Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
were the ko's regular inns. Most ko only used the inn for lunch every year.
Between 1976 and 1986, about 40 groups used the inn each year. Between 1987
and 1998, numbers wavered between 20 and 40, and from 1998 to 2000 the
number increased. In 2000, 68 groups used the inn, a record for the past 27 years,
but since 2001, the number has declined. Thirteen ko regularly used the inn for
accommodation, although the number fl uctuated slightly from 1985 to 1987.
The number of Ko using the inn only for dinner increased slightly after 1999.
The number of persons who used inns also declined until 1997; peak number
of users occurred in 1987. After that, the number of inn users increased until
2000, but then declined until 2005. More persons used the inn for lunch every
year, and groups accounted for about 80 % of the total number of users. Up to
100 members per group used the accommodation, and 250 visited for lunch. On
average, 29.6 used the accommodation and 49.0 visited for lunch only. The
average number of members per ko at the inns used for accommodation has
decreased since 1992, and the number of lunch patrons has decreased since
1994. The size of ko has decreased and affected Inn A patrons.
4.1.2.3
Transformation of the Commercial Environment of Narita City
After the Second World War
In 1954, one town and six villages merged to form Narita. Until about 1960, small
private shops accounted for most commercial activities. After 1978, when Narita
Airport opened, Narita Newtown was built and supermarkets opened, changing the
commercial environment signifi cantly. Figure 4.5 shows the number of retail shops
and annual sales in Narita. The number of shops in Narita increased until the begin-
ning of the 1980s, but then leveled off at about 1,000 shops (although small increases
and decreases occurred), and increased again in 2007. Annual sales rapidly increased
until the beginning of the 1990s. After 1990, sales gradually increased, despite con-
stant small increases and decreases. Floor space per shop has consistently increased,
particularly since 1990. The number of employees per shop decreased once in the
1990s, but increased overall between 1970 and 2004, then decreased in 2007. Peak
employment was in 2004 at 10.35 employees per shop, more than four times the
average when Narita was founded.
The increase in fl oor space and number of employees per shop may have been
driven by shops' increased size in the 1990s when large retail shops opened (called
“large shops” below). Large shops in Narita opened in the 1980s, and the 1990s
witnessed many such openings (Fig. 4.5 ). Large shops in Narita are only located in
Narita Newtown, around the Kodzu-no-mori station of the Keisei Line, and in the
suburb of Sanrizuka. The large shops typically have a fl oor space of 2,000-5,000 m 2 ,
and many are specialty shops with their own parking spaces, or very large shopping
centers with a fl oor space of over 10,000 m 2 . The large shops have drawn more
shoppers to Narita compared with surrounding municipalities since 1990. In 2001,
the increase in the number of households in Narita was the second largest out of all
municipalities in Chiba (Komaki et al. 2006 ).
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