- The percentage of those who lived at a different location five years earlier is highest among those aged 25-29 (49.5%). Compared to the previous survey, migration rates declined for all age groups.
- The percentage of those who moved shorter distances (e.g. intra-municipality movement), as well as the percentage of those who moved longer distances (e.g. inter-prefectural migration), declined during the period 1991-1996, compared to the results of the previous survey. The inter-prefectural migration rate in the age group 20-24 declined sharply, suggesting that long-distance migration by young adults aiming at educational advancement or entrance to employment has decreased in recent years.
On average, people moved 3.12 times in their lifetimes (3.21 times for men; 3.03 times for women). The number of prefectures where respondents have ever lived was 2.13 on average.
- In general, the average number of moves increases as age increases. However, the average number of moves was highest among those in their fifties, who were in their adolescence at the time of Japan's high economic growth, while the number of the older generation was a little less.
- Those who had only lived in one prefecture during their lives accounted for about 40% of the total, while 30% had lived in three and more prefectures during their lives.
- Among all respondents living in the Tokyo region, those who were born in the Tokyo region accounted for about two thirds (68.4 %). In other words, one third came from other parts. On the other hand, among the residents in the Tohoku and Kyushu-Okinawa regions, more than 90 % were born in the region of present residence.
- Although moving rates in the last five years were lower than in the 3rd Survey, the composition of reasons for migration was basically the same.
- The percentage of those who selected "to live with/near a child" as their reason for migration in the last five years was especially high among movers aged 75 years and over (32.3%). That figure was 21.3% among those aged 65 to 74 years. The proportion of those who selected this reason for moving increased as the age of movers increased.
- Among household heads and their spouses who have out-migrated once from the prefecture of their birth, the percentage of those who lived in the prefecture of birth at the time of the survey was 27.2% for men and 24.9% for women. This U-turn rate was high among those in their forties, and low among those aged 50 to 64 years. The latter group corresponds to those who have a large number of siblings, and moved from non-metropolitan to metropolitan areas during a period of high economic growth and remained there.
- Those who had only lived in one prefecture during their lives accounted for about 40% of the total, while 30% had lived in three and more prefectures during their lives.
- The proportion of those who left home was 82.3% for men and 88.1% for women. In spite of an increase in the proportion of eldest sons (next head of family in the Japanese tradition) among men since the end of the World War II, the percentage of those who left home increased among the younger generation, which means that a higher percentage of the eldest sons have, at least once, left their parents to form a different household (Among those who were born in 1950 and after, more than 90 percent left home).
- Marriage had long been the most common reason for leaving home among non-metropolitan-born women. Affected by societal changes, the proportion of those who left home to attend school or work increased. In contrast, the pattern of leaving home is rather simplistic among the metropolitan-born; i.e., those who stayed with their parents until they got married constantly accounted for more than 60 % among all cohorts from those who were born in the prewar period to recent ones.
- In general, the average age of leaving home is higher for women since a large number of women continue to live with their parents until marriage. The trend was more conspicuous in metropolitan areas. For instance, among women born between 1960-1969, the average age of leaving home was 21.5 for women from non-metropolitan areas, compared to 23.4 for those from metropolitan areas.
- A total of 20.5% of respondents answered that they would change residence in the next five years. This figure was a little lower than the actual moving rate for the period 1991-1996. According to the results of the present and 3rd Survey, the moving rate in the past five years showed a decreasing tendency. The figure for prospective moves suggests that this trend will possibly continue in the future.
- When looking at migration patterns concerning metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, prospective migration to a metropolitan area was smaller, but that from metropolitan to non-metropolitan areas was larger than the actual migration in the past five years. Although a future (realistic) migration plan is hard to establish, an important point in this result was that non-metropolitan areas were the preferred destinations. This suggests a possibility of achieving such covert demand through various efforts such as creating better conditions for non-metropolitan-bound migration and properly disseminating information.
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Reference to Department of Population Structure esearch at 03-3503-1711 ext. 4462,4464,4466 |
jinko5.pdf
| Population Projections by Prefecture |
