Table 2 The location of residence 5 years earlier (men and women)

The 4th survey of Geographical Mobility (1996)	Lived at the same residence 5 years earlier	Lived at a different residence 5 years earlier	Lived in a different locality in the same city/town/village 5 years earlier	Lived in a different city/town/village in the same prefecture 5 years earlier	Lived in a different prefecture	Lived in a different country
Total	77.8	22.2	8.6	6.5	6.8	0.3
5 to 9 years old	67.9	32.1	12.9	9.7	9.2	0.4
10 to 14 years old	79.2	20.8	10.5	4.5	5.3	0.5
15 to 19 years old	81.2	18.8	6.8	5.2	6.6	0.1
20 to 24 years old	67.2	32.8	9.8	9.4	13.4	0.3
25 to 29 years old	50.5	49.5	15.4	17.1	16.4	0.6
30 to 34 years old	51.4	48.6	16.6	15.6	15.8	0.7
35 to 39 years old	66.6	33.4	13.2	9.5	9.9	0.8
40 to 44 years old	78.3	21.7	8.9	6.2	6.2	0.5
45 to 49 years old	84.8	15.2	7.2	4.0	3.9	0.1
50 to 54 years old	87.4	12.6	5.8	4.0	2.7	0.2
55 to 59 years old	91.8	8.2	4.1	2.2	1.8	0.1
60 to 64 years old	93.9	6.1	3.2	1.5	1.3	0.1
65 years old and over	93.8	6.2	3.4	1.5	1.2	0.0
(%)
The 3rd Survey of Geographical Mobility (1991)	Lived at the same residence 5 years earlier	Lived at a different residence 5 years earlier	Lived in a different locality in the same city/town/village 5 years earlier	Lived in a different city/town/village in the same prefecture 5 years earlier	Lived in a different prefecture	Lived in a different country
Total	73.3	26.7	11.0	7.5	8.0	0.2
5 to 9 years old	64.1	35.9	15.7	10.4	9.7	0.2
10 to 14 years old	75.7	24.3	11.5	6.2	6.5	0.1
15 to 19 years old	76.3	23.7	10.7	5.0	7.8	0.1
20 to 24 years old	60.5	39.5	9.8	10.3	19.1	0.3
25 to 29 years old	44.2	55.8	19.0	18.0	18.5	0.3
30 to 34 years old	48.4	51.6	17.3	18.5	15.6	0.2
35 to 39 years old	63.4	36.6	15.4	10.8	10.2	0.2
40 to 44 years old	73.9	26.1	12.4	6.6	7.0	0.1
45 to 49 years old	80.6	19.4	9.8	5.1	4.5	0.0
50 to 54 years old	84.4	15.6	7.8	3.8	3.6	0.3
55 to 59 years old	86.8	13.2	6.9	3.3	3.0	0.1
60 to 64 years old	89.7	10.3	4.7	3.7	1.9	0.0
65 years old and over	90.3	9.7	6.0	2.1	1.6	0.0

## 2 Reasons for migration

As for the reasons for migration to the present residence, respondents were requested to choose the most important reason from among 15 alternatives. Here we examine the data of respondents aged 15 years and over by aggregating 15 alternatives into 7 categories: 1. admission to school, 2. job-related reasons, 3. housing-related reasons, 4. to live with/near parents/children, 5. moved with parents/spouse, 6. marriage/divorce, and 7. others (Table 3). We analyze the results by sex.

According to Tables 4 and 5, the most popular reasons for migration are “housing-related reasons” (33.6%) and “job-related reasons” (29.5%) for males, and “moved with parents/spouse” (53.6%) and “marriage/divorce” (19.8%) for females.

Data by age group indicate that for males, the percentage of “housing-related reasons” is over 40% in all age groups above 35 years old. In the 55-59 age group, this percentage is 53.2%. “Job-related reasons” account for the highest percentages in the 20-24 age group and the 30-34 age group. In the 25-29 age group, however, “marriage/divorce” is the primary reason. In the case of females, “moved with parents/spouse” shows very high percentages regardless of age, although “marriage/divorce” is the biggest reason in the 25-29 age group (44.0%). As for other notable characteristics, relatively high percentages of “to live with/near parents/children” are shown by men in their 30s and 40s.