九州ニュース
JR 九州、特急ソニック 1800 座席増 JR Kyushu to Add 1,800 Seats to Sonic Express JR Kyushu announced it would add 1,800 seats to the daily runs of its Sonic special limited express between Hakata and Oita. The objective is to respond to the steadily rising passenger totals on this route. The railroad plans to spend about 1.35 billion yen to build six cars with sixty seats each as part of the plan. ANA、発着地が違っても往復割引 ANA Offer New Round Trip Discounts All Nippon Airways began a service in July 1 that will allow passengers between northern Kyushu and the Tokyo or Kansai regions to receive discount round trip fares even if they depart from a different airport on their return trip than the one at which they arrived. The discount can be applied for the use of the Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, and Saga airports in northern Kyushu, Haneda and Narita airports in Tokyo, and the Itami and Kansai International airports in the Osaka area. For example, the new program allows passengers to receive a discount for a roundtrip flight originating in Fukuoka to arrive at Haneda in Tokyo and return by way of Narita.
九州進出目指す韓国企業後押し Help for South Korean Companies in Kyushu The Kyushu Investment Support Association to provide support to South Korean companies interested in establishing a presence in Kyushu was launched on the 16th of July with the participation of 20 companies and groups from Japan and South Korea. These include the Fukuoka City-based Kyushu Economic Federation, the Fukuoka City branch of the South Korean Shinhan Bank, and the the Nishi-Nippon City Bank. With the extension in recent years of South Korean corporate investment in the region to the manufacturing industry, professionals from such fields as Japanese law, intellectual property rights, and employment will work together to provide those companies with expert information. 経産局、3 年間の重点策 Kyushu METI Formulates Action Plan The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry has formulated a three-year action plan emphasizing specific sectors and targets. It calls for the integration of the research function and promoting personnel
training for the region's leading auto and semiconductor industries. It also presents policies for using regional characteristics to encourage the creation of new fields in the energy, environmental, and agricultural industries, as well as those for utilizing the talents of students from throughout Asia at local universities. 博多区の建物に高さ制限を目指す Height Limits for Hakata Ward Buildings Fukuoka City has begun holding explanatory meetings with citizens and landowners with the intention of creating a municipal ordinance that will limit the height of new buildings in the Gokusho district of Hakata Ward, a popular tourist destination for its many old buildings. The city hopes to obtain the assent of the local residents within the year. If the ordinance is approved, it would be the first of its kind in Fukuoka City.
News source: With permission from the morning editions of the Nishinippon Newspaper.
Fukuoka Now #116 August 2008
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