THE JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHERS

1. General Description of the Association
Keizai Chiri Gakkai (JAEG: The Japan Association of Economic Geographers)
was established in 1954 as the successor of Keizai Chiri Danwa Kai (the EconomicGeography Forum). Members of the JAEG come from a variety of backgrounds:
geographers carrying out sectoral and regional studies in Japan and abroad; economists
specializing in industrial location, regional economics, and regional policy theories;
policy makers and analysts in local governments and think tanks; and geographyteachers in primary and secondary schools.
The JAEG is a national academic association which represents diverse theoreticaland methodological approaches. The members of the JAEG conduct their research onindustries and regions from diverse perspectives and are advancing empirical andtheoretical research on themes such as industrial structural change, regional problems,regional policies, environmental problems, and globalization.
The Association has currently 672 individual members and nine patronage
members (as of May 25, 2018). The current President of the Association is Koji
MATSUHASHI (Professor of Meiji University), following Kenji YAMAMOTO (Professor ofTeikyo University and Professor Emeritus of Kyushu University, 2012-2017).
JAEG’s research activities are decentralized, and the Association has five regional
branches; Kanto (Tokyo and its surrounding area), Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe and theirsurrounding area), Chubu (Nagoya and its surrounding area), Seinan (Western Japan
including Hiroshima, Kitakyushu and Fukuoka) and Hokuto (Northeastern Japan
including Sendai and Sapporo). The executive board has 12 members; the chairperson
and vice-chairperson of three expert committees (general affairs, negotiation andpublicity committee, and editorial board), the five regional representatives and thegeneral secretary, who are elected from 40 Councilors. The latest general secretary isProf. Dr. Kenji SUESOSHI (Fukushima University), following Prof. Dr. Koji KATO
(Kokushikan University, 2016-2017) and Prof. Dr. Tatsuya ITO (Hosei University2014-2015).
The main activities of the Association consist of holding national and local
meetings and publishing Keizai Chirigaku Nenpo (AJAEG: Annual of the Japan36

Association of Economic Geographers: Fig.1) and some independent books like aKiiwado de Yomu Keizai Chirigaku (Keywords in Economic Geography: published inJune 2018 by Hara Shobo, Tokyo).
The JAEG holds three kinds of meeting activities: an annual meeting, a regional
conference and regional division workshops.

Fig.1

Keizai Chirigaku Nenpo Vol.64 No.2

2. Annual Meeting
The annual meeting is not only the biggest event of the JAEG but also the mostimportant occasion for research presentations in economic geography in Japan, held on
a weekend in every May or June. At a university nominated to act as host, the meeting
usually takes three days and consists of (a) a Symposium, (b) Round Table Discussions,(c) Frontier Sessions and (d) an Excursion. Regional Congress are held later in the year
(see below).
The following brief description of the Annual Meetings since 2013 exhibits therecent trends of scholarly research interest among Japanese economic geographers.
1) The 60th Annual Meeting
We had our 60th Annual Meeting on June 1-3, 2013 at The University of Tokyo,
Komaba Campus. Chairperson of the meeting was Koji MATSUHASHI (Meiji University).
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The subject of the symposium was “Rethinking the ‘Essence’ of Economic Geography”.
We invited E. S. SHEPPARD (UCLA: Chairperson of American Association ofGeographers (AAG)) as a guest speaker for a special lecture for 60th anniversary
meeting. We also had Round Table Discussions about “Exploring the Roots of Japanese
Economic Geography” and “Spaces of Retail and Consumption in the Era ofPost-Economic Growth”, and took an all-day excursion about “Taito and Sumida
Wards: Heritage and Innovation of the Localities”.
2) The 61st Annual Meeting
We had our 61st Annual Meeting on May 24-26, 2014 at Nagoya University,
Higashiyama Campus. Chairperson of the meeting was Kohei O KAMOTO (NagoyaUniversity). The subject of the symposium was “Nature and Economic Geography”. We
also had Round Table Discussions about “Cognitive (Cultural) Capitalism andEconomic Geography” and four Frontier Sessions which were presented by youngermembers. We took an all-day excursion about “Nature and Economy along the KisoRiverine System”.
3) The 62nd Annual Meeting
The 62nd Annual Meeting was held at Amagasaki chusho kigyo senta (Amagasaki
Small and Medium Enterprises Center) on May 23-25, 2015. Chairperson of themeeting was Masaki TAKAYAMA (Osaka University). The subject of the symposium was“Conversion of Industrial Structures and Restructuring of Coastal Zones”. We also hada Round Table Discussion about “Let’s Enjoy Industrial Tourism” and two Frontier
Sessions which were presented by younger members. We took an all-day excursion
about “Conversion of Industrial Structures and Restructuring of Coastal Zones”.
4) The 63rd Annual Meeting
The 63rd Annual Meeting was held at Kyushu University, Hakozaki Campus on
May 27-29, 2016. The meeting place suddenly changed from Kumamoto University,
Kurokami Campus due to the influence of the Kumamoto earthquake. Chairperson ofthe meeting was Akihiko TAKAGI (Kyushu University). The subject of the symposium
was “Regional Revitalization and Economic Geography”. We also had Round Table
Discussions about “Regional Revitalization and Economic Geography” and“Automobile Recycling from the View Point of Economic Geography”. Two Frontier
Sessions were also presented by younger members.

