Investing in Japan
Regional Information
Hyogo
Kobe City and Hyogo Prefecture are the ideal foothold for business in Japan
- Your Regional Guide: Hideaki Kawachi
Inquiry form
Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center
Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building 4F 6-1 Minatojima-Nakamachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe-city, Hyogo Prefecture 650-0046
TEL: +81-78-302-2072 FAX: +81-78-302-2265
- Basic Information
- Regional Profile
- Services for investment in Japan
- Available incentives
- Living environment for foreigners
- Links to Related Websites
Basic Information
| Population | 5.58 million (Male: 2.67 million, Female: 2.91 million) (2008) |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 2.52 million (Male: 1.47 million, Female: 1.05 million) (2005) |
| Area | 8,395.61km² (2008) |
| GDP | 18.857 billion yen (2004) |
| Major industries | Manufacturing, service, real estate, wholesale, retail, transport and telecommunication |
| Developing industries | Service, commerce and other service-based (tertiary) industries |
| Offices overseas | Parana, Brazil /Hong Kong/Washington, DC |
| Offices in Japan | Tokyo |
| JETRO office | JETRO Kobe |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
Hyogo Prefecture has served and grown as one of the main manufacturing centers of Japanese industry. As such, the prefecture has a broad spectrum of industrial clusters, including everything from heavy industries like steel smelting and ship building to SMEs trading on outstanding technologies and expertise and locally-based industries. Gross product in Hyogo is 1.2 times the national average (localization coefficient), and output per worker is also greater than the national average. In recent years, processing and assembling industries are increasing their share of the local industrial landscape, increasing the prefecture's advantage in areas of processed and assembled products, such as auto, electric/electronic machinery and precision machinery. Known as "Panel Bay", the coastline of the Hanshin region is one of the world's largest production sites for flat-screen TVs, and is a major driving force behind the Kansai economy. The addition of Matsushita Electric Industries' new plasma panel plant in Amagasaki City and IPS Alpha Technology's LCD panel plant in Himeji City—both within Hyogo Prefecture—will further reinforce Hyogo's position as a central part of Panel Bay.
Furthermore, Hyogo is making steady progress in its plans for creating the clusters of such next-generation growth industries as “health and medical care”, “microfabrication”, “environment and energy” by streamlining the Harima Science Park City and promoting the Kobe Medical Industry Development Project.
Strength of the region's education/research institutes
As of March 2008, Hyogo Prefecture has some 390 research and research support institutions under industry, academia and government partnerships, giving the prefecture one of Japan’s premier R&D platforms. By industry, a large number of those research institutes concentrate on machinery, steel, electronics, food, pharmaceuticals, chemistry and other fields that form the foundation of the manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, Hyogo also has some of Japan’s leading technological R&D clusters such as the Harima Science Garden City and the Kobe Medical Industry Development Project. Moreover, the Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Technology and Hyogo Support Center for Manufacturing are just two of the numerous industry, academia and government partnered support systems that make up the prefecture’s steadfast support for SME technology and business management needs.Hyogo Prefecture has 42 universities, 21 two-year colleges and 102 vocational schools, and 58% of high school students progress to higher education—a relatively high rate. In 2005, Carnegie Mellon University opened a Japan campus in Kobe for the aim of developing a pool of talented information security workers. Furthermore, given Hyogo’s historical position as a focal point of Japan’s internationalization, the prefecture has a conspicuously large number of foreign schools despite the fact of being a regional city: The number of foreign schools in Hyogo is fourteen, which is second only to Tokyo.
Industry-government-academia collaboration
<Harima Science Garden City>
Established in 2,000 hectares of lush, rolling hills in the south-western part of the prefecture, the Harima Science Garden City is a cluster of nanotechnology development businesses and boasts facilities such as SPring-8, the large synchrotron radiation facility; New Subaru, a medium-sized synchrotron radiation facility; the University of Hyogo, School of Science; and the Hyogo Ion Beam Medical Center. In order to promote industrial use of Hyogo’s exclusive beam line at SPring-8, the Hyogo Center for Advanced Science and Technology provides platforms for networking among researchers while the Hyogo Prefectural Synchrotron Radiation Nanotechnology Laboratory offers assistance for technological R&D and the Hyogo Science and Technology Association offers technology consultation and training. As of March 2008, seventeen companies have taken up residence in Harima Science Garden City and, just last year, Air Liquide Japan, Ltd., and Japan Air Gases (a special gas filler and refiner from France) decided to build a plant in the City.
