Why did the Keihanshin Industrial Zone lose its leading economic position to the Tokyo-Yokohama area?

The Keihanshin Industrial Zone, which served as Japan's dominant economic region until the end of World War II, lost its leading position to the Keihin Industrial Zone in the Tokyo-Yokohama area primarily due to significant geographic and urban constraints.1

Since the 1960s, the Keihanshin region has faced several critical challenges that hindered its ability to maintain industrial growth:

• Limited Space: There has been a severe lack of available land for industrial expansion and the construction of new, modern factories.1
• Environmental and Structural Issues: The region has suffered from land subsidence caused by the overuse of groundwater, as well as the decentralization of the city of Osaka.1
• Industrial Shift: While Keihanshin struggled with these physical limitations, the Tokyo-Yokohama area successfully utilized large-scale land-reclamation projects in Tokyo Bay to create necessary space for heavy industry, including steel mills, oil refineries, and petrochemical complexes.23

Ultimately, while Keihanshin remains a vital industrial region, the Tokyo-Yokohama area became the nation's economic and financial capital by providing the infrastructure and space required for postwar industrial resurgence.2