tsuge takahiro

This paper aims to clarify the status and issues of risk management in the Oirase Stream Area (OSA). First of all, a visitor questionnaire was carried out in the OSA in October 2009. The respondents were asked to answer questions such as notion of self-responsibility for accidents. The survey showed that respondents could be divided into 4 groups with regard to risk preferences. While around 90% of respondents hoped more recreation facilities should be built for safety, a small portion of respondents agreed to the notion of self-responsibility even in case of the OSA. Furthermore, risk management practices in the OSA were investigated by taking interviews to public authorities. After an accident happened in the OSA in 2003, the public authorities more frequently conducted inspections of fallen trees and fallen branches in advance. Also the Aomori Prefecture signed the facility liability insurance. There, however, still exits potential risks such as inadequate infrastructure and ambiguous borders among stakeholders. More collaborative actions such as establishing a liaison council could be needed.

The aims of this study were to analyze the data of accidents during 1989-2008 in the climbing at Mt. Fuji which extends over both prefecture of Yamanashi and Shizuoka in Japan and to clarify the characteristics of the accidents according to four main routes. In addition to those, authors tried to grasp the regional activities and management system to promote safe climbing in Yoshida route as a case study and considered risk management and planning of climbing. Analysis of a data set of accidents collected by prefectural police and interview with relevant people were employed. As a result, it was found that many accidents occurred at 7th and 8th steps at the mountain on the whole. With distinction of routes, there were more fall accidents in Yoshida and Fujinomiya routes and more lost climbers in Subashiri and Gotenba routes than the others respectively. In view of the results, it was suggested that it is necessary to organize information based on the characteristics of places and causes of accidents before providing it to climbers.

This study applies a threshold model proposed by Granovetter (1978) to analyze the diffusion process of donating behavior for renewable energy. We first use a stated preference survey to estimate the determinants of a decision to support the donation scheme under various predicted participation rates. Using the estimated coefficients, we simulate how herd behavior spreads and the participation rate reaches the equilibrium. The participation rate at the equilibrium is estimated as 37.88% when the suggested donation is 500 yen, while it is 17.76% when the suggested amount is 1000 yen. The influence of environmentalism and altruism is also examined, and we find that these motivations increase the participation rate by 31.51% on average. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We conduct an experimental survey to analyze how rules for collective decision-making influence individual preferences regarding nature restoration plans. Our study compares two decision-making rules-a consensus rule and a majority rule-wherein participants decide on a plan regarding nature restoration in the Kushiro Wetland, Japan. Our main finding is that the difference between the individual preferences and collective decision-making is less significant under the consensus rule than the majority rule. Furthermore, there is a larger disparity with regard to the marginal willingness to pay between collective and individual decisions when participants are unsatisfied with the results of collective choice. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding a site-choice behavior of park visitor has been a major focus of research in management of national parks and protected areas. This paper addresses a site-choice behavior of general public using choice experiment for six national parks in Hokkaido, Japan : Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu, Shiretoko, Daisetsuzan, Akan, Kusiro-Shitsugen, and Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The result shows that visiting each national park is valued by respondents. The highest willingness to pay is JPY 80,767 for visiting Shiretoko National Park, and the lowest is JPY 16,476 for Shikotsu-Toya National Park, for example. In addition, a short travel time is positively valued as expected. A willingness to pay for additional one hour is JPY-2,289. On the basis of the results and rates of past visitation for these national parks, recreation opportunities expected by visitors are all different respectively, therefore; role-sharing and characteristic park plans to meet various taste of recreation or tourism in Hokkaido need to be prepared.

This paper presents an integrated framework for evaluating the reduction of several types of mortality risk using a Choice Experiment (CE) approach, a type of stated preference technique. Using this approach, we can distinguish the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for the amount of risk reduction from the MWTP for the opportunity of risk reduction and therefore calculate the "Quantity-based" Value of a Statistical Life. The risks in our survey include mortality risks due to accident, cancer, and heart disease. The Quantity-based VSL is calculated to be 350 million JPY (in 2002 Japanese Yen, about 2.9 million US dollars). Furthermore, we analyzed the influence of subjective risk perception and population characteristics of the respondents on their MWTP. Estimated results suggest that it is unnecessary to adjust the VSL according to the differences in the type of risk if the VSL is calculated using an adequate approach. However, adjustments for the timing of risk reduction and population characteristics are found to be significant for the execution of benefit transfer.

We estimate the economic value of the natural environment damaged in the Seto Inland Sea after the introduction of the Law on Temporary Measures for the Environmental Conservation of the Seto Inland Sea (Setouchi Law) and the value of the natural environment that survived, using a Contingent Valuation (CV) survey on an Internet web site. The CV survey contains three plans. Plan I is to restore 4 ha of reclaimed land. By estimating the Willingness To Pay (WTP) for plan 1, we can appraise the value of the natural environment that was damaged as a result of the original reclamation. Plan 2 is to transplant Zostera (eel-grass) into an area of 10 ha offshore. Plan 3 is to preserve the shore area, a natural habitat for rare animal species, under the National Trust Program. From the WTP for plans 2 and 3, we can estimate the value of the shore area and the areas a little farther offshore. The value of the natural environment damaged in the Seto Inland Sea as a result of reclaiming projects after the introduction of the Setouchi Law and the value of the existing natural environment of the Seto Inland Sea from the WTP for the plans were estimated to about 1.72 trillion yen (1.46 trillion dollars) and about 424 trillion yen (3.60 trillion dollars), respectively. The results indicate that in the 25 years since the introduction of the Setouchi Law, we have degraded every year about 6.88 trillion yen (58.5 billion dollars) worth of the natural environment by reclaiming. Some seaweed farms and natural shore areas, natural habitats to rare marine life-forms like the horseshoe crab and the fiddler crab have survived, but their value amounts to about 80% of Japan's GDP. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.