GREATER NAGOGYA INITIATIVE Monthly Newsletter Issue No.12 (May, 2007)

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GREATER NAGOGYA INITIATIVE Monthly Newsletter Issue No.12 (May, 2007)
Greater Nagoya Means Greater Business Opportunities
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1. Event: Japan-Korea-China Industrial Fair 2007, in Seoul (Jun 13 to 16, 2007)

2. Event: Music Festival in Greater Nagoya
3. Concentration of Aircraft Industry in Greater Nagoya
4. Rise of the Official Land Price, Bustling Greater Nagoya
5. Baseball in Greater Nagoya, Home for Ichiro of Seattle Mariners
6. Holiday Season in May, “Golden Week”
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1. Event: Japan-Korea-China Industrial Fair 2007, in Seoul (Jun 13 to 16, 2007)
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Greater Nagoya Initiative is participating in the Industrial Fair held in Seoul in Korea for the promotion of GNI. This exhibition is organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). The exhibition is held in order to promote and strengthen the economic partnerships between Japan, Korea, and China. This is the second time to hold this exhibition and the first one was held in China and had participants of 596 corporations and organizations from Japan, Korea, and China with visitors of about 24,000 people in total. GNI will have our own exhibition booth in order to present the attractiveness of Greater Nagoya in terms of industry, business, and living environment. During the exhibition, symposium on “Business Alliances between Korea, China, and Japan” will also be held.

Japan-Korea-China Industrial Fair in Seoul: http://www.kjcbusinessfair.org/
JETRO: http://www.jetro.go.jp/

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2. Event: Music Festival in Greater Nagoya
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On May 12 (Sat) and 13 (Sun), a music festival called “SAKAE MINAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL” will be held in Greater Nagoya. The festival is organized by the local community with support by the local governments. Greater Nagoya Initiative is one of the supporting organizations for this event. The festival is held in order to create new culture and to vitalize people and culture of Greater Nagoya area. Musicians in different genres such as pop music, classical music, jazz, folk music, etc. are going to perform at Greater Nagoya’s most bustling shopping and entertainment area called “SAKAE”. There is going to be several outdoor performing stages in the area set up specially for this event so that people can stop by and see the events freely. Because there will be different kinds of musicians, people will be able to enjoy the festival regardless of age and gender. The admission is free for any performances. Greater Nagoya Initiative is ready to cooperate not only for events and programs on business and economy, but for anything which could enhance attractiveness of Greater Nagoya area.

SAKAE MINAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL (in Japanese only): http://www.sakaeminami.com/

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3. Concentration of Aircraft Industry in Greater Nagoya

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Aircraft industry is one of the major industries in Greater Nagoya. Greater Nagoya has been manufacturing and developing aircrafts for decades. Greater Nagoya’s aircraft industry’s share in Japan is almost 50%. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. are the world’s leading aircraft and aerospace corporations in Greater Nagoya. History and concentration of Greater Nagoya’s aircraft industry goes back to about a hundred years ago. The resources in Greater Nagoya and characteristics of Greater Nagoya’s industry at that time contributed to further develop aircraft industry and its concentration, such as ample resource of woods as well as concentration of advanced technologies of precision machinery industry at that time.

Today, Greater Nagoya is manufacturing some of the most sophisticated parts of the aircraft with cutting-edge and advanced technologies. The next generation’s Boeing 787 dream liner is one of the examples of such. About 35% of the aircraft’s body is manufactured in Greater Nagoya area. This 35% is not just a nation’s percentage, but the worldwide percentage. With Greater Nagoya’s excellent infrastructure, it makes it possible to ship large aircraft parts just-in-time. Since the aircraft’s large parts such as main wings are manufactured at the manufacturing sites located by the port of Nagoya, it is transported from the port to Centrair, our new international airport. The port of Nagoya has the largest trade volume in Japan and is a center of exports and imports in Japan. Then, by air to the United States by using Boeing 747 LCF (Large Cargo Freighter). This flow of transportation system by using sea and air became milestone in Greater Nagoya’s airplane industry. Greater Nagoya not only concentrates manufacturing companies with cutting-edge technologies, but also possesses advanced logistic systems.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.: http://www.mhi.co.jp/aero/english/index.html
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.: http://www.khi.co.jp/aero/index_e.html
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (in Japanese Only): http://www.fhi.co.jp/about/outline/section/aero.html

