Akiko Sakai
Invest Japan Division, Business Support Department(MIPRO)
Gifu is situated practically in the center of Japan, and has played an important role in east-west transportation and commerce as a strategic crossroads of goods and people since ancient times. Dramatic advancements have been made in the transportation infrastructure, including roads, railways, and air traffic, so that the prefecture offers diverse means of efficient and convenient transport. The road network is especially well-developed to ensure prompt and efficient transportation of goods and people, and positions Gifu at the center of business and logistics in Japan. The Tomei and Chuo Highways connect Gifu with eastern Japan, and bring Tokyo within a 4- to 5-hour driving distance, and the Meishin Highway connects the prefecture to western Japan, by which Osaka is only about 2.5 hours away. With the completion and opening of the eastern route of the Tokai Loop Highway in March 2005, the distance between the Tono region in Gifu to Toyota City in Aichi has shortened to about one hour, and has led to a reduction in physical distribution costs. Furthermore, the complete opening of the Tokai-Hokuriku Highway in July 2008 has facilitated physical distribution to and from seaports and airports on both the Pacific Ocean side and the Sea of Japan side. There are heightening expectations that the improved convenience and minimized risks of physical distribution will attract more factories to the prefecture.
Gifu is a major center of manufacturing industries that support the very foundation of leading-edge technology industries such as the automotive, aviation, and IT industries, and is home to many companies engaging in the fields of machine tools, measuring equipment, industrial robots, and software development. In fact, there exist industrial clusters of aviation, aerospace, automotive, machine tool, and IT companies particularly along the Kisosansen Rivers (the Kisogawa, Nagaragawa and Ibigawa Rivers) that flow through the Nobi Plains in southern Gifu.
Research institutions such as Softpia Japan and Techno Plaza are also located in the region. They promote the technological advancement of industries, utilization of information technologies in Gifu, as well as various R&D activities, and offer an open business environment to both domestic and foreign companies as a R&D hub in the fields of IT, multimedia, and robots. At Techno Plaza, about 60 companies have already begun to form VR and robotic technology clusters, and the facility is garnering expectations as providing a foundation for new technical innovations based on industry-government-academia collaboration.
Another salient characteristic of Gifu is its commitment to developing human resources who are capable of supporting the industries. It promotes the development of IT engineers and other skilled human resources and aims to secure human resources suited to the needs of companies locating in Gifu, through a variety of human resource development and securement programs. Some of those programs include the IT human resource development program for direct employment, the Gifu Human Resource Challenge Center (Gifufs version of the Job Cafe) program, the IT security human resource development center program, the Softpia IT human resource training program, and operation of the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences/the International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS).
Since ancient times, diverse traditional, local industries have flourished in Gifu, such as lacquer ware, ceramic ware, Japanese paper, metal blades, and woodcrafts, and the prefecture has produced many people who excel in the "art of creation." This regional characteristic of producing "masterfulexperts" can be said to underlie the prefecturefs programs for the development of human resources in leading-edge industries.
In the "300 Monozukuri (Manufacturing) SMEs Nationwide" selected every year by the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, 9 companies from Gifu, mainly automotive parts manufacturers and machine tool/processing machine manufacturers, were selected in 2006, 7 companies were selected in 2007, and 9 companies were selected in 2008. This is strong proof that many outstanding companies supporting the manufacturing industry in the Chubu region of Japan are located in Gifu.
Among the foreign companies operating in Gifu today is Zwilling J.A. Henckels AG, a world-leading manufacturer known for its high-quality, high-performance knives, cutlery and kitchenware. It has selected Seki City as the location of its factory in Japan, because the city boasts Japanfs largest shipment of blade products, which is the cityfs main industry, and has an environment that offers exceptional technologies in the field of blades. In other words, the "masterful" technology that is inherent to the prefecture has been highly acknowledged.
"Greater Nagoya" refers to the wide-area economic and industrial region centering on Nagoya City and spreading across the three prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, and Mie. It is a region that represents all aspects of manufacturing in Japan, with numerous world-class companies and research institutes, as well as clusters of the worldfs leading manufacturing industries in the fields of automobiles, machine tools, electronic products, and new materials.
To further open the regionfs industry and economy to the outside world and attract outstanding companies, technologies, people, and information from the world, the Greater Nagoya Initiative (GNI) brings the region, industries, and universities together in promoting international industrial exchanges, and offers one-stop services to facilitate the smooth entry of foreign companies who have an interest in investing or establishing a business base in the region.
As a participant of the GNI, Gifu is also actively seeking the knowledge, technologies, and human resources of foreign companies, in the effort to reinvigorate its industries. Through collaboration and cooperation with related organizations, it offers various support services for establishing a business in the prefecture, such as by providing regional information and support for surveys, publicity activities, and invitation programs, and arranging business negotiations.
Business Investment Promotion Division, Department of Industry and Labor
TEL: 81-58-272-8371 FAX: 81-58-278-2659
http://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/pref/s11342/guide/e/index.htm
(Note) Photos and images provided by Gifu Prefecture
