Various consumer goods industries which arose from two different technical roots are concentrated in Tokyo. They were derived from the traditional craftman's works in Edo-era and from the European technique after Meiji Restoration, 1868. The difference between these two technical roots at the birth of each industry exerted an important influence on the distribution and the structure of production. This paper discusses how an industry-furniture industry as an example-which has two different roots, has come to develop different patterns of production, and structure of production.
The traditional Japanese paulownia or japanned furniture productions started in Taitoh-ku, the North-Eastern part of Tokyo, in the late 18th century. And Western furniture were first produced in 1859 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, where foreign settlements existed. In 1880s, however, Minato-Ku, the South-Eastern part of Tokyo, began to develop as an important Western furniture production area, because special requirements from government offices, foreign embassies and business enterprises increased in the South-Eastern area, with the transfer of the Japanese capital to Tokyo. In the Meiji and Taisho era, the wholesalers who hired many craftsmen had power over the production of both Western and Japanese categories of furniture.
After the great earthquake in 1923, the requirement of cheaper Western furniture arose from ordinary households. It helped the craftsmen become independent of their employers and engaged in mass production work of cheaper ready-made products in Arakawa-Ku, the North-Eastern Tokyo. But the production was controlled by the manufacturer-wholesalers which had both production and wholesale capability and facilities. The craftsmen were again controlled as subcontractors of such manufacturer-wholesaler.
In the late 1960s, it became different to keep the production in Arakawa-Ku because of urbanization, diffusion of steel-made products, and expansion of local furniture industries. The manufacturer-wholesalers in Tokyo stopped production in their own factories and converted themselves into only wholesalers on retailers. It became necessary for the former subcontractors in Arakawa-Ku to move away through Adachi-Ku toward neighboring prefectures to increase productivity and to continue producting ready-made products. Those craftsmen who remained in the former production area keep their activities, changing their products into custom-made furniture with more value added, using their high-level technique and locational advantage. And also they find their own markets in Tokyo, while improving their status as furniture producers.
Meanwhile, the production area of Japanese furniture did not move much. It moved only about 2km northwestward in the same Taitoh-Ku. The production is still dominated by the wholesalers as in the Meiji or Taisho era.
As noted above, expansion of furniture production area in Tokyo means the expansion of Western furniture production area which spread from south to North of Tokyo, then toward neighboring prefectures. The specialization of production area was caused by independent craftsmen, by the spread former subcontractors. The specialization resulted from the orientation toward mass production which cause to be pursued at different times at each area. At present the furniture manufacturers in Tokyo staying out of the controll of the distribution system produce mainly custom made and value added Western furniture.

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