Y. Ishikawa et Aj. Fielding, EXPLAINING THE RECENT MIGRATION TRENDS OF THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN-AREA, Environment & planning A, 30(10), 1998, pp. 1797-1814
The year 1994 was a very significant year for the Japanese urban syste
m. In that year the Tokyo metropolitan area (TMA), which had enjoyed a
net inflow of interregional migrants since the 1950s, recorded a net
outflow for the first time. What factors gave rise to such a remarkabl
e migration change for the area? The results from a set of time-series
analyses lead the authors to conclude that, as far as the study perio
d (1979-92) as a whole is concerned, the changing migration pattern of
the TMA arose from factors closely related to Tokyo's transformation
into a world city (specifically in terms of industrial restructuring a
nd changes in residential land prices) and from cycles of economic boo
m and bust. However, it was found that the change to world city was mo
re important than the economic cycle. Such findings suggest that the J
apanese migration system experienced structural change during the 1980
s and entered a new phase in the 1990s.