著者

つち山 明 上杉 健太朗 中野 司

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.109, no.6, pp.845-858, 2000-12-01

被引用文献数

6 6

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X-ray computerized tomography (CT) is a non-destructive method by which crosssectional images of rocks and minerals are obtained using X-ray attenuation. Threedimensional structures of samples can also be obtained by constructing a number of successive images. This review discusses high-resolution X-ray CT machines including an industrial machine in commercial use and that developed by our group at SPring-8, which is the largest synchrotron radiation facility in Japan. Spatial resolution of CT images, which is determined by X-ray detectors and X-ray beam size, is practically limited by sample size due to the limited numbers of X-ray detectors. A resolution of about 1 μm was realized at SPring-8. This resolution is the lower limit for imaging with simple optics. The contrast of an X-ray CT image is expressed as a two-dimensional distribution of CT values, which related to the X-ray linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), , μ. CT values of standard minerals were measured to compare with their values of μ. As μ is a function of X-ray photon energies, beamhardening occurs when we use polychromatic beams. Thus, we cannot compare CT and μ values directly with the industrial scanner, which aplies a polychromatic X-ray beam. If the CT and μ values are normalized by a standard mineral having similar size as samples for the photon energy or the accelerating voltage of an X-ray tube, both values agree well as long asμis less than about 2.5 × μ of Fo<SUB>92</SUB> olivine. We can compare CT and μ values directly in the SPring-8 machine, where monochromatic X-ray beams are available. In this case, normalized CT and μ values agree well in various materials havinga large μ at least including metallic iron. However, absolute CT values are slightly smaller than μ by about 10%, which is probably due to scattered X-ray beams, although the exact reason is not known at present. The high-resolution X-ray method was applied to three-dimensional structures of chondrules, which are characteristic constituents of primitive meteorites, named chondrites. It is known from external shapes and internal textures, which are related to distributions of voids and platy olivine crystals, that chondrules spin at high revolutions of about 50-500 rps during their formation in the primordial solar nebula. This greatly constrains the formation mechanism of chondrules.

著者

斎藤 功 矢ヶ崎 典隆

出版者

学術雑誌目次速報データベース由来

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.110, no.3, pp.293-313, 2001

被引用文献数

2

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Covered with short grass and bushes and called llano estacado by Spanish explorers, the Texas Panhandle constitutes the southern part of the American High Plains. Following the decline of the open range cattle industry in the late nineteenth century, large-scale cattle ranches appeared, such as LIT, LS, and XIT. Irrigation has rapidly expanded in the region during the past fifty years. It supports production of corn and grain sorghum (milo) in the flat plains of the northern Panhandle and wheat and cotton in the southern Panhandle. Cattle ranches still dominate in the undulating and sloping country of the Canadian River valley. This paper examines the nature of cattle ranching in the Texas Panhandle during the age of irrigation that promoted differentiation of land use.<BR>Hartley and Oldham counties are chosen for our intensive field study. Large-scale ranches are identified on the map using farm plats, topographic maps, and aerial photographs. They vary in size, from family-operated ranches of 2, 000 hectares to corporate ranches exceeding 40, 000 hectares. Historic ranch names such as LIT and LS are still maintained by contemporary owners. The cow-calf operation is still the basic method in this region, while some beef cattle ranches, not owning cows, depend on purchased yearlings. Others combine cow-calf operations with raising yearlings. As a single animal is given 12 hectares of pasture, 150 to 200 head are grazed on a 4, 000 hectares ranch. Calves born on the ranch during the spring are sold at livestock auctions in Dalhart and Amarillo to farmers, who graze them in wheat fields during the winter. In March, farmers sell their yearlings weighing around 200 kilograms at livestock auctions to ranchers. After being grazed on pasture and reaching 300 kilograms in the fall, they are finally sold to the neighboring feedlots for finishing. Therefore, cattle transactions at the Dalhart livestock auction have peak periods in March and October.<BR>The Texas Panhandle has a concentration of feedlots. They fatten two-year old cattle weighing 300 kilograms for four months until they reach 570 kilograms. They are large-scale commercial feeders, with the largest raising 85, 000 head. Agribusiness companies such as Continental Grain and Cargill operate large feedlots. Some local feedlot owners operate large ranches in order to secure a supply of cattle. Large beef packing plants are also concentrated in the Texas Panhandle for processing locally finished beef cattle.<BR>Beef packers, feedlots, ranches and wheat growers of the Texas Panhandle are interrelated, taking advantage of the groundwater resources of Ogallala Aquifer. Cattle ranches are the basis of the feedlot and beef-packing industries, while they depend on local wheat growers for winter grazing. Unlike the cattle industry in the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, contemporary cattle-ranching industry in the Texas Panhandle represents a regional change that took place in the American High Plains in response to the opportunities offered by groundwater exploitation.

