Abstract
Japanese geomorphology has historically adopted methods and concepts from research in western countries and applied them to landforms in Japan and the flow of information has, in the past, been very much unidirectional. This situation is becoming more balanced, with increasing activity of Japanese geomorphologists within the international research arena. Accordingly, many sub-fields of geomorphology in Japan are now making important contributions at the international scale. However, GIS applications in Japanese geomorphology have been more limited, at a time of rapid expansion of GIS in geomorphology within western countries. Although in some countries, technical and financial limitations might inhibit GIS popularisation; this explanation cannot be applied to Japan, given the high level of technological resources within the country. It is suggested here that there are certain historical and cultural aspects of Japanese society, which may have contributed to delayed GIS propagation within Japan.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agata Y. and Tanaka Y., 1997: Double-peak storm runoff observed at a hilly watershed in the Soya Hills, northern Japan and the conditions in which it occurs with special respect to basin water storage. Geogr. Rev. Japan 70A: 798–812 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Aniya M. and Satoh R., 1989: Afterword by translators. In: Burrough P.A., translated by Aniya M. and Satoh R., Principles of Geographical Information Systems for Land Resources Assessment, pp. 228–229. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Bulter D.R. and Walsh S.J. (eds), 1998: The application of remote sensing and geographic information systems in the study of geomorphology. Geomorphology 21: 179–349.
Chorley R.J. (ed.), 1972: Spatial Analysis in Geomorphology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Chrisman N.R., 1998: Academic origin of GIS. In Foresman T.W. (ed.), The History of Geographic Information Systems, pp. 33–43. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Davis J.C., 1973: Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
Dikau R. and Saurer H. (eds), 1999: GIS for Earth Surface Systems. Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin-Stuttgart.
Gyle W.F., 1961: Morphometric analysis and the world-wide occurennce of stepped erosion surfaces. J. Geol. 69: 388–416.
Hirakawa K., 1977: Chronology and evolution of landforms during the Late Quaternary in the Tokachi Plain and adjacent areas, Hokkaido, Japan. Catena 4: 255–288.
Hirano M. and Yokota S., 1976: Numerical analysis in geomorphology by means of electronic computers with reference to examples from Southwest Japan. Geogr. Rev. Japan 49: 440–454 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Horton R.E., 1945: Erosional development of streams and their drainage basins: hydrophysical approach to quantitative morphology. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 50: 275–370.
Imamura G., 1937: Climatic conditions during the Japanese Ice Age. Zeitschrift für Gletcherkunde 25: 184–189.
Iwai S., Kameda H., Usui T. and Morikawa H., 1996: GIS application to data management for analysis of urban facility damage in Nishinomiya City by the 1995 Hyokoken-Nambu earthquake. Theory Applic. GIS 4(2): 63–73 (in Japanese).
Juen S., 1965: A study of the terrace topography of the Musashino Uplands along the River Tama. Geogr. Rev. Japan 38: 557–571, 591–612 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Kaizuka S., 1969: Changing landforms-under tectonic movement, sealevel change, and climatic change. Kagaku 39: 11–19 (in Japanese).
Katsube K. and Oguchi T., 1999: Altitudinal changes in slope angle and pro-file curvature in the Japan Alps: A hypothesis regarding a characteristic slope angle. Geogr. Rev. Japan 72B: 63–72.
Kohsaka H., 2001: Toward the development of GIS. In: Kohsaka H. and Murayama Y. (eds), GIS: Contributions to Geography, pp. 367–383. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Kohsaka H. and Okabe A., 1996: Preface. In: Kohsaka H. and Okabe A. (eds), GIS Sourcebook, pp. i–ii. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Kondo A., 1996: Remote sensing and GIS. In: Japanes GeomorphologicalUnion (ed.), Proposals from Geomorphology to Engineering, pp. 139–160. Kokon Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Kubo S., 1991: The development of GIS in Japan. In: Maguire D.J., Goodchild M.F. and Rhind D.W. (eds), Geographical Information Systems: Principles and Applications, Volume 2, pp. 47–56. Longman, London.
