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Description
This paper traces the linkages between a system of employer-sponsored commuting allowances, company and state housing, and the normalisation of growing commuting distances in post-war Japan. Facilitated by a tax exemption system, it became common practice for employers to cover the transport costs of their workers after the Second World War. In addition to regular salaries, employers paid each worker their commuting costs, including rail and bus fares. Known as “Tax Exemption of Commuting Allowance” (tsūkin teate hikazei seido), this system allowed workers to choose housing in the suburbs, which was more affordable and appealing than housing in the city centre. After its introduction in 1958, this system thus facilitated the expansion of metropolitan areas. Workers typically lived in areas where the allowance would cover commuting costs. The exempt amount was gradually increased as the economy grew, facilitating the continued expansion of urban areas. In the early 1990s, when the Japanese economy was at its peak, even daily roundtrips of more than 100 km by Shinkansen became possible and, though not necessarily welcomed, often accepted as necessary.
Government offices and large companies provided not only commuting allowances but also housing allowances for their workers, and in some cases even housing itself. While existing factory dormitories were one example of this, new company housing was built further away from workplaces. The government also built affordable housing for workers in the suburbs, often in the form of large apartment blocks (danchi) designed according to modernist architectural ideas. However, this movement came to a halt when the Japanese economy entered a long period of stagnation in the 21st century. In the city centers, redevelopment resulted in the construction of high-rise residential buildings, leading to a phenomenon known as the 'return to the city center'.
Biography
Shuichi Takashima is a Professor of Economic History at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. His research explores the position of railways in the economic history of modern Japan. Shuichi’s most recent monograph Toshi tetsudō no gijutsu shakaishi, published in 2019, examines the social history of urban railway technology in Japan.
