[H-GG01_29PM1] International comparison of landscape appreciation

[HGG01-P02_PG] Comparison of Races in Terms of Images of Landscapes in Fiji Using Image Sketches

3-min talk in an oral session

*Takashi KOSUGE¹, Katsunori FURUYA¹, Mukesh VERMA² (1.Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, 2.Hard, Social Sciences, Fiji National)

Keywords:Image Sketches, Landscape, Comparison of Races, Republic of Fiji

MethodsThis research was intended to clarify the difference in imaging of forests between Fijian and Indian residents based on the SKETCH SURVEY. We administered the sketch survey to Fijian residents during our stay in the Republic of Fiji from August to December, 2013. The survey was carried out through interviews, and 158 respondents gave their answers. In the survey, the respondents were asked to describe forests in keywords, sentences or sketches. 1) Firstly, the respondents entered several keywords related to FORESTS in Fiji based on their own idea. 2) Secondly, they described the image of FORESTS in sentences consisting of about 100 words. 3) Lastly, they drew simple sketches of the image of FORESTS. In the process of analysis, the number of elements depicted in the sketches was counted in order to review their imaging of forests. Furthermore, the space structures of the sketches drawn by the respondents were divided into four categories in total: the near view, intermediate view and distant view based on the distance between the landscapes and the drawers, and the downward view depicted from high view points. For analysis of the differences in the races, Mann Whitney U test was used.Considerations and Research results1,504 elements were sampled from the sketches drawn by all the 158 respondents, and that is to say 9.5 elements were sampled from one sketch on an average. These 1,504 elements were classified into 73 categories. When the appearance rate of the elements in the 158 respondents sketches was calculated, the appearance rate of mountains was highest (82%), followed by trees (69%), the sun (63%), palm trees(58%), houses (51%), oceans (47%), rivers (44%), woods (42%), birds (35%), villages (34%) and clouds (32%). In many of their sketches, not only nature elements such as mountains, trees and the sun but also familiar elements such as palm trees, houses and oceans were depicted. In some of the Fijian residents sketches, palm trees extending in the tropical zone with a background of mountains were depicted. Furthermore, houses, villages and other elements were simultaneously depicted in the natural landscapes, and it seems that nature is closely linked to their daily lives. Concerning space structures of the sketches, the rate of the distant view was highest (59%), followed by the downward view (18%), near view (13%) and intermediate view (8%).Regarding the differences in the percentage of the answers between the races, 76% of Fijian respondents and 54% of Indian respondents associated forests with nature, and here a significant difference was found (p<.05). Furthermore, 24% of Fijians and 44% of Indians associated forests with farming villages, and here a significant difference was also found (p<.05). It may be possible that Fijians regard forests as a factor of nature, while on the other hand Indians consider forests as a factor of not only nature but also farming villages. Differences between the races were checked in each of the 73 categories, and significant differences were detected with only six categories of them. The categories in which significant differences in the percentage of the answers between the races were detected were palm trees (50%, 74%), the sun with expression (19%, 34%), grass fields (34%, 12%), sugar canes (7%, 20%), plains (1% of Fijians, 10% of Indians) and hotels (0%, 8%). The analysis of the depictions in the sketches showed that Fijians tend to depict nature-related objects elaborately and Indians tend to depict plants and other similar objects more elaborately than Fijians.Concerning space structures of the sketches, 55% of Fijians 55% of Fijians and 68% of Indians drew distant-view sketches, and there was a tendency that both races preferred the distant view. In some of the sketches, there was a range of mountains from which waterfalls and rivers flew into the sea, and in some of the sketches trees, tropical palm trees and artifacts such as houses and villages were de