著者

白尾 元理

出版者

社団法人 東京地学協会

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.1, pp.plate1-plate2, 1994

著者

森田 利仁

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.107, no.6, pp.862-871, 1998-12-01

著者

鈴木 和恵 丸山 茂徳 山本 伸次 大森 聡一

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.119, no.6, pp.1173-1196, 2010-12-25

被引用文献数

11 35

---

The Japanese Islands have long been considered to be the most evolved of all the island arcs in the oceans. A simple scenario has been implicitly accepted for the growth of the Japanese Islands: since subduction started sometime around 520 Ma, the TTG crust has increased over time in association with the steady-state growth of the accretionary prism in front. Here, we show very different dynamic growths of TTG crusts over time than previously thought, <i>i.e.</i>, four times more TTG crusts than at present must have gone into the deep mantle due to tectonic erosion, which occurred six times since subduction was initiated at 520 Ma. Tectonic erosion is a major process that has controlled the development history of the Japanese islands. It can be traced as a serpentinite mélange belt, which indicates the upper boundary of past extensive tectonic erosion.

著者

岩崎 正吾 平川 一臣 澤柿 教伸

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.109, no.1, pp.37-55, 2000-02-25

被引用文献数

14 7

---

Late Quaternary glacial fluctuations in the Esaoman-Tottabetsu Valley, inthe northern Hidaka Range, central Hokkaido were reconstructed based on stratigraphy of glacial landforms and sediments. By mean of tephrochronology, the two previously known stadials of the Last Glacial Stage, the Poroshiri and Tottabetsu Stadials, were reassessed. Shikotsu 1 tephra overlain by the terminal moraine of the Poroshiri Stadial at the river bed of 850m a. s. l. indicates that the glacier reached its maximum at around 40ka (Oxygen Isotopic Stage 3: OIS-3). This advance should have been initiated in the preceding cold period of 01S-4. Kuttara 6 tephra (86 ka) in the proglacial outwash deposits indicates that a glacier fluctuated in the vicinity of the cirque bottom even in the relatively warm period of the early Last Glacial Stage (01S-5b). Contrary to this stadial, the glacial and proglacial deposits including Eniwa a tephra (18 ka) show that the glacial advance during the Tottabetsu Stadial (LGM) in this region was restricted within the cirque bottom. The penultimate glaciation, named the Esaoman Glaciation in this study, was suggested by the discontinuously traceable remnant bed topography along the river basin. These features recommend that the glacial advance of this stage reached at 750m a. s. l., lower than during the Last Glacial Stage.

著者

小山 真人

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.108, no.4, pp.346-369, 1999-08-25

被引用文献数

4 14

---

There remain many challenges in using historical documents to reconstruct a reliable history of earthquakes in Japan. Previous catalogs of historical earthquakes in Japan are not conclusive and contain uncertainties about date, hypocenter, magnitude, and tectonic interpretation of each earthquake. There is no database of digital texts of historical documents, which describe each earthquake. Since the density of historical records in Japan is temporally and spatially heterogeneous, seismologists should carefully remove apparent changes of earthquake frequency, which are caused by the heterogeneity of record density. There is, however, no detailed database of the density variation of historical records. The number of researchers, who are interested in historical earthquakes, is small.<BR>The situation stated above is caused mainly by the multi-disciplinary character of historical seismology. Japanese seismologists, who usually have little knowledge of history and classical literature, are not qualified to read a historical document and evaluate its reliability.<BR>The environment for research on historical seismology is, however, getting better. Japanese historians have published and are still publishing many historical documents, sometimes with translations into modern language. Evaluations of the reliability of each document can easily be done by referring to historical dictionaries or other databases. All these publications and information are available in many libraries. It is now easy and stimulating for many seismologists to read, evaluate, and interpret historical documents.

