A Study on the Settlement Process of Lifestyle Migration in the Outer Suburbs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area: A Case Study in Koma Area of Hidaka City, Saitama Prefecture

The study aims to identify socio-spatial factors prompting the settlement process of Lifestyle Migration (LM) in outer suburban areas and structuralize its unique mechanism of the process in comparison with traditional LM in rural areas. By analyzing text data of interviews with migrants in an outer suburban area of the Tokyo metropolis using the grounded theory approach, the results indicated two distinct characteristics of the outer suburban LM from the traditional rural LM, retention of original family and business ties with urban areas and freedom of participation in local community activities. These characteristics were owing to the four factors, various forms of housing, local nature and culture, community spaces managed by migrants, and community activities that anyone can join.