Keihin Kogyo Chitai
京浜工業地帯
けいひんこうぎょうちたい
Extends along the shores of Tokyo Bay and nearby inland areas. Tokyo,
Kawasaki, and Yokohama are the zone's principal cities. It ranks
first in Japan in the value of industrial goods produced. Factors
that contributed to its growth are its proximity to Japan's greatest
consumer markets and labor force and to the ports of Tokyo and Yokohama.
The heart of the zone is the coastal industrial belt between Kawasaki
and Yokohama, where giant steel mills, oil refineries, petrochemical
plants, shipyards, primary food-processing plants, thermoelectric
plants, and other plants are located. Automobile, electric machinery,
secondary food-processing, and precision machine plants are located
further inland. The country's largest publishing houses and printing
plants are located in the Tokyo area. Since the 1970s, overpopulation,
pollution, and a shortage of industrial water have caused many plants
in the central part of the zone to relocate.
*Encyclopedia of Japan, Kodansha International, 1999 |
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