and cargo vessels. Accumulation of various kinds of metal such as selenium, mercury, zinc, copper, lead, and chromium have occurred in sediments for many years. The authors have carried out an extensive investigation on the selenium pollution of sea water and sediments of Nagoya harbor estuaries. The input of selenium to Ise Bay has occurred ever since the industrial activity was established in Nagoya city. Investigators have reported the sedimentary record of metals of Tokyo Bay, Osaka Bay and Seto Inland Sea. Some investigators reported the pollution caused by polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon in sediments of Ise Bay, but did not mention metals. The authors determined metals including selenium in sedimentary core samples. The ages of those samples were already estimated by 210-Pb dating technique.

Industrial Development in North Kyushu

North Kyushu had become one of the heavy industrial areas in Japan due to the concentrated development of the Chikuho coal fields and also to the establis-hment of nationally sponsored Yahata Iron Works. After World War II, however, its economical position has become towered owing to the advance of the so-called, energy revlution as well as the world-wide adoption of numerous technical renovations . The author first describes the histrical background and ahe outstanding features of development of this area. He then analyses the important factors affecting the economical stagnancy of the area, and finally proposed plans to redevelop the district, such as pro-motion of the coal production, improvement of the industrial constitution of the area, and rearrangemant of the industrial basis with regard to the sites, service water, rail-roads, highways, bays, ha rbours etc.

THE INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY OF TOKYO

Modern industry in Japan started at the beginning of the 20th century, about a hundred years after the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Though its first stage was light industry, it was converted to heavy industry with World War I as a turning point. World War 11 devastated most of its facilities, but the rapid post-war reconstruction has brought about the development of assembling industries such as cameras and transister radios. Japan's present major industrial areas are in the Keihin urban area centering Tokyo and Yokohama, the Hanshin urban area centering Osaka and Kobe, the Chukyo urban area with Nagoya as its center, and the Northern Kyushu industrial area. More than 70% of the factories of the whole country are located in those places. Through the investigation into the geographical distribution of those factories, we planned to grasp the ciharacteristics of those industrial areas, and as its first step a research was made on the geographical development of industrial plants situated in Tokyo, the center city of the largest industrial area in Japan. Tokyo is situated at the east end of the Musashino Upland between the Arakawa and the Tama Rivers pouring into Tokyo Bay. It was founded as the capital city in the 17th century. The upper part of the Upland has developed as the residential area and the lower eastern part as the commercial and industrial area. The industrial production made in a part of this city resulted in a wholesale manual labour and, with the moderization of Japan at the end of the 19th century, spread its area reaching Yokohama, Tokyo's outer port, forming the industrial area called the Keihin industrial area. The Keihin is the largest industrial area in Japan, where about 15 per cent of the total number of factories are concentrated and some 22 per cent in value of the total national shipments are made. Tokyo is the center of this industrial area, where approximately 90 per cent of the factories in this area are found and about 65 per cent in value of the total shipments are made. The number of factories with workers 30 or more amouns to 6, 764 in Tokyo. In addition, there are more than 50, 000 smallscale plants employing less than 30 persons. These small plants are ignored in the map. The ratio of the small-scale factories in Tokyo is higher than that of the Keihin or the country as a whole. From the standpoint of the nature and distribution, the industries in Tokyo may be classified into the following three categories; 1. Heavy and chemical industries (iron-steel, metal, non-ferrous metal, machinery, chemical, ceramic, stone and clay products manufacturing, petroleum and coal products manufacturing and various other similar industries), which provide materials to other industries. 2. Assembling industries (electrical machinery, transportation machinery, precision machinery manufacturing industries), and 3. Light industries (food, fiber, cloth, wood, furniture, paper, printing, leather and miscellaneous manufacturing industries) (1) Heavy and chemical industrial establishments (Fig. 2, Fig. 3) are concentrated on the following three areas: the eastern area, the delta of the Sumida River; the northern area stretching from the alluvial plain along the Arakawa River (of which the River Sumida is a lower branch) to the eastern end of the Mushashino Diluvial Upland 9 and the Southern area situated on the alluvial plain of the Tama River and the western end of the Musashino Diluvial Upland. In the southern part of the eastern area are found iron-steel mills, metal working and machinery manufacturing plants, which turn out steel products, steel products for manufacturing construction machinery, and other heavy products, as well as shipbuilding yards. Crisscrossed creeks are convenient for transporting raw materials to feed large-scale factories with more than 300 workers.