385) The 64th Annual Meeting
The 64th Annual Meeting was held at Meiji University, Surugadai Campus on
May 27-29, 2017. Chairperson of the meeting was Naoharu FUJITA (Meiji University).
The subject of the symposium was “Reconsidering the Global-City-Tokyo Debate”. We
also had a Round Table Discussion about “Thinking about Water Problems in the Tone
River” and two Frontier Sessions which were presented by younger members. Also, wetook an all-day excursion around the water-front of Tokyo Bay.
6) The 65th Annual Meeting
The 65th Annual Meeting was held at Tohoku University, Aobayama Campus onMay 25-27, 2019. We discussed the changing the role of Regional Central Cities (ChihoChusu Toshi) like Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. We also had two Frontier
Sessions which were presented by younger members. Also, we took an all-day
excursion to the Disaster-affected Area of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
7) The 66th Annual Meeting
We will have the 66th Annual Meeting at Meijo University, Nagoya Dome-MaeCampus.
3. Regional Congress
The regional congress is held annually each autumn. This congress is held at aregion outside of the Tokyo metropolitan area. This congress normally lasts for twodays: day 1 for presentations and discussion on a specific topic and day 2 for anexcursion. Compared with the annual conference this is smaller in size, but quite unique
because the topic dealt with is very specific to the place where the congress is being
held, inviting not only academic researchers but also local policy makers, businesspeople and NPO members.
The following is a brief description of the Annual Meetings since 2013.
1) 2013 Ichinoseki - Hiraizumi Regional Congress
It was held on October 19-20 2013. The subject of the congress was “Communityand Tourism Development in a World Heritage Listed Area”.
2) 2014 Tamagawa Genryu Regional Congress.
It was held on October 18-19 2014. The subject of the congress was39

“Development of New Regional Activities in Rural Areas”.
3) 2015 Kanazawa Regional Congress
It was held on October 24-25 2015. The subject of the congress was “Downsizingof Country Cities”.
4) 2016 Nara Regional Congress
It was held on October 22-23 2016. The subject of the congress was“Revitalization of Agriculture and Forestry in Hilly and Mountainous Regions”.
5) 2017 Kumamoto Regional Congress
It was held on November 26-27 2017. The subject of the congress was“Earthquake Disaster and Regional Economy”.
4. Journal issued by the Association
The Association publishes an academic quarterly entitled Keizai Chirigaku Nenpo(AJAEG: Annals of the Japan Association of Economic Geographers). The Annals
publishes typically peer-reviewed general articles (original articles, review articles andresearch notes), forums, book reviews and proceedings of the local meetings. The firstissue came out in 1955, a year after the establishment of the Association, and the latest
volume, vol.64, was published in 2018.
AJAEG consists of not only public-offered papers but also papers requested by
the editorial committee for special issues such as symposium articles. No.4 of eachvolume is designated to publish articles presented at the annual conference symposium.
In addition, special issues are designed biyearly by the editorial committee or guest
editors. Below are issues specially covered by AJAEG since 2013, which will also
indicate some of Japanese economic geographers’ current research concerns:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Economic Geography of Regional Inequalities (vol. 59, no. 1, 2013)
Rethinking the “Essence” of Economic Geography (vol. 59, no. 4, 2013)
Restructuring of Japanese Agriculture (vol. 61, no. 1, 2015)
Conversion of Industrial Structure and Restructuring of Coastal Zones (vol. 61, no.
4, 2015)
5. Regional Revitalization and Economic Geography (vol. 62, no. 4, 2016)
6. Service Economy: The Real Impact on Geography (vol. 63, no. 1, 2017)
7. Reconsidering the Global-City-Tokyo Debate (vol. 63, no. 4, 2017)40

