Creative Economy in Japan: A Spatial Analysis

This work aims at identifying and measuring the spatial distribution of creative economic activities in Japanese Prefectures. Although they can be defined in different ways, creative industries correspond to new types of production processes, more flexible and supported by digital technologies, oriented to more personalized and experiential forms of consumption. By adopting a broad definition of creative economy and using global and local indicators of spatial association, this analysis of the Japanese case confirms a global tendency for the agglomeration ofcreative activities in large metropolitan areas, with a strong concentration around Tokyo and Kanagawa (mostly) and also Osaka and Kyoto (to a smaller extent). When observing the similarity of data from two different moments (2014 and 2021), it was observed that the emergence of this creative economy corresponds to a slow process of structural transformation. The most relevant finding of thiswork is the observation of the difficulties of peripheral regions to be attractive for these creative industries. Implications, limitations and further developments of this work are discussed, considering the importance of finding new development paths for all the territory.