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Japan Kanto
The Kanto ("east of the barrier") region encompasses
seven
prefectures around Tokyo on the Kanto Plain. The plain
itself,
however, makes up only slightly more than 40 percent of
the region.
The rest consists of the hills and mountains that border
it except
on the seaward side. Once the heartland of feudal power,
the Kanto
became the center of modern development
(see Tokugawa Period, 1600- 1867
, ch. 1). Within the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area,
the
Kanto houses not only Japan's seat of government but also
the
largest group of universities and cultural institutions,
the
greatest population, and a large industrial zone. Although
most of
the Kanto Plain is used for residential, commercial, or
industrial
construction, it is still farmed. Rice is the principal
crop,
although the zone around Tokyo and Yokohama has been
landscaped to
grow garden produce for the metropolitan market.
The Kanto region is the most highly developed,
urbanized, and
industrialized part of Japan. Tokyo and Yokohama form a
single
industrial complex with a concentration of light and heavy
industry
along Tokyo Bay. Smaller cities, farther away from the
coast, house
substantial light industry. The average population density
reached
1,192 persons per square kilometer in 1991
(see Population Density
, this ch.).
Data as of January 1994
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