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4. Rise of the Official Land Price, Bustling Greater Nagoya
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The Japanese Government, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced the official land prices in Japan as of January 1, 2007. The official land prices of the Greater Nagoya’s commercial area has risen 16.1% (it was 5.0% last year) and three areas in Greater Nagoya are ranked within the top 10 area of the highest rate of increase. The rate of increase in the commercial area in Japan as a whole is 2.3% whereas Greater Nagoya area is recorded as 7.8%. Although, land prices have risen, the office rent in Greater Nagoya is still much lower than those of Tokyo. For example, it is about 24 US dollars (about 2,800yen)/m2 in Greater Nagoya and about 34 US dollars (about 3,900yen)/m2 in Tokyo. Rent for housing in Greater Nagoya is also much lower and the floor space per dwelling is much larger compared to Tokyo and Osaka area. People in Greater Nagoya can still enjoy high standard of living with lower price of living.

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5. Baseball in Greater Nagoya, Home for Ichiro of Seattle Mariners
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There are many places in Greater Nagoya where people can enjoy different kinds of sports. Watching baseball games is one of the popular entertainments in Japan and many people in Greater Nagoya also enjoy watching baseball games. Every year, 12 professional baseball teams in Japan compete each other to win the Japan Series. Greater Nagoya is a home for one of Japan’s professional baseball teams called Chunichi Dragons. The most popular Japanese baseball player in the United States, Ichiro Suzuki who is playing in the US Major League Baseball team’s Seattle Mariners, was brought up in Greater Nagoya and developed its baseball skills. There are high schools in Greater Nagoya famous for bringing up good baseball players to be played in professional baseball teams.

We have a baseball stadium called Nagoya Dome, a home stadium for Greater Nagoya’s professional baseball team called “Chunichi Dragons”, where people can watch baseball in all weather. Nagoya Dome has a capacity of 40,500 people and is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Nagoya Dome is designed not only for the use of baseball games, but also for soccer (football) matches, concerts, events etc. Recently, the world’s famous pop star, Rolling Stones, came to Greater Nagoya and performed their concert at the dome. Right by the dome, there is a big shopping mall with restaurants and shops open until 11PM and people can enjoy shopping and dining before and after the events. The baseball season has started and Nagoya Dome is packed with people who come with their friends and families to enjoy watching baseball.

Nagoya Dome (in Japanese only): http://www.nagoya-dome.co.jp/index4a.htm

Chunichi Dragons (in Japanese only): http://dragons.cplaza.ne.jp/
Ichiro of Seattle Mariners: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/ichiro_hits_tory/index.jsp
Shopping Mall (in Japanese only): http://www.aeon.jp/sc/nagoyadomemae/

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6. Holiday Season in May, “Golden Week”
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From late April to early May, Japan has are four different national holidays and people enjoys one week to ten days vacation during this time of the year. This holiday is called, “Golden Week”. The Golden Week starts from April 29 and ends on May 6. April 29 is a memorial day for our former emperor’s birthday, April 30 is a substitute holiday (since 29 is Sunday, we get a substitute holiday on Monday 30), May 3 is Japan’s Constitution Day, May 4 is a national holiday (which is a holiday we get between a national holiday and another national holiday), and May 5 is Children’s day. As you notice, May 1 and May 2 are not national holidays, but people usually take these two days off so that they can get a 9-day off. Late April to early May is one of the best seasons in Japan with the temperatures from 16 to 20 degree centigrade (from 60.8 to 64.4 deg F.) with warm and sunny days. Therefore, people go for travel, do sports, go hiking and do many different things during the Golden Week with perfect weather.