Area Marketing meets the needs of local people in changing times

In Japan a widening gap is being observed between the regional and urban economy. The Japanese
population has been declining in absolute terms with more aging people and fewer children. Population
will decline further in all regions except Tokyo by 2030 according to the simulation report of the Economic
Research Committee of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2005.3 The report also
suggests that economic disparity between the metropolitan areas and other local regions will be expanded.
It predicts that only 35 mega cities out of over 1,500 municipalities in 2000 will register an increase
on their gross domestic product in 2030. It says that by 2030 only 35 cities including the government
ordinance cities such as Tokyo will surpass the GDP of 2005. The cities which can expect to have a
growth of GDP in 2030 will be Tokyo (10.7% up) , Osaka city (10.3% up), Nagoya city (9.9% up), Senday city
(4.3% up), Kobe city (6.1% up) and Fukuoka city (4.7% up)4. A few local cities are also expected to have
growth in their GDP in 2030. These are Naha city (17.9% up) and Ishigaki city (11.9% up) in the Okinawa
prefecture due to their high birth rate and vigorous economic boom in tourism.5 The report also says that
other three local cities such as Toyohashi, Okazaki and Kariya, where the major Japanese automobile
firms are located near Nagoya city , are likely to exceed the GDP of 2005 by 2030.
According to a study on the economic condition of prefectural people by the Cabinet Office in 2003,
a gap in citizens’ per capita income has expanded for the past two consecutive years.6 The difference in
annual income between Tokyo, which was the highest (4,267,000 yen) and Okinawa, which was the lowest
(2,042,00 yen) has further increased to 131,000 yen. The fact is that in addition to the decline of local
population, economic disparity between Tokyo and other prefectures has been growing continuously since
many Japanese manufacturers have shifted their production facilities from domestic local sites to foreign
countries. They have done so to take advantage of lower labor costs in foreign lands. In fact, many
Japanese manufacturers have shifted their pattern of trade from the export of domestically produced
goods, called “processing trade pattern”, to export of their products produced in foreign lands, called “international
division of labor mode.” Accordingly the income gap between Tokyo and other regions in
Japan has widened further recently.