This study aims to clarify an actual situations of community participation into community development (CD) activities and to divide participation motivation into religious piety and sects, using sense of solidarity as a performance indicator. The case studied was a community where Christians and Tao-people lived. The CD leader was a pastor. The study analyzed residents' lifestyle and the degree of sense of solidarity and revealed that an infl uence factor to participation was not religious' deference but lifestyles' deference generated by religious groups' character. In addition, results showed that sense of solidarity is made over residents' traditional lifestyle of China Relationalism and can improve community cohesiveness.

© 2016 Landscape Research Group Ltd. Culture has long been considered one of the key elements characterising rurality and plays a central role in rural development. While the majority of research on cultural sustainability focuses on specific resources such as heritage or arts, few studies exist on the culture of rural production and life. Focusing on rural villages of Northeastern Japan, this study explores the key to conserving traditional, rural Japanese cultures—including slash-and-burn agriculture, using ash in cooking, and weaving cloth from plant fibres—by examining its spatial, gender, and generational variations, with semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. Our analysis clarified that these regional cultures have a varied pattern of regional distribution, associated with various factors such as methods and habits of cultural practice, the state of related industries, and commodification of culture. Furthermore, in response to such factors, the cultures showed gender and generational variations of practice, with the former influenced by the segregation of roles, particularly with regard to household labour. Most cultural practices appear to be undertaken by those of advanced years, so encouraging the maintenance of this culture among the younger generation through conservation organisations is vital to revitalising its economic significance. When examining the maintenance of a culture in a particular region, it is valuable to first understand the regional, gender, and generational differences in cultural practice for the various elements from which the overall culture can be distilled.

This research examines the transformation of reed beds in Omihachiman, a city on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, between 1920-2005. In contrast with other areas around Lake Biwa, the study area of continues to be involved in reed-land management and the production of reed-derived goods; however, even in this area, reed production is in decline and local life styles continue to change such that conserving and managing reed beds has become complicated. Owing to this continuing legacy and the threats it faces, this area was designated as a cultural landscape in 2006 by the Agency of Cultural Affairs. This research focuses on land-use changes and the transformation of reed beds. This is accomplished mainly through an examination of topographical maps and historical records. Our results demonstrate a strong correlation between historical reed-production and the current distribution of reed beds. In addition, land reclamation, river construction projects have shaped today's reed landscape. Finally, movements to conserve reed beds as cultural properties and to preserve biodiversity have affected their distribution. The historical transformation of reed beds illustrates the importance of maintaining and regenerating the relationships between humans and reed beds when planning for cultural landscape conservation.

Agricultural greenhouses have been regarded as one of disturbing visual elements in rural landscapes. However, people who were grown up in a landscape with greenhouses may perceive the landscape as an entity which represents the visual identity of their native place. This study aims to identify impressions and perceptions on rural landscapes with greenhouses. Two Questionnaire surveys have been conducted. The first survey has been conducted in Mashiki Town and Ueki Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, where rural landscapes have been characterized by a vast accumulation of greenhouses for watermelon cultivation since late 1960s. The second survey has been conducted in Kumamoto airport. The study identified that landscapes with greenhouses were perceived as landscapes with a visual identity of their native place by the people who were grown up but no longer live in the area.

Omi-hachiman city in Shiga prefecture launched a new landscape plan in 2005, and a plan for landscape conservation in agricultural promotion area in 2006. This paper discusses the contents of the landscape conservation plan in agricultural promotion area and also describes the making process of the plan through authors' experiences at the city as planning advisers. The making process of the plan is summarized as follows; (a) encouraging residents to participate in the making process of the plan, (b) coordinating different sectors in the municipality, (c) coordinating different plans, and (d) creating landscape awareness for a long time.

Although levee trees are well known as an element of traditional rural landscape, they are going to be disappeared in modem agriculture. In order to look for the way of its conservation, geographical conditions and farmers' intentions about levee trees are investigated in Kameoka City, Kyoto Pref and Nagahama City, Shiga Pref.<BR>The result is that levee tites have been used not only for drying rice plant but also for protecting of levee or irrigation canal according to its environment such as geographical conditions. In order to conserve levee trees, therefore we need the follows:(1) to stipulate that levee trees are traditional rural landscape.(2) to avoid large-scale changes of geographical conditions by the standardized farm land consolidation, in order for levee trees to have functions such as protections of levee or irrigation canal etc. which levee trees have had until now.(3) to consider the reasonable arrangement and shape of levee trees so that levee trees may not hinder farming works.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the preservations of levee trees in rural landscapes. The results are as follows: 1. The role of levee trees for farmers has changed: from implements to dry up rice to cultural assets or landscape elements. 2. In case of the preservations in farm land consolidations, agricultural rationalization had priority over the preservations of levee trees, and there has been few subsidies for the care of levee trees after farm land consolidations. We suggest that levee trees should be preserved with use for drying up rice, not only as landscape elements. We also suggest that the agricultural rationalization and the preservation of levee trees should be treated equally.