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Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 10:01
strange question but im planning to visit japan and wanted to know fun tidbits about the cities and such , while researching i came up with the question but google either shows me top 10 biggest towns or top 25 smallest
by JapanVisitor (guest)  

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 14:58
Well there is Edo of course. Interestingly if you look at some of the footage of the early shinkansen on Youtube much of what are now cities were only small towns & fields remarkably recently.
by Stan Norrell rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 15:10
This makes no sense. Do you believe big cities have been big since the dawn of time?
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 15:31
You should define the time range. Eg cities that grew exponentially in the last xxx years.

Around Tokyo there must be heaps of it. There are even towns that didnft even exist like 50 years ago, eg Tama New Town: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tama_New_Town

Or as PP said, if you look at population growth of Tokyo (or many other cities specially on the pacific coast).

by LikeBike (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 15:41
I meant fairly recently as in the last 50 to 25 years
by JapanVisitor (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/28 17:24
http://www.omegacentre.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/J...

Start reading. And there are many more of these town planner papers on the internet if you google search.
by hakata14 rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/29 06:56
If you're talking the last 25 to 50 years, then there are a bunch in and around Tokyo. Narita airport was still being constructed 50 years ago. It was mostly farm land before that. With the economy booming back then, more and more people moved to Tokyo for jobs and to attend university. The city had to grow outwards. As more train tracks were laid, places in Western Tokyo, Saitama, and Chiba, that were once small towns turned into big commuter towns.
by Taco Grande rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/29 23:36
Others that come to mind include Naha, Nagano and Sapporo (some people with more knowledge might be able to confirm or deny these cities are growing strongly in the past 50 years more than I)...
by mfedley rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/9/30 19:48
Sapporo!

In the late 1800's it was a few people, now fifth largest in Japan.

Not sure that is what you want, but it is an stunning example of change,
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: Is there a big town that was small once? 2018/10/1 11:59
Kobe and Yokohama were the small villages before Meiji revolution.

Those have been developed by the trading with other coutries.
by biwakoman rate this post as useful

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