抄録
As the industrial structure of Japan changes, the regional structure-in particular, the relationship between large cities and the local areas, has been changing at intervals of approximately ten years.
The decade of the 1960s was the period of population concentrating in large cities, and the decade of the 1970s was the period of decentralization. The decade of the 1980s was again the period of population concentration to metropolitan areas. This time, however, it was differnt to the phenomenon seen in the 1960s, in as much as the concentration was focused only on Tokyo, and income differences between regions have again expanded.
The stagnation of local economies in the 1980s had exactly the reverse effect to the relative boost enjoyed in the 1970s. This was the result of local areas passively reacted to the favorable (to local areas) conditions of the 1970s, without exploiting them for the creation of conditions for independent economic development.
The economic prosperity we are now enjoying-this could be the beginning of a new economic growth in Japan, requires a fundamental change in the industrial structure. Moreover, as enterprises's active attitude are supporting this boom, various structural imbalances are increasing among individual industries or regions. Such problems are covered by the present good economic conditions, but no doubt these will be exposed once the economic boom is over.
The formation of in-house division of labor on a world-scale would make the position of the region even more vulnerable. Therefore the reginal economy, namely the factors of independence and endogeny in the development of employment in a region, become important.