著者

鶴我 佳代子 笠原 順三 三ケ田 均 山岡 耕春 藤井 直之

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.115, no.1, pp.51-71, 2006-02-25

被引用文献数

3

---

Large earthquakes along the subducting plate boundary occur repeatedly in the area of an asperity that consists of a strongly coupled zone between two plates. Other areas along the subduction zone are considered to be stable-quasi-stable slip region, which is called a non-asperity, might release strain energy caused by oceanic plate subduction. The physical states of large asperities under the ocean are not well known at present because of the lack of offshore stationary observation networks (e.g., geodetic, seismic and electromagnetic networks).<BR>Strong PP reflections from the subducting plate boundary were found in aseismic zones along the Japan Trench and in the slow slip region in the Tokai region. These features suggest the presence of low-Vp/soft materials and/or fluid along the subducting plate boundary. Such regions might cause continuous or intermittent aseismic slow-slips. If we can map areas of strong PP reflections from observations such as refraction-reflection studies using Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) -airgun surveys, we will be able to obtain the distribution of asperities along the plate boundary.<BR>Assuming that slip acceleration at non-asperity regions might trigger a large earthquake at adjacent asperities, a sudden change of physical states in a non-asperity region might suggest a high probability of plate-boundary earthquakes. Changes due to slip acceleration might be detected by continuously monitoring seismic reflection intensity at non-asperity regions. To perform continuous monitoring, we propose the Accurately Controlled Routinely Operated Signal System (ACROSS), with an integrated active monitoring method using continuously transmitting seismic and electromagnetic sinusoidal waves, which are accurately controlledby a GPS clock with a sophisticated signal analysis method.<BR>The ACROSS seismic source at Toki city in central Japan has been operated continuously for more than 2 years. A field experiment in the Tokai region, central Japan, using this transmission method provided sufficient S/N ratios for the Pg phase traveling 60 km through stacking the data for one month.<BR>Submarine cable OBS systems near the trenches enable us to continuously monitor seismic reflection signatures provided by ACROSS systems located on land. The planned submarine cable OBS in the Tonankaki region might be a good real-time receiver system.<BR>The Exploration of Asperities-Reflectors System (EARS) is proposed for integrating the necessary research components-mapping, monitoring, and real-time continuous monitoring of the Earth's crust. In this paper, we describe the analytical method and important points in such a study.

著者

宇都 浩三 風早 康平 斎藤 元治 伊藤 順一 高田 亮 川辺 禎久 星住 英夫 山元 孝広 宮城 磯治 東宮 昭彦 佐藤 久夫 濱崎 聡志 篠原 宏志

出版者

学術雑誌目次速報データベース由来

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.110, no.2, pp.257-270, 2001

被引用文献数

7 13

---

To understand the eruptive mechanism of the 2000 Miyakejima volcanic activity, we conducted intensive geological, petrographic, and mineralogical studies on the pyroclastics of the August 18 eruption. Volcanic ashes, which were rich in accretionary lapilli, covered most of the islands. Cauliflower-shaped bombs and lapilli were ejected along with accidental lava blocks. Black-colored angular scoriaceous particles with abundant vesicles 10 -100 μm in diameter are found among ashes, comprising about 40 wt. % of total constituents. These bombs, lapilli, and black ashes have identical bulk chemical compositions and constituent mineral compositions, suggesting a common origin. Existence of oxidized ashes and accretionary lapilli attached to a large flattened bomb and chemicallyreacted anhydrite particles trapped in the voids of bombs suggest that bombs were still hot and ductile when they were emplaced on the ground. We, therefore, conclude that the August 18 eruption was a phreatomagmatic eruption and cauliflower-shaped bombs and black ashes were essential magmatic materials. Significant SO<SUB>2</SUB> emissions from the volcano after August 18 also suggest convective upwelling of magmas to a shallower level beneath the volcanic edifice. We propose a magma-ascending model in which vesiculating magmas continuously ascend through the wall of subsided piston-like blocks.

