ABSTRACT
The chapter documents and explains the decline in internal rates in Japan over the period 1954-2015. Migration increased rapidly in the early post-war period, peaked around 1970 and then declined—sharply in the early and mid-1970s, then moderately until the mid-1980s and then slowly until 2015. The factors that underlie the transition from the modern mobile society of the 1960s to the ‘post-modern’ low-mobility society of today are discussed. Population ageing is found to be far less important than is customarily supposed. Two other groups of reasons for the decrease in migration are identified. The first relates to the political economy of regional development and specifically to changes in the spatial division of labour. The dominant role of Tokyo in the Japanese space-economy is given particular emphasis. The second group focuses on major changes in Japanese culture and society, especially as they affect young adults facing difficulties in forming relationships, achieving independence from their parents and obtaining the secure jobs and housing that are seen as prerequisites for marriage and family formation.
