Chapter 6:
JAPAN: Kobe and Niigata

I. Introduction

Kobe and Niigata in Japan represent the radical change in port city development that came with the incorporation of Japan into the world trading system in the late 19th century. In 1850, Kobe was scarcely on the map, while Niigata was an important port city of a wealthy region on the Japan Sea coast. Today Kobe is Japan's largest port, and Niigata is by comparison a very modest port. The cause of this dramatically different development, of course, is the different location of the two cities on world routes. That difference continues to have major implications into the present.

With the opening of Japan, Kobe grew very rapidly, becoming three times the size of Niigata by the end of the century. Since that time, however, the two cities' populations have grown at roughly the same rate. Other changes have been more dramatic, however. Kobe has gained status as a port administrative entity, which gives it greater control over its port and its own development. Kobe's port has also developed much more rapidly, largely due to its location on the Pacific Coast. Niigata is smaller, less wealthy, and has less direct control over its port and its development. Thus the location differences will be seen to be a major cause of the differences in modern development, in the problems the cities face, and in the means of addressing those problems. It is possible that Niigata may become more important if the proposed development of the Japan Sea Rim countries is successful. Thus, Kobe may show Niigata something of its future, as well as providing a view of one possible future to other less developed countries.

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II. Background

A. A Century of Japanese Growth

Like many countries, the history of Japan's population growth has followed the course, as both cause and consequence, of modern economic development. There was a long pre-modern history of very slow population growth, a spurt to rapid growth with rates reaching 1-1.4 percent per year in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, followed by a modern rapid fall in fertility, bringing a return to very low rates of population growth. Along with this population growth, Japan has become a wealthy industrialized nation, with one of the world's highest levels of per capita output and personal welfare. This broad pattern of population and development provides the larger environment in which Kobe and Niigata became modern port cities, so it is of some value to examine the national development in more detail.

During the three centuries of the Edo period (Tokugawa Shogunate), from 1603 to 1867, the balance of high mortality and fertility implied that the population grew only very slowly from about 17 to 35 million, for an average annual rate of increase of 0.3 percent. In the next roughly 70 years, the decline of mortality caused the growth rate to increase, reaching 1 percent per year to produce a population of 69 million in 1935. In the immediate post World War II period, the annual rate reached 2 percent. This brought the population to 84 million in 1950. Then came a radical decline in fertility, reducing the growth rate to 0.9 percent by 1955-1960. Today the population stands at about 124 million, with a total fertility rate of 1.53, or substantially below replacement level. It is projected that the population will actually begin to decline early in the next century.

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Although this slower rate of growth has some advantages, it also raises a series of its own problems, especially arising in the field of the labor force. Of the total population of 124 million in 1990, 64 million (monthly average) were in the labor force. The unemployment level stood at just 1.4 million or about 2.2 percent of the labor force. This very low rate of unemployment may appear an advantage compared to many countries, but for Japan it also signals a labor shortage. The hardest hit are now the small and medium sized firms, which find it difficult to raise wages and benefits to attract more workers. The larger companies have the capacity to increase these economic incentives, but this may also imply a reduction in rates of investment or capital formation.

Japan has always been severely constrained by a lack of land and natural resources. It has thus had to base its economic growth on intensive technology. Only 14 percent of the land is cultivated, because of the steep mountainous topography. Until a century ago, Japan was still a primarily agricultural nation, with wet rice as the staple crop. Over the past century, however, Japan has become a major industrial and economic power, based on an advanced technology and extensive world trade. Modern technology applied to agriculture has made Japan over 71 percent self sufficient in food production, and Japan has become the world's leading fish producer. At the same time, the lack of natural resources has made Japan dependent on the rest of the world for close to 100 percent of its oil and for most mineral products.

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Economic growth and industrialization have also meant rapid urbanization. With the severe constraints on land, this has resulted in high population concentrations, and extremely high density in some cities. It has also caused most of environmental problems that are associated with rapid urbanization. Thus, in addition to planning for economic' development, Japan has also had to address a series of problems arising from rapid population 'growth and urbanization.

The pattern of urbanization over the past four decades has shown a series of different trends. In the 1950s there was a rapid movement of young people out of rural areas to the central cities. This caused the double problem of high congestion in the central cities and a loss of the young labor force from the rural areas. After 1965, the migration reversed, with a net movement of people out of the larger central cities to the peripheral satellite cities. With this movement, the medium-sized cities gradually gained in population. Fifteen years later, this trend was reversed again, as the larger central cities experienced a net in migration, followed by a period of greater balance between in and out migration to and from the larger central cities. The patterns of migration and age imply that the larger cities have less a problem with aging, since they have a substantial in migration of young people. With the slowing of population growth rates, however, all of Japan will soon face serious problems of an aging population, and this will call for a new set of social policies.

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B. Location and History of Kobe and Niigata

Kobe faces the Pacific Ocean in the Osaka Bay. It occupies a narrow shelf of land two to four kilometers wide, running east-west along the sea for about 30 kilometers. To the north the shelf, it is bounded by the sharp rise of the Rokko Mountains, which are made up of weathered granite and rise to a height of nearly 1,000 meters. To the south, the land drops sharply into the sea to form an excellent deep water harbor. Niigata sits across Japan about 500 kilometers northeast from Kobe, at the edge of the Japan Sea. The city is the capital of Niigata Prefecture, which extends over 250 kilometers along the sea, and southward away from the sea for about 80 kilometers at its widest point. The size of the city itself, however, is more similar to that of Kobe, as it extends along the sea for about 30 kilometers and inward for 20 kilometers at its widest point.

For centuries, Niigata has been one of the important ports in Nagaoka Han. Less important than the ports of Southern Honshu or Northern Kyushu, it still occupied a position of importance in domestic trade. Its rich and well watered soils also provided the base for a strong political system. After the consolidation of Tokugawa rule in the middle of 19th century, Nagaoka Han was a source of wealth for the ruling family. Under the Tokugawa, Japan was closed to the outside world, and its ports transformed into hubs for domestic trade. For the next three centuries, the major port activity would be along the Japan Sea Coast and through the Seto Inland Sea to Osaka. Niigata was a major center for the rich domestic trade that built up during the Edo period. Records show over 3,000 ships entering the port at the end of the seventeenth century. Although there was also extensive domestic trade and port activities through the Seto Inland Sea into both Osaka and Tokyo during the Edo period, Kobe was nothing more than a small fishing village. Its neighbors, Osaka and Hyogo, were the major ports of the Seto Inland Sea.

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Perry's Black Ships put an end to Japan's seclusion, and in the process to Tokugawa rule. Non-Tokugawa Han, especially the Choshu and Satsuma, had increased in wealth and power after 1830, and in the middle of 19th century posed a serious threat to the Tokugawa. In a series of political maneuvers and military clashes, in which foreign powers played an important role, the Tokugawa were removed from power, and the Emperor Meiji was restored to a ruling position. Japan was now opened to the outside world and thrust onto a path of modernization. But the economic centers of this outside world lay to the east and south, reached from the Pacific Coast, and not to the west and north on the more isolated Japan Sea. Thus, the modern period would see a rapid development of the Pacific port cities, which would quickly overtake the Japan Sea ports in power, wealth, and influence.

These differences in location and in physical characteristics will be seen to exercise a profound influence on the way these two cities develop, the problems they face, and the ways they have addressed those problems. Both cities were chartered as open cities on April 1, 1889, along with 29 other cities, but already Kobe had a population three times that of Niigata. Through the first half of the twentieth century, both cities' populations grew at the same rate. Niigata continued to be an important port, but Kobe rapidly overtook it in number of ships arriving and volume of cargo.

The development of the two port cities diverged dramatically after 1950. Kobe has grown into the country's leading port in number of ships arriving and volume of cargo. It is surrounded by a dense industrial hinterland and serves as well the densely packed network of smaller ports along the Seto Inland Sea. The Kobe City Government has achieved status as a port administrative entity, giving it the authority to exercise direct control over the port. Niigata has remained a smaller port city, in which the prefectural government is the port administrative entity. It is surrounded by a sparsely settled yet highly productive agricultural hinterland.

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C. Basic Comparative Statistics: Kobe and Niigata

The basic figures showing this contrasting development are seen in table 1. Figures 1, 2 and 3, and appendix tables also provide more detail of patterns of growth within the cities. The populations of both cities have increased by a factor of ten since they were opened about a century ago in 1889. Kobe had a somewhat higher growth rate in the first half century, and a slower growth rate in the second half. Both cities have increased their area substantially, and this has contributed to the population growth. (Maps in the appendix provide a clear picture of this areal growth.) Kobe expanded earlier than Niigata, evidence of its greater economic expansion. Niigata's more rapid 1950s population growth is closely related to the recent rapid expansion of the city area. The economic growth is clearly seen in the port activity, where the divergence in growth rates is greatest. Kobe has become Japan's largest port in ships arriving and volume of cargo. Niigata remains a very modest port by comparison.

