“…Tetsuo Sato ( , 1993Sato ( , 1996 has researched on rural development in Bangladesh, agro-forestry in Thailand, and re productive behavior in the suburban Bangkok; Junji Nagata (1994Nagata ( , 1996 has conducted his field research in rural Malaysia; Masao has researched on Nepalese villages; Kazuhiro Ajiki with Toyohiko Miyagi undertook field research on mangrove forests and environmental problem in the Philippines (Ajiki and Miyagi 1992); Kazuo Tomozawa (1991) has studied industrial change in India; Gen Endo (1991Endo ( , 1996 has researched on urban population growth in Chiang Mai and analysed local economy of Thailand in terms of provin cial businessman; Gen Ueda (1991Ueda ( , 1992Ueda ( , 1994 has studied urban petty production in Kenya and medium-sized firms in Nigeria; Wei-Dong Xu (1987 energetically published papers on recent economic changes in China; and Seii Yoh (Chienwei Yeh) (1989,1994) has studied urban development in Taipei during Ching dynasty and the Japanese coloni al era. An increasing number of stimulating papers appeared in academic journals during the last few years (Mitomi 1993;Matsumura 1993Matsumura , 1997Sawa 1994;Tsukihara 1994;Kimoto 1995;Sato, R. 1995 1982b;Maida 1984;Noma 1989;Naito 1989;Kumagai 1992Kumagai , 1996Honi 1996). They were not only the two largest geography departments in Japan with many physical and human geographers work ing together but also were responsible for educating secondary school geographers.…”