TOKYO
After WWI there was an economic boom. During the earthquake restoration in the late 1920s, there were many manufacturing plants within a fifty mile radius of downtown Tokyo, which contributed to the development of sprawl. The Korean War in 1950 caused the Japanese mining and manufacturing industry to rapidly expand. This was accompanied by migration because of income differences and unbalanced labor demands between the countryside and the city. [3]. Population grew from 3.44 to 5.38 million between 1946 and 1950. At that time, Japan was trying to acquire international competitiveness because of its neighbors of China and the Soviet Union. Steel was under embargo, so Japan had to do the best it could in a difficult situation, and made the most of its cheap labor force. [1] Employment began shifting away from primary industries to secondary and tertiary industries. Accompanied by migration because of income differences and unbalanced labor demands. [3] Heavy industries developed outside of the city, while light industries such as printing and photography remained in the city center. [2]
The development during the Korean War was a spark for improving overcrowding problems. [1] An industrial complex belt mainly composed of heavy and chemical industry was developing along the Pacific coast of Japan. An income-doubling plan was put in motion in 1960, and the Japanese economy entered a period of high economic growth. [2] The 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo was important for international attention and infrastructure development. The large disparities between daytime and nighttime populations became apparent for certain wards. Thousands of commuters enter the city of Tokyo daily, primarily by train, and the amount of people in the city is markedly different during the daytime office hours, and the nighttime hours when people return home either in the outer parts of Tokyo or it’s neighboring cities. The amount of community into the city center during the day was substantial. [1] Urban expansion and sprawl was also increasing unchecked. The economy expanded without interruption until the oil crisis of 1973-74. The people of Tokyo were thrown into a panic. There was a major change in attitudes and values, which caused a lull in real estate price and a slowdown in the residential development boom. The concentration of population and industry also eased up, and the limits of Tokyo’s urban expansion finally began to become clear.
Economy
The year the shogunate fell, feudalism officially ended and a new era under imperial rule all mark the modernization of Japan in 1868. A small fraction of the United States Navy arrived in Japan, which ended a 250 year long isolation from other nations and was a catalyst for change. Ports opened up to foreign trade and ideas. [1] At the turn of the century, there were many exhibitions and fairs that exposed Japan to more Western ideas. City dwellers began to take more pleasure in shopping and a new western style store was opened. Tokyo developed as Japan’s capital and as a center of industrial activity. [2] The new government in Tokyo invested heavily in industrial development in the capital, and several model factories were built. Tokyo was quickly transformed into a concentration of heavy industry by the 1930s, and was unquestionably Japan’s prime manufacturing center. [1]
An example of heavy industry. A Mitsubishi factory in the 1930s. [Source]
The 1970s was a decade of slow economic growth, but Tokyo successfully made it through the difficulties of a post oil-shock world. The industrial structure was beginning to be reorganized to favor technology intensive rather than conventional smokestack industries. The late 1980s was a period of growth in an economy bubble and stock and land prices increased to historic levels. [4] Tokyo was becoming a concentration of people, goods, money, and information. New technologies made 24 hour trading possible, and Tokyo began to bridge the time gap between the London and New York trading markets, beginning it’s role as an international financial center. The development of the Central Business District in downtown Tokyo accelerated during this time. [1] Tokyo in the 1980s and 1990s was definitely becoming an international city in terms of business, but on a human level there were still not many foreign laborers living in the city. [2] Though it was a time of internationalization, in the early 1990s the economy bubble and real estate market collapsed and threw Tokyo into a decade-long recession. [7]
The Central Business District in Tokyo. [Source]
References:
[1] Cybriwsky, R. (1991). Tokyo, the changing profile of an urban giant. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall.
[2] A Hundred years of Tokyo city planning. (1994). Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
[3] Okamoto, K. (1997). Suburbanization of Tokyo and the Daily Lives of Suburban People. In P. Karan & K. Stapleton (Eds.), The Japanese City. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky.
[4] Ichimura, H., Hashimoto, H., & Shimizutani, S. (2009). JSTAR First Results 2009 Report. RIETI Discussion Paper Series, (47). Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/09e047.pdf