The table does not show, however, the great difference in war time destruction, which will be seen later. Kobe was more than half destroyed by bombing in the war. Niigata was untouched. Two thirds of Kobe's population was evacuated during the war, brining the 1940 population of one million to a mere 378,592 in 1945. A rapid in migration followed the war, bringing the population back to one million by 1956. Niigata lost no population during the war. It did experience an upsurge of population after the war, but it was more modest, and the population was not returning to a destroyed city.

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Table 1. Basic Comparative Data for Kobe and Niigata

	Kobe	Niigata
Population
1990 ave ann % growth 1940 ave ann % growth 1889	1,477,423 0.85% 967,234 3.94% 134,704	486,087 2.37% 150,903 2.45% 43,911
Area (sq. km.)
1990 1950 1940 1889	545 420 83 21	209 73 21 12
Density (pop/sq.km:1990)	2,173	2,328
Range by ward/district	821 - 11,892	332 - 10,582
Port Activity No. Ships
1989 1960 1950 1940 1915 (ocean)	89,628 86,125 24,754 93,551 2,501	17,541 5,406 4,425 2,467 1,466
Cargo: milliom. tons
1989 1960 1950 1940	167 20 7 10	28 3 0.9 2
City Resources
Personnel (1991,Aprill) Pers/l000 Pop 91/92 Budget (trillion yen) Yen/Pop	20,994 14.2 1,849 1,251,000	5,168 10.6 241 495,000
Prefecture Resources
Personnel 91/92 Budget (trillion yen)	66,885 2,002	39,395 1,168
Comparative Ratio
Pref: City Budget Pref: City Personnel	1.08:1 3.2:1	4.9:1 7.6:1

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Figure 1. Population Change

Figure 2. Expansion of Kobe City Area

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Figure 3. Expansion of Niigata City Area

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D. Patterns and Rates of Growth

1. Population

a. Kobe

(1) Population Growth

In 1889, Kobe's population was just 134,704. Four decades later, by the end of the Taisho period, the city had reached 651,600, thus growing at almost 4.6 percent per year. In the 1930s, the city grew at greater than 5 percent per year, reaching a total population of one million in the early 1940s. The war saw a great exodus, leaving the city with a population of less than 400,000 in 1945. It regained its population rapidly, however, growing at more than 8 percent per year to reach a population of one million again in 1956. From that point, the growth has slowed considerably and continues to decline. It now stands at about 0.8 percent per year. This overall growth comes from three sources: areal expansion, natural increase and in migration. Much of the growth came from areal expansion, as the city quadrupled from 21 to 83 square kilometers in a gradual process from 1889 to 1940. It then added another 447 square kilometers with major mergers in 1947, 1950-1951, and 1957.

Crude birth and death rates in 1950 were at 20 and 10 per thousand respectively, producing a natural increase rate of 10 or one percent per year. By 1985 the birth rate had declined to 13, and the death rate to 7, reducing the rate of natural increase to 6 or 0.6 percent. This was not distributed evenly within the city, however. The pattern that emerges resembles a doughnut, with the four central wards -- Nada, Chuo, Hyogo, and Nagata -- showing consistent differences from the outer wards. For example, the central wards actually experienced a negative rate of natural increase in the 1970s, after the peak of modern growth. The largest declines were in Hyogo and Nagata wards. Other wards showed great similarity in their positive rates of growth. This also implies a difference in age structure, with the four central wards showing a high proportion of the aged, and the other wards having a higher proportion of young population.

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Net in migration contributed heavily to the population growth before 1950, especially with the return of evacuees and overseas forces. By 1955 this return had been completed, but net in migration continued to contribute to the city's growth as the expanding economy attracted a young labor force from the rural areas. By 1970 this in migration had slowed considerably to near stability. The extensive housing development in the new towns again increased net in migration in the 1980s. The four central wards showed a net out migration since late 1960s. Three wards where the new towns were constructed, Nishi, Kita, and Suma (only Kitasuma which is located northern part of Suma), all have experienced net in migration through but these four decades. The areas that were already developed, such as Higashinada, Suma (except Kitasuma), and Tarumi, experienced a net in migration until 1970, followed by a small net out migration after that time. These migration patterns reflect primarily the development of new housing projects.

(2) Households

As in all of Japan, this four decades has also seen a rise in the number of households. Throughout this period, except for the five years 1950-55, households have been increasing more rapidly than the population as a whole. This implies a move to smaller households, which has been common to all of Japan in the post war period. For Kobe as a whole the average numbers of persons per household was 4.17 in 1950; it rose slightly to 4.23 in 1955, then declined steadily to 2.74 in 1990. Again, this pattern is not distributed evenly throughout Kobe city. The more rural wards, Kita and Nishi, show higher average household sizes, while the four central wards, Nada and Chuo, Hyogo, and Nagata, are smaller than average and are constantly declining.

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(3) Density

With rising numbers, population density increased for the city as a whole over the past four decades. Overall density is now about 2,713 persons per square kilometer. This is far below the peak density of 12,113, reached in 1939 before the major areal expansion of the city. As with other measures, there have also been differences in density among the city's different wards. The four central wards reached a peak of density during the early period of rapid economic growth, through the early 1970s. Since then their density has been declining, to as low as 50 to 60 percent of the peak period. All other wards, except Higashinada have shown a constant increase in density, reinforcing the doughnut-like character of the city's population distribution.

(4) Age Distribution

As in the rest of Japan, the population of Kobe City has been aging. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 years has increased from 4.2 percent in 1955 to 11.5 percent in 1990. As noted above, the aged are not evenly distributed by ward, and the distribution has changed with time as well. The four central wards received the new in migrating young labor force in the late 1950s, but the next generation of young workers moved out to the new towns in the other wards. Thus the four central wards now have 13 to 17 percent over 65, while the other wards have only eight to 11 percent over 65. Conversely, the outlying or suburban wards, typically have more than 20 percent of the population under the age of 15.

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(5) Population Movements

Kobe City has seen a net inflow of population over the past 40 years. The patterns of movement into and out of the city, and within the city itself, have, however, changed somewhat over time. There has been a consistent moderate outflow of population to Osaka and Tokyo, and a larger outflow to cities such as Akashi, Amagasaki, Ashiya, and Nishinomiya. The inflow has come largely from contiguous prefectures, and has always been greater than the outflow. In the 1950s, 65 percent of the outflow from the city went outside the prefecture, with only 35 percent moving within the prefecture. By 1975 that had reversed, and two thirds of the outflow remained within the prefecture. The inflow into the city has come primarily from contiguous prefectures. All migration slowed by 1975, in part because of the decline in the young entrants to the labor force, and in part because the young workers tended to stay in the places of their birth.

Within the city, there was an early movement of the young labor force into the four central wards in the 1950s, but that slowed and turned to an outflow in the 1960s. By 1965 the overall urban pattern had become established. The northern and western areas of the city were primarily residential, the southern seaside area was industrial and port activities and the central area had become mixed residential and commercial. The movement out from the central area has given the city something of doughnut pattern. That pattern can also be seen in the daily movement of people. The four central wards, especially Chuo have a day time population that exceeds their residential populations, while the other suburban wards have smaller day time than residential populations. The doughnut extends even outside the city as well. Kobe receives day time workers from surrounding cities and prefectures, and has overall about a three percent excess of day time over residential population. There is also a substantial daytime outflow of the population from Kobe to Osaka.

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b. Niigata

(1) Population Growth

In 1950, Niigata's population was 220,901, and it grew to 486,087 in 1990. As in Kobe, the growth resulted from annexation, natural increase, and migration. There was a somewhat gradual expansion from 12 to 21 square kilometers in the half century before the war. Then ten surrounding towns and villages in the period 1954 to 1961, adding 135 square kilometers, thus nearly tripling the city's area.

As in the rest of Japan, the 1950 crude birth and death rates, at 26.9 and 10.8 respectively, produced a rate of natural increase of 16.1 or 1.6 percent. By 1989 the birth rate had declined to 10.3 and the death rate to 5.5, reducing the rate of natural increase to only 4.8, or less than half a percent. As in Kobe, the older central districts even experience a negative rate of natural increase, while the surrounding districts with younger families maintain a slightly high rate.

The heaviest wave of in migration occurred just after the war, producing a 27 percent increase in the population between 1945 and 1950. After 1960 net migration contributed almost nothing to the growth of the city's population. From 1960 through 1985 the 120,029 who migrated in were almost matched by the 114,398 who left the city. The net in migration of 5,631 over 25 years amounted to only 1.7 percent of the 1960 population. Further, by 1985 out migration rose above in migration by a few hundred persons. Within the city, the population distribution moved from heavy concentration in the center to a more even distribution throughout the area. In 1955, for example, over 70 percent of the population lived in the five central districts; by 1985, this had declined to 41 percent. The three surrounding districts held only 8 percent of the population in 1955, but this proportion rose to 38 percent by 1985.

