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Sendai city
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International Project Promotion Section
3-7-1 Kokubun-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai-city, Miyagi Prefecture 980-8671
TEL: +81-22-214-8019 FAX: +81-22-214-8316
- Basic Information
- Regional Profile
- Services for investment in Japan
- Available incentives
- Living environment for foreigners
- Links to Related Websites
Basic Information
| Population | 1.02 million (2007) |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 0.49 million (2005) |
| Area | 788km² (2006) |
| GDP | 4,327 billion yen (2005) |
| Major industries | Wholesaling/retailing, service, construction, transport/communications, manufacturing |
| Developing industries | Promotion of cutting-edge and health/welfare industries based on industrial-academic collaboration, agglomeration of IT-related industries, support for community business entrepreneurs, and nurturing of future-oriented environmental industries * Sendai Ci |
| JETRO office | JETRO Sendai |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
<Human resources>
With 10 universities enrolling some 80,000 students, Sendai is known as an academic town and one of the nation’s leading locations for the education of industrial human resources. Tohoku University and the other world-class R&D organizations present in the academic town of Sendai have played a major role in promoting the creation of new industries and attracting companies.
Strength of the region's education/research institutes
Given the scale of the city, an unusually high number of institutions of higher learning can be found in Sendai, which gives the city an abundance of human resources, an important management resource. The number of institutions of higher education and the number of students within the city are as follows:
<Universities/graduate schools> 13 schools, 50,200 students
<Junior colleges> 5 schools, 1,800 students
<National technical colleges> 2 schools, 1,900 students
<Special training schools> 56 schools, 25,200 students
<Other schools> 14 schools, 1,200 students
Many outstanding personnel have emerged from Tohoku University (4,800 university/graduate school graduates in 2005), which is involved in many world-class R&D projects. Tohoku Fukushi University, one of Japan’s leading universities specializing in welfare studies, and research institutes affiliated with the university, also produce graduates highly skilled in the area of welfare (1,020 university/graduate school graduates in 2005).
Industry-government-academia collaboration
<Industrial cluster>
The Sendai-Finland Wellbeing Center (run by the Sendai City Industrial Promotion Organization) has been selected for participation in the Tohoku Manufacturing Corridor Phase 2 Industrial Cluster Plan as a Tohoku Region International Health and Welfare Industry Cluster Creation Project (wide-area new business support network base prioritization project) in the areas of medical/dental care - industry cooperation and health/welfare.
Strength of the region's infrastructure
<JR Sendai Station> As little as 1 hour 36 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen
<Sendai Airport>
- Scheduled flights Nine major cities in Japan (Sapporo, Narita, Komatsu, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa); seven cities overseas (Seoul, Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Changchun, Taipei, Guam)
- Charter flights to major cities in Europe, North America, Australia, etc. Robust international logistics facilities and CIQ system with joint bonded storage sheds
Sendai Airport Access Line: Opened in March 2007, this line runs between JR Sendai Station and Sendai Airport Station in as little as 17 minutes.
<Sendai Trade Port>
The Port has a fully-equipped container terminal combined with a 14m-deep foreign trade container wharf capable of docking 50,000-ton class container vessels. Regular international container service connects the port directly with North America, China, and Southeast Asia, and import and export between the city and the rest of the world is also possible through Keihin Port transshipments utilizing coastal feeders.
<Intra-city transport> City subways, buses, expressways, high-standard highways, etc., make up an extensive transport and logistics
infrastructure.
<Land>
Tohoku Expressway: Tokyo – Sendai, about 4 hours
<Air>
Sendai Airport (as little as 17 minutes by rail and 40 minutes by car from Sendai Station; 7 international routes and 9 domestic routes) (as of June 2008)
<Sea>
Sendai Port (regular overseas service on 5 routes, regular domestic service on 6 routes) (as of June 2008)
<Railway>
Shinkansen: Tokyo – Sendai, 1 hour 40 minutes
Services for investment in Japan
| Menu of services | Fees charged? | Content of services |
|---|---|---|
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | Yes | Nest Sendai, Venture Incubation Room available |
| Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services) | No | Contact can be made through Sendai City’s International Promotion Department |
| Providing information on subsidy programs | No | Provision of information on Sendai City’s location subsidy programs, etc. |
Available incentives
One-stop service concerning procedures for investments by foreign companies.
Example) Introduction to, and mediation with, attorneys, international patent attorneys, and administrative scriveners (gyosei-shoshi lawyers) specializing in residency requirements who are proficient in English, and introduction to, and mediation with, judicial scriveners capable of handling foreign company registration
<Location promotion subsidies>
Eligibility: research institutes, factories, urban-type service offices
Content: Subsidies for three years covering 70% to 100% of fixed property tax and urban planning tax. Subsidies also available for building/facility leases
Companies newly employing 20 or more persons (5 for research institutes) when establishing operations in the city (and only if satisfying certain requirements) are eligible for additions of 200,000 – 300,000 yen per new hire to the subsidies provided (maximum addition: 50 million yen (10 million yen for research institutes))
Living environment for foreigners
| Living environment | Sendai City is undertaking work on a variety of new infrastructure to provide a favorable business environment and promote the creation of new industries. The city’s airport, port, expressways and other transportation infrastructure offer excellent access to the Tokyo metropolitan area, elsewhere in the Tohoku Region, and even overseas. Persons moving to Sendai from overseas will be able to enjoy a robust educational environment (including the only international school in Tohoku) as well as nearby beaches, ski slopes, golf courses, and some of the nation’s best hot springs. A friendly and comfortable city, Sendai with mild climate makes both work and play more efficient. The city has its own professional sports teams to cheer on – Vegalta Sendai (soccer), Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (baseball), and the Sendai 89ers (basketball) – and bursts forth with energy during seasonal festivals and other events such as the Aoba Matsuri Festival, the Sendai Tanabata Festival, the Jozenji Street Jazz Festival, and the Pagent of Starlight. |
|---|---|
| International schools | Tohoku International School |
| Health services catering to foreigners | Medical institutions capable of communicating with patients in foreign languages are listed at the website run by the Sendai International Relations Association |
| Other | The aforementioned SIRA website not only provides lists of medical institutions but also posts useful information in English on visa procedures, transport, education, and day-to-day living in Sendai. |
Links to Related Websites
