Kazutoshi Abe

Status of Tokyo: Comparing Tokyo with Major Cities of the World

This chapter evaluates Tokyo’s status among Japan’s major cities and compares Tokyo with major cities of the world in terms of the concentration of head and branch offices of large private companies. The first main focus is on analyzing the number of head and branch offices in Japan from 1950 to 2010. Clearly, the largest number of head offices is found in Tokyo, which also hosts the large number of branch offices. The difference in status between Tokyo and Japan’s other cities has increased in recent times. The chapter’s second focus is to compare the situation in Tokyo with that in the major cities of the Republic of Korea, France, the United Kingdom (UK), Thailand, the United States of America (US), Germany, and India. Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, Bangkok, and London gravitate to the same category as capital cities with strength in terms of head and branch office locations. Conversely, within the US, Germany, and India, capital cities weaker in terms of numbers.

Changes in the Japanese Urban System Since the 1950s: Urbanization, Demography, and the Management Function

Japan is turning into an aging and low fertility from the age of urbanization and population increase at a rate that is without precedent. Under such circumstances, Japanese cities have experienced drastic changes. This chapter examined how Japanese cities have changed since the 1950s onward by analyzing (1) national urban planning policies and their effects on the demographic character of the country, (2) changes in Japanese metropolitan areas, and (3) the distribution of large, corporate offices.