Lane S.N., Chandler J.H. and Richards K.S. (eds), 1998: LandformMonitoring, Modelling and Analysis. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
Machida H. and Arai F., 1992: Atlas of Tephra in and around Japan. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo (in Japanese)
Melton M.A., 1958: Correlation structure of morphometric properties of drainage systems and their controlling agents. J. Geol. 66: 442–460.
Miyagi T., 1998: Late Quaternary environmental changes with special reference to the palaeohydrological conditions and hillslope development in the KawatomiMini Basin, northern Japan. Abstracts, Third International Meeting on Global Continental Paleohydrology, Kumagaya, Japan, 44.
Miyazaki K., 1930: A statistical study of altitude distribution in the Kii Mountains. Geogr. Rev. Japan 6: 1371–1384 (in Japanese).
Naumann E., 1885: Ueber den Bau und die Entstehung der japanischen Inseln. R. Friedländer und Sohn, Berlin.
Nakayama D., 1998: A study of DEM-based drainage basin classification: the case of the Abukuma Mountains. Geogr. Rev. Japan 71A: 169–186 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Nogami M., 1995: Geomorphometry for detailed digital elevation model. Geogr. Rev. Japan 68A: 465–474 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Nogami M. and Sugiura Y., 1985: Practice in Mathematical Geography Using Personal Computers. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Oguchi T., 1988a: Landform development during the Last Glacial and the Post-Glacial ages in the Matsumoto Basin and its surrounding mountains, central Japan. Quat. Res. (Tokyo) 27: 101–124 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Oguchi T., 1988b: Differences in landform development during the Late Glacial and the Post-Glacial ages among drainage basins around the Matsumoto Basin, central Japan: Geogr. Rev. Japan 61A: 872–893 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Oguchi T., 1997a: Late Quaternary sediment budget in alluvial-fan-sourcebasin systems in Japan. J. Quat. Sci. 12: 381–390.
Oguchi T., 1997b: Hypsometry of the Japanese Islands based on the 11.25" × 7.5'' digital elevation model. Bull. Dept. Geogr. Univ. Tokyo 29: 1–9.
Oguchi T., 2001: Geomorphology and GIS. In: Kohsaka H. and Murayama Y. (eds), GIS: Contributions to Geography, pp.24–37. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Oguchi T., Saito K., Kadomura H. and Grossman M., 2001: Fluvial geomorphology and paleohydrology in Japan. Geomorphology 39: 3–19.
Ohmori H., 1979: A statistical approach to asymmetry in roughness of mountain slopes in Japan from the viewpoint of climatic geomorphology: Bull. Depart. Geogr. Univ. Tokyo 11: 77–92.
Onda Y., Mori A. and Shindo S., 1992: The effects of topographic convergence and location of past landslides on subsurface water movement on granitic hillslope. J. Natural Deisaster Sci. 14: 45–58.
Onodera S., 1991: Subsurface water flow in the multi-layers hillslope. Geogr. Rev. Japan 64A: 549–568 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Penck A., 1894: Morphologie der Erdoberfläche. J. Engelhorn, Stuttgart.
Penck W., 1924: Morphologische Analyse. J. Engelhorn, Stuttgart.
Pike R.J., 1988: The geometric signature: quantifying landslide-terrain types from digital elevation models. Mathemat. Geol. 20: 491–511.
Pike R.J. and Dikau R. (eds), 1995: Advances in geomorphometry - proceedings of the Walter F. Wood Memorial Symposium. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Neue Folge Supplement Band 101: 1–238.
Saito K., 1988. Alluvial Fans in Japan. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Sakaguchi Y., 1964: On the geomorphic history of Japan Arc. Geogr. Rev. Japan 37: 387–390 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Sakaguchi Y., 1965: Development of a drainage basin and characteristics of the drainage basins of Japan. Geogr. Rev. Japan 38: 74–91 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Sakaguchi Y., 1966: How did mountains form? Kagaku 36: 360–367 (in Japanese).
