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The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry published a compilation of some successful cooperative projects between regional universities and small businesses to create new products and develop new technology. The compilation, titled Regional Innovation Project Anthology, presents the most noteworthy results of 28 projects among 172 selected projects that have been conducted from 1997 to 2008. Among the entries are descriptions of a fuel production system using disposed cooking oil, and a hydrogen leak detector.

The Fukuoka branch of Tokyo Shoko Research reports that February corporate bankruptcies in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture exceeding 10 million yen in liabilities were down 23.5% from the year-before period to 65. This is the 13th straight monthly year-on-year decline, and the lowest number of monthly bankruptcies since the total of 47 in 1973. The decline was attributed to the government’s policy of allowing small businesses to postpone bank loan payments.

The Oita Prefecture Board of Education released its opinion on the 8th that “biased education was conducted” at one junior high school in the prefecture. First year students were distributed materials that claimed the national flag and national anthem were “symbols used to conduct war”, and that they “frightened some foreigners”. They board said the material were inappropriate because they did not follow the legal requirement for neutrality in education. The materials were distributed on a class about National Foundation Day, which is February 10.

The Okuno Law Office in Arita-cho, Saga Prefecture, is now offering the first service in the country to conduct the procedures for gaining halal certification for food products sold in Islamic countries. Islam has strict rules for the processing of beef and other products, and requires that those products be certified before they can be sold or consumed. Many companies in Japan do not have the staff or expertise to handle those arrangements, which include documentation from certification agencies, on-site inspection of processing plants, and the translation of those documents into English.

The Kyushu branch of Dentsu conducted a survey to determine the recognition factor that the new Kyushu Shinkansen will provide direct service from Kagoshima to Osaka after it opens for service next year. Only 27% of the people in Kyushu knew that, while only 16% in Osaka were aware of it. In fact, more than 30% of those surveyed in Osaka didn’t even know about the Kyushu Shinkansen. Dentsu thinks more PR work needs to be done in the Kansai area to increase the line’s economic benefit.

In advance of the crowded conditions expected at fiscal and business yearend, Sagara Ward in Fukuoka City has instituted a system for the ward office in which information on the number of people waiting to be served at the office is distributed on the ward’s website and on cell phones. Trials of the system began on the 8th. It will allow people with business to conduct at the office to better time their visits and cut down on the length of their wait. They are the second municipal office in the nation to implement such a system, after Yokohama.

The Kyushu Local Finance Bureau and the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau released the results of their survey of statistics for the major regional companies for the October-December 2009 quarter, which shows that aggregate current profit skyrocketed to 4.7 times the year-before figure to 104.7 billion yen. This represents a rebound following the poor results in the wake of the previous year’s financial crisis caused by the Lehmann Bros. collapse. They also note, however, that corporate reduction in operating expenses also was a factor. In contrast, capital investment during the same period fell 40.1%.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan held a party to celebrate the opening of their office in Fukuoka City, their first outside of Tokyo. The office began operating in January to further business ties with the region. They represent about 160 member companies in this country.

Yoshiomi-machi in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, plans to start teaching kindergarten and nursery school children English conversation starting in April. A bill budgeting 6.3 million yen for the project was introduced last week in the municipal assembly. The objective is for the children to have English conversation capability by the time they graduate from primary school. It will be the first municipality in Fukuoka Prefecture with such a program.

A Nishinippon Shimbun survey of revealed that from the years 2003 to 2007, 54 of Kyushu’s 241 municipalities had death rates from leukemia more than double the national average. Sixteen of those municipalities had death rates from three to six times the national average. Many of those municipalities are either on outlying islands or on the seacoast. Many specialists say that Kyushu’s high rate is caused by a high rate of infection of the adult t-cell lymphoma virus.

Taiheiyo Cement, the country’s largest cement manufacturer, announced it will suspend production at three plants, including one at Saiki, Oita Prefecture, until September. It’s the first time the company has taken this step since it liquidated a subsidiary in March 2004. The company says the prolonged economic downturn has resulted in stagnant cement demand.

The major Japanese merchandiser Parco announced it would close its first Kyushu store in Oita City at the end of February next year. The reason cited was poor sales figures. The company will open a store in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka City on March 19th. They plan to pursue their Kyushu strategy with the Fukuoka City store and their Kumamoto City store.

The municipal council of Mifune-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, will begin year-round sessions starting in April. The objective is to more promptly respond to emergencies and to discuss local issues in more detail. The first municipal council to move to year-round sessions was Shiraoi-cho in Hokkaido in 2008. Mifune-machi will be the fifth in the country, but the first in Kyushu.

