Japanese Land Research Articles

Environmental Impacts on Concentrate Feed Supply Systems for Japanese Domestic Livestock Industry as Evaluated by a Life-cycle Assessment Method

The objectives of this study were to evaluate and compare the environmental load of two different concentrate feed supply systems to the Japanese domestic livestock industry using the Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The current system was defined as that requiring 11.469 million tons of corn imported from the US by sea transport and supplied as concentrate feed to the Japanese domestic livestock industry. The new system proposed by Kaku et al. in 2004 was defined as where 802,830 tons of US imported corn would not be planted in US and would be replaced by barley planted in 278 thousand ha of Japanese domestic land left fallow for the past year. In this case, 909,000 tons of domestic harvest barley would have been supplied as concentrate feed to the Japanese domestic livestock industry in 2000. The activities taken into account within the two system boundaries were three stages: concentrate feed production, feed transportation and gas emission from the soil by chemical fertilizer. Finished compost was regarded as organic fertilizer and was put instead of chemical fertilizers within the system boundary. Adoption of this new concentrate feed supply system by the Japanese domestic livestock industry could reduce 78,462 tons CO 2 -equivalents of global warming potential, 347 tons SO 2 -equivalents of acidification potential, 54 tons PO 4 -equivalents of eutrophication potential and 0.842 million GJ as energy consumption below 2,000 levels. This LCA study comparing two Japanese domestic livestock concentrate feed supply systems showed that the stage of feed transport contributed most to global warming and the stage of emission from the soil contributed most to acidification and eutrophication. The Japanese domestic livestock industry could participate in emissions trading with CO 2 -equivalents reduced by shifting from some imported US corn as a concentrate feed to domestic barley planted in land left fallow. In that case the Japanese government could launch emissions trading in accordance with Kyoto Protocol in the future.

Speciation and Gene Flow between Snails of Opposite Chirality

Left-right asymmetry in snails is intriguing because individuals of opposite chirality are either unable to mate or can only mate with difficulty, so could be reproductively isolated from each other. We have therefore investigated chiral evolution in the Japanese land snail genus Euhadra to understand whether changes in chirality have promoted speciation. In particular, we aimed to understand the effect of the maternal inheritance of chirality on reproductive isolation and gene flow. We found that the mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of Euhadra is consistent with a single, relatively ancient evolution of sinistral species and suggests either recent “single-gene speciation” or gene flow between chiral morphs that are unable to mate. To clarify the conditions under which new chiral morphs might evolve and whether single-gene speciation can occur, we developed a mathematical model that is relevant to any maternal-effect gene. The model shows that reproductive character displacement can promote the evolution of new chiral morphs, tending to counteract the positive frequency-dependent selection that would otherwise drive the more common chiral morph to fixation. This therefore suggests a general mechanism as to how chiral variation arises in snails. In populations that contain both chiral morphs, two different situations are then possible. In the first, gene flow is substantial between morphs even without interchiral mating, because of the maternal inheritance of chirality. In the second, reproductive isolation is possible but unstable, and will also lead to gene flow if intrachiral matings occasionally produce offspring with the opposite chirality. Together, the results imply that speciation by chiral reversal is only meaningful in the context of a complex biogeographical process, and so must usually involve other factors. In order to understand the roles of reproductive character displacement and gene flow in the chiral evolution of Euhadra, it will be necessary to investigate populations in which both chiral morphs coexist.

" Asset Price Declines and Real Estate Market Illiquidity: Evidence from Japanese Land Values"

We examine the pattern of price depreciation in Japanese land values subsequent to the 1990 stock market crash. While all land values fell heavily, the data indicate that Japanese commercial land values fell much more quickly than residential land values. Using an error-correction specification, we confirm that Japanese commercial land prices exhibited faster convergence to steady state values than residential land prices. We then develop an overlapping-generations model with two-sided matching and search to explain this disparity. In the model, old agents own real estate and are matched each period with a young agent endowed with an unverifiable idiosyncratic service value for the old agent's real estate. When fundamentals decline, the old agents optimally "fish" for high service flow young agents by pricing above average valuation levels. This leads to higher illiquidity and default in times of price decline, as well as price persistence which is increasing in the variance of average service flows. As we would posit that the variance of service flows would be higher for residential real estate than for the commercial real estate market, this model matches the Japanese experience.

