Occupational mobility and Personal Community in ‘Dento-Shohigata Toshi’

A case study of Yamagata city

Abstract

Dento-Shohigata Toshi (Traditional-Consumption Oriented City), so named by Kurasawa, is one of the types of cities in modern Japan and purportedly has two differing structures within them. One structure is ‘old fashioned’, whilst the other is ‘modern’, in the sense of employment opportunities and values. Making Yamagata City a case study of this phenomenon, this paper will focus on some occupational mobility patterns, which are constrained by geographical mobility. Furthermore, career groups from these mobilities were observed to provide empirical evidence that each career group has its own Personal Community and sets of values. Finally, the relative social positions of these disparate career groups is examined.