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Among numerous studies on the formation of ethnic districts, several have tried to clarify such a process in terms of the influx of financial capital and its contribution to land transfers made by ethnic groups. Based on these perspectives, this paper analyzes the practical ways in which Koreans in Japan purchased lands with a focus on the following four aspects: sources of financial capital, changes in built environment, causes of migration, and relation to the existing residents. Data were collected from Shin-Imazato, Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, where the Japanese-style entertainment districts known as Hanamachi flourished in the past. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the ethnic district in the study area apparently originated in the 1970s when several Korean-style entertainment restaurants appeared. After the 1980s in particular, the deteriorating situation in Hanamachi gradually motivated existing residents to sell their properties to“ old-timer” Korean inhabitants, resulting in the construction of residential apartments and buildings for nightclubs. Second, this change in built environment enabled the concentration of Korean-style nightclubs managed by newly-arrived Koreans and subsequently caused the emergence of an ethnic landscape after the 1990s. At the same time, these businesses altered the type of customers visiting this area, and pressured old Hanamachi business owners to sell their properties. Third, with respect to the spatial distribution of Korean landowners, the majority were located in the residential concentration of “old-timer” Korean residents adjacent to the study area. Moreover, in the process of land transfers, a certain number of landlords depended on ethnic networks for searching the available properties for sale and utilized funds offered by ethnic banks. However“, old-timer” Koreans had no direct relationship with the establishment of such nightclubs except for the demand for such entertainment services; newly-arrived Koreans prepared funds independently and brought workers from Korea based on networks formed in their homeland. In summary, this study shows that the transformation to an ethnic district can be explained by several factors. Before the concentration of nightclubs in the 1990s, a Korean-style entertainment space that relied on“ old-timer” Korean residents within their residential concentration already existed as its customers. The emergence of buildings for nightclubs also helped to establish nightclubs that depended on such customers. Moreover, the existence of apartments helped entrepreneurs of such clubs to recruit workers from Korea and accommodate them in the study area. Consequently, these factors generated the spatial overlap of home and workplaces of newly-arrived Koreans. Therefore, this result should not be regarded as a natural process. Rather, such a spatial pattern is formed through practices related to existing residents, the“ old-timer” Koreans, new arrivals that appeared during the process of land transfers, and the alteration of built environments.

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In this paper, I first organized geographical studies on ethnic business and locations by three aspects 1) ones related to the identity or representation of ethnic businesses in the area where they are located or clustered, 2) ones related to the possibilities of the area where ethnic businesses cluster, and 3) ones related to the patterns of ethnic business locations and clusters. In many cases, previous studies position ethnic business as an extension of ethnic community studies—as an indication of mature ethnic community in the host society or as part of ethnic town facilities that an ethnic group formed in the host society. Therefore, there has not been much progress with studies on ethnic business location, particularly on locational factor. Therefore, this paper examined the clustering process and location expansion patterns of Brazilian business in Japan from two perspectives: 1) expansion of ethnic business location by the same ethnic group in different regions and 2) expansion of ethnic business location by the same ethnic group in the same region in different time periods. Based on these, I analyzed the differences in clusters by region, development period, and business type in terms the factors for ethnic business location. The results showed that there were two types of factors for ethnic business location, including ethnic location factors which largely involve ethnic elements and non-ethnic location factors which are close to general factors, so to speak, just as in an external general economy. These two types of location factors are combined to drive the location and clustering of ethnic businesses. As a note, regional differences were observed in location factors and the patterns of location expansion for ethnic business even within the same country. They significantly differ by development period, business type, and the strategy of the business even within the same region as well. In particular, it became clear that the “familiar location” factor, which is a non-ethnic location factor, weighs more during the initial stage of ethnic business expansion and, as the expansion progresses, the weight of the “cheap rent” factor—another non-ethnic location factor—and the “clustering of ethnic business” factor—an ethnic location factor—increases. Furthermore, this paper also examined the opportunity structures surrounding the factors of ethnic business location in the host society, presented the existence of negative opportunity structures, such as ethnic group’s assimilation to the host society and reduced living spaces, and positive opportunity structures, such as collective living of ethnic group and the presence of anchor stores and facilities, and demonstrated that ethnic businesses rise and fall as well as change their locations and clustering patterns based on the balance between these two types of opportunity structures.