Sakaguchi Y., 1968: On the mountain-forming processes. J. Geogr. (Tokyo) 77: 284–310 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Sakaguchi Y., 1969a: A theory of relief forming. Bull. Depart. Geogr. Univ. Tokyo 1: 33–66.
Sakaguchi Y., 1969b: Development of drainage basins - An introduction to statistical geomorphology. Bull. Depart. Geogr. Univ. Tokyo 1: 67–74.
Schumm S.A., 1956: Evolution of drainage systems and slopes in badlands at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 67: 597–646.
Schumm S.A. (ed), 1972: River Morphology: Benchmark Papers in Geology. Dowden, Hutchington and Ross, Stroudsburg.
Strahler A.N., 1952: Hypsometric (area-altitude) analysis of erosional topography. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 63: 1117–1142.
Suga S., 1985: Geomorphic characteristics of Shikoku Island, Japan, expressed by the statistical analysis of digital terrain model. Geogr. Rev. Japan 58A: 807–818, (in Japanese with English abstract).
Suzuki H., 1978: Thoughts in Forests and Deserts. NHK Books, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Suzuki H., 1981: The Transcendent and Environments. Addis Abeba Sha, Yokohama.
Suzuki H., 2000: Climatologia e Origini delle Religioni. Di Renzo Editore, Roma.
Suzuki T., Oguchi T. and Onda Y., 2000: IAG Conference in Tokyo, summer of 2001. Chiri 45(9): 51–66 (in Japanese).
Tada F., 1934: Relation between the mountain summit altitude and relief energy and inferred dissction stages of mountains. Geogr. Rev. Japan 10: 939–967 (in Japanese).
Tomlinson R., 1998: The Canada Geographic Information System. In: Foresman T.W. (ed.), The History of Geographic Information Systems, pp. 21–32. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Toyoshima M., 1984: The sequence of river terrace development in the last 20,000 years in the Ou Backbone Range, northeastern Japan. Sci. Rep. Tohoku Univ. Ser. 7 (Geography) 34: 88–105.
Tsujimura T. 1923: New Thoughts of Geomorphology. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Tsukamoto Y. and Ohta T., 1988: Runoff process on a steep forested slope. J. Hydrol. 102: 165–178.
Umitsu M., 1994: Late Quaternary Environment and Landform Evolution of Riverine Coastal Lowlands. Kokon-Shoin, Tokyo (in Japanese).
Usui T. and Konagaya K., 1995: The distribution pattern of debris in the Hansin-Awaji earthquake: A GIS analysis. Geogr. Rev. Japan 68A, 621–633 (in Japanese).
Walker H.J. and Grabau W.E. (eds), 1993: The Evolution of Geomorphology: A Nation-by-Nation Summary of Development. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.
Wilson J.P. and Gallant J.C. (eds), 2000. Terrain Analysis: Principles and Applications. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Yamazaki N., 1902: Did glaciers develop in Japan? J. Geogr. (Tokyo) 9: 361–369 (in Japanese).
Yatsu E., 1955: On the longitudinal profile of the graded river. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 36: 211–663.
Yoshikawa T., 1956: Hypsometric analysis of late mature and old mountains in central Korea: An approach to quantitative research of physiographic development of mountains. Jap. J. Geol. Geogr. 27: 67–78.
Yoshiyama A., 1994: Relationship between channel slopes and topographic parameters of drainage basins. Geographical Review of Japan 67A: 794-802. (in Japanese with English abstract)
Zeuner F.E., 1945: The Pleistocene Period, Its Climate, Chronology and Faunal Successions. Ray Society, London.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oguchi, T. Geomorphology and GIS in Japan: Background and characteristics. GeoJournal 52, 195–202 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014239305782
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014239305782