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Fukuoka Now #131 November 2009

Kyushu Headline News

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English language summaries of last month's top Kyushu area news stories. 九州エリアの 1 ヵ月分の英文ニュースの中から選り抜きの話題をピックアップ福岡市の商業地価急落

Commercial Property Values Plunge in Fukuoka The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport released the results of their survey of land values as of July 1st, which showed that commercial property values in the seven Kyushu prefectures were down 5.3% from the previous year. In addition, the value of residential property slid 3.3%. The decline in commercial property values was particularly severe in Fukuoka City, which is suffering from an excess of office building space. These values had risen for three straight years, but fell 15.9% this year, the largest decline for any Japanese city with a population of at least 100,000. The sharpest decline for any district was recorded in Watanabedori in Fukuoka City’s Chuo Ward, where values plummeted 31.8%. 西鉄バス 31 路線で減便

Nishitetsu to Cut Back on Bus Service The Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. (Nishitetsu) revealed a new business rationalization plan that will involve eliminating up to 140 runs on 31 routes in the Fukuoka City metropolitan area. The impetus for their rationalization was the application of 1,000 yen tolls during the Golden Week holidays. Further cutbacks and elimination of unprofitable routes might occur if the new Hatoyama Administration eliminates expressway tolls, as it has pledged to do. Nishitetsu already reduced some expressway runs on September 1. 九州の成長率、下げ拡大

Kyushu Growth Rate Forecast to Worsen The Kyushu Economic Research Center has revised their forecast for the real economic growth rate in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture for 2009. As of December, they had predicted growth of minus 1.8%, but they revised that on the 18th to minus 3.2%. They also expect capital investments and home purchases to be significantly less than they expected. 西部ガスの 8 月販売量 7 ヶ月ぶりに前年比増

Saibu Gas Sales Show Rise Fukuoka City-based Saibu Gas released the figures for the company’s gas sales in August, which showed a 0.2% rise from the year before to 64.7 million cubic meters. That’s the first year-on-year increase in their sales in seven months. The rising rates of auto plant operation in the region also contributed to the first increase in industrial use in 11 months. 福岡―釜山フォーラム

Fukuoka-Busan Forum The 4th Fukuoka-Busan Forum with business and political leaders from both cities attending was held in Fukuoka City on the 19th. This year’s theme was the creation of sustainable societies

in the region. Subjects discussed included joint research into hydrogen energy and the joint use of a seabed optical cable for primary and secondary education. The participants also talked about specific ways to further economic ties. 高齢者でも使いやすいエコ運転装置開発へ

Development of Eco-Car for the Elderly A group consisting of Fukuoka Prefecture, Fujitsu Kyushu Systems, Kyushu University, and other entities has begun work on development of equipment to be used in an inexpensive, energy-saving car that is easy for the elderly to drive. The car will analyze the driver’s tendencies and use graphs as well as written and audio messages to warn of excessive fuel consumption caused by rapid acceleration and other problems. Initial trials conducted last year discovered that fuel consumption savings of 20%-30% were possible if drivers followed the car’s instructions. 高速道路無料化に九州の企業反発

Kyushu Companies Oppose Toll-Free Roads The Kyushu Keidanren released the results of its questionnaire survey of corporate members regarding their opinions about the plans of the new Japanese government to eliminate tolls on expressways. The poll showed that members are strongly opposed to removing those tolls, and generally opposed to some of the government’s other highly publicized platform issues. A total of 54.7% of the companies were opposed to eliminating expressway tolls, with only 6.7% in favor. They also opposed changes to the child-rearing allowance, and the greenhouse gas reduction plan by 54.7% to 6.7%. 九州・沖縄創業百年以上は 1721 社

Regional Companies a Century Old: 1,721 The Fukuoka branch of Tokyo Shoko Research conducted a survey revealing there are 1,721 companies in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture that are at least 100 years old. The oldest is Kawaguchi Bunten of Nagasaki Prefecture, a food products retailer that opened in 1470. More than one-third of the companies, or 553, are located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Kumamoto has the second-highest total with 251. TSR thinks these companies are a good bet for investment. 日産、大型 SUV 九州新工場に

Nissan to Build Large SUV Plant in Kyushu Automaker Nissan said it would transfer the production of its upscale SUV Infinity from the U.S. to the new Nissan Shatai Kyushu plant in Fukuoka Prefecture. The move is part of the company’s effort to improve its profitability. The new plant will begin operations this December and start by turning out the Patrol four-wheel drive vehicle.

