This paper is an attempt to establish an agricultural regionalization of central Kanto District first by identifying the basic dimensions of a set of sixty variables by means of factor analysis, and then, by using Ward's hierarchical classification to group the eighty observational units according to how they score on these dimensions. Con-sideration is focussed on the interpretation of these basic dimensions (factors), the distribution patterns of their scores, the grouping tendencies and the characteristics of four agricultural regions. The area of this study, central Kanto District, is a northeastern sector of the Tokyo metropolitan region. The outer fringe of the area is about 80km from the civic center of Tokyo. Agriculture in this area involves various types of production with close connection to Tokyo, the greatest market of agricultural products in Japan. In this area the percentage of paddy field to the arable land is smaller than that of other districts because of its topographical conditions. The most important agricultural product, however, is rice. Other chief products are vegetables, hogs, eggs, chicken, pears, chestnuts, tobacco, fluid milk, etc. Sixty variables were selected particularly to indicate agricultural elements in addi-tion to other characteristics of economic activities or land use, for eighty administrative subdivisions (cities, towns and villages) of this area. The 80 × 60 data matrix was subjected to factor analysis, and fifteen factors (each eigen value of more than 1.0) were extracted. These 15 factors accounted for 83. 1 % of the total variance. Factor I, the most important one accounting for 22. 8 % of the total variance, shows rurality and reflects the relative weight and stability of agriculture. It also influences farm size, percentage of parttime farmers and density of rural population to the arable lands. The other axis of this factor illustrates the characteristics of urban area and of agriculture in rapidly urbanizing area. Judging from the distribution pattern of the scores on Factor I, areas of high rurality are distributed between the Tohoku and Joban Railways, the most important traffic routes in this region (Fig. 2). Areas of low rurality just surround Tokyo. Factor II, accounting for 8.5% of the total variance, is interpreted as a factor that reveals the characteristics of a hilly region, and therefore areas with high scores are the hilly region around Mt. Tsukuba (Fig. 3). The variable with the highest loading on this factor is wages, and so it is pointed out that the difference of wages clearly reveals the difference between the hilly region and the others regions. Factor III (7.7%) is equivalent to a factor of agricultural productivity which consists of labor productivity, land productivity, and farmer's income from agriculture. The factor is related with vegetable production. As these variables have negative loadings, the areas with low scores are equal to highly productive regions such as Matsudo and Kashiwa (Fig. 4). Factor IV (6.0%) is a factor of the characteristics of farmers or the dependability of farmers on agriculture. The minus axis points out the abundance of fulltime farmers mainly consisting of male labor. The high score regions, the areas with abundant parttime farmers, are located in a belt with a radius of 20-50 km from Tokyo (Fig. 5). Factor V (5.7%) is identified by cereal production. High score areas are paddyrice-producing ones in alluvial plains, while low score areas are those of cereal production in the fields on diluvial uplands (Fig. 6). The remaining Factors VI-XV are interpreted as follows: Factor DTI (4.4%): Hog raising and dairy farming Factor VII (3.9%): Labor intensity Factor (3.6%): Production of special crops Factor IX (3.5%): Changing features of fruit production Factor X (3.1%): Modernization or degree of investment