Machi: Neighborhood and Small Town—The Foundation for Urban Transformation in Japan

The term machi, signifying both neighborhood and small town, is a key element for understanding Japanese urban form and city planning. After tracing the origins of the term, this article explores the historic and contemporary significance of the concept and its particular spatial and socioeconomic forms. The article then argues that the concept of machi influenced the ways in which Japanese planners picked up foreign concepts through the nineteenth and particularly the twentieth century, absorbing some ideas and rejecting others. Building on their perception of the city as composed of urban units that allowed for planning in patchwork patterns, leading Japanese planners carefully selected models—independently of international appreciation—making, for example, the book The New Town by the German planner Gottfried Feder a standard reference. The article concludes by arguing that foreign observers must understand the concept of machi to comprehend contemporary Japanese neighborhoods, city life, and urban forms

Evaluation of Heterogenous Oxidation Reaction of Copper Concentrate/Pyrite/Silica Sand Mixture by Preheated Oxygen Gas Blowing

A hand-made apparatus to react copper concentrate (Cc)/pyrite (Py)/silica sand (Ss) mixture was developed for an imitated concentrate burner at laboratory scale. An instantaneous (< 1 s) ignition reaction was macroscopically observed by preheated oxygen gas blowing to Cc/Py/Ss mixture with a Fe/SiO2 mass ratio of 1.1. SEM-EDS analysis was used to observe microstructure and phase distribution in reacted and water-quenched particles. As for the Cc/Ss samples collected at the point close to the gas blowing spot, 70–80 mass% Cu matte phase and heterogeneous slag phase including large amounts of magnetite (Mag) particles were formed. At the lower part from the gas blowing spot with a distance of 275 mm, 60–65 mass% Cu matte phase was confirmed. The area fraction of Mag particles in the slag phase decreased with increasing Py adding concentration in the mixture sample. Our results suggested the concentration and microscopic distribution of Py in the mixture including Cc contributed to control both Cu concentration in matter phase and Mag particle concentration in slag phase

男子大学駅伝選手における6 か月のピリオダイゼーションの筋疲労と免疫機能による評価

In order to assess 6-month periodisation of top university ekiden runner, the changes of muscle fatigue and immune functions of 17 male university ekiden runners were investigated in each training period. The investigation was carried out during the normal training period （6 months before the race）, before and after the intensive training camp period （3 or 4 months before the race）, at the start of the conditioning period （one month before the race） and at the end of the conditioning period （10 days before the race）. Investigation parameters were myogenic enzymes, serum opsonic activity （SOA） and serum superoxide dismutase （SOD）. Neither levels of myogenic enzymes nor immunoglobulins and complements showed any signifi cant changes in each period. The level of SOA signifi cantly decreased after the training camp compared to before, and tended to recover towards the race. SOD levels were signifi cantly higher after the training camp and at the conditioning period compared to before, which might be a reaction against the oxidative stress induced by training. Conclusion, the subjects had good physical management during the training periods prior to the race from the standpoint of muscle fatigue and immune functions. Furthermore, the parameters used in this study may be useful to assess runners’ physical condition during a long season of training