Investing in Japan

Fukushima

The information below is as of March 2011.

• 
• 
• 

• Basic Information
• Regional Profile
• Services for investment in Japan
• Available incentives
• Links to Related Websites

Basic Information

Population*1	2.03 million
Labor force*1	1 million
Area*2	13,783 km²
GDP*3	7,666,945 million yen
Major industries	Information and telecommunications, electronic parts, electrical machinery, chemicals, beverages
Developing industries	Business related to transportation machinery, semiconductors, and medical and welfare equipment, businesses related to the environment and new energy, businesses involving collaboration between agriculture, commerce and industry
Offices overseas	Shanghai, China
Offices in Japan	Tokyo / Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture / Sapporo City, Hokkaido Prefecture / Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture
JETRO office	JETRO Fukushima

*1 Population Census 2010, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications　*2 Area data 2010, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan *3 Prefectural Citizens' Economic Accounts 2008, Cabinet Office

*Ask the local government for the latest data.

Regional Profile

Strength of the region's industries and economy

Fukushima Prefecture is located 200km from the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since rapid transportation systems are well developed, the formation of various industrial clusters has been advancing there. Judging from the number of people employed and the value of production output by industry, the percentage of secondary industries is higher than the national average, and the economy is manufacturing-based. Fukushima Prefecture is situated along the Pacific coast and is divided into three regions. The Hamadori region has Onahama Port and Soma Port, the Nakadori region has the Shinkansen passing through it, and the Aizu region borders on Niigata Prefecture. These are the home to clusters of enterprises suited to their respective regional characteristics.

Strength of the region's education/research institutes

Fukushima Prefecture has nine universities, five junior colleges, one technical college, and 115 high schools, as well as three prefectural advanced technical colleges. There are a total of six science and engineering universities and technical colleges. Among them is the prefectural University of Aizu, founded in 1993, which is the first university in Japan to specialize in computer science. The city of Koriyama is home to the Fukushima Technology Centre, which is an industrial testing and research organization operated by the prefecture. The Hi-Tech Plaza offers consultations for industry and operates Technology Support Centers in the three cities of Fukushima, Aizu-Wakamatsu, and Iwaki.

Strength of the region's industry-government-academia collaboration

In Fukushima Prefecture, clustering has advanced among enterprises related to transportation machinery, semiconductors, and medical and welfare equipment. The enterprises related to transportation machinery have organized the Fukushima Prefecture Council for the Transportation Machinery-Related Industries (345 members), those related to semiconductors have organized the Fukushima Prefecture Semiconductor Industry Association (122 members), and those related to medical and welfare equipment have organized the Fukushima Prefecture Medical and Welfare Equipment Study Group (170 institutional members and 157 individual members) and the enterprises related to the environment and new energy have organized the Environment and New Energy-Related Industries Creation Council. They are seeking further clustering in their respective industries, and they are pursuing various measures to that end.

Strength of the region's infrastructure

The Tohoku Expressway runs north-south while the Ban-etsu Expressway runs east-west across the prefecture. The two intersect in the middle of the prefecture. Meanwhile, construction is proceeding steadily on the Joban Expressway, which will link Tokyo and Sendai along the Pacific coast, and all lanes are scheduled to be open in fiscal year 2014. In addition to the Tohoku Shinkansen, there is also Fukushima Airport, which has two scheduled domestic flights and two international, thus forming a complete system of high-speed land and air transportation. The prefecture also possesses two major ports in Onahama and Souma to enable solid support of sea transportation.

<Land>

The Tohoku Expressway runs north-south while the Ban-etsu Expressway runs east-west, and the two intersect in the middle of the prefecture. Travel to the Kansai region in western Japan is faster by the Ban-etsu Expressway and Hokuriku Expressway than by routing through Tokyo. Construction of the Joban Expressway is progressing in the Hamadori region along the Pacific coast. The section south of Soma is scheduled to open to traffic in fiscal year 2011, and all lanes between Tokyo and Sendai are scheduled to open by fiscal year 2014.

<Air>

Fukushima Airport has two scheduled domestic flights (to Sapporo and Osaka) and two scheduled international flights (to Seoul and Shanghai). It is possible to ship freight directly from Fukushima Airport to these destination points.

<Sea>

The major port of Onahama has scheduled foreign trade routes to (a) Pusan, Ulsan, and Shanghai, and (b) to Pusan every week. There is also coastwise feeder service (two ships weekly to Tokyo, Yokohama, and Sendai) that can be used for trade to all locations worldwide. The prefecture has also developed another major port in Soma.

<Railway>

The Tohoku Shinkansen line traverses the prefecture across the middle, with three stations at Fukushima, Koriyama, and Shirakawa. Since the fastest train from Shirakawa to Tokyo takes about 75 minutes, there are quite a few people who commute to work in Tokyo. In the other direction, the trip from Fukushima to Sendai takes about 25 minutes. Other, conventional rail lines include the Tohoku Main Line, which parallels the Shinkansen; the Joban Line that runs through Hamadori; and the Ban-etsu-To and Ban-etsu-Sai Lines, which run from Iwaki through Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu to Niigata.

(Related information)

• Education: University of Aizu
• Education: Nihon University College of Engineering

Foreign company(s) operating in the industry

There are 14 foreign corporations (those with 25% or more foreign ownership), including Spansion Japan Limited, Solectron Global Service Company, ON Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., Nippon Becton, Dickinson and Company, and Johnson and Johnson K.K.

Services for investment in Japan

Menu of services	Fees charged?	Content of services
Providing market information
Advice on market participation	No	It provides all types of information concerning the prefecture, and staff members also provide consultation services.
Support for finding customers
Listing of potential customers and partners	No	Subcontractor companies are introduced with the cooperation of the Prefectural Industry Promotion Center
Support for establishing a base
Providing incubation facilities or other facilities	Yes	Introductions are provided to the Fukushima Station West Exit Incubation Room and the Koriyama Regional Technopolis Manufacturing Incubation Center
Providing incubation facilities or other facilities	No	Consultations are offered by the staff
Providing information on procedures for investing in Japan	No	Consultations are offered by the staff
Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services)	No	Consultations are offered by the staff
Introduction of available properties and advice on hiring personnel	No	Consultations are offered by the staff
Providing information on permits and licensing procedures	No	Consultations are offered by the staff
Providing information on subsidy programs	No	Consultations are offered by the staff

Available incentives

The prefecture has its own system of corporate relocation subsidies under the Subsidies for Promotion of Strategic Enterprises. The amount of a subsidy is calculated from the size of the company's investment and the number of employees. The upper limit is 3.5 billion yen. There is also a system of tax exemption for real estate acquisition at the time of relocation (subject to requirements for size of investment) that applies everywhere in the prefecture.

• Industrial location guide: Industrial Location Guide to Fukushima
• Incentive: Preferential treatment system

Links to Related Websites

Local governments and related organizations

• Official website: Fukushima Prefecture
• Industrial location guide: Industrial Location Guide to Fukushima
• Business support: Fukushima Travel Guide

Incentives

• Incentive: Preferential treatment system

Education

• University of Aizu
• Nihon University College of Engineering

Transportation / living

• Healthcare: Fukushima Medical Guide
• International exchange: Fukushima International Association
• Other living information : Sights in Fukushima