Investing in Japan
Regional Information
Tokushima
ONLY ONE TOKUSHIMA
- Your Regional Guide
Inquiry form
Industrial Promotion Division, Department of Commerce, Industry, and Labor
1-1Bandaicho, Tokushima-city, Tokushima Prefecture 770-8570
TEL: +81-88-621-2155 FAX: -81-88-621-2853
- Basic Information
- Regional Profile
- Services for investment in Japan
- Available incentives
- Links to Related Websites
Basic Information
| Population | 0.80 million (Male: 0.38 million, Female: 0.42 million) (2007) |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 0.49 million (Male: 0.24 million, Female: 0.25 million) (2007) |
| Area | 4,145km² (2007) |
| GDP | 2,945 billion yen (2007) |
| Major industries | Chemicals, electrical equipment, foods, paper, beverages, etc. |
| Developing industries | Daily necessities, environment, health/medical care, network support |
| Offices in Japan | Tokyo/Osaka |
| JETRO office | JETRO Tokushima |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
In addition to relatively low land prices, wages and living costs, Tokushima Prefecture offers easy access to markets in the Kinki Region with the 1998 opening of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge. The prefecture welcomes all companies, regardless of industry sector or nationality, but provides an environment especially suited to companies engaged in research and technology development or in the creation of new industries; the University of Tokushima actively participates in industry-academia collaboration, more companies have been nationally accredited under the Law Concerning Measures for the Promotion of Creative Business Activities by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Tokushima than in any other prefecture in Shikoku, and the amount of venture investment made in the prefecture is the highest nationwide. Indeed, highly competitive companies, including one company with a major share in the global light-emitting diode (LED) market and the top company in Japan in the production of infusion solution, have established themselves in Tokushima. For manufacturers and other companies drawn by these appealing features, Tokushima Prefecture makes available incentives for company location, including subsidy and low-interest financing programs.
Strength of the region's education/research institutes
National universities: University of Tokushima (Engineering, Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dentistry, Integrated Arts and Sciences), Naruto University of Education (School Education)
Private universities: Shikoku University (Literature, Management & Information Science, Human Life Science), Tokushima Bunri University (Pharmaceutical Sciences, Music, Policy Studies, Human Life Sciences)
Junior colleges: 4; technical college: 1; high schools: 44
Industry-government-academia collaboration
To realize its future vision for industry in the prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture will present and pursue the following projects on a priority basis in order to implement particularly important measures intensively and strategically. Companies expanding into Tokushima Prefecture can benefit from these measures to gain an edge in their business activities.
(1) New Industry Creation Project
The prefecture is implementing a “New Industry Creation Project” by intensively pursuing measures to support the creation of new industries expected to be active globally via the LED Valley Initiative and the Health/Medical Cluster, and of companies with large market shares in specified fields via inter-sector mergers and SOHO-based companies.
(2) Personnel training and utilization projects
The prefecture is helping secure the personnel needed to carry industry into tomorrow and developing programs to utilize and train them, as well as adopting new perspectives – including the employment of baby-boomers and foreigners – when implementing personnel training and utilization projects.
(3) Company solicitation projects
In the context of a “Corporate Inducement Strategy Project,” the prefecture is studying inducements that bring the prefecture’s
distinctiveness and advantages to the forefront and establishing a 21st-century environment for company location.
Strength of the region's infrastructure
<Air>
Although the prefecture itself has no international airports, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge (opened in 1998) offers easy access to Kansai International Airport and Kobe Airport.
<Sea>
Tokushima Komatsushima Port provides liner service to South Korea (Pusan, Pyeongtaek), from which access is possible to China and other third countries, and is near Kobe Port, one of the largest ports in Japan.
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 | Tokushima Prefecture has the following incubation facilities:
|
| Providing information on subsidy programs | No | Subsidies corresponding to the scale of business facilities and the number of persons employed are available to companies (manufacturers, call centers, etc.) locating to Tokushima Prefecture. |
Available incentives
Tokushima Prefecture has subsidy programs to meet diverse needs available to a wide spectrum of companies, from venture companies to large-scale plants and from manufacturers to call centers.
<Subsidies and tax breaks>
- Tokushima Prefecture company location subsidies: Subsidies applicable to fixed assets invested and to new construction/extension of factories, in line with the nature and scale of the company’s business
- Tokushima Prefecture specified business location subsidies: Subsidies for companies constructing new specified offices in areas targeted for buildup
- Tokushima Furusato Creative/SOHO Company Inducement Project Subsidies: Subsidies for individuals and corporations resident outside the prefecture operating creative businesses and setting up locations in underpopulated areas
- Tokushima Prefecture location subsidies for information and communications businesses: Subsidies for call centers, data centers, and solution centers to cover telecommunications line usage fees, office rental fees, equipment fees, etc.
- Employment incentive programs: Subsidies for new local employers
<Financing>
- Tokushima Prefecture company location financing: Low-interest financing to provide capital needed for new construction/expansion of factories
Links to Related Websites
- Tokushima Prefecture
- Promoting Industry in Tokushima
- Tokushima Prefectual International Exchange Association
