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Farmers’ markets in Japan have different characteristics from those in Europe and America. Although the amount of each farmer's sales profit is small, Japanese farmers’ markets have proved to be beneficial for Japanese farmers by providing them with nonmonetary benefits that cannot otherwise be gained from the modern large-scale farm products circulation. It also functions as the place of the rehabilitation of certain foods and products “forgotten” in modern circulation, and cases with old fashioned “grapes” and “eggplants” are those examples. Point of Sale (POS) systems, which were thought the symbol of modernized circulation, however, have been suggested to function as the device for communicating with farmers and consumers. Because the studies of Japanese farmers’ markets are approved to the origin of various logics, the researchers were not able to establish the united theory. However, it should be noted that Japanese farmers’ markets have established a firm position in the local food chain and will continue to function as a valuable channel for supporting sustainable agriculture.

This edited book contains a selection of papers that were originally presented at the XII World Congress of Rural Sociology held in Goyang, South Korea, in July 2008. Contrary to the case of conference proceedings, this volume includes papers that underwent a peer review process and, therefore, possess the quality of finished research manuscripts. The idea of publishing a selection of the most significant papers read at the 2008 World Congress stems from the desire to share the wealth of research presented at the conference with interested individuals who could not attend the event. Additionally, this will be the first of a series of volumes containing the most salient works presented at world congresses and reflecting the research characterizing contemporary rural sociology. As this sociological sub-discipline evolves along with society and the rural world, it appears of paramount importance to make salient research available to the international scientific community.