Taking the Goki-Shichido (Five Home Provinces and Seven Circuits of Ancient Japan) as a
theoretical framework this book examines shrinking Japan from a regional variation perspective
by municipality along the ancient Sannyodo which comprises eight provinces and four
prefectures today. The book identifies the principal explanatory factors based on the small
area data of e-Stat through GPS statistical software tools such as G-census and EvaCva within
a historical perspective. This historical knowledge helps in understanding the significance of
the regional cultural heritage that remains in each municipality today. The book pays special
attention to municipal variations within the same prefecture presenting a completely unique
approach from what other researchers have pursued.This book studies two present-day prefectures
along the ancient Sannyodo for detailed analyses of the impacts of regional variations of
population decline in Japan. They are Hiroshima Prefecture made up of the former Bingo and Aki
provinces and Yamaguchi Prefecture formed by the ancient provinces of Suo and Nagato. The
reasons for selecting these two prefectures of ancient Sannyodo are twofold. First they are
made up of a multiple number of the ancient provinces. Second other prefectures that fall
under the Sannyodo have been studied in the previous works of the present author by adopting
the same methods of analyses. Thus by presenting unique analyses of regional variations on
small municipal levels in Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures along the Sannyodo this book
offers suggestions for effective regional policy to revitalize shrinking Japan to a sustainable
one.
