Some Changes of Rural Life in Japan and Hokkaido since World War 2 through Statistical Data

In this paper, I focus on statistics that have rarely played a leading role in research on rural life. To provide a "common basis" for discussing changes in rural life, I try to examine how we can draw some important changes in rural areas in Japan and Hokkaido at statistical level. Some examples are as follows. It was confirmed that in rural areas, which are not along main roads, bulk purchase of electric power has been widely carried out through the pull-in by such as a cooperatives. Regarding water supply and sewerage, wells were the majority of drinking water sources in agricultural settlements in 1970, the problem of snowfall that is unique to Hokkaido, it became clear that automobile traffic would be obstructed in more than 40% of the agricultural settlements in 1980. Regarding the farm economy, Hokkaido showed a higher level of dependency on agriculture and the rate of household cost sufficiency due to agricultural income compared to nationwide. It has become clear that in agricultural villages in Hokkaido, transportation means such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles are secured prior to the national trend. Looking at the improvement of the medical system including the addition of hospitals and the placement of medical staff, although it can be said that the medical system has been expanded as a whole, it was confirmed that the development in the rmal area against the city area has tended to decline. An attempt to grasp a part of rural life from the level of statistics can be a clue to the actual situation of rural life when it is consciously carried out together with detailed case study