<Kobe Medical Industry Development Project>
Port Island, an artificial island offshore from central Kobe, is home to the Kobe Medical Industry Development Project. The island hosts a cluster of advanced medical technology R&D facilities including the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation and the Center for Developmental Biology. Work is also progressing on the creation of a cluster for biotech and medical-related companies; as of March 2008, some 125 companies (twenty of which are foreign-affiliates) have set up their bases here.
<A cluster of core national technologies>
Harima Science Garden City has been selected to host the facility for x-ray free electron lasers, while Port Island, a city for the Kobe Medical Industry Development Project, will be home to a next-generation super computer, meaning that facilities for two out of the five technologies designated as "core national" are being built in Hyogo Prefecture.
Strength of the region's infrastructure
Located roughly at Japan’s midpoint, Hyogo Prefecture is easily accessed from the rest of the world by air or sea, and is connected with the rest of the country by air, rail and expressway. Japan is a bow-shaped archipelago at the far east of Eurasia, made up of four main islands and many lesser islands, large and small. With its many variations in climate and culture, Japan has many faces indeed. The Kansai region, where Hyogo Prefecture is located, is a major economic and cultural center which displays a different kind of Japan to which one would find around the Tokyo metropolitan area. Given its central location, Hyogo has been Japan’s gateway to the world ever since Kobe Port was opened in 1868, and consequently, the prefecture has well-developed access routes—air, sea and land—to the rest of the country and the world. Hyogo was also the landing point in Japan for a range of Western culture like movies and golf, and the departure point for Japanese cultural exports such as karaoke and anime.
<Land>
The network of expressways crisscrossing Japan passes through Hyogo, giving the prefecture ideal transport access conditions. In April 1998, the world’s longest suspension bridge, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, was completed, creating a road link between Honshu and Shikoku Islands through Hyogo.
<Air>
Hyogo Prefecture offers an outstanding air transport network. There are three airports—Osaka International Airport, which has flights to thirty cities through Japan, and Kobe Airport, within an easy access as little as sixteen minutes away from the center of Kobe City, the prefectural capital, on the Port Liner elevated railway—as well as Tajima Airport facing to the Sea of Japan. Moreover, it takes only about one hour to Kansai International Airport, one of Japan’s first world-standard airport, from Kobe by express bus and around 30 minutes from Kobe Airport by martime traffic, meaning that Hyogo has quick access to anywhere in Japan and around the world.
<Sea>
Kobe Port is one of the world’s premier international trade hubs, and is looking to solidify its position as Asia’s “mother port”.
<Railway>
The Shinkansen, one of the world’s fastest bullet trains, runs east-to-west through Hyogo Prefecture, linking Kobe and Tokyo in 2.5 hours. The prefecture also has a large network of regular railway operators, such as JR, Hankyu, Hanshin, Sanyo, Kobe Electric railways and Kobe municipal subway. These transportation means enable workers to commute from Kobe to Kyoto or Osaka.
Foreign company(s) operating in the industry
Given the history of Hyogo Prefecture and its principal city, Kobe, as pioneers of Japan’s internationalization, and the fact that the prefecture has existing foreign communities and networks with the rest of the world, one of the characteristics and strengths of the local economy is hosting the conspicuously large number of foreign and foreign-affiliated companies as well as the headquarters of foreign-affiliated global companies compared with other regional cities in Japan.
As one of the major pillars for the effort to the creative industry renaissance after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Hyogo has been aggressively inviting foreign and foreign-affiliated companies to set up their bases in the prefecture since 1998, and is making steady achievements.
- Number of foreign and foreign-affiliated companies with their headquarters in Hyogo: 82 (4th largest number of all prefectures in Japan) Source: “Directory of Foreign-affiliated Companies, 2007,” Toyo Keizai Shinpo Sha
- Foreign-affiliated global companies with their headquarters in Hyogo: Procter & Gamble Japan, KK., Nestlé Japan, Ltd., Ely Lilly Japan, KK., etc.
