A Comparative Study about Depopulation Stages of the Settlements in the Mountainous Area: Case Study at Hinohara Village in Tokyo-to

摘要

As the smallest regional unit in mountainous area, under thebackground of depopulation with the aging rate rising andpopulation declining. Such problems as labor shortfall,abandonment and desolation about resource and communicationrelationship degenerating are becoming more and more serious.Grasping the characteristics of different depopulation stages thencorresponding with the implementations of revitalization strategyto achieve the goal of maintain a vitality of rural settlement.Meanwhile, in order to promote the strategy of the revitalizationpolicy and to improve the conditions of the present residents inthese settlements, it is particularly important to grasp the presentsituation of depopulation settlements and study the depopulationstage in these areas. Through a comparative study of the processof depopulation of different settlements in a village, we could notonly grasp the characteristics and reality of depopulation ofdifferent settlements at present but also would be possible to findout the factors that affect the viability in the settlement whilesupport the residents' life and future development.