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(2) Households

As in Kobe, households grew more rapidly than the total population, producing a decline in the average size of the household. Average household size was 5.1 in 1955, and it declined to 3.1 in 1985. The trend is the same as in Kobe, but households in Niigata remain slightly larger than those in Kobe, by about one-half person. The doughnut pattern we have seen before exists here as well. Households in the central districts are smaller than those in the surrounding districts. The areas of most rapid growth in households are also those where the households are declining most rapidly in size. In effect, the movement has been from the central city with larger families to surrounding areas with smaller nuclear families.

(3) Density

Niigata's overall density is now about 2,328 persons per square kilometer, or about a seventh less than Kobe City. The central districts were those of highest density in 1950, but the movement outward throughout the period has produced a relatively even population density throughout the city by 1985.

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(4) Age Distributions

As in Kobe, the population of Niigata has been getting older over the past 40 years. In 1955 only 4 percent of the population was over 65; by 1985 that proportion rose to 9.5 percent. Within the city, however, the proportion of the aged ranged from 5.8 percent in Ishiyama, a new residential area, to 16.1 percent in Honcho, the central city district. The central districts typically had more than 10 percent aged, and conversely between 15 and 20 percent of the population under the age of 15. The outer districts, on the other hand, have less than 10 percent of the population over 65 and more than 20 percent under the age of 15.

(5) Population Movement

The expansion of Niigata out of the central districts has produced a doughnut pattern that is evident in the daytime migration. In 1960 the day time population was only 104 percent of the resident population, but by 1985 it increased to 110 percent. The number of people moving into the city for daily activities increased from about 13,000 to more than 43,000.

Most of the movement of population between Niigata Prefecture occurs between Niigata City and the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, particularly Tokyo proper. According to the 1985 data, this pattern represents nearly 50 percent of the total population movement. Recently, more people are moving out of Niigata City.

Regarding the movement of population between Niigata City and other areas within Niigata Prefecture, the main flow is that between Niigata City and surrounding areas (Nishi-Kambara, Kita-Kambara, Naka-Kambara, and Sado-gun). According to the 1985 data, over 50 percent of the people moving to Niigata City were from these areas, and over 60 percent of those moving out were moving to these areas.

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2. Port Developments (See Figures 4-8)

a. Kobe

In 1987 Kobe's total output amounted to 4.5 trillion yen. This constituted 1.4 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product of Japan, and 31.9 percent of the total product of Hyogo Prefecture. According to the survey conducted by the Port and Harbor Bureau in 1984, economic activities and industries related to the port function produced about 38.8 percent of the city's wealth. Much of the rest of the wealth also derives from the port, but through a complex and indirect set of connections. In effect, Kobe is an immensely wealthy city, and the greater part of its wealth derives from its port.

The development of the port has been the driving force behind Kobe's development since the Meiji Restoration, and especially since the end of World War II This can be seen readily in the number and size of ships entering the port, the volume of their cargo, and their origins and destinations.

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Figure 4. Port Activity

Figure 5. A General View of the Osaka Bay Area in 1961

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Figure 6. The Transition of the Kobe Port

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Figure 7. The Niitaga Port in 1889

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Figure 8. The Niigata Ports in 1991

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Port statistics were not kept for the first years of Kobe port's activity. The first count available shows 576 ocean going ships arriving in 1894. The number grew rapidly to over 3,900 in 1926. From that point records distinguish foreign and domestic ships. In the same year, there were already close to 20,000 ships calling at Kobe, carrying some 11.5 million tons of cargo. The next ten or eleven years saw continued increase to 106,630 ships carrying almost 17.7 million tons of cargo in 1936/37. The number of foreign ships entering the port rose slightly then remained relatively stable at around 4,000, though their average size rose from 5740 to 6250 tons in the same year period. The port offered greater stimulation to domestic trade, however, as the number of ships entering the port rose from 15,769 to 102,055 in this period. This trade increase was taken up by smaller ships, however, as their average size declined from 900 tons in 1926 to 250 tons in 1936. The greatest change took place in one year, when the number of domestic ships recorded entering the port rose from 19,864 in 1929 to over 77,636 in 1930, suggesting a new method of counting ships that had previously not been recorded. In that year the average size dropped from 907 to 280 tons. It was in this period that the feeder line pattern matured, with smaller domestic ships feeding both the import and the export traffic of the larger foreign ships.

From the peak in 1936, port activity declined first due to the world recession and then to Japan's war involvement. At the lowest point, in 1945, the records show only 26 foreign and 3,775 domestic ships, averaging 2499 and 304 tons respectively, and carrying an unknown amount of cargo.

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After the war port activity increased dramatically. The number of ships entering at the port rose to 24,754 in 1950, and to 146,978 in the peak year of 1971. Both foreign and domestic ships took part in this rapid growth, with foreign ships rising to 10,463 and domestic ships to 136,515 in 1971. In both cases the average size of the ships increased steadily. Foreign ships rose in average from 2499 tons in 1945 to 7975 tons in 1971, while domestic ship size rose from 304 to 621 tons in the same period.

Following 1971 the number of ships has declined steadily, though their sizes have increased. A container terminal was opened and received the first of the container ships in 1967. Container shipment began in 1967, and contributed substantially to the increase in ship size, as did the ports capacities to handle modern specialized ships. Foreign ship size increased to an average of 14,634 tons in 1990. Even domestic ships increased the average size to 1549 tons by 1990.

It is in the volume of trade, however, that we can see the steady and remarkable rise in port activity, especially in the past 40 years. In the early period of growth, from 1926 to 1937, the volume rose from 11.5 to 17.7 million tons, for an average annual increase of 4.0 percent. Foreign volume rose from 5.1 to 6.6 million tons, registering a 2.4 percent annual growth rate. Domestic volume grew slightly more rapidly, from 6.3 to 11.1 million tons, for an average annual rate of 5.3 percent.

The post war period saw far more rapid growth and for a longer period. From 1950 to 1990 the total volume grew from 6.8 to 171.5 million tons for an average annual growth rate of 8.4 percent. Domestic trade grew slightly more rapidly, at 9.3 percent per year, compared with 7.4 percent for foreign trade volume. At the beginning of this period imports dominated both domestic and foreign trade. Imports amounted to 75 percent of the volume of foreign trade and, 67 percent of the volume of domestic trade in 1926. Exports have continued to grow more rapidly than imports throughout the period, however, until now imports and exports are almost evenly balanced for both foreign and domestic traffic.

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b. Niitaga

Early in this century there was only a modest difference between Kobe and Niigata in the size of their port activity. In 1915, when Kobe registered 2,501 ships entering, Niigata had 1,466. In 1926 the number had risen slightly to 2,034, showing an average size of 508 tons. The number and average size continued to grow, reaching 2,467 ships and 935 tons in 1940. The numbers grew in the next decade to 4,425, but average ship size declined to 253 tons. From that point there is a continued rise in both figures. In 1989, the year of the latest available figures, 17,541 ships entered the port, and their average size was 2,743 tons.

Both foreign and domestic ships showed the same pattern of growth, though figures are only available from 1956. At that time there were 453 foreign ships, averaging 6,596 tons, and 5,049 domestic ships averaging an even larger figure of 885 tons. Foreign ships then grew more rapidly in size than did domestic ships, so that in 1989 the 815 foreign ships entering the port averaged 14,703 tons, while the more numerous 16,726 domestic ships entering averaged only 2,160 tons. Thus in the post war period foreign ships only doubled their number, but they increased their average size by a factor of about 2.5. Domestic ships trebled their number and also increased their average size by a factor of about 2.5. That is, the growth was not inconsequential, but neither was in anywhere near the growth of Kobe's port activity.

The volume of cargo shows a similar contrast, with an additional point of interest in the difference between foreign import and export activity. The total volume of cargo grew from about 840,000 tons in 1926 to just over 2 million tons in 1940. After a decline at the end of the war, growth resumed, with a large spurt after 1960. By 1989 the total had reached 28 million tons. Both foreign and domestic trade cargo grew at about the same pace, slowly before the war and very rapidly especially after 1960. Domestic trade has grown more rapidly, however. Domestic cargo was just over twice the foreign volume before the war; both figures were almost equal through 1963, then domestic cargo grew more rapidly, reaching 1. 7 times foreign cargo by 1989.

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The source of the cargo volume shows substantial foreign and domestic difference. In domestic trade, imports and exports are more nearly equal, and their relative positions have changed over the years. In 1926, imports were five times exports, only 40 percent greater in 1940, and were nearly equal through 1970. Imports then grew slightly more rapidly until the ratio of imports to exports in 1989 was roughly 10:8 or 1.25:1. In foreign trade, however, Niigata has been almost exclusively an importing port. It receives oil and liquid petroleum, which comes in large volume, and sends little out to the rest of the world. Niigata has been primarily an importer of foreign cargo since records have been kept, but since 1970 the imbalance has become overwhelming, with imports now showing 53 times the volume of exports. This pattern of oil imports, however, has kept the average size of ships rising, very much as they have in Kobe, though for very different reasons. Kobe's growth in the average size of foreign ships comes from the development of a modern container port handling both exports and imports. Niigata's growth in average foreign ship size comes largely from its position as an oil importer.

