Japan Architectural Review最新文献

The establishment of kominkan, a public institution for social education in Japan, was proposed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (currently called the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in 1946. Since then, the establishment of kominkan has progressed rapidly throughout Japan. In the meantime, regional autonomy should be broadened to regional management autonomy. Since 2014, the government has promoted the establishment of regional management organizations (RMOs) that implement projects with business perspectives and approaches. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), kominkan play a significant role in the establishment of RMOs. In this research, we investigated and quantitatively analyzed (1) the status of RMOs across Japan for which kominkan, etc., are involved in their establishment and operation and (2) some pioneering examples. In our quantitative analysis, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the RMOs in 255 municipalities to understand the status of the base facilities in the establishment of RMOs and to clarify the relationship of the RMOs with kominkan. In our qualitative analysis, on-site or online hearing surveys were conducted among the RMOs in eight municipalities where many activities were carried out, according to the results of our quantitative analysis. The results of those surveys showed that local governments took the lead in establishing RMOs in many cases and that the largest number of activities was carried out at the initiative of local governments at the community centers that are former kominkan. The survey results also revealed that kominkan and the community centers that are former kominkan contribute significantly to the establishment of RMOs. Considering that the main players in community development are residents, the support from local governments to RMOs should be examined and designed to encourage the independence of residents. Social education administration may play a proactive role in achieving this goal. It is said that community development is human development. RMOs should therefore focus on human resources development as their key mission. This is why we believe that the establishment of RMOs based on kominkan activities will lead to resident-led community development.

The paper deals with the exterior design of townhouses both inside and outside the Historic Monument Zone in the eastern part of Bhaktapur of Kathmandu Valley inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage List in 1979. This paper consists of following steps. First, the authors compose the original format of the survey sheet for Nepali townhouses. Second, the paper hypothesizes that a townhouse either experienced an extension of the upper floors or was totally reconstructed in the course of time. The authors propose “eaves types” as the key idea in this hypothesis. The result of the exterior design survey is primarily compared between inside and outside the Historic Monument Zone of the World Cultural Heritage site. Further comparison among eaves group or eaves types is done. Finally, eaves types are confirmed with the floor extension/reconstruction period demarcated by past devastating earthquakes. The result of the comparison again very well explained the characteristics of each eaves type.

A statistical analysis of the 2-year electricity consumption of 479 dwellings in a residential building was conducted to determine annual peak events and their contributing factors for four different aggregations of sizes 3, 10, 50, and 479. The diverse U-shaped relationships between outdoor temperature and peak demand occurrence and the impact of the part of the week/year were identified for different aggregation sizes using generalized linear models and generalized linear mixed models. Furthermore, the contribution of each appliance on reducing the annual peak demand according to the aggregation size was clarified. The result indicates the significant demand response potential of living/dining room outlets and air conditioners, with a 15%–25% contribution to the peak demand in the interquartile range (IQR), regardless of the aggregation level. In addition, refrigerators contributed 10%–15% to the peak demand for the aggregation of sizes 10 and 479.

This study proposes a probabilistic model for earthquake ground motion prediction, named ground motion generation model, which can generate ground motion time history data directly. The ground motion generation model is based on a data-driven technique called generative adversarial networks, allowing generation of ground motion time history data without making assumptions about physical or statistical models. A method to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the performance of constructed model is also proposed and the ground motion generation model is optimized for high performance from earthquake engineering and deep learning perspectives. Numerical experiments show that our proposed model is probabilistic, approximating the probabilistic distribution of the dataset of observed records and generating realistic ground motion time histories with various characteristics in the time and frequency domains.

This paper aims to clarify the process of the formation of Perriand's concept of “form” toward the “forme utile (useful form),” by tracing her production of furniture chronologically. In other words, by analyzing the intersection of the “Mingei (folk-craft)” tradition experienced in Japan and the Western modernism of “forme utile,” this paper examines how the “new decoration” of steel pipe furniture as “form” led to her particular “decoration” of interior spaces. In Perriand's concept of “form,” touching the material itself was the primary issue. However, it was also synonymous with the main intent of the leader of Mingei movement Muneyoshi Yanagi, criticized her “forme libre (free form).” Furthermore, Perriand, who referred the aesthetician Kakuzo Okakura's “vacuum,” came to understand “form” as the correlation between human beings and the space that surrounds them.

The reorganization of residential areas through mass relocation has had 3 impacts on the living environment of the village. Owing to the reduction in the area of the site, the residential space has lost the room for inviting non-family members. The number of houses with gardens and fields has also decreased. As the density of housing has increased, more people are concerned about the view from the outside. As a result, many houses close their curtains. The trust among residents is still high today.

This paper proposes an accurate and efficient reliability evaluation method for robust design optimization using a probabilistic approach. First, the validity of this method is verified using two benchmark functions. This method is then applied to the robust design optimization problem of building-connecting damper parameters, and the effect of robust design is verified. The variation in the natural period and structural damping ratio of buildings is considered, and the criteria satisfaction rate (CSR) are directly evaluated using the response value calculated by time history response analysis.

In 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused great damage to the elderly and disabled, as well as many of the people who supported their evacuation. Various measures and evacuation drills are under way for evacuation of vulnerable people, and when evacuating, it is often decided who will support the evacuation of the vulnerable people. However, there is a need for a mindset that anyone can become an evacuation supporter because there is a possibility that it will not go as set in the actual situation. Therefore, in this study, in order to enable more efficient evacuation of wheelchairs, we measured the evacuation speed and observed an evacuation drill conducted in Nakatosa Town, and examined them separately in 4 phases: preparation, evacuation start time, evacuation action time, and evacuation spare time. As a result, factors to be reflected in evacuation drill and assistance action types for wheelchair evacuation were derived. By incorporating the verification used in this study into the tsunami evacuation plan, we hope to contribute to reducing human damage, including those who vulnerable people and their supporters.

This study examined the impact of the Plan for Ōsaka, 1899 by Hanroku Yamaguchi on the urbanization of the Ōsaka Port Reclaimed Area. We confirmed certain influences of the design standards shown in Yamaguchi's Explanation on the development plan of the Reclaimed Area, especially with regard to the sizing and numbering of city blocks and plots. Yamaguchi's standards for backstreets and alleys have also affected the urbanization process. Such standards allowed for adaptation in specific conditions, and variations in application. The Plan for Ōsaka, 1899 had an impact on urbanization in that design details from the plan were applied in the actual urban design of the area.

In this study, a web-based questionnaire was sent to residents of the Kinki region in the westside of Japan (N = 1053), and a multinomial logit analysis was conducted according to their isolation and loneliness status to examine social prescriptions that would presumably contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness. By comparing the marginal effects of social prescriptions on those with four types of isolation and loneliness status through the discrete choice model, we discovered that social prescriptions that contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness differ according to individuals by isolation and loneliness status. For example, for those who are not isolated but lonely, an effective strategy would be to encourage involvement in social contribution activities in the community and form high-quality human relationships expecting to alleviate loneliness. The results also showed that residents in isolated situations tend to be indifferent to social contribution activities and social prescriptions to encourage involvement in such activities have limitations.