Japanese rural areas have experienced deep socio-economic changes since the rapid economic growth period after World War II. Since the 1970s a new type of community, a “rurban (rural/urban) village, ” has appeared in the suburbs. This area has been accepting of newcomers. And farm households in this area tend to diminish or to abandon their farming. As a result, the rural community has been changed by both inside and outside factors.<br> This paper aims to examine the structure of rural community in the rurban village, focusing upon the mixture of established residents and newcomers. The results obtained in this paper are as follows:<br> The study area, Nakanakajoshi, is located in the northern suburbs of Hiroshima city. In spite of its intensive agriculture, this area has been accepting newcomers who reside in either owned or rented houses since the 1970s. This steady flow of immigration causes urban encroachment on farm land.<br> Farm household management has diversified into several types: intensive agriculture, real estate, or non-agricultural employment by urban industries. The newcomers can be divided into two types: permanent dwellers, who wish to dwell eternally, and temporary dwellers, who wish to move again in a few years.<br> The author tests the significance of differences among types of inhabitant for participation in neighborhood groups, participation in local activities and for local consciousness. Large differ-ences are seen between established residents and newcomers. Moreover, intra differences can be seen in every type. The factors associated with a difference in every type are the style of agricul-tural management in the established residents and the will of establishing in the newcomers.<br> The following 5 types are found in this analysis. <br> 1. Established residents<br> 1. Farm households engaged in intensive agriculture. They are extremely interested in local affairs and play a leading part in local autonomy, cooperative projects, and festivals, They are eager to have contact with both other established residents and newcomers. They oppose improving the infrastructure when it requires their own farmland, even though there are serious problems with the lack of infrastructure facilities such as roads, parks, and community centers.<br> 2. Commuting farm households. They are concerned about local affairs and eager to have con-tact with other established residents but not with newcomers. They, like the following three types of residents, are not content with the present state of the infrastructure.<br> 3. Non-farm established residents. They don't take a positive attitude toward local affairs such as agricultural cooperative projects or cleaning an irrigation channel. They are not eager to have contact with either established residents or newcomers. II, Newcomers<br> 4. Permanent dwellers. They are more interested in local affairs than temporary dwellers. Some of them try to make contact with established residents by attending the KOH, the Buddhist neighborhood meeting, and try to blend in with the established residents.<br> 5. Temporary dwellers. They are indifferent to local affairs, because they plan to move again in a few years.<br> Farm households engaged in an intensive agriculture take the leadership in the rural communi-ty, though they are no longer in the majority. In particular, rural self-government organizations cannot function, or traditional local events be held, without them. Therefore, it can be said that even though the “metropolitan village” will accept newcomers, the function of rural self-governing organizations and traditional local events can be maintained only as long as there are farm house-holds engaged in intensive agriculture in rural communities.<br> Newcomers tend to be resent the established residents in local concerns.