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E. Summary Comparison

The two cities show many similarities in internal population dynamics, but they differ substantially in their size and wealth, and in the historical process of their expansion. Both cities have grown by a factor of ten since they were opened just over a century ago. Until the recent post world war II period, both became densely settled and highly congested in the inner city. More recently both cities have added substantially to their area by annexing surrounding towns and villages, population growth has slowed considerably, and there has been a movement from the inner city out to surrounding suburban areas. Their inner wards have become older in age composition and they have lost the younger population to the newer residential areas outside the center.

Both cities have expanded their area by large factors (17 times for Niigata and 26 times for Kobe), annexing surrounding villages and towns. Kobe began this expansion in the early part of this century, accelerated it after the war, and had achieved its current basic size by 1955. Niigata expanded only by a small amount before the war, and experienced a very large expansion between 1954 and 1961.

These similar patterns of population dynamics have given the two cities some of the same problems. Both have experienced a decline in the inner city areas, and now seek to revitalize them. Both have found industries moving out of the inner city in search of space for needed expansion, and both are trying to attract business back into the inner city. They have also both experienced substantial economic growth, and have actively participated in the nation's overall growth. They have build up very substantial urban infrastructures and provided for their citizens a very high quality of life.

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Their differences are also substantial and instructive. Kobe's population is more than three times that of Niigata, and its area almost three times larger. Both are quite densely settled, but Kobe's population density is about one seventh greater than Niigata's. Kobe's regular budget per capita is more than two times that of Niigata, and it has four times as many city personnel. Kobe's port receives almost nine times as many ships, and handles almost six times the volume of cargo that Niigata handles. Further, Kobe's port is more evenly balanced between exports and imports in both domestic and foreign trade. Niigata is far more an importing port, with an imports to exports ratio of about 1.25:1 for domestic cargo but and 53:1 for foreign cargo.

The difference in size and wealth is matched by legal differences and Both also reflect a substantial difference in the independence or influence of the city. This can be seen statistically in a comparison of the two cities relative to their surrounding prefectures. Kobe's budget is almost equal that of Hyogo Prefecture; Niigata's Prefectural budget is almost five times that of the city. Hyogo Prefecture has just over three times as many personnel as Kobe City, but in Niigata the ratio is 7.6 to 1. As a Port Administrative Entity with direct control of its port, Kobe is far more independent than Niigata, where almost everything done must be negotiated with the prefectural and national governments. As we shall see later, both cities must engage in extensive negotiations with both central and prefectural governments, but Kobe enters these negotiations from a position of far greater strength than does Niigata. It would only be expected that as Japan's leading port city, Kobe has substantially more influence at the centers of national political and economic power than does Niigata.

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Many of these differences can be traced to the difference in location. The modern opening of Japan stimulated the growth of the Pacific Coast ports, and left those of the Japan Sea in something of a backwater. There are also physical differences, which we shall see will affect the types of both problems and solutions the two cities have experienced especially in the past four decades. Kobe is hemmed in by granite mountains, crowded into a narrow two to four kilometer corridor. But this also implies it has a sharply dropping sea floor, giving it a deep harbor. Further, its mountains are inhospitable to farming, thus its immediate hinterland is more open public land, with little claim upon it from politically influential groups. Niigata occupies the edge of a
broad and fertile rice plain, with its port at the mouth of a long but slowly meandering river. This implies a low shelving beach and heavy siltation of its river mouth, both of which conditions hinder port development, especially for the much larger modern ships. Further, its rich rice fields are owned by many small farmers, who have gained a great deal of political influence, especially after the post war land reform. This implies far greater difficulties than Kobe would have in finding land for its expansion.

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III. Urabn Problems and Solutions

In this section, we shall proceed in two ways. First we shall provide a brief overview of typical urban problems that the two cities have faced in the past four decades. We shall also provide some objective data to show to what extent those problems have been successfully addressed. At this point the emphasis is more on the broad range of urban problems, and the success in dealing with those problems. Next we shall identify a selected number of special problems each city has faced and the special projects they have used to deal with those problems. This in depth analysis will focus on a few major problems distinctive to each city, and will describe in some detail the way the cities addressed those problems. Many of these conditions and challenges were similar in the two cities. They derive from the general urban social and economic conditions of Japan, including rapid urbanization and industrialization with the consequent need to build the urban infrastructure and provide urban services. For Japan the problems also derive from demographic changes that have produced an increase in the age of the population. Many of these problems have been met in roughly the same manner by the two cities.

A. Overview of Urban Problems

Like most cities of the world, Kobe and Niigata have faced a series of problems. We can discuss these under three general headings. First, all cities must provide a basic urban infrastructure, including provision of drinking water, electrical power, sewage and garbage disposal, and housing for individuals and for industries. Next they must provide some basic social services, including education and health. Third, the city must protect the environment for the citizens. All of this is done in part with the city's financial and human resources, indicated in a city's budget and official staff, which we introduced earlier in table 1. But government need not and usually cannot do everything a city and its citizens need. Often it is the task of a city government to mobilize a wide variety of other resources, from other government offices, from private corporations, and from private groups or associations of citizens. Thus when we speak of the city providing infrastructure and services, we need not necessarily mean the city government alone, though the government will, of course, have a rather heavy responsibility to provide what the city needs.

Tables 2a-c provide some basic objective indicators of the extent to which Kobe and Niigata have met this set of basic problems, whether through government or other means. All of the problems and solutions involve complex conditions and activities, and the figures in tables 2ac are only indirect indicators of these very complex conditions. Nonetheless they do provide us with some relative objective and comparable measures with which to assess urban problems and solutions.

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Table 2a. Urban Physical Infrastructure

Measure	Kobe	Niigata
Clean Water (1989)
mill cu. m. cu. m. per cap % Pop Supplied	185.5 127 99.9	70.9 145 99.1
Electricity (1989)
mil. kWh kWh per capit	6,805 4,644	2,003 4,121
Sewage (1991, March 31)
% Pop. Served	97%	31%
Garbage (1989)
kg per cap. % Ann. Increase '86-'89	470 6.9%	522 3.4%
Housing (1988)
Number Pop/House rati	482,440 3.01	152,180 3.04
Transportation (1990)
Total Vehicles Passenger cars Km Roads Km Roads/sq.km. Vehicles/km road Traffic flow*(km/hr) Parking spaces Pass. Car/space	487,424 291,192 5,085 9.3 96 29.2 42,545 6.8	227,475 129,567 2,272 10.9 100 23.9 7,985 16.2

* Traffic flow was measured during rush hour period

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1. Urban Infrastructure

Despite their differences in size and wealth, both Kobe and Niigata have made substantial progress in meeting the basic infrastructure needs of the population. Both have full coverage of clean water and electricity. There is an interesting difference in the extent of sewage coverage, which will require more detailed examination later. Kobe has near full coverage of the population with its sewer service. Niigata is far behind, and its 31 percent coverage is even substantially below the national average of about 44 percent. The city sees this as a problem to which it is allocating much effort and resources. Both cities have extensive garbage collection, covering all households, and both treat the garbage effectively. Kobe burns most of its garbage, and uses the heat for the municipal swimming pools, next to the incinerators. Kobe's garbage growth rate is higher than Niigata's and is a source of serious concern for city officials. In this, of course, Kobe does not differ from any city in the world. The difference is with the developing countries, where population growth drives much of the increase in garbage. In Kobe, as in the developed countries, it is the high level and increase of consumption that drives garbage increase. This implies that the increase is manageable and can be addressed through various environmental programs, such as recycling and source reduction projects. Kobe recently began a program to purchase used paper at 3 yen per kilogram, and this has led to a 30 percent reduction in the volume of paper in the garbage.

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The populations of both cities are well housed. The ratio of population to individual and family dwellings is very low, almost the same as the ratio of population to households, indicating what is clearly evident in both cities. Everyone is housed. There are both public housing projects for low income families, and an extensive private housing market.

Finally, both cities have well developed transportation systems, but there is an important difference between the two, which is largely the result of their locations. Both cities have extensive internal road systems, with rough equality at about 10 kilometers of road per square kilometer of city area. The vehicular population is quite dense, with 96 vehicles per road kilometer in Kobe and 100 in Niigata. Here Kobe is slightly less densely packed with vehicles. It has other slight advantages as well in traffic. In passenger cars per household Kobe has 0.5 to 0.8 for Niigata. Despite this density, good roads and an effective traffic management system, permit a relatively smooth and speedy flow of traffic, with a slight advantage in Kobe, where the average speed during the rush hour is 29 kilometers per hour, against about 24 in Niigata. Kobe also has more than twice as many parking spaces per car than does Niigata. Congestion is, of course, a relative term. In comparison to many large cities in developing countries, the traffic of these cities moves rather well, but the residents may feel there is considerable congestion. Even the research term felt a greater sense of congestion in Kobe than in Niigata, despite the slight advantage Kobe has in the statistics.

