GREATER NAGOYA INITIATIVE Monthly Newsletter Issue No.22 (Mar, 2008)

URL: https://greaternagoya.org/

*Please contact Greater Nagoya Initiative Center (Ms. Miura and Ms. Sumi) for further details on the above events.

==============================================================

==============================================================

The Wall Street Journal will cover stories on Greater Nagoya in its March 11th issue. The Wall Street Journal is one of the world’s leading business and economic newspapers in the United States with its circulation of about 1.9 million in the world (about 1.7 million in the US, about 90,000 in Europe, and 80,000 in Asia). Please take a look at the article and hope that you will be able to discover more about Greater Nagoya!

==============================================================

==============================================================

Greater Nagoya Initiative’s (GNI) main activities and objectives are discussed annually by the Greater Nagoya Initiative Center (GNIC) board members as below. Since GNI is a joint organization of administration, academia, and industry established to enhance foreign investment in Greater Nagoya, the board members of GNIC are the leaders of administration and industry. Since the establishment of the GNIC, the board members have been holding annual meetings to share and discuss their thoughts about several matters in order to attract more and more foreign companies expanding their business in Greater Nagoya. The annual meeting for this fiscal year will be held on March 14 and there will be discussions on several topics; such as the number of overseas companies successfully established their business in Greater Nagoya with GNI’s support, improvements of GNI’s activities in helping overseas companies, PR activities of Greater Nagoya and GNI, future prospects and development of Greater Nagoya region, etc

Chairman:

Mr. Masaharu Shibata (NGK Insulators, Ltd. board chairperson)

Vice President:

Mr. Takashi Nojima (Chairman of Chubu Science and Technology Center)

Council Members:

Mr. Nobuhiro Okuno (Department Director, Chukyo University)

Mr. Nobuo Kamino (Vice president of Chubu Economic Federation)

Mr. Masaaki Kanda (Governor of Aichi Prefecture)

Mr. Kanji Kurioka (Senior Advisor of Toyota Motor Corporation)

Mr. Yoshihiro Otsuji (Director-general of Chubu Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

Mr. Jiro Takahashi (Vice Chairman of Nagoya Chamber of Commerce)

Mr. Akihiko Noro (Governor of Mie Prefecture)

Mr. Shinichi Hirano (President of Nagoya University)

Mr. Hajime Furuta (Governor of Gifu Prefecture)

Mr. Takehisa Matsubara (Mayor of Nagoya City)

Mr. Yoshihiro Yasui (Chairman of Brother Industries Ltd.)

Advisers:

Mr. Kenyu Adachi (Director-general of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

Mr. Yasuo Hayashi (Chairman and CEO of JETRO)

==============================================================

==============================================================

Michael Evans, Managing Director of AMB Property Japan Inc, has revealed the brand new Distribution Center in Greater Nagoya (Kasugai Distribution Center) at the official grand opening ceremony held on February 7. This distribution center has one of Japan’s highest capacities with total floor space of 120,626.69 square meters combined with storage functions (six story building) and distribution systems. The parent company of AMB Property Japan Inc, AMB Property Corporation, is a global company based in California, United States that owns and operates distribution facilities in 45 markets in 14 countries throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. AMB Property Japan Inc, pointed out that Greater Nagoya is a key distribution location between Tokyo and Osaka. In Greater Nagoya, advanced manufacturing technologies are focused, and the area is supported by many great transportation systems.

AMB Property Japan’s new Distribution Center in Greater Nagoya, has excellent accessibility from two main expressways; Chuo Expressway and Tomei Expressway. From both expressways, the distribution center can be reached within 10 minutes. Benefits of these freeways are many and varied. Chuo Expressway mainly connects between Tokyo and Osaka, and Tomei Expressway provides easy-access to major seaports in Greater Nagoya along the Pacific Ocean side. A large sign bearing the company logo, AMB, can be seen from far away on the expressways, making the center easy to find and raising awareness of the company. At the grand opening ceremony, Evans told invited guests that he was proud to choose Greater Nagoya as a qualified region, and he also felt honored that the company is able to contribute to the area.

