Abstract
This study aims to clarify U-turn migration, i.e., the return migration of people who once left peripheral regions for metropolitan areas in Japan. U-turn migration has been widely discussed, but it has not been satisfactorily substantiated due to a lack of adequate data. We conducted a questionnaire survey of male graduates from 12 highschools in Nagano Prefecture (1956-1958, 1966-1968, and 197.6-1978 graduates). We investigated their migration histories and, in those cases in which the relocation was a U-turn, their reasons for migrating. Twelve thousand questionnaire sheets were distributed, and 3, 825 were returned.
The analysis of the survey results revealed, first, that the rate of U-turn migration from the three largest metropolitan areas to Nagano was progressively higherr for the younger generation. Among the younger generation, the return migration at graduation from university accounted for the largest proportion of all the U-turn migration, reflecting a rise in educational background.
Second, the majority of the U-turn migrants returned to the municipalities where they had grown up, and the tendency gradually became stronger. Although U-turn migrants contributed to the population growth of the leading cities in the prefecture, attention must be paid to the role of the migrants who came directly from other municipalities in the prefecture to the leading cities.
Third, our analysis confirmed that a man's decision to U-turn was affected by his academic background and by whether he was the eldest son, as suggested by previous research. This study, however, also demonstrated that the wife's birthplace was a much stronger factor in U-turn decisions. In other words, graduates who married women born and raised in Nagano Prefecture were more likely to return than those who married women from other prefectures.
Fourth, among the graduates whose U-turn migration was accompanied by a job change, the obstacles to relocation were perceived to be the shortage of desirable jobs in Nagano Prefecture and the accompanying decrease in income. These obstacles were verified by analyzing the respondents' objective conditions, such as the actual change in their income level.
Finally, in terms of the timing of a U-turn migration with job change, it was revealed that the majority of the migrants studied had returned to Nagano within five to eight years after first getting a job. This indicates that U-turn migration mostly took place in a relatively early phase of their lives in metropolitan areas. Therefore it can be concluded that U-turn migration is an option that the young migrant population who once migrated from rural regions may choose at the first turning-point in their careers, with relatively little restrictions due to occupational and residential choice.
