Spatial mobility and reasons for migration of Japanese women

This paper discloses, istly, the spatial mobility of Japanese women and its change mainly between 1970 and 1980, through comparison with the men's mobility, in respect of distance of movement, age patterns, and labor force status, using population census data. Secondly, the chief reasons for the migration of women by types of migratory flows are examined using the data derived from the survey on reasons for migration conducted in 1981 by the Land Agency of the Government of Japan. Results show that the spatial mobility of Japanese women is smaller than that of men in long distance movements but is almost the same in short distance moves, and that the age pattern of spatial mobility of the women is nearly the same between both distances of movement. Also, it is disclosed that the mobility of women not in the labor force is higher for the whole country but lower in metropolitan areas than that for men. The prime reason for the migration of women is employment, the as same as that for men for the whole nation, but this varies between the types of migratory flows.