There have been various research themes for transport geography. One of the major themes is the analysis of development or locational conditions of transport facilities. In this paper the author tries to analyze the attitude of regional society toward railway construction during the 1880s.
Japan completed the first trunk railway (Tokaido Railway) between Tokyo and Kobe in 1889, and it has been traditionally said in Japan that regional communities, with their traditional, social and eco-nomic structures, often opposed railway construction in the early days. But there has been no documen-tation of the opposition to railway construction using primary source materials.
The author has investigated a series of local newspapers issued in the 1880 s, and clarified the attitudes of regional communities located along the Tokaido Railway in Shizuoka Prefecture. In each location, introduction of the railway had been welcomed more often than opposed. Opposition was based on considerations which were of agricultural water supply and locations of bridges across big rivers, which greatly changed in flux with seasonal changes in rainfall. The author found many descrip-tions in newspapers of the introduction of railways in the towns that served as regional centers.
The route finally adopted as the Tokaido Railway was conclusively determined by conditions of civil engineering, such as gradient, numbers of tunnels and bridges, and other geomorphological factors, in spite of various movements by regional societies. The railway stations were located at the most suitable points near important towns on the route. Given the technological level in those days, it could be said that the Tokaido Railway adopted the best route in terms of civil engeneering and train operation as the result.

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Since the 1970s the electrical machinery industry has developed through a change in industrial struc-ture, and many plants have decentralized and dispersed, especially those in the labor-intensive sector like the manufacture of semiconductors. This dispersion has led to a restructuring of the regional system in Japan, accompanied by a change in the spatial division of labor. This spatial division of labor has been interrelated with the development of multilocational corporations.
The author analyzed and examined the spatial pattern, changes in the division of labor, and the struc-tural features of plants under the control of a multi-locational corporation.
To clarify the decentralization of the producing sectors of corporations, 'X corporation', one of the largest enterprises manufacturing computers and communication appliances in Japan, was selected. A survey of the producing sectors of X corporation (46 plants included 29 subsidiaries) was done from July 1992 to March 1993, and data for locations, years of establishment, size, composition of work-force, output, locational factors, and so on of the plants were collected by interviews and question-naires.
First, in order to confirm the decentralization of plants in the electric machinery industry around the peripheral regions in Japan, changes in the distribution of the plants and employees after 1970 were analyzed (Chapter 2), using employees and plants of this industry from the census of manufac-tures data for 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1990 edited by the Research and Statistics Department of the Minis-try of International Trade and Industry.
Second, with special reference to X corporation, the development and distribution of plants and the division of labor were analyzed (Chapter 3). Then the development of the production system, the characteristics of the workforce, whose structure has been changing, and the research and develop-ment function were examined (Chapter 4).
The main findings obtained can be summarized as follows.
1) Since 1975, the process of decentralization of electric machinery plants has been mainly character-ized by the establishment of plants in the Tokyo metropolitan region and its adjacent areas, for exam-ple Kitakanto, East Japan, not by plants are locating in the peripheral regions (Table 1). However, a few plants were located in the peripheral regions-northern Tohoku, middle south Kyushu, etc. The number of plants having more than 300 employees in each region has expanded, and it is supposed that plants of multi-locational corporations like X corporation have been located in those peripheral regions (Table 2).
2) As far as the distribution of X corporation's plants is concerned, mother plants-which have spe-cialized in the research and development function and in trial manufacture- and assembly plants-which have mainly manufactured computers, communication appliances and telephone switching machinery-have fewer employees and are located near the headquarters (Fig. 1). On the other hand, the plants which are specialized in labor-intensive sectors like the manufacture of semiconduc-tors and components have many employees and are located in the peripheral regions.
3) X corporation has 5 mother plants, 2 branch plants and 29 subsidiaries for the main producing functions (Table 4). The peaks in numbers of plants established were from 1960 to 1974 and from 1975 to 1992. Abroad, X corporation has 23 subsidiaries which specialized in production ; 10 in Asia, 5 in North America, 3 in South America, 3 in Europe (UK and Ireland) and 2 in Australia (Fig. 2). These subsidiaries were established after the peaks in number of domestic subsidiaries established.
4) Based on the production system of X corporation, each plant has been integrated into about 9 busi-ness organizations (Table 3 and Table 4).

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