CHANGING ASPECTS OF FISHING VILLAGES AND EMICRANT FISHERMEN

In the last half of the 19 th century, coastal fishermen in Japan depended mainly upon off-shores fisher-ies. In the beginning of this century, however, the off-shore fisheries, which were the principal occupa-tion of coastal fishermen, began to decline overwhelmed by the growth of fisheries with a large capital and the development of fishing technique, and the fishermen in coastal villages were in serious conditions. It was under such circumstances that the emigration, especially of young fishermen, to the newly developed fishing ports which were bases of capitalistic fisheries came into notice. (Fig. 2, Distribution of emigrant fishermen.) On the other hand, coastal fisheries have been maintained by old fishermen only on a small scale. There are two types of emigration in the central Japan. The first is found in the Tokai district along the Pacific coast. This district is one of the most prosperous industrial areas in Japan, and the modernization of various kinds of industries in this district, inclusing fishery, has prevailed. Therefore, the district gives typical examples of the declined fishing villages along the coast and the development of new ports as a large scale fishing bases, and the fishermen of the declined villages have found their jobs in the neighbouring fishing ports. For example, the fishermen in Shirahama have found their jobs in Misaki, one of the largest fishing bases in the Kwanto district, fishermen in Yoshida went to Yaizu to work, a big fishing port of the Tokai district. The second type is found in the Hokuriku district, the coast of Japan Sea. This is rather a depressed area with heavy snowfall in winter which restricts to some extent the productive activity of people. The seasonal movement of village people to find work in other districts has been one of the characteristics in this area and many of the fishermen went up as far as Hokkaido to carry on their off-shore fisheries there. With the development of large scale fisheries, the decline of off-shore fisheries has become notice-able and a new type of migration of fishermen has occurred. In the fishing villages of this area, people do not move to neighbouring fishing ports, but go to some remote fishing ports such as in Hokkaido to find their jobs as fishing labourers, because the coast of this district had been their traditionl field of off-shore fisheries, and the migration of fishermen in Hokuriku is going on a larger scale than in Tokai. Recently emigrants who prefer industrial labourers to fishermen has increased in number in the declined fishing villages in Tokai, while many emigrants in Hokuriku villages still remain as fishermen.

The Formation of Bisai Textile Industry Area (the western part of Aichi prefecture) between the Last Days of the Tokugawa Goverment and the Early Part of Meiji Era (1800_??_1900)

Between the era of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the early part of the Meiji era (1800_??_1900), Bisai textile industry established an organized wholesale domestic industry while maintaining a self-supporting agriculture combined with a domestic industry. It further developed into a manufacturing industry, with the result that the self-supporting supply was gradually changed into the production of consumer commodities. It was about this time that the capitalistic management form came into existence and it became the foundation of the modern industrial revolution that took place in the last part of the 19th century. Bisai area is one of the biggest textile areas in Japan with its old historical background. Hemp and mulberry were planted. Hard and has fibers as well as silkfabrics were woven in the agicultural and domestic industry system. Between 1800 and 1900 the textile industry area began to form itself around Ogoshi village (the presnt Bisai city) along the Kiso river, in the form of an organized wholesale demestic industry and manufacturing industry. Silk fabrics were the earliest products. Cotton began to be produced some 300 years ago, taking the place of silk fabrics. And the fabrics of cotton mixed with silk were also produced. The reason is that cotton fabrics were practical and were suited for everyday clothes. The Tokugawa Government regarded silk fabrics as luxuries and forbade the use of silk fabrics, encouraging the raising of cotton and the use of cotton fabrics. At first, they produced cotton fabrics for themselves, but as they produced more than they needed, they started selling them at a near-by market. Thus the organized wholesale domestic industry was established by those textile weavers who were landowners and at the same time farmers by side work, and by those merchants who accumulated the commercial capital. These textile weavers owned weaving machines and cotton thread and kept some farmers under their subjection. The farmers offered their labor and were paid for their labor. This system was called “Debata”, meaning rending out the textile machine to the farmers so they could weave in their own homes. But with the gradual accumulation of industrial capital, some of those weavers came to own a factory called “Uchiki” and established a textile manufacturing industry which depended on the labor of the employees. The factory of this kind had 10 workers at most and ordinary factories had 3 to 4 workers. Most weavers' management was based on both “Debata” and “Uchiki”, and so it had two different natures; commercial and industrial. This textile area was formed around Ogoshi (the present Bisai city) along the Kiso River. The reason is that Ogoshi developed as a post town as well as a river port, with the result that there was a great deal of exchanging of goods and an accumulation of the population, thus producing a surplus labor. The weaving machine used in those days was called “Izaribata” and it was a really primitive type of machine. The area developed further and the industrial revolution took place after 1900. In this way the Bisai area became one of the biggest cotton industrial areas in Japan.