Comparative Study on Themes of Research Papers on the Research Trends of Parks and Green Spaces in Japan and Korea

The objective of our research was an international comparison focusing on studies conducted on parks and green spaces undertaken in Japan and Korea. We also aim to clarify the similarities and differences between the two countries and consider the key features of the researches on the field of landscape architecture. We compared the recent trends of Japanese institute with Korean observed in the theme of research papers adopt title of them. The research period spanned approximately twenty years, from 1980 to 2003. We employed the Table of Contents information search system to research academic journal articles and to select the journals that included articles with the key words [park(s)] or [green space(s)] in their title. We chronologically arranged the journals for each country, based on the total number of journals and classification categories. We then conducted a comparative examination among the two countries. We also contributed information on the circumstances behind the formulation or amendment of some policies and laws and we checked the results against the research trend. Among the selected journals, the number of papers was the highest by the Institute of Landscape Architecture. But the reason for increase of the number of papers on green spaces in Japanese journals was not published by the Institute of Landscape Architecture but by the City Planning Institute and the Architecture Institute. In Japan, the papers on parks categorized under historical study were the highest among all categories. On the other hand, in Korean journals, papers on parks categorized under historical study were few. A similar trend was recognized in papers on green spaces. Every society is concerned with the study of function and effect. However, some exact differences have been observed by category classification. In Japan, the percentage of function and effect papers on parks was less than those on green spaces. In Korea, both percentages for these groups were high. The category of system and policy accounted for $17\%$ of the papers on green spaces in Korea. This result was higher than the number of papers on green spaces and parks in Japan and parks in Korea. Recently, the number of papers focusing on large-scale green space system has decreased in Japan. The trend in the study of parks and green spaces on a regional scale or at an individual level will be closely monitored. Systems and modeling studies have been focusing in Korea. The understanding between the administration and the citizens was peculiar to each country.