==============================================================

==============================================================

Greater Nagoya area is known as the world’s leading ceramic districts where have been producing potteries and ceramic wares for hundreds of years. Because of such tradition and technical know-how, Greater Nagoya has now become the world’s leading industrial area of the fine ceramics products. These fine ceramics products are used for high-tech industries and products which apply cutting-edge technologies. The world’s leading fine ceramics companies headquartered in Greater Nagoya, such as NGK Insulators, Ltd., IBIDEN CO., LTD., etc., producing about 97% of Japan’s fine ceramics parts for automotives. These products are ceramics for exhaust gas purification carriers which purify exhaust from gas and contribute reductions of gas emissions.

Background of the production of fine ceramics in Greater Nagoya can be traced the history of pottery productions in Greater Nagoya. History of pottery goes back to our ancient time (260-590 A.D.). One of the reasons that Greater Nagoya is famous for production of potteries is because the area has abundant natural resources to produce good potteries, such as clay and fuel to fire the kilns. Within Greater Nagoya, there are three major areas known for the pottery productions. One is called “Mino, known as Mino ware”. The area now produces over 50% of pottery products in Japan for table ware. Other two areas are called “Seto, known as Seto ware” and “Tokoname, known as Tokoname ware”. These two areas are famous for one of Japan’s oldest sites for the pottery kilns. There are museums specializing in pottery and ceramic wares, such as Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Mino Ware Tradition Industrial Hall, etc., where people are able to find and see the long history of pottery productions in Greater Nagoya as well as the pottery collections from ancient times to today. Nowadays, ceramic products are not only used for people’s daily life, but also for the new fields in many industries, such as automotive, aerospace industry, etc. Production of fine ceramics became one of the important industries in the world, and Greater Nagoya is leading the fine ceramics industry in Japan and in the world.

==============================================================

==============================================================

Doll Festival (Hina Matsuri), one of the traditional events in Japan, has been spotlighted in local towns of Greater Nagoya as spring entertainments. Traditionally, the Doll Festival held on March 3rd, is one of the Japanese family events. The festivals are usually celebrated by individual families who have young girls in their family member. Families pray for girls’ future happiness and healthy growth by setting up a display of traditional Japanese miniature dolls of an Emperor and Empress. This custom started during the Heian period (794-1192) and was the most popular in the Edo Period (1603-1868). The dolls wear costumes of the imperial court (ceremonial kimono) during the Heian period. Nowadays, the way people celebrate the Doll Festivals has been changing. The new style of festivals are celebrated and organized by town people in local regions, not only by families. Greater Nagoya also has several Doll Festivals organized by whole town such as Gujo-city Doll Festival, Mino-city Doll Festival of Tradesmen houses, Chuma’s Hina Doll in Asuke, and Iwamura Doll Festival.

The new style of Doll Festivals continues from mid-February until April 3rd. Town visitors can even enjoy the tradition as the regional spring entertainments which bring life to the mid-size towns in the area also. One of the prominent doll festivals in Greater Nagoya is held in Gujo city. During the Gujo-City Doll Festival, 100 of houses, shops and museums in the area decorate their own traditional miniature dolls. These houses are usually concentrated in the main town, and the dolls are often placed near the front entrances of homes or by windows so the public can see the decoration each household placed just like Western Christmas trees. While visitors stroll around the compact-sized town, they can also stop by each house to view valuable dolls, and some of them are antiques and collectable since they have been inherited from generation to generation. Because dolls are so valuable and rare, the town people considered showing them to attract their town for tourists, and visitors can not only see the dolls, but they can also enjoy grasping the traditional life-style in these nostalgic towns.

******************************************************************************

Thank you so much for reading our e-newsletter, and sharing in our excitements for expansion of Greater Nagoya. All comments are welcomed! To subscribe, or unsubscribe, please email us at　gninewsletter@greaternagoya.org

******************************************************************************

〔Issued by〕 Greater Nagoya Initiative Center（GNIC）

〔Address〕 Greater Nagoya Initiative Center (GNIC)

c/o JETRO NAGOYA

Nagoya Center Bldg., Annex 8th Floor,

2-22-2 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya,

Aichi, Japan 460-0003

〔TEL〕 +81-52-223-7340

〔FAX〕 +81-52-223-7341

〔EMAIL〕 gninewsletter@greaternagoya.org

〔URL〕 https://greaternagoya.org/

******************************************************************************

Copyright© Greater Nagoya Initiative Center®. All rights reserved.