In fact the figures showing Niigata with greater vehicular density are a bit misleading and understate the difference between the two cities. Kobe receives many cars, vans and trucks from surrounding towns and cities because it is a port in a densely built up industrial and residential area. Thus Kobe's location gives it more actual traffic than is seen in the number. of vehicles registered in the city. Niigata receives far less of this type of external flow into the city, thus appears less congested than Kobe. At the same time, because Kobe is in this more densely built up areas, and because it is a more wealthy city, it has built up a more effective infrastructure for dealing with its traffic flow. In fact, Niigata is just now expanding its internal road system to ease congestion especially in connection with the East Port traffic.

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Kobe's greater sense of congestion also comes from the larger population, and from the extensive facilities that can more than larger population. Niigata is served only by the Japan Railway system. Kobe is served by the Japan Railway, plus four other rail companies. There is even a fifth small rail company, an extra governmental company partly owned by the Kobe City Government, which serves to link together the four railways coming into the city. Further, Niigata is served internally by a private bus company; The Kobe City Government provides a municipal bus and subway systems. Thus Kobe's greater size and density and its central location in a densely built up region imply a much more complex transportation system than we find in Niigata, which is by comparison a more isolated city. Kobe appears more congested because there are more vehicles and people flowing through the city. But it also has a slightly more developed transportation system so that those greater numbers actually flow a bit more smoothly than do the smaller numbers in Niigata.

2. Social Services

Both cities provide extensive social services. The enrollment rate for primary, middle and high schools is virtually 100 percent.5 Class levels are regulated nationally, and both cities easily meet national levels. Both cities also have a set of universities and other tertiary schools, which provide professional and technical instruction to students from allover Japan and from many foreign countries as well.

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Table 2b. Urban Social Services

Measure	Kobe	Niigata
Education (1990) Student/teacher ratio
Primary School Middle School High School	24 19 16	25 21 20
Tertiary
Number Students	26 60,613	9 13,061
Health (1989)
Pop/Hosp. Bed Pop/Medical Doctor Diarrheal Dis./100,000*	66 420 1.4	50 380 0.6

* Includes dysentery, typhoid, paratyphoid, legally classified together by the Japanese government under its diarrheal disease law.

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Here again, however, we can see a difference in the two cities that results for their different locations. It parallels the transportation difference in that it reflects the greater centrality of Kobe and the relative isolation of Niigata. The ratio of Kobe to Niigata students is roughly 3 to 1 at the primary, middle and high school levels, but it is 4.6 to 1 for tertiary students. This is not due to a difference in the number of colleges and universities, for that ratio is also about 3 to 1. Further, both cities have about the same proportion of high school students who go on to college or university (35 percent for Kobe and 28 percent for Niigata in 1990). The difference derives from Kobe's relatively greater centrality to all of Japan, and Niigata's relative isolation. Kobe is more likely to draw college and university students from allover the country than is Niigata.

Both cities also have an extensive medical and health infrastructure with a hospital bed for every 50-66 persons, and a medical doctor for roughly every 400 persons. There is also a very low incidence of diarrheal disease infection, which is used here as only one indicator of a more extensive and complex set of services the city provides to keep their citizens healthy. In all of these figures, however, Niigata shows a slight edge over Kobe.

Table 2c. Urban Environmental Quality

Measure	Kobe	Niigata
Parks (1990)
Number Area (ha) ha./l00 sq.km.	1092 1958 360	454 168 80
Air Quality* (1990)
CO: ppm (10) N02: ppm (.06) S02: ppm (.04) Ozone:days>.06ppm Part.: mg/cu.m. (.10)	0.9 .02 .007 35 .04	0.4 .01 .006 32 .03

*The figures show the daily averages of the multiple monitoring points around each city. Figures in parentheses show the national maximum allowable standards.

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3. Environmental Quality

Both cities have extensive systems of parks and open spaces, and providing parks and recreational space is a high priority for both cities. Kobe appears to be somewhat better served than Niigata, but direct quantitative comparisons are difficult. Niigata has a long shore line that is essentially a high quality swimming and fishing beach, and it is surrounded by extensive open farm land. Kobe has a less developed recreational shoreline, though there are plans for a substantial extension of the shore in connection with the new Akashi Strait Bridge being constructed to connect Kobe to the Awaji Island. But Kobe also has extensive forests in the Rokko Mountains minutes north of the city center. These forests are part of the Setonaikai (the Seto Inland Sea) National Park system, which give the residents easy access to fine mountain forests. Thus the cities have very different natural recreational areas, but both are very well served.

Both cities have had problems with industrial pollution in the past. Niigata, for example, is city experiencing the Second Minamata Disease. For both cities, the increase of both industrial output and automobiles brought rising levels of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and floating particles. National and local governments began monitoring air quality in 1970 and have taken a series of measures to improve air quality. The figures in table 2c show that both cities are well within the national standards for air quality, and both have seen declining levels of air pollution over the past year.

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4. Sewers

The sewage issue for the two cities deserves special attention for a number of reasons. First, Kobe has developed an extensive sewer system, which not only covers virtually all of its citizens, but it distinguished on special technical grounds as well. It is the only differentiated sewer-drain system among Japan's large cities. The drain system is designed to carry surface runoff alone. This has a double advantage. The runoff can flow without treatment into the rivers and sea. Perhaps more important, however, is the fact that heavy rains do not overload the system causing sewers to backup. Kobe's sewer system dates to 1872 when an Englishman, Mr. John William Hart, designed a 1900 brick sewer system, which the city built, and which is still good operating condition. In 1950 planning began to extend the system, and in 1957 a Sewage Department was established. At that time only 1 percent of the households were covered by sewers. The city picked up household waste, loaded it onto barges and sent it out to be dumped into the sea. From 1957 to 1970 coverage rose to 35 percent. In 1971 a new five year city plan aimed to have full coverage of specific areas. Within ten years coverage rose to 87 percent. Today it stands at 97 percent and the city has plans to complete coverage in a few years. The city is also adding a third stage to its sewage treatment to remove a series of chemicals to meet its own higher standards of environmental control. The extension of the sewer system was also accompanied by an increase in clean water provision and a series of other public health measures, including closer inspection of restaurants and markets, and better garbage treatment. The result was a marked decline in the incidence of diseases covered by the diarrheal disease law: dysentery, typhoid and paratyphoid. In 1950 the incidence stood at 64.1 per 100,000, rising to 115.0 in 1960, then falling drastically to 3.1 in 1970, and 1.7 in 1980, and to 1.4 in 1989.

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The second point of importance concerns the contrast in coverage in the two cities. Kobe has almost complete sewer coverage, but in Niigata only 31 percent of the population is covered. Niigata considers this an important problem and the city has active plans to increase coverage to 67.6 percent of the population by 1999. Despite the low level of coverage, however, Niigata does not have a high incidence of diarrheal diseases. Niigata also has a history of declining infectious diseases, which moves out ahead of its sewer extension. While waiting for sewer extension the city government has a number of active projects to deal with the problem of these water born diseases. First, households without sewer connections use septic tanks, which an inspector, contracted by the city, examines once every three months. The inspector advises of the need for pumping out a full tank, and the owner pays ¥10,000 (about US $70) for the service. The material is taken by tank truck to one of three sewage plants for treatment by biotic processes before being discharged into rivers or the sea. The city has an extensive educational campaign for household waste that includes the distribution of fine mesh screens for sink wastes, and special packets to absorb oil, which are then disposed of in normal garbage.

B. Inventory of Solutions

The two cities achieved these past levels of development and welfare through fairly standard urban administrative procedures. These are not necessarily unique to Japanese cities, by any means. Compared to other countries covered in this larger study, however, it must be noted that Japan enjoys immense advantages from its great wealth. Much of the rapid development of the city's physical infrastructure could be accomplished because the cities and the central government had the necessary financial resources. The city also had the technical capacity to identify problems and to establish goals in urban facilities, health and education, and environmental quality. In some cases these goals were laid down by the central government and simply given to the cities as standards. In other cases, such as Kobe's sewer system and some of its health projects, the city takes the lead in identifying problems and setting goals. It has come to be a standard procedure for these city governments to look into the future and to set for themselves goals for advancing city interests, promoting economic activities and human welfare.

We can see something of this standard operating process by briefly reviewing the current inventory of projects each city has. These show city administrations looking forward to find ways to address both current and expected future problems. This, too, is made easier by the great wealth of the country and our two cities.

