A Study of Transformation Processes of Rural Societies in Hyogo Prefecture

本研究以兵库县的田野调查为基础，旨在揭示日本当代乡村社会的变迁过程。我们把兵库县的农村分为两类，即郊区和农村。作为前一类的案例，我们选择了姬路市和散达市，作为后一类的案例，我们选择了村冈镇。此外，我们还对“村oshi”（乡村发展运动）进行了个案研究，以把握当代乡村发展的特点。以下是我们的研究项目在各自的研究地点的发现。在姬路市，我们研究了由于广畑钢铁厂的建立而带来的社会变化。我们观察到，农村社会日益增加的异质性构成了社区组织活动困难和人口发展不平衡的重要背景，其中老年人大量增加。在关西地区的主要“床城”之一散大市，我们考察了人口快速增长的影响。当本地居民和新移民居民之间的紧张关系出现时，我们发现了将农村和城市居民联系在一起的新形成的社会网络的发展，以及他们之间创造地方文化的运动。3 .在人口不断外流和老龄化率不断上升的Murooka镇，我们利用现有的社会关系，对移民的历史和对当代社会变化的适应过程进行了深入的访谈。在对“村oshi”的研究中，我们选取了兵库县的三个例子。通过对各种形式的印刷品和网站信息的访谈和研究，我们描述了在商业化和旅游的重大影响下，农村社会中当地社区的身份形成过程。

Based on the fieldwork in the Hyogo Prefecture, the purpose of this study is to reveal the transformation processes of contemporary rural societies in Japan. We divided the rural area in Hyogo into two categories, namely, the suburb area and rural area. As cases for the former category, we selected Himeji city and Sanda city, while as cases for the latter category, we selected Muraoka town. Furthermore, we conducted case studies of "muraokoshi"(rural development movement) to grasp the characteristics of contemporary rural development. The followings are findings of our research project in the respective research sites.1.In Himeji city, we conducted research on social changes due to the establishment of a steel-manufacturing mill of Hirohata. We observed that the increasing heterogeneity of rural societies constitutes a significant context of both difficulty of neighborhood organizations' activities and uneven demographic development where the aged increased considerably.2.In Sanda city, one of the major "bed town" in Kansai area, we examined the influences by the rapid population growth. While the tensions arise between the native residents and new migrant residents, we identified the development of newly formed social networks that tie rural and urban residents and the movement for creation of local cultures among them.3.In Murooka town that suffers from continuous people's exodus and subsequent increasing rate of the aged, we conducted intensive interview on the history of migration and adaptive processes to the contemporary social changes by utilizing the existing social relations.4.In the research on "Muraokoshi", we took three examples in Hyogo prefecture. By conducting interviews and research on the various forms of printed materials and information on the web sites, we described the identity formation processes of local communities under the significant influences of commercialization and tourism in the rural societies.