In this section we discuss the point system which determined the order of priority by which people could change their apartments. According to the agreement reached between the company and the trade union in Showa 25 (1950), points were awarded as follows: 1 point for a month's work having continued up to then, 40 points for the miner himself, 40 points for every adult in his family, and 25 points for every child. By comparing the total number of points awarded to each miners family, they decided the order on the waiting list for the apartments which fell vacant or the apartments in newly completed buildings. The Committee for Miner's Company Flats responsible for supervising the allocation of points consisted of 6 members, 3 from the company (the chief of the labor section or the acting chief, and 2 headmen of wards) and 3 from the trade union (1 from the executive committee, and 1 from the Company House council, and 1 from the 'All Dormitory Council'). Gunkanjima consisted of 16 wards. The headman of a ward was responsible for counseling and managing the residents both in public and in their private lives. The 'All Dormitory Council' was an autonomous body representing the unmarried miners who lived in dormitories. Anyone under 16 was considered a child. Therefore a miner with a large family and a record of continuous service was treated well in the allocation of accommodation. Out of a total of 16 wards, 14 wards were for miners. Data concerning the point system was scattered and lost, and there was no formal record. Fortunately while investigating a deserted apartment, we found some of the original documents, including the revised rules dating from the period after Showa 25 (1950), which constitute important historical evidence. This rule was formally referred to as the Hashima Miners Company-House Moving Standards. It can not be said that the point system operated perfectly and provided the miners with precisely the accommodation they requested, moreover once a family had been awarded accommodation they were not permitted to move again for a year. Generally however ,the documents relating to the point system constitute an objective index of the estimated habitability of apartment houses on Gunkanjima. If we consider the number of points awarded to the people living in a particular building, it is generally observable that the higher the number of points the better the accommodation. When we compare old and new buildings, the point system provides an index of the relative popularity among residents. The data we discovered was too limited to provide an accurate picture of the situation throughout the entire community, so we have decided not to include a detailed breakdown of our comparative analysis of it. Suffice to say that it provided useful confirmation for the inferences we had drawn from the results of our questionnaire and interviews. It is particularly noteworthy that buildings with a high common space ration were especially popular with the inhabitants. (Despite their high common space ratios, we excluded the Nikkyu Flats built in 1918 and building No. 30, built in 1916 from our comparative analysis because they were very old and had reached the end of their useful life. Moreover the latter was the only apartment house with 1 room apartments on the island and was latterly used as a subcontract workers bunkhouse.)