A Geographical Study on Life space in Japan

Abstract

The present paper attempts to geographically analyze the nature of the life space humans organize in their everyday life. Our findings are summarized as follows: 1. We attempted to clarify the structure of life space by examining various organizations on which people depend in their daily life. Dejima-mura of Ibaraki Prefecture was taken as an example. There are two types of organizations in the village: functional organizations under the local government's control, and traditionally maintained teritorial organizations. Administrative village organizations, producers’ trade associations, social-educational organizations, and recreational organizations belong to the former. Such organizations, to which either individuals or households belong as basic units, are stratified within the village, while being structured within larger organizations beyond the village domain. Producers’ trade organizations, social-educational organizations, and recreational organizations are fairly recently established, having clearly defined functions, to which individuals are affiliated by their own free will. Traditionally sustained organizations are mainly for religious purposes, such as Buddhism, festivals, and various folk beliefs. Each organization, where a household is the basic unit of affiliation, has a limited sphere of influence. These organizations are gradually reducing their integrity and cohesiveness with diversifying modes of living and daily life behaviour. On the other hand, commercialization of farm products and ever-increasing social educational demand as well as leisure and recreational activities have augmented the importance and influence of producers’, social-educational, and recreational organizations in the community life. With the expanding role administrative organs play in local areas, village administrative organizations are increasingly exerting their influence on the villagers’ lives. However, these newly established modern organizations are largely based on the traditional teritorial organizations composed of individual household for their foundation and activities. 2. Three types of work activity space are identified in Dejima-mura of Ibaraki Prefecture (located in the outer suburban farming zone of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area), by examining the characteristics of workers, type and means of work, sphere of activities, and land use. The subsistence farming space, to which people move on foot, is found within a short distance from the house. Only economically viable farm households and those mainly engaged in non-farming activies but still practicing some farming own such space for subsistence crop production while non-farming households do not possess such space. The commercial crop farming space is characterized by such crops as lotus roots, pears, Japanese chestnuts and rice, taking advantage of its locational accessibility to the large metropolitan market. The main labor force in their productive ages who are engaged in farming activities there, move by means of small pickups,’ motorcycles, or bicycles. The space is physically characterized by such typical facilities as farm workshops, produce collection sheds, and agricultural cooperatives. This type of space is not owned by non-farming households and by farm households mainly engaged in non-farming activities. The non-farming employment space, on the other hand, extends to neighboring Tsuchiura-city beyond the village domain. Young couples, particularly husbands, and younger workers are the dominant force of labor in this space. They use automobiles as their main means of transportation. Nonagricultural land use predominates over this work space, where establishments of the secondary and tertiary industries provide the younger labor force with employment opportunities. Penetration of motorization into farming regions and expanding employment opportunities in nearby urban centers, enabling people in the farming districts to be employed in non-farming jobs, combine to create this type non-farming employment space. 3. The structure of life space in the light of life cycles is examined by surveying migration patterns in Hokota-machi of Ibaraki Prefecture. Following Japan's of rapid economic growth period, there has been a tendency for people in small towns and villages located in the fringe of the metropolitan area to remain in their home town and villages. The life space of long distance migration is thus contracting. While motorization, providing increased accessibility to employment opportunities in neighboring cities, has substantially contributed to this, the youths who temporarily migrated to large cities for higher education tend to return to their home after graduation, and marriages bring in young females from neighboring regions. Thus, the life space of rural communities keeps changing in all time scales. © 1987, The Human Geographical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.