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1. Kobe

If promoting greater internationalization is a major aim in Niigata, this is something Kobe City has already achieved in very large measure. Thus the emphasis in Kobe is less on becoming something new, and more on sustaining the advanced position it has already achieved. That is, of course, no easy task itself, since there are no models for Kobe to emulate in deciding what it is to do next. For example, urban planners look forward to the city becoming something they call an "urban resort city", a place that is warm and friendly, comfortable and culturally exciting, and attractive to both visitors and residents. At the same time, city officials can look ahead to some very new and serious problems identified by simple extrapolations of current trends. Two of the most important of these are problems that arise from aging and the problem of garbage. City officials can easily see the time when the population aged 65 and over will constitute 20 percent of the population. This will require a new set of social services with different taxing and financial structures. There is also the problem of garbage. Officials see a growth in excess of 6 percent per year, implying a doubling of the amount of garbage in a mere 14 years. Where will it go? They recognize that already Tokyo Metropolitan Government must ship its garbage 300-600 kilometers to the north. Kobe now burns about 80 percent of its garbage, but current trends will require building a new plant every five years. For both the general aims of the urban resort, and dealing with the specific problems of aging and garbage, the future is uncharted. There are no good models to emulate. Thus much time and effort is spent in thinking ahead to try to work our scenarios and the implications of both the changes that will come and the projects that will be needed to deal with those changes.

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Like Niigata, Kobe keeps current lists of specific projects to operationalize its broad aims and to address, as well as to keep ahead of its problems. A recent publication lists 38 projects, but these are almost exclusively physical infrastructure projects, all of which have implications for social services and quality of life. The largest is the completion of the Port Island extension and of the Rokko Island, two major projects that are covered in detail later. These include industrial areas, port facilities, and sport and recreational parks. Another is the proposed airport for Kobe City, a project on which the national government is to make a decision this fall. The Kobe Harbor Land Project will develop a portion of the shore and in the process revitalize the inner city. Housing developments are extensive, and these include special facilities for the aged. One project, Shiawase-no-mura or the "Village of Happiness", is specifically to integrate the aged and physically disabled into the regular life of the city and aimed to offer enriched social welfare for every citizen in Kobe City. It provides special working operations as well as rehabilitation hospital, sports facilities and multi-purpose facilities. In 1989 the city hosted the FESPIC (Far East and South Pacific Games for The Disabled), which has been associated with Shiawase-no-mura.

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2. Niigata

Officials in Niigata identify their problems and aims under five major categories or goals. The first is to integrated the city into the larger global environment, which officials describe as attempts to internationalize the city. In one sense this is fundamental to other aims, since it involves an increase in industry and economic activities that will provide the city with the jobs and the wealth that will permit it to address other problems. The second aim is to make the city a comfortable place to live, including good transportation, city services, good recreation and a clean environment. Third is to advance cultural activities to increase the city's distinctive identity. Fourth is to increase equality, especially along gender divisions. Finally is the aim of advancing human welfare through social services. Much of this the emphasis in this aim concerns the problem of increasing aged population. This broad set of aims, including both physical and social dimensions, is then translated into a series of specific projects. These are the means by which the broad aims are operationalized, by which human and financial resources are allocated to activities designed to achieve these aims.

At present Niigata City has a list of 52 projects designed to operationalize its broad aims. Some of these projects are one or two years in duration with relatively small budgets. An example is the plan to build a convention center and an international trade center for retail trade fairs, or to host the Asian Ping Pong Games. Others are long term projects with potentially very large budgets. The most important of these is the expansion of international airport to accommodate the larger aircraft of the transcontinental routes, or to petition the central government to provide an express way to the east to connect Niigata to the main North-South Tokyo-Northern Honshu expressway. There are also plans for building an industrial complex, the expansion of the East Port, the revitalization of the old inner city, and the extension of the sewer system. Some projects are only planning activities for more specific projects in the future and have not got to the stage of proposing budgets.

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A rough three part classification can be made of these 52 projects, following the classification of table 2a-c, recognizing that many project actually serve multiple ends. Urban physical infrastructure accounts for eleven of the projects. These include the airport, convention center, the trade center, port development, and the extension of the sewer system. Ten projects can be classified as social services. These include inviting an international university to Niigata, developing nursing homes, building the foundation for an aging society, including counseling centers for old people. There are also plans for a women's counseling center to promote women's status, and for developing an overall health care system. Under the category of environment and quality of life there are five specific projects. These include the development of a riverside park, planting trees throughout the city and increasing amenities along the sea shore. Fully half of the projects have very clear multiple aims. There is, for example, a project for the development of an "intelligent city", which will provide a high quality of urban living plus the basis for high technology industries. One of the more ambitious projects calls for creating think tank for developing ideas for the Japan Sea Rim development. In fact the Japan Sea Rim emerges as a central elements in much of Niigata's current planning, for it offers the city the opportunity to regain some of the relative stature and influence it enjoyed before the advance of the Pacific Sea cities.

Both cities show a strong tendency to look ahead and to plan for the future. Kobe City has been especially noted for generations of farsighted city leaders. This vision is part of the cultural and political conditions that have made Japan a wealthy nation. But the process is self reinforcing as well. Wealthy nations and wealthy cities have the leisure and resources to look to the future and to plan for new achievements. Many of the world's cities are overwhelmed with population growth and poverty and thus find it difficult to support visions of the future. These are not handicaps that face city officials in Kobe and Niigata.

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c. In Depth Analysis

1. Kobe

For the city of Kobe, we shall examine in greater detail four sets of projects: port development, the new towns, the inner city development, and projects dealing with the problem of aging. Although these can be distinguished as separate projects, they are in fact all part of an integrated urban planning activity. For example, the port development aimed first at improving the port facilities to relieve the congestion of the port. But to develop the port, earth was removed from the top of some of the mountains to create artificial islands in the sea just off the city. The cleared land in the mountains was used for the creation of new towns, which provided housing and industrial communities to relieve the population congestion in the inner city. This caused the population to move out to the new towns, resulting in the decline of the central city. Then a new waterfront project was created to expand port and recreational facilities and to bring population back into portions of the inner city.

a. Port Development

We have seen that Kobe became one of Japan's leading ports through the first half of the 20th century. It was heavily damaged during the war and had to undertake extensive reconstruction. By the end of the 1950s much of this reconstruction had been competed, but it was evident that the port needed much more development. It had become a bottleneck in Japan's development process, with ships waiting for long periods to load and unload cargo. In addition, the post war flood of people back into the city caused excessive crowding in the old inner city. Thus the two problems of port congestion and urban population crowding were integrally linked together.

Through the early 1960s city officials developed ambitious plans to expand the port. It was at this time that the idea of an artificial island just off the city emerged as the most promising solution, since it could solve both problems of port congestion and urban crowding. To build the island, the weathered giant of the Rokko Mountains could provide excellent fill. Shoveling off the tops of the mountains would provide space in which to construct new town for residential as well as industrial and other specialized activities. The basic strategy was in part an extension, though on a much greater scale, of past work the city had undertaken in reclaiming land for port development on the city's shoreline. This began in 1953 with reclamation for the expansion of the East and West ports. Together they involved the creation of 543 hectares of new waterfront, and required the movement of 63 million cubic meters of earth, which was taken from the mountains north of the city. Plans for the construction of the 436 hectare Port Island took shape in 1963-65 and the excavation work began in 1966.

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To implement these plans the city engaged in extensive negotiations with the central government, which agreed to finance portions of the port development and housing projects. The central government built the sea wall. The city moved the earth and did all the land reclamation. Housing was provided by the central government, the city, and private developers. For the construction of container terminals, the central, the Kobe City and the Osaka City governments jointly created a new unit, the Osaka/Kobe Trading Port Development Corporation, whose formation required much negotiation, but proved to be highly appropriate for the task. The Kobe City Government was also permitted to offer municipal bonds on the international bond market to raise capital for the project. This proved to be especially beneficial, since the bonds were offended in the late 1960s, when world trade was expanding and prices were relatively stable. By the time the port facilities were ready to be sold, world prices had risen sharply due to the oil shocks of the 1970s. Thus Kobe realized substantial profits from its venture. The Kobe Port Development Corporation built the container terminals and now leases them to shipping companies. The city owns the finger wharves as well as a set of container terminals along the shoreline.

Building the Port Island and the New Towns involved an immense engineering activity, in which the city gained a world wide reputation for port development. It would ultimately require the movement of 80 million cubic meters of fill. Earth from the mountains north of the city was moved southward to the sea through the city in underground conveyor belts and loaded onto barges that dumped the fill in the sea to form the artificial island. Earlier earth had also been moved for the Eastern Waterfront reclamation in a specially constructed lowered roadbed beside the Sumiyoshi river and an underground conveyor belt. Thus the massive north-south earth moving traffic did not interrupt the normal east-west traffic of the city.

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The Port Island was designed to hold a new modern container port facility, housing for 20,000 people, new commercial activities such as fashion and design industries, and recreational facilities. It was completed in 1981 and today ranks as a major landmark of the city. It is connected to the city center by a fully automated rail line, the Portliner, as well as by bridge and road. It has one of the city's leading hotels, an international convention and exhibition halls, sports facilities, and amusement park, as well as the port and housing facilities.

