Agglomeration of Retail Businesses in Miyagi Prefecture

Abstract

The writer analyzed various aspects of location of the retail businesses in Miyagi prefecture for the period of 1960 to 1970 on the basis of changes in the distribution of employees in retail businesses. The results from this study are as follows;(1) The number of employees in retail business increased in both areas where the population as a whole increased, and also where the population decreased.(2) The changes in the distribution of retail employees may be correlated, more or less, to the rapid development of commerce, manufacturing industries and services, and also it has much to do with increased number of cars passing through the prefecture.(3) Retail employees increased remarkably in regions along the main national highways, in which several kinds of services related to autombiles, and manufacturing industries newly developed. They increased also in regions along Sanriku coast and mountainous regions where the number of tourists increased during this period of 1960 to 1970.(4) Some cities experienced also increase in retail employees resulted from growing demands for such goods as furniture, automobiles, books and sport facilities.(5) Past locational structure of retail businesses in Miyage prefecture has changed because of their rearrangement into larger regions due to the progress of motorization, in a way which was once observed in U. S. A.