Discussion
On June 10, 2025, the 295th Japan Specialist Seminar took place in a hybrid format. TAMURA Fuminori, lecturer at the Department of Japanese Regional and Cultural Studies at Incheon National University and visiting researcher at the Institute for Japanese Studies at Seoul National University, gave a presentation titled "The Neoliberal Turn in Japanese National Land Policy as Seen Through Public Investment."
Since the implementation of the Comprehensive National Development Plan in 1962, Japan's national land policy and its framework have aimed at balanced regional development. However, since the 1980s, its orientation has shifted in a more neoliberal direction. It was also noted that, during the policy implementation process, infrastructure investment became concentrated in large cities, particularly Tokyo.
Beginning with an overview of the background and prior research, the presenter emphasized the need for empirical verification of whether Japan's national land policy has indeed undergone neo-liberalization and whether this has resulted in spatial concentration in specific areas, such as Tokyo. He then explored these issues through a spatiotemporal analysis of public investment.
Public investment serves as a means of implementing national land policy, and the related administrative investment is primarily influenced by the objectives of national land policy, particularly the amount allocated to each region. Using the Annual Report on Administrative Investment Performance by Prefecture (都道府県別行政投資実績報告書) from the period of 1962-2019, the presenter analyzed public investment data, standardized the investment amounts into indices, and conducted a comparative spatiotemporal analysis to assess the degree of concentration in national land policy.
Through this analysis, he confirmed that Japan's national land policy has indeed shifted in a neoliberal direction and that since 2000, this shift has been accompanied by an increasing spatial concentration of investment in Tokyo. The presentation concluded by addressing the implications of such policies for regional areas, particularly concerning the challenges they pose and the prospects for sustainable growth in those regions.