The Port Island was sufficiently successful to suggest the continuation of this basic strategy. A new island, the Rokko Island, was planned and construction begun in 1972 and will be completed in 1992. It is 580 hectares and will ultimately require the movement of 120 million cubic meters of earth, which is also being taken from the Rokko Mountains. In addition, the Port Island is being extended by an additional 390 hectares, requiring 92 million cubic meters of earth, to be completed by 1996. Finally, the city has plans for an airport, to be located on another artificial island just off the Port Island, which will be 300 hectares in area and require the movement of another 92 million cubic meters of earth. The final decision on the airport will be made by the central government in the fall of 1991.

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b. Inland Development

As part of its plan for housing the population and attracting industries to the city, Kobe has developed an extensive complex of new towns, which will total over 4,000 hectares. They began with Suma New Town in 1961 as the first new town, and continue today, with plans reaching to the end of this decade. There are two major locations for the new towns, one to the west and one to the north behind the Rokko Mountains. Table 3 lists major areas with their size, population where relevant, and scheduled or actual dates of completion.

Table 3 Major Inland Development in Kobe City

Name	Ha.	Pop.	Completion
1. Suma 2. Seishin Resid. 3. Seishin S. Resid. 4. Academic 5. Seishin Ind. 6. Kobe Hi-Tech 7. Distrib. Center 8. Kobe Mult. Indus 9. Sports Complex 10.Agriicultural Park	895 642 342 303 276 94 114 250 56 31	113,000 61,000 24,000 20,000 -- -- -- -- -- --	1991 1992 1994 1992 1991 1990 1992 2000 1992 1984
North
11. Kobe Research. Pk 12. Fugiwaradai Resid. 13. Sports Park 14. Fruit/Flower Pk	498 281 33 100	24,400 26,600 -- --	2001 1993 1995 1992

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The development of new towns began with Suma residential area, in the West. It was designed as a residential area to relieve population congestion in the inner city and is built on land excavated to provide fill for earlier land reclamation projects for shoreline wharf construction. Started in 1961 and will be officially completed this year, though it is expected that housing construction will continue on a smaller scale. Suma was designed on more traditional lines of a single purpose residential town, with the idea that workers would move into the city daily for their work and move back for night time residence. Later the development of these areas took on a new character, more appropriately designated the New Town concept. After the Suma New Town, most areas are planned as multiple use areas, where residence, recreation and employment are linked together outside of the central city.

To the west there were a series of new towns for industrial activities, for a series of colleges and universities, and for sports. The comprehensive sports complex was completed in 1985 to host an world student Olympic, the Universiade. Most of the new towns on the west were designed and constructed by the city, under its Development Bureau. This area also includes a park which offers multiple facilities for the citizen. This includes sport complex and recreational facilities such as baseball stadiums, tennis courts, multi-purpose open-space and renting small land for gardening.

To the North there is another smaller complex of town whose organization is more complex. The development of this area, including a portion outside of the city, was originally planned by the central government, with Kobe city participating in the research, industrial park and housing complex. The central government's plan also includes a series of new towns in the prefecture, outside of Kobe City boundaries. For these projects, work is done not by the Urban Development Bureau, but by the Civil Engineering Bureau, since the basic planning is done outside of the city government. The city has, however, made its own modifications to the plan by adding a 100 hectare fruit and flower farm, which will also serve recreational needs. It is also adding a ' smaller sports complex which also includes winery. This sports/winery place was built for the purpose of offering recreational facilities for the citizen as well as promotion wine production.

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c. Inner City Development

As we have described in previous section, a series of inner city problems emerged in the four central wards, especially Hyogo and Nagata. The factors contributing to this condition are the negative population growth, the large increase of aged population, the departure of factories to surrounding areas, and the increase of superannuated firms. Younger generation households, about 30 to 40 years old, who wish to own their houses move out to surrounding areas. Thus, we find the increase in the proportion of aged population, single households, and relatively lower income population tend to live in the inner city area. We also see large numbers of people dependent on social security as well as unemployment allowances.

In terms of the housing problem, we find mostly wooden houses, which have become superannuated. Furthermore, the decrease of population and the increase of aged population contributed to the decrease of shopping areas as well as the under-utilization of social service.

Recently large cities in the developed countries are facing this inner city problem. And soon large cities in the less developed countries will share this problems. Thus it is very useful and informative to introduce the problem of inner city problem in this project.

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Kobe city has developed a planning framework in 1989, "the Kobe Inner City Comprehensive Development Basic Plans", to address this problem. The plan sets out four targets. 1) the creation of comfortable living; 2) promoting the establishment of urban oriented industries; 3) creating an attractive area; and 4) enriching social welfare.

For more urgent problems needing short term action, the four central wards are divided into four major parts, central/south, west, east and central/water front. Each ward is again divided into three zones depending on the actions needed. 1) Where the physical infrastructure is deteriorated, it will be fixed and improved; 2) where the area has lost population and activity, urban renewal projects will be undertaken; and 3) where a completely new activity is required there will be advanced transformation of the area.

There are also a series of more detailed and specific projects designed to revitalize the inner city. These include a Harbor Land project, a Inner Industrial Complex project, and a Canal Town project. The city also has a plan to build a subway on the coast line, which will serve many of the inner city project areas.

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d. Aging

Aging is a problem that confronts all Japanese cities. Kobe is now participating in national level discussions on the problem and trying to plan for a future that will be very different from the present. The city is developing special projects to address the problem, and also attempting to develop new plans and visions that will later be translated into specific projects. The current specific projects include the development of nursing homes, improving medical geriatrics services, developing senior citizen community centers, and organizing assistance for the homebound aged who do not yet need full nursing home care. City officials also recognize that there are more profound problems of taxation and financing, which will require basic reforms in both the city's and the nation's taxation system. In these uncharted. areas, the city uses a series of brain storming task forces at different levels, and also encourages local citizens to present ideas for the future.

2. Niigata

Niigata's Mayor, Mr. Yoshiaki HASEGAWA describes his vision for the city under three major categories: Internationalization, Culture and Social Services. For future economic and social development, Niigata would have to become more integrated into the international, or global, market place. It could do this by exploiting its location advantages on the Japan Sea. With a high speed rail link and a four lane express road connecting the city to Tokyo, Niigata could offer attractive alternatives to Yokohama and Tokyo for surface connections to Europe and North America. He explained, for example, that a freezer container took 40 days by sea between Europe and Yokohama, but could make the journey overland by rail and ship in only twenty days. With a larger international airport Niigata could offer the same advantages for air travel between Europe or North America and Japan. Internationalization would also require, however, that Niigata develop its own distinctive identity or culture. Finally, Niigata was already well known for its social services, but it would have to develop these even further to meet future problems. One of the most pressing would be the problem of aging.

Other city officials reflected these same broad aims and in interviews explained how the broad aims were being translated into specific projects. We can use the Mayor's three part classification to examine some of the city's major projects in greater detail.

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a. Internationalization or Globalization

Internationalization requires first of all that Niigata has more adequate transportation facilities linking it with the outside world. There are, however, few things the city can do directly to develop such facilities since the port is under the direction of the Prefecture, and the external rail, road, and air links are under the control of the central government. Thus a major set of projects for the city involve negotiations and political petitions to the central government. Some of these efforts have been successful in the past and others are currently being undertaken. The high speed rail link to Tokyo, the famed Bullet Train, was opened in 1982, and the four lane express highway was completed in 1985. Currently the city is petitioning the central government for an expansion of the international airport to enable it to accommodate the larger planes of the transcontinental routes. It is working with the prefectural government to request permission from the central government to increase ocean exports. Finally, it is proposing that the central government build expressways to the East, to link Niigata more closely with the nation's overall expressway system. Although the city must rely on the central government for much of these developments, there are some things that can be done, both with the prefectural government and by itself, which can improve its situation and help induce the central government to assist in its international development.

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(1) Port and River Development

One of the more important of these activities is port development. This has been undertaken by the national and prefectural governments over the past decades to address some of the basic physical limitations imposed by Niigata's location. For example, Niigata main port for the past three centuries has been at the mouth of the Shinano River, Japan's longest river. The river flows north out of the mountains, across the broad rice plain to the city. Roughly at the city boundary the river makes a broad turn to the northeast, running parallel to the coast for more than 6 kilometers before turning north to enter the sea. This meandering course have presented two major problems. One is siltation, which requires constant dredging to keep the port open, and imposes limits to the depth of the port even with extensive dredging.

To meet the challenge of siltation, the government built another port, the East Port, about 12 kilometers east of the Shinano River mouth. This port was dug directly out of the coast, and does not lie on one of the two rivers that enter into the sea at Niigata. This precludes the need for continual dredging and permitted the construction of a deeper port. The West port on the Shinano River mouth is 10 meters at its deepest; the East port is 14 meters deep. At present the port contains one container terminal, and the prefecture is now proposing that it build a second.

