Why MOST Of Japan's Population Live In Just Three Cities: Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya 

Just some data. Tokyo itself has 14M people the whole metropolitan area which is named Greater Tokyo has 37M total

Thanks for awesome insights! 8:14 Toyota HQ is not in Greater Tokyo but in Nagoya. Instead, Nissan is located in Yokohama, Greater Tokyo.

"and as usual, there is a geographic reason behind this" never gets old!

8:19 Toyota's headquarter is located in Toyota city, Aichi prefecture nearby Nagoya city.

I went to Japan for the first time last week. I wanted to visit a smaller city, rather than the big three, so I went to Kofu. The glimpse I got of Tokyo compared to what I experienced in Kofu was staggering! Tokyo truly looked bustling, people absolutely everywhere. Kofu, on the other hand, was very quiet and peaceful. The area immediately outside the train station was fairly busy, but literally anywhere other than that was very empty. I found I was the only one wondering the streats more than once. I visited Kofu castle, I thought it would be at least a little busy considering it's one of the main tourist attractions in Kofu, but there were only about five other people there, and I think some of them were workers setting up for an upcoming event or something. The time of day I went was also likely a factor, 12pm on a weekday, but even exploring the city on the weekend was very peaceful. Sure, Kofu wasn't as convenient as I'm sure Tokyo is. There's not as many tourist spots or things to do, and no one really spoke English, but I'm very happy I went. It was easier to go at my own pace, and it was so nice often being the only one visiting a given location. Just being able to have space to myself, which I hear is much harder to find in Tokyo. I'm sure I'll go to Tokyo and Kyoto and such someday, but I recommend that people get out of those main areas more as well!

A common misconception people have about Tokyo is that it is a city. In fact it’s NOT a city but Tokyo is actually a prefecture (politically equivalent to state in the us) Tokyo has a governor, and within Tokyo there are multiple cities, towns and villages. What people think of when they think “the city of Tokyo” are the 23 special districts of Tokyo. They each have their own mayor, their own education system, police, fire departments, etc.

Excellent video. I have traveled to 100 countries and Japan is my number 1 country. It has something for everyone. I have been three times and each time I have felt more at "home." I do plan to move there in the near future!

I live in the US my whole life. I visited Japan for the first time back in August. Their public transportation is so impressive and I loved their bullet trains. The distance from Tokyo to Osaka is almost the same as NYC to Buffalo, NY which (about 7 hours by car). Shinkansen takes about of that time. It is sad in the US, I have to drive everywhere to get around.

I am in Japan right now - just outside of metro Tokyo in Tsuchiura. I love Tokyo but the mid-sized cities have a much better quality of life - like Okayama or Takamatsu where I was earlier this week. Okayama has a metro population of 700,000 but it feels much smaller. Takamatsu is at 350,000. These two cities are modern, clean and not nearly as dense as Tokyo, making it easier and more relaxing to get around.

I think there are certain factors that should be mentioned here, like snow. Japan is the snowiest country in the world. However, most of that snow actually falls in a very specific area. Osaka and Nagoya are only a few kilometres away from getting massive amounts of snow. Tokyo is a bit more shielded though because of the mountains. During the sengoku period, there were certain areas like Hokuriku and Tohoku that had a military advantage thanks to the snow. So, many of those places grew in population. In fact, in 1850, Kanazawa was the 4th most populous city in the country and it is now the 35th most populous. Sapporo, on the other hand, has grown but that's mostly because people who liked snow and wanted to get away from the humid Summers of the South moved there throughout the Meiji and post-Meiji era. It should also be mentioned that Hokkaido was basically uncharted territory at the time. So, lots of people settled there in the same way Americans settled in California during the same time. Of course, these aren't the only factors. Tokushima was the 10th biggest city in 1873 and now it's the 87th. Part of the reason for this has to do with the fact that it's located in Shikoku, the poorest island, which didn't allow much population growth due to the surrounding area. The small amount of space was also an issue for Nagasaki. It's historically been a massive port city but, despite that, Fukuoka is by far the largest city in Kyushu and that's primarily thanks to the landscape. Fukuoka is located on a plain while Nagasaki is squeezed in between the mountains. In fact, if you go to Nagasaki, you'll notice way more people live in apartments than the rest of the country because of the land and despite being a coastal city, some people even live more than 200 metres above sea level. The Kanto region and the plains in Nagoya were desirable and they were sparsely populated, hence why they grew. This how Yokohama went from being a minor city to Japan's second largest city, overtaking Osaka. The prefecture of Kanagawa had massive amounts of flat land that Osaka didn't have. Hvaing said that, everything else that you've touched on is correct. I just thought I'd add this as well since I know quite a lot about Japan's history and geography myself.

