ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the rural-urban differences to focus on the urban context as being more typical of contemporary Japanese society. In doing so, it considers two adjacent housing estates. One of which, Kita-oji, consists of owner-occupied dwellings whereas the other estate, Sonoyama, consists of company housing (shataku). The chapter provides a snapshot of the current scene and even of some changes of these estates within the last generation or two. Compared with the national percentages, a greater proportion of the residents in both Kita-oji and Sonoyama are from the Kinki region and from areas such as Chugoku and Kyushu, from which there has been considerable migration to the Kinki. The higher concentration of such people in Kita-oji reflects the more localized recruitment nets of many firms where Kita-oji residents are employed. By contrast, the Toray company recruits people from all over the country.