Fukuoka City-based Kataranne, which is involved with planning historical and cultural tours, is operating a portal site on the Internet that presents the public sector cultural facilities of the four northern Kyushu prefectures. It is said to be the first comprehensive website of its type in Kyushu. A Kataranne spokesman says that in addition to being useful to those with an interest in history, it can have an economic benefit by being utilized for tours.

Five leading Kyushu department stores—Fukuoka City’s Hakata Daimaru, Kitakyushu’s Izutsuya, Kumamoto City’s Tsuruya, Oita City’s Tokiha, and Kagoshima City’s Yamagataya—plan to expand the joint development of products they began in the fall of 2009 with a line of original men’s clothing. They will start sales of men’s suits for a limited period in March, and will revive a brand unused for 10 years. They also plan to conduct campaigns together. The objective is to boost flagging production.

An investigation by the Nishinippon Shimbun revealed that the post of chairmen of the credit guarantee associations in all seven Kyushu prefectures have been dominated by former government officials almost continuously for periods ranging from 28 to 53 years, depending on the prefecture. The practice of providing plum jobs in agencies such as these to former government officials or bureaucrats is known as amakudari, and is under attack by the public and the media today. The longest period of this dominance in Kyushu is in Saga Prefecture, for 53 years, followed by Fukuoka Prefecture, for 46 years.

Fukuoka City-based Best Denki revealed plans to cut more than 1,000 of its roughly 5,500 employees, including irregular workers, by February 2012. In addition to offering workers early retirement, they will not replace retirees and cut back on new hires. Combined with the employee cutbacks at major department stores, this indicates the impact of the financial crisis that began in late 2008 on employment has spread from the manufacturing industry to the retail industry.

Nissan President Carlos Ghosn, local government leaders, and 700 other guests attended the ceremony marking the opening of the Nissan Shatai Kyushu plant in Fukuoka Prefecture. President Ghosn said the plant, which makes auto bodies, was an important one for the Nissan group because it incorporates new production systems. He reaffirmed that Kyushu was an important part of the company’s global manufacturing strategy, and that he intended to increase production here in the future.

In advance of the start of exhibition season for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks on the 26th, the two new Hawksvision screens installed in the Yahoo Dome, their home park, were shown to reporters. There is one new screen each in the left and right field stands, measuring 5.7 meters high by 33 meters wide. Combined with the existing screen in center field, their viewing surface is 905.2 square meters. This is the largest viewing surface in the world, surpassing the total of the new Yankee Stadium in New York City.

The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), has signed a memorandum with the city of Kitakyushu to build a facility that combines the functions of water desalinization and the reuse of sewer water. Called Water Plaza, it will be the first facility in Japan to combine those two functions. Work on the facility is expected to begin at the end of March and be completed by September.

Miyazaki Prefecture announced plans to open an antenna shop in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka City in late April. It will be the prefecture’s fourth shop in the country, after Tokyo, Osaka, and Miyazaki City. The shop will offer about 130 different products, focusing mainly on daily consumables. One will be a free range chicken barbecue pack.

Fukuoka City-based Saibu gas formally announced it would build a liquid natural gas complex in the Hibikinada district of Kitakyushu. It will rent 250,000 square meters of ground, erect two 180,000-kiloliter LNG tanks, and use them for storing LNG shipped from overseas. The company will invest about 70 billion yen in the project, for which construction will begin in June and is scheduled to be finished in November 2014.

Fukuoka City-based Nishi-Nippon City Bank became the first bank in the country to offer student loans when it introduced a special program on the 22nd for those aged 18-30 to help pay tuition and living expenses. One of the requirements is that a parent cosign the loan. The interest rate will be fixed at 2.0% for students still in school, but after graduation that will rise to about 4.8%. Students can borrow up to one million yen.

The Kyushu Economic Research Center released its Kyushu economic white paper for 2010, called Changing Consumption and Retail Innovation. It describes the changes in consumption activities and sales strategies that have occurred in the region since the economic downturn caused by the financial crisis of 2008. The center notes that larger commercial facilities have struggled in this climate. They emphasize the importance of products and sales methods aligned with local interests, and propose a long-term regional growth strategy based on the industries serving local consumption.

Tokyo-based Parco, which will open a commercial complex in Fukuoka City’s Tenjin district on March 19, announced their tenant lineup. Including a directly operated outlet that will sell its own brands, Parco will have 154 different shops. About 30% will sell clothing, and there will also be many shops selling sundries, beauty products, and food products. Of the 154 total, 104 will be opening their first outlet in Fukuoka.

The members of the municipal council of Itsuki-mura, Kumamoto Prefecture, have agreed in principle on a plan to base their salaries on an evaluation of their performance. The residents will create a committee to evaluate the council members as “excellent”, “good”, or “ordinary”. It will be presented to the municipal council in March, and it is expected to be passed. The National Association of Chairmen of Town and Village Assemblies says they have never heard of a local assembly introducing a performance-based salary system, and think it is the first in the country.

