Investing in Japan

Kitakyushu city

The information below is as of March 2011.

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

Basic Information

Population*1	0.98 million
Labor force*1	0.45 million
Area*2	488 km²
GDP*3	Please inquire to your local government for the detailed information about city GDP.
Major industries	Steel, chemical, machinery, ceramics, and information
Developing industries	Establishment of a base for creating new industries, development of R&D-oriented enterprises, and advancement of existing industries
Offices overseas	Dalian and Shanghai, China
Offices in Japan	Tokyo
JETRO office	JETRO Kitakyushu

*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

Yahata Iron Works, Japan’s first government-operated modern iron works, started operation in 1901, followed by a number of companies, such as Yasukawa Electric, an industrial robot manufacturer (1915), and TOTO, a sanitary ware manufacturer (1917). Kitakyushu City developed in line with the key industries including steel, chemical, metal, and ceramics and played a significant role in the modernization of Japan. In recent years, the highly value-added industries, such as automobiles, total yearly production of which exceeded one million units, and semiconductors, have grown. The environmental industry utilizes the experience and know-how acquired when overcoming serious pollution in the past, and these types of industries with distinctive characteristics are also growing.

Strength of the region's education/research institutes

Kitakyushu Science and Research Park Project Location: Hibikino Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu City.

The project aims at composite community building to attract the educational/research institutes related to leading-edge science and technologies and to supply appropriate land space for housing, while maintaining the surrounding natural and urban environment. Aiming at the creation of the education/research environment at the highest level and nurturing human resources of the next-generation, the faculties of science and technology of national, public, and private universities work together and deepen cooperation with each other, including joint use of facilities. This is the first experiment in Japan.

• Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Environmental Engineering, University of Kitakyushu
• Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, (national university)
• Graduate School of Engineering, Fukuoka University
• Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems, Waseda University
• Joint Laboratory, Cranfield University at Kitakyushu (U.K.)
• Fukuoka Research Center for Recycling Systems
• Design IC Process Engineering Education and Research Center, Hiroshima Institute of Technology
• Kitakyushu Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, China
• Kitakyushu Laboratory, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
• Bacteriological Studies Laboratory, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, etc.

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

Kitakyushu City supports industry-academia collaboration that utilizes knowledge accumulated in universities, launches an industrialization promotion organization based on industry-academia collaboration, and is making utmost efforts to establish a base for next-generation industries as a way of forming diverse industrial clusters. Industrialization initiatives have focused on: developing semiconductor industry to establish knowledge and international bases of car electronics sectors that support advancement of the local automobile industry; creating and cultivating the environmental industry befitting the environmental capital of the world; fostering a robot industry that utilizes elemental technology owned by the local area; and leading-edge technology fields in IT services.

Kitakyushu Science and Research Park and concentration of the semiconductor industry
To promote the consolidated development of the semiconductor industry in Kitakyushu, the “Semiconductor Engineering Center” was established as a core institute of the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park. The Center promotes industry-academia collaboration; fosters hands-on workers; and develops semiconductor application technologies to promote the formation of a semiconductor industrial cluster.

Concentration of the environment industry and technologies
Kitakyushu City has been promoting the “Kitakyushu Smart Community Creation Project” to enable the construction of Japanese-style smart grids as part of the Japanese government’s new growth strategy and to support overseas expansion. In addition, under the control of the “Kitakyushu Eco-Town Project”, the City has invited recycling-related companies and conducted demonstration experiments relating to waste recycling. There are great hopes that the continued promotion of these projects and the utilization of accumulated environmental technologies will create new business opportunities in the future.

Strength of the region's infrastructure

The Port of Kitakyushu has 173 scheduled international lines and the Kitakyushu Airport offers 24-hour operation. Networks of expressways and railways have been expanded. All these enable flexible physical distribution using land-sea-and-air transportation. Located on the rim of the Yellow Sea, the Port has a number of Asian routes and is on the key route from Asia to North America. Although there are different routes to North America, the one starting from the Sea of Japan and going through the Tsugaru Straits can shorten the total shipping time by two days at maximum, compared with the one across the Pacific Ocean. Hibikinada is equipped with the only deep quay on the side of the Sea of Japan and serves as a hub of East Asia, which can be directly connected to every corner of the world. Early-morning and late-evening flights are allowed to/from the Kitakyushu Airport because it is located offshore. It has regular flights to South Korea (Inchon) as well as Tokyo.

<Land>

An expressway network has been established, enabling us to make a day trip to major cities. Some parts of the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway are still under construction, starting from Kitakyushu, reaching to Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima prefectures and ending in Kagoshima City. The total length will be approximately 436 kilometers. This will dramatically reduce the transportation time, facilitating interregional exchange, expanding the market of agricultural/fishery products and the possibility of company location, and achieving a striking effect as a result.

<Air>

Kitakyushu Airport: Opened in 2006, this offshore airport operates 24 hours and is fully equipped with such functions as customs, immigration, and quarantine.

<Sea>

Hibiki Container Terminal: Operation started in 2005, it is a high-standard terminal equipped with so deep quay (minus 15 meter) that even an Over-Panamax container vessel can come alongside. An increasing number of physical distribution facilities and plants are being located in the huge industrial park behind.

<Railway>

Kitakyushu Cargo Terminal: It is located where Honshu meets Kyushu and all freight trains operating between the two islands stop at this terminal. Equipped with the latest facilities, this is surely one of the core stations on the railway network connecting 140 stations nationwide. The Effective & Speedy Container Handling System (E&S System) is introduced, where containers are loaded/unloaded directly to/from a train on the rail. This system can reduce time and costs required.

