Abstract
This paper analyzes differences between regional coordination of Kansai area in Japan and Västra Götaland region in Sweden. The analysis on industrial structure and the framework of regional coordination revealed following results. Firstly, with regard to the industrial structure, both regions share a common experience of long economic stagnation caused by depressed heavy industries. This raised strong demand for regional revitalization, and as a result led to a discussion of regional coordination. Secondly, Västra Götaland is difflerent from Kansai fundamentally: the limited tasks of landsting, common administrative districts between landsting and län, the size of landsting, and the existence of EU. These differences indicate that the regional coordination in Kansai faces serious challenges in comparison to Västra Götaland.