To address the flooding problem, the central government dug a short cut to the sea where the river turns to the northeast. This canal runs for about 1.5 kilometers and is about 200 meters wide. This permits heavy runoff to flow directly to the sea, preventing flooding of the central city.

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(2) Urban Development

The existing urban areas in Niigata City are now struggling with the following problems: a shrinkage and graying of the daytime population, relative decrease in commercial functions, and traffic congestion in downtown areas, insufficient network of roads, and a shortage of green belts and open space. To respond to these problems, Niigata City is now undertaking a series of projects to use its land more effectively, increase local activities, improve housing situation, and strengthen the linkage between urban functions. These projects also aim to make the city more attractive to international economic centers.

a) The West Port Area

The area of the West Port has for years played important role for the growth of Niigata City. A large amount of investment has been made in this area throughout the past century. The urban system has been concentrated in this area as well. In recent years, however, this area has suffered from the stagnation of port activities, aging buildings and population, loss of population, the decline of business activities, the deterioration of the environment, and the chronic problem of traffic congestions. To cope with these problems, the city has been attempting to integrate the urban systems, such as markets, businesses, port activities and distributional activities. The city has also been improving the living situation and environment so that people are coming back to the city. One specific aspect of this inner city development is a plan to build two new bridges at the mouth of the Shinano River.

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(b) Development Of South Side Of The Niigata Station

Niigata City is now developing the southern part of the Niigata Station (15.4 ha), to balance the earlier development of the north side. This station was relocated from an area north of the river to one south of the river when the new high speed rail link was built. This new redevelopment project aims to bring comfortable urban living as well as urban function for commerce and business to the south side of the Niigata Station.

(3) Japan Sea Rim Development

Many of the projects the city undertakes to promote internationalization can be considered service and planning or intelligence gathering projects, rather than physical infrastructure projects. For example, the city's Department of Economic Affairs undertakes market analysis and other information gathering, and proposes increasing collaboration with the Soviet Union on trade information. The city now collects extensive data on the companies that engage in trade, and tries to act as a middleman to encourage more companies to increase productive and trade activities. The city also organizes trade fairs for the Japan Sea Rim Countries. There have been seven since 1972, or almost one every two years. This year, the city is planning on holding two trade fairs, in July and November. City officials consider Russia to be the major partner in this development, in part because it is one of Japan's oldest trading partner in this part of the world. At present about 200 Russian ships enter the port, or about one-quarter of all ships entering.

The development of the Japan Sea Rim appears to be the major idea being promoted at this time. Niigata is taking the lead in organizing local and international study groups to consider possibilities of development of the Japan Sea Rim countries. This includes China, Japan, North and South Korea, and the Soviet Union. The city supports an active interdisciplinary study group at Niigata University, which is undertaking studies, and organizing joint meetings with scholars and city officials in the rim countries in Japan and the U.S.S.R. The city is also planning for a periodic meeting of mayors of some of the major rim country cities. Here there is an emphasis on using nongovernmental organizations to develop links between citizens as well as officials of the countries.

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b. Cultural Activities

To help develop a sense of distinctive identity among the population, the city undertakes a number of special projects and it works hard to gain citizen participation and to have the citizens take the initiative in urban activities. Funds are now being raised for a symphony hall. There are programs to promote local traditions. Sports are being promoted at the citizen level. There are now, for example, 550 local baseball teams, sponsored by businesses and other groups. They practice and play in the early mornings, usually starting about 5 am in the summer, when it gets light. The city has recently built a large sports complex with an outdoor stadium and indoor gymnasium. There are also programs to promote cultural exchanges with the Japan Sea Rim countries. The city has had an exchange with Harbin in China, for example. Niigata now has a Chinese garden and has sent people to build a traditional Japanese garden in Harbin.

The city is building an extensive system of parks and recreational facilities for the citizens. There is a river front park now running 11 kilometers along the Shinano River. It is being extended and will ultimately occupy both sides of the river all the way to the sea. The long sea front is being developed into an extensive park for fishing and swimming. A new aquarium occupies a prominent place on the sea front and has regular dolphin performances. The sea front is also lined with a rise of sand dunes planted with rich pine forests, which the city has developed into an extensive park system.

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C. Social Services

Like Kobe, Niigata faces a major problem in the aging of its population. It is already well known for its high quality of social services. There are many services for the aged, including free tickets for taking public baths for those over 65 and the providing "moving bath transportation" provided for the homebound. Like Kobe, however, much of the problem lies in the near future, and the city is working with the national government to develop plans for managing its aged population.

Niigata City is currently in the process of improving services for the elderly. Improvement plans are centered on the extension of in home services, and the construction of Special Nursing Homes (which can also be used by the elderly in neighboring towns).

Niigata City is also planning to create a "Home Nursing Network" by which city offices, Special Nursing Homes, health care facilities, medical institutions, and volunteer groups will form an integrated unit. The city also holds culture courses at senior citizens welfare center as part of its effort to encourage the elderly to become more active in society. A Committee to improve conditions for the elderly has been established. This committee aims to help design programs to benefit the elderly.

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IV. Comparative Analysis

A. Port and Population Growth

The major difference between Kobe and Niigata is clearly not that of population growth. Both cities have increased their populations by a factor of ten over the past century. Both experienced very much the same historical trajectory in population growth. They increased through areal expansion, in migration and natural increase. Both had a period of rapid growth following World War II, which caused problems of crowding. These were readily solved through urban development, which was probably made easier because in both cases the population growth rate slowed drastically in two decades. By 1965 the cities had expanded areally as much as they would, fertility declined as it did in all of Japan, and the in migration slowed.

The real difference thus lay not in population growth, but in the growth of the port. Kobe's port grew very rapidly and continues to do so. Niigata's port growth has been much more modest. It is clear that the major cause of this difference lies in the location of the two cities with reference to world trade. Kobe's location on the Pacific coast is largely responsible for its becoming Japan's largest port in number of ships entering and volume of cargo. By contrast, Niigata became relatively more isolated, because it lay outside the major trade routes that sprang out of the growth stimulus of the Western World.

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B. The Consequences of Growth

We may now ask what have been the consequences of this difference in port growth rates. In summary we can say that the consequence have not been very serious, and that there have been some substantial advantages of the growth. It is difficult to see major disadvantages to the growth. We shall first discuss this basic points of the consequences, then turn to another aspect of the differences, the impact of physical conditions of the specific place of each port.

In general it is possible to say that the consequences of the difference in growth rates have not been very serious. Neither city has experienced the kind of rapid growth that overwhelms urban administrators in the developing countries. Further, both the cities and the nation as a whole have experienced sufficient economic growth to give them the economic power and human resources to address their problems relatively easily. They have both been able to afford the urban development needed to provide a high quality of life for their citizens. Both cities experience some decline of the inner city, the aging of the population, and the exodus of some industrial activities. Both have, however, been able to address these problems and it is easy to predict a future in which the next generation of problems will be effectively solved.

In addition to the resources the cities can mobilize because they are part of a wealthy industrialized nation, there is another characteristic of the administration that appears to be highly advantageous. Both cities have officials of long tenure in city government. This is, of course, a common characteristic in Japanese organization, both government and private. City officials in both cases have been in the city for a long time. Their lives and careers are committed to the city, and over the years they have gained a great deal of experience with the city's problems and how best to deal with them. We cannot test this theory with great rigor, but it is difficult not to gain the impression that the long tenure of city officials has helped greatly to make city administration highly effective.

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Unlike many cities in the developing world, in Kobe and Niigata we can see definite advantages to the rapid growth of the port. This has made Kobe a very wealthy city, with substantial independence and influence in national political and economic circles. The city's wealth lies not only in finances, however, but in its administration and the human resources it can bring to bear on problems. Niigata's slower growth has made it more dependent on external centers of power, both in the prefectural and national governments. Often in our interviews with Niigata city officials, we heard them speak of the need for more people. Niigata needs 800,000 to a million people to give it the critical mass that will give it more power, wealth and influence in the nation. It needs more people and more development to give it the kind of independence and autonomy that Kobe has.

If it is easy to see the advantages of growth, it is not easy to see the disadvantages. It is possible that Niigata is somewhat less congested than Kobe. Although the streets and the shops are full of people, there is less traffic and the crowds are smaller than in Kobe. Kobe clearly has more serious problems with city congestion than does Niigata. Citizens of Niigata enjoy somewhat cleaner air, and a wide expanse of natural shoreline, with a broad vista of the sea untouched by ships, wharves and cranes. Behind the city they also enjoy the broad vistas of rice fields undisturbed by factories and belching smokestacks. This may be an advantage for the city, though it must be admitted that Kobe's citizens also have access to wide expanses of natural forests and mountains. Thus if there is an advantage to slower growth, it is not a striking one.