Nice video. I like the way you capture so many key aspects of each location. Keep em coming!

I lived in rural Japan and it was the best time of my life. I lived in Tokyo for 7 years and had fun but would never do it again. Kyushuu is the best place in Asia IMO. It is perfect. Good weather (except for typhoons), nice beaches, low cost of living, really nice people, great food and gorgeous scenery.

While in the military, I spent 3 years on Okinawa from 2009 to 2012. Typhoon parties... earthquakes... all were fun to me. The banyan tree...

The reason is simple. Because the Old capital was Kyoto and the new one is Tokyo. Historical demography shows in 1600AD one third of its people lived in present Kansai region, or "Kyoto and Osaka metropolitan zone". And From the 17th century, the development of Edo/ Tokyo - the Tokugawa shogun's home city and turned to be the true capital from the mid-19th century onwards - caused the population to move from Kansai to Kanto. The two metropolis were separated by the steep Japanese Alps, so the most important route connecting them detours along the southern coast - Tokaido road. The most fertile land along the road was Nagoya.

Nagoya is perhaps the largest megacity that people know about but don't realize it's a megacity.

Japan has always had a remarkably urban society. For centuries it has had one or more of the world's largest cities.

Regarding geography: I'm a bit weird, in the sense that I like to watch train cab ride videos. It's like going on a little adventure, not knowing where you'll end up. One of these videos was of a Japanese local, narrow gauge passenger train. It was somewhere in winter. Nothing spectacular, people were wearing winter clothes, but that was about it. At some point, the train entered a tunnel, and when it came out, it was in the middle of a quite serious snowstorm. The geography played a _major_ role in how Japan was shaped.

My family and I went to Hokkaido this summer and yeah there's parts of it where you don't see a soul for miles. It's beautiful and cooler than Honshu but of course it gets buried in snow in winter.

Since when Tokyo is home to Toyota instead of Toyota city in Aichi prefecture?

great video and analysis. thanks for your hard work ^^

Traveling on a train in Japan you can see urban jungle for mikes them forested mountains and small towns. You can also see large lakes and the ocean depending on your route. It’s a beautiful country although at times I feel that the cities are too crowded. I was on vacation whilst my poor wife was on work trip there. I miss it although it’s only been two weeks since returning home. Strange/ironic feeling: although I was staying in a train station hotel that had thousands of people commuting through it each day, I never felt uneasy and in danger. Where’s here I go shopping or to a restaurant I’m constantly on guard…thanks, America. My wife and I are now planning a job transfer for her so we can live there. I’m retired so I’m good to go either way. My peace of mind is in a smaller city-hub train station south of Tokyo. ❤

Hey Geoff, I love your videos! You explain concepts in such a fun and interesting way and gave me lots of Geography knowledge! Keep up the great work!

Excellent Job love the video

I like the way you explain the declining population issue, could you do the same for Bulgaria?

Great video. It's always interesting when a channel I watch comes out with a video about where I live. Though one mistake I noticed is that Toyota is actually based out of the Nagoya area (specifically the city of Toyota right next to Nagoya city proper) not Tokyo.

