This paper pertains to the symposium ‘Media culture of Niigata Prefecture:

The crisis and potential of local contents’ held at the Japan Society for Studies

in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in the spring of 2017. Here,

the population problem of the region was quantitatively analysed, as it is

regarded as a crisis that affects numerous fields, such as politics, the economy,

daily living and culture. This was achieved by referring to specific discussions

that other academics have developed on the topic of Niigata’s media and

regional culture.

　　Firstly, in order to investigate the actual situation of the progressive aging

and decreasing population in the region, an age structure index—more specifically,

the relationship between the total population and the dependent population（

non-working-age） population, and the relationship between the child population

index and the aging population index, which are both subdivisions of the

dependent population—was analysed.

　　Secondly, to examine the relationships among each region located in rural

and central areas of the metropolitan, the correlation between the outflow and

the inflow population was explored, as it is assumed to be plainly reflecting various

maldistributions of capital, including cultural capital.