Rural depopulation and levels of living in post war Japan : the case of Kyoto and Shiga prefectures.

This research attempts to explain spatial variations in rural depopulation rates which were evident at the sub-municipal level in Japan during the period 1965 to 1975. A random sample of 168 'agricultural settlements' in Kyoto and Shiga prefectures is taken, and net migration rates estimated using the Basic Demographic Equation. The independent variable is a composite expression termed 'level of living'. Approximately 60 variables, grouped into nine domains, are combined to form this index. Account is taken of the' 'behavioural' aspects of environmental perception and subsequent migration by incorporating priority preference weightings on domain scores, using results derived from a questionnaire survey. In particular, two population sub-groups are identified, representing 'young family' migrants and 'young individual' migrants, and domain weightings for the construction of level of living scores are adjusted accordingly. The correlation coefficient between net migration rates and levels of living for the 'young individual' sub-group is r = 0.67, whilst for the 'young family' sub-group it is only r = o. 17. The reasons for this disparity are discussed in the concluding chapters of this research, when evidence drawn from three intensive village surveys is utilized to provide a more detailed understanding of the specific case histories of individual and family migrants.