Companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area to "excess outflow" for the second consecutive year: Relocating to further afield - private survey
Some companies are moving their headquarters from the Tokyo metropolitan area to Osaka or other regions. Until now, Tokyo has been "concentrated", but the tide seems to have changed with the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
According to a survey on the relocation of corporate headquarters by Teikoku Databank, a major credit research company, 168 companies moved out of the Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba) in the first half of 2022 (January-June), A total of 124 companies moved into the zone, with 44 "excess migration".
If this pace continues in the second half of the year, the number of companies relocating outside the Tokyo metropolitan area is expected to exceed 300 for the first time in 20 years since 2001-2002.
Before the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the trend of corporate relocations had continued for a long time to be concentrated in Tokyo. According to the company, the reason for the excess outflow is, "While many companies are reducing sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are many cases in which they try to rebuild their businesses by moving to regions where office rents are cheaper." In addition, as telework and web conferencing are becoming more prevalent, there are also "positive" head office relocations from the perspective of work style reform.
The chart below shows the top 10 prefectures with the most head office relocations from the Tokyo metropolitan area in 2021.
Hokkaido ranked third with 33 companies, a five-fold increase compared to 2019 (7 companies) before the pandemic. Eighth place Miyagi Prefecture (14 companies, 4 companies in 2019) is also growing significantly.
In the past, many companies moved their headquarters from the Tokyo metropolitan area to metropolitan areas such as Osaka and Aichi, as well as the suburbs of the metropolitan area, such as the three northern Kanto prefectures. However, there are also moves to relocate to farther afield. According to the company's analysis, "With remote work taking root, remote areas as well as low-population regional and core cities have emerged as strong candidates for relocating the head office."
Banner photo: Odori Park in central Sapporo (Pixta)
