Abstract
Industries greatly act upon the region where they locate. Such action of the industries upon the region is an important object for geographical study. For this concern, I have taken Yokkaichi City for example and tried to find out it. In order to get a clear idea about the regionalit.y of an industrial region, it is necessary to expose the relation between the industry and the inhabitants, and the relation of employment, which is influenced by the formation and construction of the industries. From this point of view, I undertook an analysis and found out the following facts about Yokkaichi City.
In the second half of 19th century, the locally born industries, with the textile industries as leading roles, were modernized. Since 1930 the outside major capitals have pushed into this region, and enrolled a part of the local minor metal and machinery factories as their sub- contracted factories. The subcontracting relationship was expanded mainly by electrical machi- nery factories after World War II. There were, however, very few minor factories except those of metal and machinery to enter into the relationship with the major factories from outside. The petroleum and chemistry factories theat were established after 1960 seldom have subcontracted factories though, they have caused the shortage of laborers to the local minor factories. The latter, therefore, in order to maintain its laborers, came into the relation with the suburb agricultural laborers, and, as a result, expanded the industrial region. The relation is, however, not established in one way. For example, the metal and machinery factories employ farmer householders and children while the pottery factories only employ housewives, and the textile factories only employ the farmer women who live just nearby. Neither do all the farmer families go to factories to work in the same way. The families owning more than 1.4 hectares of cultivated land are full-time farmers. Among the owners of less than 1.4 hectares, for the 1-1. 4 families, only children go to factories ; it is from the less than 1 hectare families that the householders and housewives go to factories. Besides, there is another aspect of difference. Among the children, those from the more than one hectare families generally go to the major factories, while those from the less, the minor.
In case the farmer householders go to the minor factories, their wives go to factories or do side jobs too because their pays are so cheap; it, however, does not mean they give up their farming at all.
As for those who work in the factories to make a living, there are two types of laborers, the native and those who moved into Yokkaichi City. Generally, there seems a tendency that the former go to the minor factories while the latter, the major. In the case of those working in the minor factories, their wives also go to work in factories or do side jobs, just as those farmer families. The children of the wage earners tends to resemble their parents in employ-ment. If the parents work in the minor factories, so do their children; while if the parents work in the major factories, so do their children too, though these major ones are not nece-ssarily inside the city.
In this way, we are able to make clear the regionality of Yokkaichi City to a certain extent.