著者

倉本 真一 平 朝彦 Bangs Nathan L. SHIPLEY Thomas H. MOORE Gregory F. EW99-07 08 航海乗船研究者

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.109, no.4, pp.531-539, 2000-08-25

被引用文献数

10 19

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A three-dimensional seismic survey was carried out at the western Nankai Trough accretionary wedge from June 18 to August 18, 1999. This experiment was Japan-U.S. collaborative investigation on seismogenic zones. The cruise imaged an 8 X 80 km area with 81, 80km-long, high quality, seismic reflection lines, all of which have nearly continuous coverage.<BR>The main objective of our experiment was to image the plate boundary fault at which major earthquakes and tsunamis are generated. Our primary goal is to image the thrust and identify the boundary between aseismic and seismic zones for a large inter-plate earthquake.<BR>On-board two-dimensional data processing has been carried out. This gives us a significantly clear image of the inner structure of the accretionary wedge at our survey area. One impressive image of the profile shows the large thrust slice zone that is classified by our interpretation. A number of out-of-sequence thrusts have developed and are concentrated in the area where the water depth is approximately 4, 000 to 3, 000m. A decollement plane touches the oceanic plate (layer II) down at there in first. We identified that the boundary between the stable sliding zone (ocean-ward) and the unstable stick slip zone (landward) is located there. We propose that the boundary is the up-dip limit of the seismogenic zone. Further data processing is ongoing. A true three-dimensional structure will reveal much more details and a clear image of seismogenic zone at the Nankai subduction margin.

著者

青木 一勝 大藤 茂 柳井 修一 丸山 茂徳

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.119, no.2, pp.313-332, 2010-04-25

被引用文献数

10 24

---

The Sanbagawa metamorphic belt in SW Japan was previously considered to extend in the E-W direction from the Kanto Mountains to Kyushu Island, a distance > 800 km. However, Aoki <i>et al.</i> (2007) recently demonstrated that protoliths of metamorphic rocks in the Oboke area of the belt in central Shikoku accumulated at the trench after <i>ca.</i> 90-80 Ma. Furthermore, Aoki <i>et al.</i> (2008) showed that these rocks suffered blueschist metamorphism at 66-61 Ma, which differs from the timing of the Sanbagawa metamorphism. Thus, these results show that the Sanbagawa belt in Shikoku is a composite metamorphic belt. We, therefore, redefine the traditional Sanbagawa belt; the structurally upper part is the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt (<i>sensu stricto</i>). It formed as an accretionary complex at <i>ca.</i> 140-130 Ma and subsequently experienced BS-EC facies metamorphism at <i>ca.</i> 120-110 Ma (Okamoto <i>et al.</i>, 2004). By contrast, the structurally lower segment termed the Shimanto BS facies metamorphic belt, formed as an accretionary complex after <i>ca.</i> 90-80 Ma and experienced peak metamorphism at <i>ca.</i> 60 Ma. Our observations have important implications for the lateral extension of these two metamorphic belts in SW Japan. The accretionary ages of the traditional Sanbagawa belt in the Kanto Mountains are younger than the Sanbagawa peak metamorphic age (Tsutsumi <i>et al.</i>, 2009), clearly indicating that the entire region of Kanto Mountains Sanbagawa must belong to the Shimanto metamorphic belt. The same timing relationships were also found for the Sanbagawa belt on Kii Peninsula (Otoh <i>et al.</i>, 2010). These results, therefore, indicate that the Shimanto metamorphic belt is exposed in Shikoku, Kii, and Kanto, thus the spatial distribution of Sanbagawa belt (<i>ss</i>) is less than half of its previous extent. The metamorphic grade of the Kanto Mountains in the Shimanto metamorphic belt ranges from pumpellyite-actinolite facies to epidote-amphibolite facies. Therefore, the higher-grade rocks of the Shimanto metamorphic rocks are exposed in the Kanto Mountains in comparison with Shikoku and Kii Peninsula. Hence, these two distinct BS-EA-EC (?) metamorphic belts are virtually equivalent in terms of spatial distribution, metamorphic range of grade, and facies series. Pacific-type orogenic belts typically comprise accretionary complex, high-P/T metamorphic belt, fore-arc sediments, and batholith belt landward from the trench (Maruyama <i>et al.</i>, 1996). In SW Japan, the Sanbagawa belt (<i>ss</i>) is paired with the Ryoke low-P/T metamorphic belt and with the <i>ca.</i> 120-70 Ma Sanyo TTG batholith belt. Furthermore the related fore-arc basin may have developed penecontemporaneously with the Shimanto BS-EA orogeny, which is paired with the late Cretaceous to early Tertiary San-in TTG belt, which extending along the Japan Sea coast. In-between the intervening Izumi Group, a fore-arc basin deposit formed during the Campanian to Maastrichtian. Thus, these two groups of orogenic units, which formed during independent orogenies were both extensively modified during the opening of the Japan Sea <i>ca.</i> 20 Ma. The southward thrusting of the Ryoke and Cretaceous TTG belts over the Sanbagawa extended beyond the southern limit of the Sanbagawa, leading the up-down relationship of the Sanbagawa (<i>ss</i>) and the Ryoke belts.

