This paper is aimed at examining the association between the degree of urbanization/suburbanization and the levels of social capital in quantitative terms. We performed a multilevel analysis for the data from JGSS (Japanese General Social Surveys) conducted in 2000-2003. The results showed that the respondents who resided in rural municipalities (i.e., the least urbanized areas) were more likely to belong to groups, for both vertical and horizontal types of organizations, compared to those who lived in the center of large metropolitan areas. However, no differences were seen between urban centers and suburbs within these metropolitan areas studied. In addition, the indicators of general trust and attachment to place did not exhibit significant associations with the index of urbanization! suburbanization. On the contrary, many individual attributes were related to social capital indices; suggesting that the individual/compositional factors may determine the levels of social capital more clearly than the regional/contextual factors. Since our study used the indicators of "global social capital", which do not refer to geographical aspects of social networks or trust, analyzing "local social capital" is necessary in future studies.
