Supply-demand Structure of Labour Force in Kei-Hin Labour Circle and its Future Development

Abstract

Kei-Hin (Tokyo-Yokohama) market demands the largest labour force of the three large markets in Japan. Kei-Hin labour circle, the area which provides labour force to Tokyo-Yokohama region comprises Kanto, Tohoku, the western Chubu and a part of Kyushu districts.
The area consists of two, inside and outside of Kei-Hin commuting circle. The labour force in the commuting circle has advantage to that outside the circle. Most of the former find employment in large and medium sized enterprises of developing industries, while the latter in the non-developing industries or small and trifling sized enterprises.
It cannot be said that every part of the Kei-Hin labour circle homogeniously provides working population to the market. There seem to be localities in patches supplying little labour force. Each of these forms a rural labour circle which seems to equal to a small local commuting circle covering villages around the local city in the nucleous.
Local cities in Kanto and Chubu districts are enlarging their labour markets with the progress of industrialization. As a result labour force supplying areas in these two districts are becoming the demanding ones. In such cases these localities are absorbing working population from Tohoku district, and at the same time they are providing their own population to Tokyo-Yokohama region.
Local cities in Tohoku district has but narrow and stagnant market of labour force because industrialization there is slow-pitched. Except these patches of small markets, the whole of Tohoku district is supplying its labour force to Kei-Hin, and is forced the more to flow it out.
Kei-Hin labour circle went reorganization in about 1956, and internal differentiation of the area became conspicuous since 1959.
In future, another developing industry region than Kei-Hin will be newly shaped in the southern Kanto, and there will appear a large market of labour force. Under these circumstances a new change will take place in the internal structure and movement of Kei-Hin labour circle.