17 Fukuoka Now #135 March 2010
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English language summaries of last month's top Kyushu area news
stories. 1
9 Fukuoka City Networks with Nine World CitiesFukuoka City
revealed it is one of 10 cities around the world to have created a
network in 2008 to discuss different ways to deal with local
issues. The cities have held international conferences since that
year, first in Seattle in the U.S., and last year in Barcelona,
Spain. This years conference will be held in Fukuoka City in July,
and the theme of the conference will be urban development based on
the knowledge economy.
10 5700 Cruise Ships Had Large Economic BenefitFukuoka City
announced that the economic benefit from Chinese cruise ships that
called at the Port of Hakata during 2009 amounted to roughly 1.57
billion yen. This year, 66 cruise ships departing from China are
scheduled to call at the port, an increase of 2.7 times. The
economic benefit from that is estimated at 2.889 billion yen. The
city said it will work to ensure that more Chinese cruise ships
stop at the city in the future.
JP First J.P. Morgan Branch in KyushuThe Japanese subsidiary of
J.P. Morgan Asset Management, one of the worlds largest asset
management firms, opened its first Kyushu branch in the Tenjin
district of Fukuoka City on February 1. The new office is
responsible for business in western Japan. This Japanese subsidiary
already has offices in Tokyo and Osaka.
Troubled Izutsuya Gets AssistanceKitakyushu-based Izutsu-ya, the
prominent regional department store company, is suffering from
financial difficulties. As part of its restructuring plan, it will
ask for about 240 employees, about 20% of its workforce, to
volunteer for early retirement. In addition, 16 companies that have
provided financing to the company, including its main banks, have
agreed to postpone loan repayments and to extend additional credit.
Finally, current President Makoto Nakamura wil l accept
responsibility for the companys problems by stepping down in
May.
3 Best Denki to Close OutletsFukuoka City-based consumer
electronics mass merchandiser Best Denki said they would close from
50 to 70 of their 218 directly operated sales outlets by February
2012. That would mean as many as 30% of their shops would shut
their doors. They also plan to lay off several hundred employees.
The company says the steps are required because they projected
30.1
billion yen in net losses on their consolidated report for the
year ending February 2010.
2 Only Two New Buildings This YearThe Fukuoka branch of leasing
brokerage firm Miki Shoji revealed the results of its survey
showing only two new office buildings are planned to be erected in
Fukuoka Citys business districts of Tenjin and the JR Hakata
Station area this year. This is a sharp downturn from the 28
buildings that were completed in those areas over the past two
years. This total is a result of the collapse of a mini-real-estate
bubble, though the current low occupancy rates are expected to cont
inue due to oversupply and the poor economy. Miki Shoji predicts
competition to attract tenants is going to grow more intense.
HVFirst Hydrogen Hybrid for Use in KyushuMazda Motor Corp. has
leased its Premacy hydrogen hybrid with a rotary engine to the
Kitakyushu branch of gas company Iwatani. It is the first hydrogen
hybrid to be used in Kyushu. Mazda began leasing the automobile to
governments and corporations in 2009, but keeping down costs has
become a problem. The monthly leasing fee is 420,000 yen, and the
national government will pay half.
400 Toyota Kyushu Production UpFukuoka Prefecture-based Toyota
Kyushus aggregate auto production, since it opened in December
1992, has climbed above four million units, the company announced.
Production at the site expanded in 2005 when they became the parent
companys second factory to produce the luxury Lexus model. They
reached the three-million mark in 2007, and then production of the
Lexus HS250h hybrid began in 2008.
57 Nishitetsu Bus to Eliminate 57 RoutesFukuoka City-based
Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu) announced that it would
eliminate 57 bus routes, both long-distance and city routes, in
2010 to improve the financial health of its money-losing bus
company. It will also cut back on service for 57 more routes. They
have not yet announced the specific routes to be affected, but will
begin discussions with local government in the affected areas to
alleviate the impact.
10.2% Department Store Sales DownThe Kyushu Department Store
Association announced that aggregate sales for the 26
stores from 17 companies in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture in
2009 fell 10.2% from the previous year to 546.257 billion yen. That
is the seventh consecutive decline and the worst since the start of
record keeping in 1952. The drop-off in sales was particularly
pronounced for upscale items.
