午夜剧场

In January, I published the Iwanami Shinsho book "Regional Decline." In this book, I explain "why regions have declined" using specific examples. I also clarify that some regions may have reached a "critical point" of regional decline. Furthermore, I discuss not only the problems with current policies but also what should be done to stop regional decline.

Initially, this book was planned in 2007 as a paperback titled "Regional Disparity" to address the issue of regional inequality. It was also intended to be co-authored with Professor Masaru Kaneko (at the time; currently Professor Emeritus at 午夜剧场 and Project Professor at the Graduate School of Rikkyo University), rather than a solo work. However, due to various circumstances, progress was slow. It was in the spring of 2019 that the book project began to move forward again. Upon restarting the project, it was decided that I would write it as a solo author, focusing on the decline of "base industries" (industries that export products outside the region and earn income from outside the region) to explain "why regions have declined."

Case studies of regions where base industries have declined include Suzaka City in Nagano Prefecture, Otaki Village in the same prefecture, Nanmoku Village in Gunma Prefecture, and former coal-mining areas. Among them, Suzaka City is my hometown, where I spent 18 years before entering 午夜剧场. The city was a small company town of about 50,000 people where the Fujitsu Suzaka Plant was located. However, triggered by the restructuring of the plant in 2002, the regional economy has been on a steady decline. To be honest, I feel some heartache about using the city as an example of regional decline, but it is no exaggeration to say that the decline of the city was the motivation for writing this book.

As I proceeded with the writing, some parts of the content changed significantly from the initial concept when the project restarted. These changes involve the treatment of inbound demand, which had been creating jobs in the regions, and the employment absorption capacity of Tokyo's service industry, which had been creating the concentration of power in Tokyo and the "disparity between urban and rural areas." These changes are due to the spread of COVID-19, and data is beginning to show that the spread of the infection is having a serious impact on regional economies. I intend to continue watching carefully how regional decline progresses in the future.

Masato Miyazaki

Iwanami Shinsho

200 pages, 880 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.