(Related information)

• Research / Technical support: Kitakyushu Science and Research Park

Foreign company(s) operating in the industry

Company name	Inergy Automotive Systems
Industry sector	Manufacturing resin fuel tanks for automobiles
Date of entry	November 2003
Motivation for selecting region	Kitakyushu City is right in the center of northern Kyushu, where many automobile manufacturers are located, and thus is suitable for the location of auto-related companies. Kitakyushu City has rich technical accumulation, abundant opportunities of industry-and-academia collaboration and attractive infrastructure. Above all, the Airport-side Industrial Park offers high level of transportation convenience. Kitakyushu City is internationally evaluated as a world-class environmental model city. Existence of a business partners in the area · Quick and considerate responses of Kitakyushu City government

Company name	The Research Pacific Japan
Industry sector	Proposal and planning of marketing research
Date of entry	July 2003
Motivation for selecting region	Well-developed support system of Kitakyushu City
Support provided by local government or JETRO	The business support center (Startup Office) offering low rents and the possibility for long-term occupancy.

Services for investment in Japan

Menu of services	Fees charged?	Content of services
Providing market information
Advice on market participation	No	Simple information can be provided. For specialized matters, specialists are introduced (fee-based service).
Consulting by external experts and advisers	No	Individual consulting is offered, and specialists are introduced (fee-based service).
Arranging appointments with potential customers and partners	No	Individual consulting is offered, and specialists can be introduced (fee-based service).
Support for finding customers
Monitoring surveys (evaluation of products and services)	No	Individual consulting is offered, and specialists can be introduced (fee-based service).
Listing of potential customers and partners	No	Individual consulting is offered, and clients and partners can be introduced.
Listing of potential customers and partners	No	Individual consulting is offered, and an appointment with persons concerned can be arranged.
Support for establishing a base
Providing incubation facilities or other facilities	Yes	Located on the eighth floor of the AIM Building, a five-minute walk from Kokura Station (Shinkansen, conventional railway lines). Services are offered to foreign public organizations or foreign businesses planning to open an office in Kitakyushu City. Rent from 18,000 yen per month. For public agencies, no rent is charged. The current and past tenants include businesses from South Korea, China, Italy, Nepal, Canada, Sri Lanka, and Egypt.
Providing incubation facilities or other facilities	No	Individual consulting is offered, and specialists can be introduced (fee-based service).
Providing information on procedures for investing in Japan	No	Appropriate procedural information will be offered according to the industry and style of business. For highly specialized matters, specialists can be introduced (fee-based service).
Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services)	No	Suitable real estate and employment agencies will be introduced (free or fee-based services).
Introduction of available properties and advice on hiring personnel	No	Land for sale in Kitakyushu City, which has perfect access to land/sea/air physical distribution infrastructure, shall be introduced.
Providing information on permits and licensing procedures	No	Simple information can be provided. For specialized matters, specialists can be introduced (fee-based service).
Providing information on subsidy programs	No	Information will be provided on subsidies offered by Kitakyushu City and Fukuoka Prefecture.

<Kitakyushu Business Support Center (BSC) >
The Center offers startup offices to foreign businesses branching out into the Japanese market. It is only five minutes away on foot from JR Kokura Station but charges low rent.

Location: 8th floor of the Asia-pacific Import Mart (AIM), 3-8-1 Asano, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City
Term of rental: 2 years maximum
Deposit: 50,000 yen
Rent: Room for one person (10m²) 18,000 yen/month Room for two persons (14m²) 25,200 yen/month
A desk, chairs, simple reception desk and chairs, cabinet, and closet are offered free of charge.

*PCs (shared and free) and copy machines (shared and charged) are also available.

Database of candidate partners

• Kitakyusyu Trade Directory: Database
  

  Users can easily search for companies by key words

Available incentives

Subsidies and tax reduction measures
(1) Subsidy for investment in plants and equipment:
For those acquired: 2% of the amount invested in plants and equipment including land costs (6% in the case of purchased industrial premises onwed by the city).
*3% of the amount invested in plants and equipment including land costs if the invested amount is 500 million yen or more (250 million yen or more in the case of SMEs)
For those rented: 50% of the annual rent (first year only)
(2) Subsidy for employment: 300,000 yen per employee (150,000 yen for part-time workers)

Financing program
A maximum of 80% of the applicable cost and 1 billion yen maximum per company at 1.45% per annum

Tax exemption according to the Enterprise Location Promotion Law
Applicable to companies building or expanding a factory or office in concentrated zones in the automobile, semiconductor, biotechnology, robot, nanotechnology, web content industries, environmental and energy industries, and the following sectors of the agriculture, forestry and farming-related industries: manufacturing, information and communication, information and communication technology provider, transportation, wholesale, and natural science research institutes.

• Industrial location guide: Invest Kitakyushu
• Incentive: Subsidies

Links to Related Websites

Local governments and related organizations

• Official website: City of Kitakyushu
• Industrial location guide: Invest Kitakyushu

Incentives

• Incentive: Subsidies
• Business support facility: Kitakyushu Telework Center
• Business support facility: Kitakyushu Business Support Center (BSC)
• Kitakyusyu Trade Directory: Database

Research and development

• Kitakyushu Science and Research Park

Transportation / living

• Airport: Kitakyushu Airport
• Port: Port of Kitakyushu
• Healthcare: Hospitals That Offer Services in Foreign Languages
• International exchange: Foundation Fukuoka prefecture Medical Center
• Other living information : Kitakyusyu welcome card

Other information

• See the relating regional information.: Fukuoka Prefecture
• See the relating regional information.: Fukuoka City