著者

入倉 孝次郎 三宅 弘恵

出版者

学術雑誌目次速報データベース由来

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.110, no.6, pp.849-875, 2001

被引用文献数

25 94

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We propose a recipe to predict strong ground motions from scenario earthquakes which are caused by active faults. From recent developments in waveform inversion analysis for estimating rupture processes during large earthquakes, we have understood that strong ground motion is relevant to slip heterogeneity rather than total moment on the fault plane. The source model is characterized by three kinds of parameters, which we call : outer fault parameters, inner fault parameters, and extra parameters. The outer fault parameters are parameters characterizing the entire source area such as total fault length, fault width, and seismic moment. The total fault length (L) is related to the grouping of active faults, <I>i.e.</I> the sum of the fault segments. The fault width (W) is related to the thickness of the seismogenic zones. The total fault area S (=LW) follows the self-similar scaling relation with the seismic moment (M<SUB>0</SUB>) for moderate-size crustal earthquakes and departs from the self-similar model for very large crustal earthquakes. The locations of the fault segments are estimated from the geological and geomorphological surveys of the active faults and/or the monitoring of seismic activity. The inner fault parameters are parameters characterizing fault heterogeneity inside the fault area. Asperities are defined as regions that exhibit large slip relative to the average slip on the fault area. The relationship between combined area of asperities and seismic moment M<SUB>0</SUB> satisfies the self-similar scaling relation. The number of asperities is related to segmentation of active faults. The rake angles of slips on the asperities should be estimated from the geological survey and/or geodetic measurements. The extra fault parameters are related to the propagation pattern of rupture within the source area. Rupture nucleation and termination are related to the geometrical patterns of the active-fault segments. The recipe proposed here is to construct the procedure for characterizing those inner, outer, and extra parameters for scenario earthquakes. Then, we have confirmed that the scaling relations for the inner fault parameters as well as the outer fault parameters are valid for characterizing earthquake sources and calculating ground motions from recent large earthquakes, such as the 1995 Kobe (Japan) earthquake, the 1999 Kocaeli (Turkey) earthquake, and the 1999 Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquake. We have also examined the recipe for estimating strong ground motion during the 1948 Fukui (Japan) earthquake. The simulated ground motions clearly explain the damage distribution in the Fukui basin.

