抄録
Studies of regional structure of industry in Japan have been focussed on combination and correlation between industrial factors only. In this paper, the present writer intends to study the regional structure of the Nishijin small-scale weaving industry not only from the viewpoint of industrial factors but also of other regional factors.
Nishijin weaving industry is located in the northwest part of Kyoto city, and famous for its long history which originated from the classical court industry in the Heian era (the 9th to 12th centuries). This industry is unique in that it produces silk of very high quality, and consists of minutely divided processes.
Nishijin has not been the name of an administrative division, so its definite area is uncertain. Therefore the present writer compiled distributional maps of factories for the years of 1895, 1909, and 1922, and examination of those and other maps made available in published materials for 1940, 1955, and 1975, led to areal definition of the region.
In this study, flve areas were selected to represent the different dates of formation. A study of a questionnaire method was done in 1977 for each area.
As a result, two functional regions are classified as follows.
(1) The nuclear function region - not only weavers but also wholesalers and other men of related undertakings concentrate, and functions of planning, arrangement and shipment are mainly performed in this region.
It economically connects Nishijin with other areas, and forms the single nodal region of the industry.
(2) Producing region - this surrounds the nuclear function region above, and producing function is specially accumulated.
In the nuclear function region, producing function is remarkably dropping down as various economic interactions with other regions increase recently. The traditional high reputation of this region, whcih had been held for long and valued until the World War II, has faded away, and this also accounts for a trend of depressing production.
The producing region is characterized by its small and petty scale in undertaking, but constant shift and supplement of new functional factors afford certain productivity to the region. As for the labours, incoming people from outlying tracts of Nishijin or Kyoto city, for example from Tango and Hokuriku areas, play a role of labour supplement.
