TOKYO -- As Japan's population shrinks, consolidating scattered residents into denser, more compact cities is increasingly seen as a must. Yet the steady outward creep of the suburbs continues unabated.
In the 10 years through 2015, residential areas expanded by 1,773 sq. km, an area three times the size of Tokyo's 23 central wards, according to an analysis by Nikkei and the Nikken Sekkei Research Institute.
