Selective Effects of Marriage Migrations on the Population Redistribution in A Hierarchical Regional System of Japan

Abstract

Based on the data on 11,470 household heads and spouses in a national survey, this paper studies the selective effects of marriage migrations on five types of prefectures: (1) metropolitan core, (2) suburban, (3) regional growth pole, (4) peripheral non-kaso, and (5) peripheral kaso prefectures. The selective effects are examined in terms of five personal factors: sex, nativity, education, period of marriage, and sibling status. High Lights. Metropolitan core type was a minor net loser of male migrants and a major net gainer of female migrants. Primary and onward migrations were much more important than return migrations so that marriage migrations increased the non-native's share of the population of every type of prefectures. Marriage migrations resulted in further deterioration of the quality of human capital in peripheral prefectures. The transition from high to moderate economic growth in the early 1970's was accompanied by sharp reversals in the net transfers of marriage migrants in metropolitan cores and regional growth poles in opposite directions. The net migration patterns of surplus and essential siblings had the same direction, although the former was more influential than the latter. © 1994, The Association of Japanese Geographers. All rights reserved.