- Confirmed number of foreign-affiliated companies located in Hyogo (FY1998-2007): Approx. 200
| Company name | American Life Insurance Company |
|---|---|
| Industry sector | A call center for insurance product sales (Alico Direct Relationship Center). |
| Date of entry | November 2005 |
| Motivation for selecting region |
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| Support provided by local government or JETRO |
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Services for investment in Japan
| Menu of services | Fees charged? | Content of services |
|---|---|---|
| Providing market information | ||
| Advice on market participation | No | Advices and information provided by advisors and other experts regarding market entry. |
| Consulting by external experts and advisers | No | Consultation with experts on growth industries. |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Local companies who want to trade with foreign and foreign-affiliated companies are listed online. |
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Introduce prospective partners and make appointments with them for meetings. |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | Yes | Hyogo Prefectural and Kobe Municipal Governments joined forces to offer incubation facilities in the prefecture and city. |
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | No | Calculator for simulating the costs of setting up a business in Japan is available online. |
| Providing information on procedures for investing in Japan | No | Provide information by experts in legal work, accounting, tax and other areas relevant to expansion into Japan. |
| Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services) | No | Arrange meetings with real estate agents and staffing agencies. |
| Introduction of available properties and advice on hiring personnel | No | Introduce properties held by the prefecture and city as well as privately owned properties; Offer advices on recruiting staff. |
| Providing information on permits and licensing procedures | No | Provide information by experts. |
| Providing information on subsidy programs | No | Provide an explanation and information on grant schemes provided by the prefecture and city. |
Support service
As an one-stop service institution for Japanese and overseas companies looking to expand into the region, the Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center offers all the necessary information for investing in Hyogo and Kobe, such as regional overviews, economic status and industrial complexes. The center also provides investing companies with necessary business and lifestyle support and advice on legal permission procedures, as well as introducing various support agencies as required.
Database of candidate partners
- Hyogo Program for the Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment
～Hyogo-Kobe offers the best services to start up your business～
The Hyogo-Kobe Best Portal Zone website provides a database listing potential partner companies by industry, with an easy-to-read description on the kind of transactions they are hoping for. Furthermore, through the six “bests” that Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City offer, the zone provides appropriate support for foreign and foreign-affiliated companies setting up a business in the area. The website introduces the prefecture’s and city’s unique features and support systems and make suggestions on recommended districts and facilities, all tailored to suit the needs of the client company.
Available incentives
- Financial support measures for businesses expanding into the area include: (1) reduced real estate acquisition tax; (2) grants for new employment of local people, capital investment and office rents; and (3) low-interest loans.
- The Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center serves as the one-stop service provider for companies setting up a business in Hyogo Prefecture. It provides advice on incorporating a company, applying for visas and other necessary procedures regarding an expansion into the region, and offers information on potential properties, prospective local business partners and local governments’ preferential treatment schemes for investments in their areas. The center starts by listening to the needs of the client company, and provides attentive support to meet their needs.
- The JETRO IBSC Kobe is also available to provide rent-free preparation office spaces for foreign companies considering expansion into Hyogo Prefecture.
- The Hyogo-Kobe Best Portal Zone website is a source of all necessary information available in Japanese, English and Chinese—for companies expanding into the area.
Living environment for foreigners
| Living environment | As a port town, Kobe has long been open to the rest of the world. Thus, it is known as a comfortable city for foreigners to live and work in, with the existence of an established infrastructure for foreign nationals such as international schools. Moreover, in light of the foreseen increase in new foreign residents and rise in number of those settling permanently in the area, Kobe is also working hard to offer a range of personalized services to provide a safe and secure living environment for foreign residents, such as offering counseling and providing information on living in Japan in various languages, as well as improving education for foreign children conducted in Japanese and their native languages. Furthermore, for the purpose of streamlining the system where foreign residents can receive accessible support in their residential areas, Hyogo Prefecture is promoting the efforts together with municipal and town governments and NGOs-which is one of the notable characteristics of the prefecture. Indeed, one of Hyogo’s strengths is leveraging the prefecture’s unique qualities to create the platform and lifestyle environment for welcoming foreigners. |
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| International schools | As of 2007, Hyogo Prefecture is home to fourteen international schools (the second highest number in Japan), including the Kobe Chinese School and the Canadian Academy. Eight of those fourteen are Korean schools, five are Western and one is Chinese. Many of the schools have long histories: the Kobe Chinese School was founded in 1899; the Deutsche Schule Kobe in 1909; the Canadian Academy in 1913; many of the Korean elementary, junior high and high schools in the 1940s and 1950s. Indeed, they have played a role in the progress of internationalization in Hyogo Prefecture, and many of the foreign schools have interaction with regular Japanese schools through social events and such. |
| Health services catering to foreigners | Hospitals where foreign languages are spoken: 536 (as of 2006) |
| Other | Ever since the opening of Kobe Port in the 1800s (Meiji era), Hyogo Prefecture and its principal city, Kobe, has been one of Japan’s main points of contact with the outside world. As such, it has always been a leader in global interaction in this country, being among the first in Japan to incorporate different cultures and the better technologies from around the globe. In light of that history, it is unsurprising that Kobe hosts world-standard homes, religious institutions, educational institutions and hospitals with multilingual staff. |
Links to Related Websites
- Hyogo Prefecture
- Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center
- Hyogo International Association
- Hyogo Program for the Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment
- Hyogo International Tourism Guide
