Mar 2011 Fukuoka Now

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Kyushu Headline News 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

九州・沖縄倒産 37 年ぶり低水準

Regional Bankruptcies Hit 37-Year Low The Fukuoka branch of Tokyo Shokoh Research reported that the number of bankruptcies in the Kyushu-Okinawa region with liabilities of at least 10 million yen plunged to 857, a 23.1% year-onyear decline. This is the lowest total since the 850 bankruptcies recorded in 1973, 37 years ago, and the first time since then that the total has fallen below 1,000. This is attributed to government plans to allow small and medium-sized business owners to temporarily halt loan payments. 九州自動車 4 社、2 年ぶり生産 100 万台

Auto Companies Back to Million-Units The aggregate production in Kyushu by the four auto companies with plants in the region in 2010 totaled 1.133 million units. This was a 32% increase from the year-before period and roughly the same level as the record high of 2008. The economic downturn in 2009 caused production in the region to fall below the million-unit mark for the first time in four years.

The increase was attributed to the release of new models and the full-scale operation of a Nissan plant in Fukuoka Prefecture last January. 北九州―豪州、初の貨物便

1st Freight Flight - Kitakyushu & Australia The Kitakyushu Airport, which is aiming to become a regional freight handling center, recently accepted a charter freight flight from Sydney, Australia, with about 350 year-old calves. It was the first freight flight from that country to the airport. The cattle will be used on dairy farms in Kyushu, and the airport expects to receive about two or three shipments of dairy cattle a year on charter flights from Australia in the future. 直営水炊き店、中国に年内 5 店

Mizutaki Expands to China Torizen Foods of Fukuoka City, operators of the Hakata Hanamidori restaurant chain specializing in mizutaki, a type of chicken casserole, announced plans to open several restaurants in China. The company opened a directly-operated shop in Talian last July, and it has been so successful that they’ve decided to open five in that country within the year. They are focusing their attention on the northeastern part of the country, where temperatures are lower and this type of dish has a better chance of success. 新博多駅 84 店が九州初出店

84 New Tenants JR Kyushu announced a roster of 229 shops that will occupy the new Hakata Station building opening in March with the debut of the Kyushu Shinkansen. Of these, 84, or more than

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Fukuoka Now #147 March 2011

30%, will be opening their first outlet in Kyushu.

The building will have 10 stories above ground, one basement level, contain 57,000 square meters of floor space and be open year-round.

JAL 福岡―宮崎、鹿児島を減便

JAL to Cut Flights JAL released details of its schedule plan for FY 2011, which includes a reduction in flights between Fukuoka, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima.

JAL will reduce from five to three the number of daily round trips between Fukuoka and Kagoshima, and from 10 to nine the number of daily round trips between Fukuoka and Miyazaki. The reductions are due in part to the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen. JAL said that the impact of the Shinkansen line was unclear at present, but they would closely monitor passenger totals. 光陽―下関、北九州フェリー航路が就航

Ferry between Gwangyang and Shimonoseki Ferry service has begun between the city of Gwangyang in South Korea and the cities of Shimonoseki and Kitakyushu. The ferry, which is berthed in South Korea, is the Gwangyang Beech and has a capacity of 740 passengers. It will make two round trips a week to Shimonoseki, and once a week to Kitakyushu on a trial basis. The destination of all the existing ferry departures from the Kyushu region to South Korea is Busan. The operators see the potential of demand for travelers from the western and southern parts of the Korean Peninsula to Kyushu. 長崎大丸 157 年目に閉店

Nagasaki Daimaru to Close The Hakata Daimaru department store chain announced it would close its Nagasaki store in July after 157 years in business. They attributed the closure to customers preferring to shop at large suburban outlets and on the Internet. This accelerates the trend for department stores in the region to shut their doors. In 2010, department store sales fell from year-before levels for the fourteenth straight year.

11 年、九州への外航クルーズ 2 割減

Cruise Ship Calls Fall 20% The Kyushu Transport Bureau released its projection for planned port calls in Kyushu for 2011 by overseas cruise ships. They expect 120 separate port calls for the entire region during the year, a decline of 32 (21%) from the previous year. Of the total, 55 will be for the Port of Hakata. One reason cited for the decline is that an Italian company operating two cruise ships from China is shifting them to the popular Mediterranean cruise line.