Officials at the Nissan Kyushu plant in Fukuoka Prefecture have asked its primary parts subcontractors to reduce parts manufacturing costs by 20%-30% by 2013. Nissan thinks it must cut costs to compete with companies in newly developing countries, where personnel costs are lower. It has been expanding its ties with regional subcontractors since implementing a new mid-term plan in 2009.

Kumamoto City and Kumamoto Prefecture have announced a policy of implementing a general ban on billboard advertising along the route of the Kyushu Shinkansen, on which full service is slated to begin next year. The ban is slated to come into effect next month. The governments want to preserve the natural scenery. It is uncommon in Japan for prohibitions of outdoor advertising along Shinkansen routes to take effect a year in advance.

Kyushu University has decided to open in the spring of 2011 a research institute for industrial mathematics, a field using mathematics to develop new technologies for resolving social issues. It will be the first institute in this sector in Asia, and it is planned to have 50 researchers. Specialists and companies will work together to deal with such issues as ensuring information security on the Internet, developing new financial instruments, exploring for resources, and forecasting disasters.

The labor union of Kyushu Electric Power has asked the company in this year’s wage negotiations to maintain the current wage increase structure and the average annual bonuses of 1.75 million yen for its roughly 10,000 members. In return, it will not ask for a wage increase, the first time in four years it has not done so. In addition, the 1,400 member Saibu Gas labor union has also not asked for a wage increase, the first time in nine years it has not done so.

Yoshida Juken, a home building company in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, has developed a method to improve the heat retention and insulating properties of exterior walls by using rice hulls. They’ve applied for a patent for their method, which utilizes material usually disposed of by incineration. The intent is to reduce greenhouse gases by reducing fuel consumption. The company has been working on the idea since January 2009.

Kyushu University and the government of Nepal signed a memorandum regarding joint research and to exchange information in the biotechnology field. Their research will be based on the Biodiversity Treaty, to which 190 nations are signatories, and Kyushu University thus becomes the first Japanese university to form a research agreement with a foreign government. The objective of the research will be to find ways to protect and utilize Nepal’s biological resources.

The 18 primary regional banks headquartered in the Kyushu-Yamaguchi Prefecture region released their results for the April-December 2009 period. Seven of the banks swung back to profitability during the period, eight posted year-on-year increases, and three recorded losses. The amount of money the banks spent in the aggregate to dispose of non-performing loans was nearly halved to 54.5 billion yen from 111.4 billion yen in the previous year.

Starting April 2, the Nishi-Nippon Railway Co. (Nishitetsu) will combine its two long-distance routes to Osaka and Kyoto via Kitakyushu. The company will eliminate the route to Kyoto, and provide service to the city by extending the Osaka route. The trip to Osaka will still take nine hours and 45 minutes, but the trip to Kyoto will be extended by 70 minutes. The objective is to improve profitability.

Toyota Kyushu will suspend production of two of four hybrid vehicle models subject to recall for an eight-day period this month. They are the Sai and the Lexis HS250h. This will reduce production by about 2,500 units as a result. The models have the same braking systems that are causing problems in the Prius.

The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry released statistics for automobile production in the region in 2009 showing that production fell from the previous year to roughly 856,000 units, a 24.1% drop. It was the first time in four years production failed to reach one million autos. In contrast, Kyushu accounted for 10.8% of all national automobile production, the highest ratio ever.

A special committee of the Fukuoka City Council has decided on the route for the extension of the Nanakuma Line running from Tenjin Minami to Hashimoto on the city-operated subway system. The route will run from the Tenjin Minami Station through Canal City Hakata to the JR Hakata Station. The route was chosen because it was the cheapest, was projected to make a profit after six years, and would be the most cost effective. The committee will present its report to City Council later this month.

The city of Busan, South Korea, formally created the Busan-Fukuoka Automobile Industry Council to promote industry ties between the two regions. It consists of 20 experts from the auto parts industry and academia. The objective is to exchange information, develop technology, and establish a presence in the Japanese market. The Korean efforts will focus on Fukuoka Prefecture as a whole, rather than Fukuoka City alone.

Fukuoka City-based Oaks Construction is offering for sale a home it calls the e-sola, which is largely self-sufficient in electric power. Techniques and materials enhancing insulation capabilities are used in its construction, and it is equipped with solar panels. The company is primarily engaged in the construction of rental condominiums, but as that market is slumping, they decided to enter the home building sector with this model.

The Fukuoka City-based Hakata Daimaru department store company announced a major downsizing of this workforce. Over the next three years starting in August, it will layoff or eliminate 248 employees, bringing their employee total to a number equivalent to three-fourths the workforce in August 2007. The Shimonoseki Daimaru in Yamaguchi Prefecture will also shed 105 employees.

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