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The purpose of this article is to clarify the characteristics of the semiconductor cluster in Oita Prefecture by analyzing its formation processes and spatial linkage structures. The origin of the cluster was at the location of Toshiba Oita Operations in 1970. To reduce labor costs, Toshiba brought in local assemblers who received labor-intensive works from the beginning. With the subsequent progress in the automation of production, Toshiba outsourced the production and repair of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to local machinery factories and established subsidiary assemblers to undertake automated processes. These local suppliers supported Toshiba’s production system as “cooperation companies” (kyoryoku kigyo). As a result, the cluster had developed in the area by the mid-1990s under strong influence from Toshiba. A lack of variety in production technologies in the cluster brought a dependence on other areas (especially Tokyo) for work in specialized sections. After the late 1990s, the following changes were observed in this cluster: (1) An increase in the number of semiconductor-related companies and improvements in the variety of production technologies; (2) Increasing self-reliance of local suppliers and broadening of spatial linkages with the decline of Toshiba’s influence on the cluster; (3) Execution of screening and reorganization of assemblers. As a result of these changes, the focus of the cluster has shifted from local production systems to the newly developed industrial agglomerations. This study suggests that it is necessary to pay attention to territoriality from spatially multi-layered viewpoints to elucidate the characteristics of industrial clusters.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Released in 2014, the ‘Masuda Report’ indicated that some agricultural villages in Japan might disappear and that it may be necessary for the elderly of these municipalities to relocate to regional urban centres. However, some of these elderly play important roles in their villages, as farmers or agricultural conservation workers. When considering the future conditions of Japan’s agricultural villages, it is important to focus on the various activities performed by these elderly. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the agricultural activities performed by elderly based on the case study of Toshima, an island municipality in Tokyo Metropolis, which was identified as a ‘municipality at a risk of vanishing’ in the Masuda Report. In addition, the study considers the significance of the elderly s’ involvement in agriculture. Toshima is a remote island with a population of approximately 300 that lies 130 km south of the centre of Tokyo. Its principal industry is camellia oil, of which it is Japan’s largest producer. In addition, the island has a small leafy vegetable industry. Farmers from 32 of the 41 farms on Toshima were interviewed. The results reveal that the majority of farmers are senior married couples in their 60s and 80s. The wives have worked as farmers since their early days of marriage, while the husbands had joined the industry after retiring from non-agricultural work on the island. These senior farming households earned approximately one million yen per year by gathering camellia seeds, used in the production of camellia oil, and cultivating green vegetables. Such small-scale agriculture is only possible as it provides elderly with a principal source of income, apart from their pension. In other words, the study clearly shows that the small-scale agricultural activities of these elderly help to sustain Toshima’s local agriculture.

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[in Japanese]

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The purpose of this study is to discuss the possibility of the rural village based on experiences in the community improvement projects that the author engaged in the Wara Region, Gujo City, Gifu Prefecture. Gujo City was born in a municipality merger in 2004. The Wara Region has the highest population aging rate out of seven old local governments. In the Wara Region, the population of January, 2015 was 1,849, and the region’s population saw a 20% decrease in the past 10 years. The population aging rate has reached 41.0%. No policy to stop the shrinking population and high population aging rate could be found. However, in recent years, a collaborative activity by the inhabitants, community improvement groups, administrative officers, the NPO, and professors and university student is carried out actively. The community improvement activity in the Wara Region asks community members about the meaning of activity for village maintenance. The problem facing the rural village is individual family affairs at the same time as regional issues. This activity promotes awareness of people for rural development and strengthens relationships with children living away from home. It provides a new viewpoint for rural development in addition to promoting tourism and population growth.

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[in Japanese]

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