I've been to Japan 3-4 times - mainly during/after the time I was teaching English in Korea, twice to Tokyo, once to Osaka, Twice to Fukuoka, and I think once to Nagoya....and Also once to Okinawa and Nagasaki. I really prefer areas that aren't so populated and are warmer than most of the large cities in Japan. I spent Xmas and NYE in Fukyoka with a friend from there and her family, then went down to Okinawa and stayed in a mostly empty hostel outside of the city, then took a ferry to an island to stay the night. I've been to many islands that are only accessible by boat and even found a museum in the woods, which was a Dutch painter's house at one time, and a field of flowers overlooking the water. Yes, I became interested in Japan in my 20s as a doll collector and once upon a time an anime / gaming / music fan... but now that I'm 40, those hobbies have subsided and I am just in awe of the beautiful countryside and rural temples. I will retire there someday....Kyushu or Okinawa...

I wasn't planning on traveling far East but we did. I'm thankful for the history lessons that lead up to modern times. Excited to see where you'll take us next Geoff. 😊

Thanks for your sharing

Nonetheless, it is still nice insights. He just pointing out how dense the population on those 3 areas - some parts are a bit exergerated but not hold so much differents; considering he do not elaborating it to exact detail

This was another good video, thanks! Where do you get all the great clips/footage you use in these videos?

Hey Geoff. When comparing the different states across East Asia, you portrayed the ones in China and Korea as splintered, while the ones in Japan as unified. I think it would've been a good opportunity to bring up the Ryukyu Kingdom (today part of Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures) that was a proper state, and annexed by the Japanese Empire as late as 1879.

That's one heck of an island 😊

It's geography is pretty much a major reason I'd want to move there. As much as I love cities, Japan's cities are far too packed. But the rest of the country is fucking gorgeous. It actually wouldn't be that much of a disadvantage to live in the rural areas simply because of the short distance you'd need to travel to get to places. It's not like living in rural Wyoming. It's more like living in rural New England (Northern Maine excluded). Sure, its rural, but you're not hundreds of miles away from civilization.

Also history by Geoff 👍 awesome

Japan indeed is a fascinating country. Three countries: Japan, Germany and the UK (in the past) were able to turn their relatively small countries with limited resources into powerhouses. Indeed, Japan and Germany are the third and fourth wealthiest countries in the world, respectively. One way to learn more about Japan is to watch the classic films of directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi. The films of the jidaigeki genre (period films ("jidai" is where George Lucas got the word "jedi")) was a specialty of Mizoguchi. His classic films include "Sansho the Bailiff" which takes place in the Heian period (~1000 AD), "Ugetsu" which takes place in Sengoku period (~ 1550 AD), "The Life of Oharu" which takes place in the Edo period (~ 1650 AD) and "The Last Chrysanthemum" which takes place at the turn of the 20th century. Ozu's films focused more on the contemporary period (gendaigeki). His classic films include "Late Spring", "Tokyo Story" and "An Autumn Afternoon." Each of these films depict the transformation of Japanese life in the post-war period. Finally, Kurosawa, who may well be the greatest director that ever lived, directed films about both the past and present. The jidaigeki genre includes "Rashomon", "Seven Samurai", "Kagemusha" and "Ran." His gendaigeki films include "Stray Dog", "Ikiru" and "High and Low." This was a limited list of films and there were other great Japanese directors. Each of the films mentioned, however, were classics with "Tokyo Story" sometimes ranking as the greatest film ever made. These films give a great appreciation for Japanese history and culture.