Asset Price Persistence and Real Estate Market Illiquidity: Evidence from Japanese Land Values

We develop an overlapping generations model of the real estate market in which search frictions and a debt overhang combine to generate price persistence and illiquidity. Illiquidity stems from heterogeneity in agent real estate valuations. The variance of agent valuations determines how quickly prices adjust following a shock to fundamentals. We examine the predictions of the model by studying price depreciation in Japanese land values subsequent to the 1990 stock market crash. Commercial land values fell much more quickly than residential land values. As we would posit that the variance of buyer valuations would be greater for residential real estate than for commercial real estate, this model matches the Japanese experience.

Characterization of 17 microsatellite loci in the Japanese land snail genera Mandarina, Ainohelix, and Euhadra (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata)

AbstractLand snails of the genera Mandarina, Euhadra and Ainohelix are useful for understanding the ecology and evolution of speciation and adaptation, so we have developed 17 microsatellite loci for these species. As in other land snails, most of the loci are highly polymorphic compound repeats, with a great size range between alleles. The loci should be useful in understanding gene‐flow, genetic structure and speciation in these species.

Japan: the economic consequences of the fetish of space

For a generation until 1991, Japanese land market enjoyed the rising property price that outpaced the rate of inflation. The ‘golden age’ of Japanese economy was kept aloft on the fetishism of land, which never perishes and believed to keep augmenting its capital value forever. The banks gladly financed investment as long as a corporation offered property as collateral. The current property boom in Europe and North America, which some believe would keep economy aloft forever, is simply the déjà vu of this past Japanese experience. In 1991, Japanese property market collapsed and the entire musical chair game turned into debt nightmare: once prime property became the source of non‐performing loans, which brought many banks into run for loan stripping out of their former intimate clients, forcing the corporation into more retrospective and conservative business strategies. The whole processs ended up with ‘the lost decade’ of Japanese macro‐economy, the stagnation that has lasted 13 years so far. After all, the fetish of space is never capable of acting as the lynchpin of a macro‐economy forever. This bitter Japanese experience should be a lesson which other economies currently brimful of property boom euphoria.

Asset Price Declines and Real Estate Market Illiquidity: Evidence from Japanese Land Values

We examine the pattern of price depreciation in Japanese land values subsequent to the 1990 stock market crash. While all land values fell heavily, the data indicate that Japanese commercial land values fell much more quickly than residential land values. Using an error-correction specification, we confirm that Japanese commercial land price exhibited faster convergence to steady state values than residential land prices. We then develop an overlapping-generations model with two-sided matching and search to explain this disparity. In the model, old agents own real estate and are matched each period with a young agent endowed with an unverifiable idiosyncratic service value for the old agent's real estate. When fundamentals decline, the old agents optimally fish for high service flow young agents by pricing above average valuation levels. This leads to higher illiquidity and default in times of price decline, as well as price persistence which is increasing in the variance of average service flows. As we would posit that the variance of service flows would be higher for residential real estate than for the commercial real estate market, this model matches the Japanese experience.

Yoichiro Hirase, the great collector of Japanese land mollusks, and the collectors who helped him

Abstract A paper by Tokubei Kuroda from 1953 is presented for the first time in English, with an introduction and annotation. It describes the main collecting expeditions commissioned by Yoichiro Hirase between 1900 and 1909. The localities and collection dates for the type material of the following species are given in more detail than in the original descriptions: Euhadra awaensis (Pilsbry, 1902); Trishoplita optima (Pilsbry, 1902); Mundiphaedusa kurozuensis (Pilsbry, 1902); Mundiphaedusa pachyspira (Pilsbry, 1902); Aegista (Coelorus) cavitectum (Pilsbry and Hirase, 1903); Karafthelix chishimana (Pilsbry and Hirase, 1904) [= K. blakeana (Newcomb, 1865)]; Mundiphaedusa hosoyaka (Pilsbry 1905); Luchuphaedusa azumai (Pilsbry, 1905); Luchuphaedusa ophidoon (Pilsbry, 1905).

Evolution: single-gene speciation by left-right reversal.

A land-snail species of polyphyletic origin results from chirality constraints on mating. A single gene gives rise to the mirror-image form of a snail's body plan, which could become established as a different species if mating is prevented between snails of different chirality by genital mismatch1,2,3. Here we use molecular phylogeny to demonstrate the parallel evolution of reversal between left and right lineages of the Japanese land snail Euhadra. We find that the different mirror-image forms have evolved in favour of the genetically dominant handedness as a result of single-gene speciation.

