ABSTRACT
Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Region (TMR) have been portrayed both as similar to American metropolitan areas, as well as lacking the many problems they have experienced. Whereas some scholars have suggested that its levels of residential segregation by income have converged with the West, others have refuted this claim. Yet, neither side has verified their position with statistics. Moreover, the dearth of data in these studies has resulted in a general lack of clarity regarding the Tokyo being observed by urban scholars. So it is fair question to ask, which Tokyo were these theorists writing about? Were they describing conditions in the: The Tokyo's 23 Tokubetsu-Ku within Tokyo-to https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203723951/9b46a3cd-432b-4eee-9fd5-31f5c88bf196/content/fig13_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
23 Tokubetsu-Ku, an area which consists of 23 quasi-independent municipalities or Ku that until 1943 encompassed the legally defined territory of the City of Tokyo, and according to preliminary counts from the 2010 Population Census of Japan, had a population of 8.95 million? (see Figure 13.1); 1
Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture (Tokyoto), an area governed by the TMG, containing 23 Ku and 39 other municipalities, and which had a preliminary 2010 population count of 13.16 million? (see Figures 13.1 and 13.2);
South Kanto Region, an area sometimes called the Greater Tokyo Area, and defined as the four prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, which in 2010 contained Tokyo's 23 Ku and 190 other municipalities, and had a population of 35.62 million? (see Figure 13.2);
Shuto-ken or the National Capital Region, an area which was one of eight nationally designated planning regions, was sometimes called the Kanto Region, traverses South Kanto plus four others prefectures, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gumma, and Yamanashi, contained the 23 Ku and 323 other municipalities, and which had a combined population of 43.47 million? (see Figure 13.2); or,
Kanto Major Metropolitan Area, a census-defined metropolitan region representing the commuter shed for the central cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, and Saitama, which in 2010 included 23 Ku and 205 other municipalities situated in parts of nine prefectures, and had 36.87 million inhabitants? (see Figures 13.2 and 13.3).
Three Tokyo regions: TMR, South Kanto, and the National Capital Region https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203723951/9b46a3cd-432b-4eee-9fd5-31f5c88bf196/content/fig13_2_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> The TMR in Japan https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203723951/9b46a3cd-432b-4eee-9fd5-31f5c88bf196/content/fig13_3_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>