3 Hospital Care ExtendedFukuoka City, which already compensates
the parents of preschool age children for hospital stays, plans to
extend the program to children through the third year of primary
school. It was incorporated in the FY 2010 budget proposal in the
City Council this month and will take effect in April. Mayor
Hiroshi Yoshida was elected in November 2006 on a pledge of
implementing such a program. At the time, the city paid for
hospital care for children to age three.
Kyudenko to Grow OlivesFukuoka City-based Kyudenko announced it
had formed an agreement with Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, to grow
olives. The agreement began in FY 2010 and will run for three
years. The company will plant 6,700 olive trees on cropland in the
city that is currently unused, and will study cultivation
techniques and the potential for profitability. If successful, they
could elect to continue the operations. Kyudenko says it is open to
using land owned either by the public sector or the private
sector.
Fukuoka Food Fair Held in NYCThe Fukuoka Food Fair in New York
was held in the popular New York seafood restaurant BLT Fish on the
26th of January for an invited audience of about 50 people in the
local food service industry and the mass media. The menu featured
different dishes prepared using local Fukuoka produce. The
objective was to support the business of local companies producing
the ingredients and to promote exports. Similar fairs have been
held in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries, but this was
the first one in the West.
11% Kyushu Expressway Bus Passenger Numbers FallThe Kyushu
District Transport Bureau released statistics from the 24 companies
operating expressway buses on longer routes in Kyushu showing that
the number of passengers during the year-end period from December
27 to January 5 fell 11.3% from the year before to about 373,000
people. The bureau attributes the decline to the combination of a
poor economy, the flu epidemic, and the increased
18Fukuoka Now #135 March 2010
number of people traveling by automobile due to the lower
expressway tolls. Also, three routes in Oita were temporarily
impassable due to snow, and the number of passengers on those
routes dropped more than 20%.
1 3 Three-in-One Long-term Care EquipmentNagasaki chiropractor
Tsugiharu Nagayoshi has invented and received a patent for
equipment for long-term care use that has three functions. The
equipment serves as a bed with castors for easy movement, a
wheelchair, and a simple bath. Nagayoshi established a venture
capital-backed company called Rakurakuyu in January to sell the
device. Sales will officially begin in April, but the company
already has more than 100 advance orders from hospitals and
long-term care facilities.
New Climate Control SystemFukuoka City-based Ishinoyu, which
sells the Stone Spa baths, has invented a light-based climate
control system and applied for an international patent. The system
utilizes the
infrared rays emitted by special ceramics. Rather than heat or
cool the air, as in conventional systems, this system employs the
phenomenon of sympathetic resonance in the infrared rays. It emits
no sound or air, and does not cause drying of the skin. Installing
the system in a new house will cost 1.5 million to 2.5 million yen
more than an air conditioning system, but Ishinoyu says it will
produce cost savings because it uses from 40% to 70% less
power.
Samsung Opens R&D Center in FukuokaSouth Korean
semiconductor and consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung opened
a research and development center for semiconductors in the Tenjin
district of Fukuoka City in early February. Initially staffed by
ten people, that number will be increased in stages to about 50. It
is the companys fourth R&D center in Japan.
Saga the National Leader in AbortionsA Ministry of Health,
Labor, and Welfare survey has found that Saga Prefecture has the
highest rate of abortions in Japan at 13.4 per 1,000
News source: With permission from the morning editions of the
Nishinippon Newspaper.
women, despite declining 0.3 points from the previous year. The
prefecture had previously been the national leader in 1996, and it
has been in the top three nationwide continuously since 1993.
Kumamoto Prefecture was tied for second with Tottori Prefecture
with a 13.2 rate, followed by Fukuoka Prefecture at 12.3.
Dam Water Released to Save Nori HarvestWith the problem of poor
color plaguing the current crop of frozen net nori in the Ariake
Sea, water from the Matsubara and Shimouke Dams in Hita, Oita
Prefecture, was released as an emergency measure from January 29 to
February 2. The step was taken at the request of maritime industry
groups in Saga and Fukuoka prefectures. The discoloration, in which
the nori turns a tan color, is the result of a lack of nutritional
salt required for cultivating the seaweed. Some growers have had to
remove nets for cultivation they had already placed in the sea.
