Quantitative Geography in Japan: Retrospect and Prospect
| العنوان: | Quantitative Geography in Japan: Retrospect and Prospect |
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| المؤلفون: | Yoshitaka Ishikawa |
| المصدر: | Japanese Journal of Human Geography. 45:374-397 |
| بيانات النشر: | The Human Geographical Society of Japan, 1993. |
| سنة النشر: | 1993 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | business.industry, Geography, Planning and Development, Language barrier, Popularity, Geography, Historical geography, Information system, Statistical analysis, Sociology, Positive economics, Social science, Relation (history of concept), business, Publication, Social relevance |
| الوصف: | Quantitative geography, which had been born in the US in the second half of the 1950's, began to be introduced into Japan in the early 1960's and produced a number of empirical investigations in the 1970's. Since about 1980, however, it has been on the wane. There has been no literature commenting comprehensively on the sub-discipline's orbit, which can be regarded as one of the largest movements in the country's postwar geography. This is why this review article was written.Special attention is devoted to the following: What key features has Japan's quantitative geography had? Did they remain unchanged until today? Was the decline of the sub-discipline in our country related to decline in English-speaking countries such as the US and the UK? Which directions should we follow in the future? These questions will be answered below.The four key features observed from previous studies are listed in the second section. First, investigations in terms of methods utilized and topics covered have become diver-sifted. Okuno and Nishioka's (1976) statement, that the existing literature was restricted to a part of all possible topics, does not fit current circumstances. Second, the previous investigations have greatly depended on foreign studies in terms of model/theory and method, resulting in the fact that truly original research has hardly been found in the country. Worthy of note in relation to this is that, although most of Japan's quantitative geographers got their basic ideas from foreign countries, the findings obtained were rarely communicated abroad due to the language barrier. Third, a great majority of studies so far has centered on empirical analysis using a given statistical framework and mathematical modeling has been rare. Fourth, although the potential significance of quantitative exploration lies in social relevance through participation in policy-making and planning, such a contribution has been less notable, partly because of the low popularity of geography within academic circles.Nevertheless, the decade of the 1980's witnessed a few new and desirable developments, which are reviewed in the third section. First, at last mathematical modeling work, which was very weak in the past, has emerged recently, as exemplified by the investigations by H. Kohsaka, T. Inoue and I. Mizuno. Second, Kawabe (1974) criticized the whole existing body of quantitative geography severely as quite rudimentary, but some geographers such as H. Kohsaka, Y. Sugiura and Y. Ishikawa have published their English papers in major journals of geography and regional science in the US and the UK in succession. This reflects an improved level of research and deserves congratulation. Third, the topic of geographical information systems, which is not identical with quantitative geography but is closely related with it, has been very popular. These two have not been integrated yet, however. Fourth, topological geography, advocated eloquently by Suizu (1982), is expected to relieve the limitations that quantitative geography has faced, and to gain a new perspective.In the fourth section, after examining the reasons why quantitative geography is on the wane since the 1980's, directions are sought for the future. With regard to the reasons, in addition to the same factors observed in the US and the UK, the following is notable: the recognition of the declining status of this sub-discipline in those countries has also followed in our country, the shift of concern from statistical analysis to mathematical modeling was not smooth, and social relevance has not necessarily been sought. As for the future direction, successive attention to new trends in the world is required. Furthermore, whereas careful verification of the applicability of theory and model born abroad to Japan should be pursued, it is also important to develop and export the results obtained in the country. An overriding concern is how to publish results |
| تدمد: | 1883-4086 0018-7216 |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::10c1232d043cf37802573a0071b02807 https://doi.org/10.4200/jjhg1948.45.374 |
| حقوق: | OPEN |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi...........10c1232d043cf37802573a0071b02807 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 18834086 00187216 |
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