Long-Term Impact of Interregional Migrants on Population Prediction

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for your contribution. 

1. I would suggest looking more closely into quantitative literature on migration - you seem to suggest (line 81-82) that such literature is scarce, while I would disagree. Please see, for example: for developing countries: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00036846.2011.591735?casa_token=nGN0I0mVuywAAAAA%3AWbBvFdTcobuYgVHvHuaFs-Ul3J3z0YAku7Aj8hbwJMVDiXBQQ3VSe_7B0-IIKHHAU71Fr2oe5Z8; 

developed European countries: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carmen-Rodenas-2/publication/258628916_Possibilities_and_limitations_of_comparative_quantitative_research_on_international_migration_flow/links/546c7c3d0cf21e510f61cf7b/Possibilities-and-limitations-of-comparative-quantitative-research-on-international-migration-flow.pdf

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.0808185105 

calls for action in the area: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imre.12157?casa_token=JNZtpChqsNgAAAAA:HHEgQGpM0ClUDKxr1eOfObXGIwYE0kKzfR3_MywgB1oC0thyuootmYoPTmz96zWng1lZpyeww9Y

Basen on the texts above but also many others I did not paste in here, please improve the literature review section to address recent developments in quantitative migration projections. 

2. I would also debate the statement that migration is short term and for economic reasons only (line 82). There are many types of migration and so maybe it would be useful to clarify how your definition of migration lands within a broader context of migration studies. 

3. Regarding structural factors for migration (line 90), I believe it is also important to include housing policies and resulting housing availability which may sometimes serve as a factors fostering and hindering migration. And also environmental / natural factors (seismic activity, etc) may play a role

4. I very much appreciate approaching the topic from the municipality level. However, it would be advisable to put the analysis of the Japan case in a broader comparative context of urbanization / migration in other developed countries so that readers can gain a better understanding of how the Japanese case is similar / different. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Overall the study is very thorough, well articulated, and well presented.  Only one minor suggestion:

Would it be better that the value of k  set to 5 because of the Census interval be introduced earlier and it appears in the paragraph between line 250-254?

Author Response

Point 1.Would it be better that the value of k  set to 5 because of the Census interval be introduced earlier and it appears in the paragraph between line 250-254?

Response 1.Previously, the value of k set for 5 is explained in line 294, and according to your suggestion we moved to the k setting explanation to line 283-184.

Reviewer 3 Report

The paper presented for review is a valuable scientific text. The authors raised an important problem in the work and proposed a new, improved model.

The article requires minor changes. In my opinion, to improve the quality of the paper it is necessary to:

- extract the Literature review part from the Introduction part;

- in the Conclusion section, it is worth pointing out the main conclusions. Please also consider putting the proposed recommendations on the paper;

- in my opinion, individual parts of the paper (see chapters 2 and 5) should be started with text, not a table or figure. It is also better that a given chapter ends with a text rather than a table (figure), see pages 11 and 17.

Author Response

Point1. Extract the Literature review part from the Introduction part;

Response1. We made the rearrangement of the Section divisions according to your comment.

Point2. In the Conclusion section, it is worth pointing out the main conclusions. Please also consider putting the proposed recommendations on the paper;

Response 2. In our conclusion section, we pointed out the three main findings of our main focus which were set in the second last paragraph of introduction part, and we made the suggestions and recommendation according to our findings.  Paragraph 3 to 5 of conclusion section are about the explanation of our study’s’ findings, and some recommendations according to our findings. Paragraph 6 is about the proposed recommendations for overall study that we made.

Point 3. In my opinion, individual parts of the paper (see chapters 2 and 5) should be started with text, not a table or figure. It is also better that a given chapter ends with a text rather than a table (figure), see pages 11 and 17.

Response 3.We changed the structure format according to your suggestions.