1990 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 60-72
Kanagawa Prefecture is located in the southwestern part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Region. In this prefecture, urbanization and industrialization have been proceeding remarkably, and so there has been a large increase in population engaged in urban jobs. Kanagawa Prefecture had a population of 3, 443, 162 in 1960, but it increased to 7, 431, 974 in 1985. On the contrary, the number and the population of farm households have been decreasing. In these 25 years the farming population showed a 50% decrease. The rate of decrease in agricultural land was 54.7% in the same period. Miura is the only exception: although it is located just inside the commuting zone of Tokyo, the area of agricultural land has shown a slight decrease only. It is well known for producing watermelons, cabbages and radishes shipped to the Tokyo metropolitan markets.
The area of orchards increased from 1960 to 1975 in Kanagawa Prefecture. Since 1975, however, the area has been decreasing slightly. Citrus orchards, especially of mandarin oranges, occupy the majority of orchards. They are found mostly on the slopes at the foot of mountains in the western part, some being used as tourist orchards.
Stock raising as dairying, pig raising and poultry raising have decreased in terms of number of farmers since 1960. However, the number of cows, pigs and layers has not changed so much since 1975, resulting in a remarkable increase in the per-raiser productivity.
By applying WEAVER'S method modified by Doi, types of agricultural income according to location from 1960 to 1985 have been clarified. There were many municipalities or statistical units where the income from vegetables ranked at the top among agricultural incomes: they were found in the rapidly urbanizing eastern and central parts. Meanwhile, many western municipalities were characterized by income from fruits in top rank. The number of units with the category of flowers in the crop combination has increased in the central part. The western part, however, has seen an increase of nursery trees, whereas the eastern and central parts have increasingly more places with the categories of dairy farming, pig raising, and poultry raising. Most of the agricultural products here are sold to the Tokyo metropolitan markets.
