The Total Research of the Social Structure of the Villages in Mountain Area -Seeking for a Model in an age of underpopulation and ageing

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This is a case study of a former independent village, which was incorporated in 2004, in mountain area in Gifu Prefecture. The purpose of this study is to describe totally the living conditions of the village. Then we assumed that they threaten to get worse especially through the incorporation. Our research method is Structural Analysis, which means that three aspects of the living conditions, social, economic as well as public health nursing and social welfare conditions, are simultaneously investigated. As a result of the research we confirmed that the total living conditions of the village have been maintained through the barely balancing of the three aspects, and this balance is now structurally changing accelerated by the incorporation. We concluded that the development policies for the villages in mountain area, which intend to modernize the living conditions of the villages, have almost finished their role, or rather nowadays deteriorate them. From this point of view we suggested finally the following four points : 1)communalities in each family and community should be reconstructed through the improvement of the total living conditions, 2)municipal government should promote the activities of inhabitants, which aim at developing and creating the values of mountain life, 3)the human scale enterprises should be founded, and 4)the general branch offices of the municipality in each former independent village should be maintained, which are engaged continuously in managing and coordinating the local society.