• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.119-143
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• 2010

Local administrative districts in Japan have extensively reformed over the last 10 years and have decreased by 40 percent. This study examines the process of the municipal mergers in Japan from the perspective of the politics of space, in addition to a focus on the formation of Tobichi (enclaves). The background and progress of municipal mergers in Japan revealed that the reformation of administrative districts progressed under 'restruction' rather than 'decentralization' to manage a financial crisis of government. As a result, the municipal mergers of Japan have progressed in spatiotemporal inequality. The municipal mergers of the study areas are analyzed in multi-dimensional spatial politics composed of financial and demographic properties, locationality, territoriality, placeness, and the politics of decision making. Administrative districts have a spatial property; the reformation of them should be considered with the specialty and generality of the region.