An Examination of the Distribution of White-Collar Worker Residences in Tokyo and Osaka during the Modernizing Period

Takashi Kirimura

doi:10.3390/ijgi8090375

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the residences of white-collar workers in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan in the modernizing period using historical statistical data and telephone directories from a historical geographic information system (GIS) analysis. We examined the differences between the distribution of white-collar workers and the progress of suburbanization by comparing the respective unemployment censuses and telephone directories of Tokyo and Osaka. The analysis shows that in 1925, there was a tendency for many white-collar workers to live in certain city sectors, as well as in the city center. However, this trend had changed by the mid-1930s, when data show that private-sector white-collar workers tended to live more in areas with a relatively low population density. Compared to Osaka, Tokyo was relatively suburbanized with white-collar workers in private companies.

Highlights

Since the late 1990s, the construction and public accessibility of historical geographic information system (GIS) databases have progressed [1], and research on historical geography and spatial humanities has been conducted using historical GIS data [2]
We analyzed the distribution of white-collar workers in Tokyo and Osaka in the modernizing period from a historical GIS perspective using comparable data
As long as comparative statistical data were used, there was a tendency for many white-collar workers in clerical and technical positions to reside in certain sectors in both Tokyo and Osaka in 1925

Summary

Introduction

Since the late 1990s, the construction and public accessibility of historical GIS databases have progressed [1], and research on historical geography and spatial humanities has been conducted using historical GIS data [2]. The case of Kyoto [8] is known as a historical GIS database containing statistical data about cities It is only after the 1960s that census statistics for rural areas became available in Japan [9]. In Osaka in the 1920s, white-collar workers lived in the traditional city center and inner suburbs [14] Is such a difference caused by differences in the progress of suburbanization by each city? In addition to the size and progress of suburbanization, it is possible that there are other contributing factors that cannot be gleaned using data from previous studies We examine this question using quantitative, historical GIS data that show the distribution status of urban white-collar workers in the pre-war period. Clarifying the differences or similarities in the distribution of white-collar workers as an aspect of segregation will help elucidate the spatial structure of modern Japanese metropolises

Data and Methods

Distributions of the Salaried Workers in 1925

Conclusions

Results