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九州でネットスーパー、サービス開始

Internet Food Shopping The Tokyo-based Seiyu supermarket chain plans to provide some of its customers in Kyushu with the option to order products online and have them delivered. The service will begin in March, and the company plans to extend it to all 370 of its stores nationwide by 2013. Seiyu launched the service in 2000 and currently offers it at 47 Tokyo-area stores. Delivery is free for purchases over 5,000 yen. 博多港、多言語案内板設置

Multi-Language E-Message Board The Japan Tourism Agency is taking several steps to assist travelers from overseas at the Port of Hakata as the number of visitors from China arriving on cruise ships is rising sharply.

One such step will be the installation of an electronic message board presenting messages in English, Korean, and both forms of written Chinese. Other steps include announcements inside route buses in four languages and making the 100-yen buses that circulate between the port and the city center easier for foreigners to understand. The Port of Hakata had the largest number of foreigners disembark in 2010 than any port in Japan. 福銀、中国大手銀行と提携

Bank Tie-up with Major Chinese Bank The Bank of Fukuoka revealed it has signed a business agreement with the Jiaotong Bank (Bank of Communications) of Shanghai, one of China’s five biggest banks. In addition to providing support for such financial services as lending and foreign exchange, they will share information on local markets and businesses.

The Japanese bank will be able to provide better support for customers that wish to establish a presence in China. ホンダ熊本、二輪増産

Honda to Boost Motorbike Production Honda Motor Co. announced plans to increase by 10,000 units the production of motorcycles and motorbikes at its Kumamoto plant. The new production level will be in the range of 200,000 units, and to achieve that, the company will hire additional employees for the first time in almost two years. They will also operate two shifts, thereby expanding the amount of time the factory is used for production. 九州の輸出、最大 28% 増

Kyushu Exports Increase Moji customs released its figures for exports in 2010 from the Kyushu economic area, which includes Kyushu and Yamaguchi and Okinawa prefectures. The aggregate exports totaled

九州ニュース

7.1274 trillion yen, a 28.1% increase from the previous year. This represents a major recovery after the economic crisis of two years ago, and is the largest yearly increase since statistical records began in 1979. Automobile exports alone soared 57.2%. 西鉄が新幹線応対続々

Nishitetsu Responds The Nishi-Nippon Railway Co. (Nishitetsu) announced it would begin operation of a new limited express bus between the new JR Hakata Station and the Tenjin district on March 2. The Tenjin Liner will make 72 10-minute runs every day and 78 on weekends and holidays. The fare will be 100 yen and the trip will be five minutes shorter than the current circuit bus. 長崎県庁の移転表明

Nagasaki Prefectural Move Nagasaki Prefecture Gov. Hodo Nakamura announced that the prefectural government offices in Nagasaki City would be moved from their current location in Edo-machi to reclaimed land near the JR Nagasaki-Minami Station. Many in the prefecture are opposed to the plan, but the prefectural council adopted a resolution supporting the move in January. The

expenses for the design will be included in the 2011 prefecture budget, and construction is expected to be completed by 2016. 博多一風堂、韓国に進出

Ippudo Opens in South Korea The Hakata Ippudo ramen chain announced it has formed a licensing agreement with a South Korean company to operate their shops in that country. They also announced the first Ippudo in South Korea would open in Seoul in April.

They expect to benefit from the demand for Japanese food in South Korea, which is becoming increasingly popular. 発光する磁器標識

Porcelain Used for Signage The Tsutsuya Taichigama kiln of Nagasaki Prefecture has developed signs made from porcelain for directing people in public places to emergency exits. The signs store make use of solar energy. They developed this new technology of baking light-emitting pigments on to porcelain tiles and applied for a patent last November. They have already commercialized the signs, which are now being used in 46 stations in the Tokyo subway system.

日韓でまちづくり研究

Fukuoka and Daejeon Sign Pact The Fukuoka Asia Urban Research Center of Fukuoka City and the Daejeon Development Research Institute of Daejeon in South Korea signed a research exchange agreement. It is the third such agreement with an overseas institution for the Fukuoka center. Both cities are located on high-speed rail lines, and they plan to jointly study the use of high-speed rail to promote industry and urban development. 高速バス輸送降雪で 25% 減

Snow Causes 25% Drop in Highway Bus use The Kyushu Transport Bureau revealed that bus use fell 25.2% from the previous year during the end-of-year period from December 25 to January 4 for the 16 companies providing regional long-distance bus service. They attributed this decline to the impassability of highways caused by heavy snow, particularly during the period from December 31 to January 2, when runs on most of the routes linking Fukuoka with the rest of Kyushu were cancelled. Customer figures during that period fell 60.1% from the previous year.

News source: With permission from the morning editions of the Nishinippon Newspaper.

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