5. Other publications
A unique and meaningful publication of the Association is a series of books
entitled Keizai Chirigaku no Seika to Kadai (Progress and Issues of Japanese EconomicGeography) that aims to review research trends of the discipline by examining works
published by JAEG members for a fixed period. The first volume, which reviewed andsummarized the achievement for the ten years after the foundation of the Association,
was published in 1967, and then subsequent volumes were published in 1977, 1984,1992, 1997 and 2003. The latest, seventh volume, was published in 2010 and covered
research from 2002 to 2007. The structure of each volume has been changing
considerably in order to fit the research trend of each period. The content of the latest
volume is structured into nine chapters: methodology, regional problems anddevelopment, primary industry, secondary industry, tertiary industry, population andinhabitation, overseas research, in-country regional economies and purpose-built
sections. Although every volume is written in Japanese, it could act as an all-in-one
guidebook to understand the achievements and tasks of economic research in Japan.
In 2012, the Hokuto division of JAEG edited a book entitled Hokuto Nihon noChiiki Keizai (Regional Economies in the North-eastern Part of Japan) incommemoration of the 10th anniversary of the division.
Also, in 2018, JAEG edited a book entitled Kiiwado de Yomu Keizai Chirigaku(Keywords in Economic Geography) which was published by Hara Shobo, Tokyo. This
book was planned as commemoration of the 60th anniversary of JAEG around 2013 andpublished after a period of five years.
6. Promoting young scholars’ research
JAEG has two programs in order to promote a new generation of researchers
within the discipline. First is the JAEG research award, which was established in 2002and was modified in 2010. Before the modification, the award was for articles andbooks that were published within the past two years by authors under the age of 40years old. After the modification, the award was separated into the best publication
award for authors under 45 years old and the best article award for authors under 33years old. The prize-winning works since 2013 are as follows:
1. 2013 award (book publication)
MIZUNO, Masahiko (2011) Innovation no Keizai Kuukan (Economic Spaces ofInnovation), Kyoto: Kyoto Daigaku Shuppan-kai.
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2. 2014 award (article)
NORITO, Takashi (2012): “Ajia ni okeru Umeboshi Kaihatsu-yunyu no Tenkai toSono Mekanizumu” (Trajectory of the Develop-and-Import of Umeboshi in Asiaand Its Mechanism), Keizai Chirigaku Nenpo (AJAEG), vol. 58, no. 2. pp. 100-117.
3. 2015 award (book publication)
NAKAZAWA, Takashi (2014): Rodo no Keizai Chirigaku (Economic Geography ofLabor), Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha.
4. 2016 award (article)
CHEN, Lin (2014): “Chugoku Fukken-sho Nairiku Noson ni okeru Yasai Seisan noKakudai to Noka no Shugyokozo” (Development Vegetable Production andEmployment Structure in Inland Rural Areas of Fujian Province, China), Keizai
Chirigaku Nenpo (AJAEG), vol. 60, no. 1. pp. 1-22.
5. 2017 award (book publication)
KUKIMOTO, Mikoto (2016): Hoiku･Kosodate Shien no Chirigaku: Fukushi ServiceJukyu no ‘Chiikisa’ ni Chakumoku shite (Geography of Nursery and Child CareSupport), Tokyo: Akashi Shoten.
Second, the “frontier” session was introduced at the annual conference in 2004.
The “frontier” session is specially designed for paper presentation by distinguished
young researchers who have just completed their Ph. D. dissertation. So far the session
has been successfully organized and two to four papers have been presented in eachyear.
7. The Japan-Korea Joint Conference
Finally, it is interesting to note that Japan-Korea Symposiums on EconomicGeography have taken place in this period. JAEG and EGSK (Economic GeographicalSociety of Korea) have alternately hosted joint conferences sharing mutual concerns on
economic geography. The following is a brief description of the Annual Meetings since
2013.
1) The 5th Conference
It was held at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, on November 302013. The subject of the conference was “Development of Economic Geography in theage of the Creative Economy”. Four Korean researchers and four young Japanese
researchers belonging to JAEG presented their research results.
422) The 6th Conference
It was held concurrently with the 62nd Annual Meeting at Amagasaki chusho
kigyo senta (Amagasaki Small and Medium Enterprises Center) on May 24 2015. The
subject of the conference was “Comparison of Industrial Agglomeration and TheirPolicies in East Asia”. Three Korean researchers and two Japanese researcherspresented their research results.
(Koji KATO, Kokushikan University)

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