In towns and villages of a mountainous region the aged have come to occupy an increasingly larger percentage of the total population and are getting to be the suppot in a local commuinty due to thc outflow of the young and the middle aged population. It seems that the aged and the middle aged who support the aged wish to continue to live a self-supporting life in the house and the region they are accustoured to based on close communication and exchange with their neighbors. However, it is often difficult to maintain a household of the aged, especially in winter in the mountainous region.
This survey aims to obtain the data to help for building the living environment of the aging society which will be further worth living through the questionnaires on the present living situation of the aged, their living environment, the way of living in winter as well as how to create and live a self-supporting life in future on the mountainous region of Shimane prefecture which has a high aging rate of the population.