A Study on the Internal Migration in Japan

在战后日本经济高速发展时期，许多年轻人移居到各种工作机会丰富的大都市地区。后来，他们在大都市地区内迁移住所，其中一些人返回家乡县（即“掉头”迁移），但这些过程主要由于缺乏迁移历史数据而没有得到令人满意的澄清。本研究以长野县和宫崎县的高中毕业生（1956- 1958年、1966-1968年和1976-1978年毕业生）为对象，对约5000人的迁移史进行了问卷调查。分析的主要结果如下：第一，从三大都市圈向长野和宫崎的U形迁移率在年轻一代中逐渐增加。在这两个县，大多数“掉头”移民返回了他们成长的城市。而且这种倾向在年轻一代中逐渐增强。接下来，我们证明了一个男人的妻子的出生地是决定赞成掉头移民的关键因素，尽管这个决定也受到他的教育背景和他是否是长子的影响。就改变工作的掉头运动的时间而言，据透露，大多数农民工在首次就业后的5至8年内返回原籍。因此，我们可以得出这样的结论：掉头移徙是来自农村地区的青年移徙者在其职业生涯的第一个转折点可能选择的一种选择，而不受职业或居住地的严格限制。

In rapid economic growth period of post-W.W.II Japan, many youngsters migrated to metropolitan areas abundant in various jobs. They afterwards moved their dwellings within metropolitan areas and some of them returned to their home prefectures (that is 'U-turn' migration).These processes, however, has not been satisfactory clarified mainly due to a lack of migration history data. In this study we conducted a questionnaire survey and inspected about five thousand migration histories of male graduates from the high schools in Nagano and Miyazaki Prefectures (1956- 1958, 1966-1968 and 1976-1978 graduates). The principal results of analyses are summarized as follows.First, the rate of U-turn migration from the three largest metropolitan areas to Nagano and Miyazaki was progressively higher for the younger generation. Most U-turn migrants returned to the municipality where they had grown up in the cases of the two prefectures. And this tendency becoming gradually stronger for the younger generation.Next, we proved that the birthplace of a man's wife was a key factor to decide in favor of U-turn migration, although this decision was also affected by his educational background and whether he is the eldest son or not.In terms of the timing of the U-turn movement with a job change, it was revealed that the majority of the migrants returned to their birthplaces within five to eight years after their first getting job. Therefore, we can conclude that U-turn migration is an option that young migrants from rural regions may choose at the first turning point in their careers, without severe restriction on occupation or residence.