Fukuoka Now #131 November 2009

七隈線天神南駅―天神駅、延伸に 500 億円

Nanakuma Line Estimated to Cost 50 Billion Yen Fukuoka City revealed that extending the Nanakuma Line of the municipal subway system from the Tenjinminami Station directly to the Tenjin Station to avoid having passengers on the line walk 550 meters through the Tenjin underground shopping mall would cost as much as 50 billion yen. While many passengers are asking for such an extension, the city says the costs would make it unrealistic. The city’s Transportation Bureau said about 12,000 passengers walked between the two stations every day last year, some of whom were headed for the airport. 長崎銀、証券投資事業、西シ銀に

Nagasaki Bank to Transfer Security Business Fukuoka City-based Nishinippon City Bank announced its consolidated subsidiary Nagasaki Bank would spin off its securities investment business and transfer it to the parent company. The Nagasaki Bank investment portfolio is worth about 49 billion yen. The objective is for the Nagasaki Bank to avoid the risk of investment losses in a volatile economic environment. イオン九州初の減収に

First Aeon Kyushu Revenue Decline Aeon Kyushu released its non-consolidated interim report for the term ending August 2009, which showed a 2.7% year-on-year drop in sales to 129.880 billion yen. It was the company’s first revenue decline since its stock exchange listing in 2000. The company cited slumping individual consumption and the long rainy season as the reasons. Aeon Kyushu also posted a current loss of 1.966 billion yen and a net loss of 1.318 billion yen, which are the sixth consecutive annual losses in both categories. JR 九州、9 月 0.9% 減収

JR Kyushu Revenue Slides in September JR Kyushu announced that its revenue from railroad operations declined 0.9% from the year before. This represents an improvement over the year-on-year revenue declines at the 10% level the company has suffered since April. They attribute the improvement to the roughly 10% increase in passenger totals achieved during the September Silver Week holidays. 西鉄、バスカードの販売を終了

Nishitetsu to End Bus Card Sales Fukuoka City-based Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu) said it will stop selling its pre-paid magnetic Bus Cards. It will be possible to use existing cards until the end of March, and it will also be possible to receive a refund for the unused portions. The company has sold more than 100 million of the cards since 1992. Last year’s sales accounted for about one-third of

九州ニュース

their revenue from buses. The company said it is ending the sales because the card readers are getting old and it does not want to repair or replace them. 九州発ハングル季刊紙

Korean Language Quarterly Focuses on Kyushu The first issue of a Korean language quarterly named Kyushu Killabi was published on the 2nd. A free magazine, it provides information to the growing market of Korean travelers interested in visiting Fukuoka and other locations in Kyushu. The magazine was planned by the Nishinippon Shimbun in conjunction with the Fukuoka City company that runs the Hospitable website, which also offers information in Korean. The first issue is being distributed at the Port of Busan and other ports from which passenger ships travel between the two countries. 留学生、就職は九州外

Overseas Students in Kyushu Look Elsewhere A study by the Nishinippon Shimbun discovered that most of the foreign students at Kyushu universities who stay in Japan after graduation find employment outside of Kyushu. Statistics from 2008 show that of the

roughly 13,700 foreign students graduating from Kyushu universities, only 451 stayed in Kyushu to work. Particularly noteworthy is that 90% of the foreign graduates of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita leave Kyushu to work. Roughly 40% of APU’s student body consists of overseas students from 90 countries. 大型小売店販売 4.8% 減

Large Retail Store Sales Down 4.8% The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry released figures for the August sales of the 27 department stores and 375 supermarkets in Kyushu and Okinawa Prefecture, which showed a year-on-year decline of 4.8% to 126.4 billion yen. This is the 13th consecutive drop from the yearbefore results. The downturn was attributed to the general cutback in consumer spending.

of 3,500 units, with production in FY 2010 to exceed 42,000 units. 福岡市、新築は高さ 30 メートル上限

Fukuoka City to Set 30-Meter Height Limit With the growing citizen interest in the quality of their living environment, Fukuoka City has firmed up a policy of limiting the height of new buildings in residential areas to 30 meters, or roughly 10 stories. The restrictions will not apply in the city’s central districts. The city says its objective is to prevent a contest over height from breaking out between condominium developers and to create a harmonious living environment. News source: With permission from the morning editions of the Nishinippon Newspaper.

トヨタ九州、新 HV 生産

Toyota Kyushu to Produce New Hybrid Toyota announced that its Toyota Kyushu subsidiary would be the sole producer of its new Sai hybrid vehicle. Production is slated to start in November, and initial sales, which will start in December, will be aimed for the domestic market. Initial plans call for monthly production

Fukuoka Now #131 November 2009