Genetic Diversity Patterns in Japanese Soybean Cultivars Based on Coefficient of Parentage

Japan is a historical center of genetic diversity for soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], but diversity of modern Japanese cultivars is not well characterized. The objectives of this study were to quantify genetic diversity of Japanese cultivars via coefficient of parentage (CP), determine the relative importance of breeding factors in explaining that diversity, and incorporate results into a practical guide for management of diversity. All 86 public Japanese cultivars released and registered during 1950 to 1988 were subjected to CP and multivariate analysis. The mean CP for the 86 cultivars was low (0.04), indicating a potentially high degree of diversity in Japanese breeding. Eighty percent of all pairs of cultivars were completely unrelated by pedigree. The low mean CP for the cultivars was attributed to a continual incorporation of unique Japanese land races into the genetic base over time, to the introduction of foreign germplasm from China and the United States and Canada (US-CAN) as breeding stock, and to limited exchange of germplasm among Japanese breeding programs. Cluster analysis was an effective discriminator of diversity. Six clusters were identified which had a mean CP value equivalent to that of half-sibs or greater. These clusters encompassed a total of 54 cultivars, explained 57% of the variation in the CP relations, and had few ancestors in common. Each cluster was derived primarily from only a few programs. Backcrossing and full-sib matings were absent in Japanese pedigrees and, thus, clusters were formed primarily from parent-offspring, full-sib, and half-sib relations. Cultivar attributes such as growing region, release era, maturity designation, and developing institution did not elucidate strong patterns of pedigree diversity. In practical breeding, one may maximize the chances of finding good specific Japanese × Japanese or Japanese × US-CAN crosses by choosing Japanese cultivars from a wide array of Japanese clusters rather than sampling extensively within a cluster.

戦後日本の地価変動の時系列分析

戦後日本の地価変動の時系列分析

Historical biogeography and interspecific mtDNA introgression in Euhadra peliomphala (the Japanese land snail).

We assess variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) using partial sequences (560 bp) of the COI gene among populations of Japanese land snails, Euhadra peliomphala. Phylogeographical analysis reveals five primary clades that correspond basically to five discrete areas: the Boso Peninsula (B), the Kanto area (K), around Lake Ashinoko (A), the Northern Izu Peninsula (N), and the Southern Izu Peninsula (S). Although there are no current geographical barriers separating these five subpopulations, the borders between each area correspond to palaeogeographical events during the Pleistocene, such as volcanic activities and the disappearance of the landbridge between the Southern Boso area and the mainland of Japan. In addition, our analysis of isolation-by-distance and the distribution of pairwise sequence differences indicate that haplotypes of the B and K lineages have recently increased their population size exponentially. We have also discovered interspecific mtDNA introgression between E. peliomphala and the parapatric species E. brandtii at the contact zone in the Northern Kanto area. Unexpectedly, the E. brandtii-type mtDNA was also found in the populations of E. peliomphala in the Southern Boso area. Because recent contact between both species is unlikely, the introgressed mtDNA of E. brandtii could be a remnant of past hybridization, when E. peliomphala colonized this area via the landbridge that existed in the early Pleistocene.

落雷位置標定システムにより観測された冬季雷の対地雷撃密度の検討

Lightning location systems, such as UP and LPATS, cover the whole Japanese land at present, However, the winter lightning flash density measured by these systems are less than 0.3 times per km2 per one winter season, which are very small than the appropriate density. The author points out three reasons of this contrariety. (1) The velocity of winter lightning return stroke is less than one third of summer ones. (2) The average channel length of winter lightning discharge is less than one third of summer ones. (3) The attenuation of radiation field may be much larger in winter because the height of a discharge channel (the source of electro-magnetic field) is much lower in winter than in summer.

