Departure Ceremonies being held at every station on the line from Nagano Station to Kanazawa Station as well as at Tokyo Station. Along with Minister Ota of the MLIT attending the Train Departure Ceremony at Kanazawa Station and the Rail Line Opening Commemoration Ceremony in Toyama City, MLIT senior officials such as Vice Minister Kitagawa and Parliamentary Secretary Suzuki were present at each of the ceremonies. Every one of the ceremonies were attended by numerous officials connected to the project, and the opening of operations for the Hokuriku Shinkansen was lavishly celebrated.

With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line (connecting Nagano and Kanazawa), the travel time between Tokyo and Kanazawa has been shortened from the previous travel time of 3 hours 47 minutes to 2 hours 28 minutes, bringing the Hokuriku Area much closer to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

Along with the expectations that this will lead to the acceleration of business establishment and activity along the train line, as well as the promotion of local regions and the vitalization of its economy through the expansion of the living spheres along the line, it is anticipated that the region will be revitalized by more tourists visiting the Hokuriku Area through the formation of more sightseeing routes and the discovery of new resources for tourism.

Furthermore, the actual use of the line from March 14 $ ^{th} $ to 16 $ ^{th} $ —the first 3 days of operation—was 185% compared to the previous year for the line between Takasaki and Kanazawa, and 306% compared to the previous year for the line between Joetsu-Myoko and Itoigawa, showing that the Hokuriku Shinkansen line is off to a good start. Along with this, it seems more tourists are actually visiting the Hokuriku Area now, with the number of people entering the Kanazawajo Park being 4 times the number of people that visited in March of past years within the 2 days after the opening of the train line.

City development has also been progressing from the expectations placed on the operation of the Shinkansen, with the number of empty stores in Kanazawa City being cut to half in the last 5 years and some places recording a commercial property appreciation rate that is highest in the nation in the 2015 official land value. In addition, there have been cases of businesses moving their main office to Ishikawa Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture.

## (2) Logistics and Information

(The Internet Mail Order and Logistics)

With the development of ICT (Internet Communication Technology), it has become possible to connect with people all over the world regardless of time, distance and location. In recent years, the spread of information and communication electronic equipment has progressed, and looking at the changes in the permeation conditions of such electronic equipment, it is evident that the use of personal computers and cell phones/PHS spread in the latter half of 1990s to the early 2000s, and that use of smartphones and tablet-type terminals have suddenly become widespread since 2010 (Figure 2-1-83).

Changes in the Spread and Use of Information and Communication Electronic Equipment (by Household)

(Notes) 1 For "Cell Phones/PHS", from 2009 year-end to 2012 year-end Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) were included in the study, and from the 2010 year-end, smartphones were included in this number. Further, the rate of ownership excluding the smartphones was 76.5%.

Source) Developed by MLIT from "FY2013 Trend Survey of Communication Use" by MIC