I liked the videos that start with (why ppl dont live here) i learned to which city to avoid moving to

Very interesting

同時に100万人都市が札幌、仙台、福岡、広島、京都、川崎など地方にも多いです

Great video, Geoff! We appreciate you

0:00: 🇯🇵 Japan's population is highly concentrated in the Tokyo Metropolitan region and to a lesser degree Osaka and Nagoya due to geographic reasons. 3:04: 🏙 The video discusses the urban development of Edo, which later became Tokyo, and its transformation into a global city during the Meiji Restoration. 5:47: 🌋 Japan's location in the Pacific Ring of Fire brings both risks and benefits, including frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and cultural hot springs. 8:37: 🏙 Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya are major cities in Japan known for their strong economies, educational resources, and cultural significance. 11:34: 📉 Japan is facing a declining population due to low birth rates, economic pressures, and changing social norms, leading to a strained workforce and increased welfare expenditures. Recap by Tammy AI

I never noticed until this video, but Japan kind of looks like a dragon. Considering how dragons play such a role in Japanese culture, that's pretty interesting, at least to me. This was a really good video, Geoff 🙌🙂

Thank you

Love your videos bro

昔は米の生産量=人口だったので、江戸時代〜明治時代には新潟が人口1位だった時期もありますね。

Enjoyed

My grandfather and father have been to Japan. Someday I will visit.

Relocating young people from major metropolitan to regional areas can ease many of Japan’s social-economical problems, esp. aging population.

very good

From Japan This video is well done, but unfortunately there are some mistakes and not enough explanation. Tokyo Metroplex → Greater Tokyo Area ( Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) Osaka Metroplex → Kinki Major Metropolitan Area (Osaka Prefecture and parts of Hyogo, Kyoto, Nara, Shiga, Wakayama, Mie Prefectures) Nagoya Metroplex → Chūkyō metropolitan area (Aichi, Gifu, Mie Prefectures) Population of each prefecture Tokyo Metropolis 14 million Osaka Prefecture 8.8 million Aichi Prefecture 7.5 million TOYOTA is located in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. You can find out the rest on your own.

Actually, living 56% of entire national population in 3 cities is quite acceptable level as an east Asian nation. In S.Korea, a half of population are living in metropolitan area of Seoul, half of Mongolian are living in the Capital city as well, and the Chinese population is also concentrated in coastal area especially between Shanghai and Beijing.

Thanks…very interesting…have you done China as well?

Now I shall never look at "Edo Japan" the same. Didnt know Edo was Tokyo's original name. Thanks Geoff.

These 3 cities also have very large bays that serve shipping.

What i appreciate the most is just how well Japan found ways to blend the Old with the New in their society and culture. It's something America completely Fails at. We instead now have repetitive bland urban areas that are just unaffordable copy paste locations no matter where you go.. i really wish we could see what things Japan does well and utilize certain aspects into our society, quality of life..

Thank you for the video. It was ok but the information within it was very general and widely known to the audience already interested in Japan. I did not learn anything new from the video and most of the arguments presented were more historical and sociological in nature rather than truly geographical

Having spent two years in Colombia as a digital nomad from the US, I'm wondering what possible criteria Geoff could have for a "rich country" lol

I really want to visit Japan one day 😊

thank you for your explain. when i visit Japan in late December 2022, i wonder why i just saw a lot of salaryman in Osaka. once in while i will see a teen age.

Wow, Japan follows the Rank Size Rule of cities almost perfectly. (Where smaller population centers are 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, … the size of the biggest city)

Woooo he mentioned Nova Scotia!

😮 Osaka or Nagoya might be my next destination.

Excellent video! ✌👏

No mention of Sapporo?😢

too much snow on the west coast and the north, the japanese alps makes the pacific coast winter mild

I find that your last few videos have suffered from horrible audio sync issues to the point that it's painful to look at the screen during the parts showing yourself talking.😢

7:25 Don't you mean evergreen in the north and deciduous in the south?