知的基盤50m分解能正規化赤外画像全国版完成

知的基盤50m分解能正規化赤外画像全国版完成

Conflict, consensus or consent: implications of Japanese land readjustment practice for developing countries

This paper is relevant to the international effort to transfer an urban land development technique, land readjustment (LR), to several developing countries in South East Asia. The paper examines the model of the Japanese LR method presented by Japanese scholars and development experts to the international audience, and argues that in the context of attempts by several developing countries to adopt the method, there are several crucial shortcomings of the description of Japanese LR in the existing literature. Most important is that the history of opposition to LR in Japan is virtually ignored, and there is very little mention of the enormous commitments of local planning resources necessary to organise consent to projects. These issues are important for an understanding of the use of LR in Japan, and may also have implications for those attempting to make use of LR techniques in other countries. The paper briefly outlines the LR method and the project to export the method to South East Asia, examines the existing literature, and draws on case studies of project organising in three suburban cities in the Tokyo area.

Genomic variation and genetic relationships in Ipomoea spp.

AbstractRandom amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to develop genetic fingerprints and analyse genetic relationships among 29 Ipomoea accessions from different geographical locations around the world, including unique wild species, and reproducible profiles were obtained for all accessions using random decamer primers. The primers generated 46 polymorphic markers, one primer alone having 10 products, enabling the discrimination of all 29 accessions. A high level of genetic variability in sweet potato collections was suggested by the degree of polymorphism. Half of the Japanese land races were closely related while accessions from Papua New Guinea and The Philippines were distinct and exhibited the greatest genetic diversity. The wild species Ipomoea gracilis and Ipomoea tiliacea formed a group distinct from the cultivated sweet potato. The wild tetraploid accession K233 and the species Ipomoea trifida were progressively more related genetically to the cultivated sweet potato and are the probable progenitors of Ipomoea batatas, and may be suitable as germplasm for genetic enhancement. RAPDs proved to be useful for sweet potato systematics and should be valuable for germplasm management, gene tagging and efficient choice of parents in breeding programmes.

Examination of the reliability of catch statistics in the Japanese coastal sperm whale fishery

Catch statistics are important for the assessment of whale stocks. The paper reviews earlier questions over the reliability of statistics from. the Japanese land based sperm whale fishery, and presents some new information for the periods 1959-65 and 1983-84, The available data suggest that aspects of post-World War I statistics are unreliable to an unknown extent in terms of total numbers, length and sex ratio. The evel of unreliahility appears to vary by month, year and whaling company. Suggestions for furure work to try to determine the likely levels of unreliability are presented. This is important to enable an accurate assessment of the status of North Pacific sperm whales.

Origin of the Japanese Land Mammal Fauna: Allocation of Extant Species to Historically-based Categories.

Consideration of the historical development of the mammal fauna on the major Japanese Islands allows six categories of species to be recognised, on the basis of their origins and current geographical distribution within Japan, which are modified from the original seven categories of Dobson (1994). The six categories are clearly defined, but allocation of species within them requires a full understanding of taxonomic relationships and a good fossil record and is, therefore, tentative for certain species. We here attempt to allocate the recent terrestrial non-flying mammals of Japan to the six categories. In cases where allocation is uncertain, due to a lack of appropriate evidence, we provide our reasoning for decisions made. We have, therefore, been able to highlight gaps in the knowledge of the biogeographical history of the Japanese mammal fauna.

農地制度と家族制度による日本農業論の再構成

The aim of this paper is to reinterpret the Japanese agriculture based on a reconsideration of the land tenure system and the family system in Japan. As to the land tenure system, the point is that rice farming which is the most important part of Japanese agriculture has many dividings and segments for irrigation. This character of rice farming has played the important role to define borders of holdings and to divide holdings. The small holdings by peasants as the typical feature of the Japanese land tenure system has historically been brought by this character of rice farming. On the other hand, the family system in Japanese rural area is still characterized as the stem family with three generations. The farm assets such as farmland are generally inherited by only the first son without dividing to other brothers and sisters. This system had developed in connection with ‘Ie’ system which was not a private unit, but a public unit under Tokugawa era. Therefore, to Japanese families, to last the ‘Ie’ was the first priority under the Tokugawa era, and this value has been kept by rural families until nowadays. However, the combination of the land tenure system characterized as small holdings and the stem family system with three generations generated the hard contradiction in the Japanese agriculture. Namely, each holdings farm households had were too small to support relatively many family members of three generations. This contradiction resulted in two typical features of the Japanese agriculture: extensive pluriactivity of farm households and inferiority of tenant vis-a-vis landowners.

Japanese Land Readjustment and City Planning in the Interwar Period

Japanese Land Readjustment and City Planning in the Interwar Period