Abstract
The purpose of this treatise is to analyze the regional structure of the medical instrument industry in Tokyo, which is one of the typical small industries.
The production center of the medical instrument industry in Japan is Tokyo, with about one half of the country's production. The majority of makers are very small in scale and employ 29 workers or less.
Medical instruments are of many kinds and the users are widely dispersed. However, the wholesalers, mostly located in Bunkyo Ward (Central Tokyo), have an overwhelming control of the market, and with their control of distribution, they have power over the manufacturers.
Under the control of the wholesalers, the majority of the medical instrument makers are located in Bunkyo Ward and extends into Arakawa Ward, Sumida Ward in the eastern district of the Keihin Industrial Area.
The makers are tightly and functionally connected with the wholesalers.
In this concentrated area, there are various kinds of subcontractors that form the bottom structure of the areal production system of the medical instrument industry in Tokyo.
