Iudustrial Complex in Hanshin Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is not only to present the basic characteristics of the industrial complex, which is found in Hanshin area, but also to examine our hypothesis derived from our previous research in Keihin industrial area.The hypothesis for verification is that, in contrast to the conventional idea, the metropolitan areas in our country are dominated by few large-scale companies in heavy-chemical industries, but they are characterized by industrial complexes consisting of a large number of various sized establishments in assembly and miscellaneous industries. Industrial activities of those establishments are fairly complicated and their production system is characterized by the production of a limited amount of commodities with a tremendous industry.The method adopted in this research is essentially similar to that applied in the Keihin research, and involves the following three steps, 1) all establishments with more than 30 employees are listed according to the standard industrial classification, 2) location of those establishments are dotted on the maps, and 3) these maps are consolidated in consideration of historical development of each industry.Various improvements are introduced in this research, but, among them, the most important is that the quantitative method is adopted for the analysis of vocational pattern.The main conclusions derived from our research are as follows.1) The spatial extent of the industrial complex identified in Hanshin metropolitan area is unexpectedly small and only covers Osaka, Amagasaki and Nishinomiya.2) The spatial composition of the industrial complex is essentially similar to that found in Keihin area and, especially, Osaka shares the same characteristic with Tokyo about the production of commodities having their nation-wide market.3) The important difference between Tokyo and Osaka is that, the latter is characterized by the dominance of the parts-makers historically origination from rural areas with heavy dependence on the commercial capital. Most of the commodities are produced for foreign markets. Therefore, the size of production is larger than that of most of the establishments in Tokyo.