8:18 TOYOTA's head office is not in Tokyo but in Toyota City (near Nagoya)

You need to change the “new podcast every Wednesday bug”

And the new maglev train is gonna combine the threee cities into one giant city (so to speak)

Used to be 10th Largest in Population Mexico recently Surpassed Japan

It's amazing how connected the country is via it's high speed rail, cheap charter flights and ferries. Yet Japanese people living in Tokyo are so disconnected from the rest of Northern or Southern Japanese way of living. Much more relaxed and content too.

Recently many Chinese people are buying land in beautiful Hokkaido, Japan and the number of people poaching fish and shellfish is also increasing, which is a very bad problem .

I thought Okinawa was tropical, but I checked and it's January and February are two degrees below the 65 F average daily temperatures to be considered tropical.

でも日本の道路総延長は160万キロくらいで舗装道路は110万キロ　これはロシアと同じ規模。道路密度では都市国家シンガポールの次に高い。神社仏閣が16万　祭りの数で30万くらいと言われてる。都市部に人口が集中してるのも事実だが　 逆に　人口や繁栄が分散してるから　これだけの神社仏閣と祭りがあり都市国家除いては断トツの道路密度が世界一位なんだよね。

At 3:31, you misspelled "business"

Can you do one on Taiwan

Part of the reason is that Japan has one of the largest urban populations. Japan’s urban population percentage is 92%. Obviously, economic opportunities play a big role in this too. Japan is currently suffering from a GDP decline.

Toyota is a company in Nagoya region.

Interesting.

Actually, Toyota HQ is is in the town Toyota(by Nagoya), not Tokyo.

anyone who has charts for home prices from those area?

FYI the equivalent number for the US (i.e. the number of Metropolitan Statistical Areas you have to add up before you have the majority of the US population) -- is roughly 30.

Um... I live there. Hokkaido has a lot of people and Sapporo alone has 2M residents. A massive world renowned snowboard and ski destination.

Edo uses a long E sound. like eeeedo, not the short E sound.

0:23 so every 3rd Japanese lives in Tokyo? ...and I thought that the Bulgarian ratio of 20% living in the capital city was way too high

I mean, thats basically the situation in Greece. Most people live in the biggest cities (60%). Athens and Thessaloniki

Sana, Momo and Mina who are the member of TWICE, one of JYP Entertainment's girl groups came from Kansai region, Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan.

You know, almost every country in the world has most of its population concentrated in one or two main locations, with the rest of the country being “empty”.

I worked for a Japanese company until recently. There is very little immigration into Japan to makeup for internal issues like low birthweight amongst native Japanese. Very homogenous population.

東京大阪名古屋以外にも人住んでるけどな。 横浜、浜松、金沢、札幌、仙台、福岡、広島ほか大都市は色々あるよ。

Moved to Japan Aug 2023. Western Tokyo. Cost of living is so cheap compared to where I moved from Fort Walton Beach Florida.

May-ji, not Ma-ee-ji

I have lived in Ishigaki, Okinawa and I can tell you sugar plantations were not a thing.

Here before someone comments about two other Japanese cities.

I find it fascinating that there is no model for sustainable economic opportunity in the face of a stable or even declining population. It stands to reason that the planet ca only sustain a finite number of people. We must, at some point, create economic sustainability that is unrelated to continuous population growth.

A large country!? Japan has the livable land of Idaho. Large? Duuuude, you need to research Japanese geography.

Metroplex? Thought it was Tokyo Metropolis?

The reason is strictly because land is extremely scarce in Japan. They have 125 million people over 397 km2 land. That is already very dense, but when you consider 80% of lands in Japan are mountainous it means they are unbelievably densely populated. So using land efficiently is necessary. They have no choice but to squeeze everybody into a couple of different cities. Unlike the US, land are plenty. It is one of the least densely populated country in the world. U don't need to squeeze everybody into a few city.

Some of my Hong Kong friends from Discord group and they migrated/settled in Japan, jokingly said Tokyo is City, other part are rural area XD refer the city services and transportation standard from our origin, Hong Kong.

Is that a “shogun” hair do??? 🥋 Man bun?