著者

青山 千春 松本 良

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.118, no.1, pp.156-174, 2009-03-25

参考文献数

28

被引用文献数

6 16

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During methane hydrate exploration and research, remote and on-board acoustic surveying and monitoring of methane hydrate can be easily and economically conducted using a quantitative echo sounder. Simultaneously, the structure and the floating-up speed of methane plumes can be obtained from an analysis of acoustic data.<br> We conducted a survey of methane plumes from 2004 through 2008 at a spur situated southwest off the coast of Sado Island (tentatively called Umitaka Spur) and at the Joetsu Knoll. In 2007 and 2008, we performed experiments by releasing methane hydrate bubbles and methane hydrate, and letting them float upward. Consequently, we demonstrated that acoustical reflection from the methane plumes correlates with water temperature and depth, that the floating-up speed is constant but depends on the conditions of methane hydrate, that the discharge of methane hydrate bubbles changes, and that there is a wide scattering of materials below the seafloor where methane plumes are located. Furthermore, the amount of methane hydrate bubbles seeping was estimated by a preliminary calculation.<br> The method will be applied not only to basic research on methane hydrate but also to assessments of the environmental impact of methane hydrate exploitation.

著者

大河原 正文 塚脇 真二

出版者

学術雑誌目次速報データベース由来

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.111, no.3, pp.341-359, 2002

被引用文献数

5 8

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東南アジア最大の湖であるトンレサップ湖は雨季と乾季とでその水深・冠水面積が大きく変化し, このような季節的変動に支配された特異な堆積作用の発生が予期される。そこで同湖における堆積作用の解明へ向けて, 同湖に堆積物を供給する関連水系や同湖周辺に分布する沖積層の堆積物の粘土鉱物組成にもとづき, 同湖北部湖底堆積物に含まれる粘土鉱物の起源およびその時間的変化を調べた。<BR>トンレサップ湖北部の表層堆積物ならびに懸濁物からは, カオリン鉱物, イライト, スメクタイトおよび緑泥石が検出される。同湖とメコン河とを連絡するトンレサップ川の堆積物からもイライトおよび緑泥石が検出されるにもかかわらず, 同湖北部周辺の水系や沖積層の堆積物にこれらがほとんど含まれないことから, 同湖北部に分布するイライトおよび緑泥石はメコン河本流を起源とするものと判断される。<BR>一方, トンレサップ湖北部湖底から採集された柱状試料では, その上部約50cmの堆積物からはイライトならびに微量の緑泥石が検出されるものの, 同試料下部にはこれがまったく認められない。したがって, イライトおよび緑泥石がメコン河水系に由来するという表層堆積物解析結果にもとづき, 同湖における堆積物の供給源に大きな変化が発生したことが推定され, その年代は今から約5,000年前と考えられる。

著者

市來 雅啓 茂出木 理子 中村 恭之 柴尾 美紀子

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.109, no.6, pp.993-1005, 2000-12-01

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The comprehensive Earth science database, GeoRef, is introduced in this paper. GeoRef is one of the Earth science databases with the largest number of references (about 2.2 million), and is managed by American Geological Institute (AGI). GeoRef provides not only an environment for searching references, but also for delivering the necessary references and for making written reference lists.<BR>To verify the usefulness of GeoRef, we compared several cases of searches using GeoRef, Web of Science and Swet Scan. Although GeoRef was not able to pick up more references than Web of Science, GeoRef generally collected suitable references and showed its usefulness of searching particularly in the geological category. However, it was revealed that GeoRef was relatively slow to incorporate the latest information.

著者

高阪 宏行 関根 智子

出版者

Tokyo Geographical Society

雑誌

地學雜誌 (ISSN:0022135X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.117, no.2, pp.455-463, 2008-04-25

被引用文献数

1 2

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The aim of this paper is to review the present situation of business Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Japan. This paper especially focuses on various geographic information services produced by geographic information technology. Geographic information is defined as attribute data with location and geographic information technology is considered in the second section in terms of software and hardware for manipulating geographic information. The third section reviews location-based services (LBS), which trace positions in real-time using location sensor technology. LBS are classified into six types of service: provision of information specified for a position, tracing service for people, tracing service for vehicles and ships, tracing service for luggage and goods, proximity-based notification, and proximity-based actuation. Spatial analysis on GIS has been applied in business tools to assist sales promotion activities and the posting of handbills in shops and offices. The fourth section presents trade area analysis used to perform effective sales promotion activities. Rating methods and spatial interaction models are also used for location assessments of sites proposed for new shops. The fifth section considers geodemographics as an area marketing tool. The last section presents the outlook for business GIS in Japan.