2005 was a landmark year for Nagoya. The long-awaited opening of Centrair and hosting of the World Expo firmly established the city in the national consciousness, and created new opportunities for international tourism and business.

In keeping with its tradition of kaizen (continual improvement), Nagoya’s economic and business leaders view the area’s redeveloped infrastructure and enhanced status as mere foundations for a concerted effort to further expand its economy and influence.

“Our goal is to attract the world’s top-level enterprises, creating an international business hub in the Nagoya area”, says Kunihiko Fukushima, General Manager of the Aichi-Nagoya International Business Association (I-BAC). In order to achieve this lofty objective I-BAC is currently providing business support services to nations participating in the Expo, and aims to build on this by “leveraging the international profile this region has acquired through the Expo [in order] to emphasize the business advantages of the region.”

These advantages are clearly illustrated in a string of impressive statistics. Fukushima highlights the fact that “manufacturing businesses are the main driving force behind the economic development of the Nagoya area. Since 1977, Aichi prefecture has been ranked number one in Japan in terms of the shipment value of manufacturing products, accounting for 70% of Japan’s trade surplus.”

Hideki Ogawa, Director-General of the Nagoya Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and a leader of the Greater Nagoya Initiative (GNI), agrees that monozukuri (the art of making things) is key. He says, “Greater Nagoya has about a 50% share of Japan’s national manufacturing production. 45% of cars and auto parts and 50% of machine tools made in Japan are produced in the area, and the proportion of LCD displays has increased dramatically to over 40%.”

Ogawa’s assertion that this “adds up to mean that Nagoya is certainly one of the leading manufacturing areas in the world” is beyond dispute. The region consistently punches well above its weight in terms of economic output per head of population, and the GNI estimates Nagoya’s GDP for 2001 at US$392.9 billion, more than that of developed countries such as Belgium, Switzerland or Sweden.

It is probable, as Julian Miller, British Consul in Nagoya, points out, that “well-established domestic companies that will continue to be the main drivers in the local economy” for the foreseeable future. To this end METI and provincial manufacturing companies are joining forces to visit elementary, junior high and high schools throughout the area over the next year. Hideki Ogawa says that their goal is to “stimulate interest and increase understanding” of the businesses that have driven Nagoya’s growth in recent years. Industry representatives will “teach business projects and provide information about careers in the manufacturing sector. Companies and factories are also cooperating with universities to educate students about technologies and manufacturing know-how, to develop future leaders and ensure that the region will move forward positively into the future.”

Nagoya’s proactive approach to enhancing its position, and the number of high profile organizations cooperating to guarantee its future economic development, can only bring further benefits to an already vibrant region. Tokyo is still Japan’s runaway leader in terms of international recognition and economic influence, but Nagoya is making ground on Osaka and establishing a strong case for its strategic importance. Domestic industries look set to maintain their steady progress, applying the concept of continual improvement to their balance sheets as well as their products. The extent to which Nagoya will succeed in persuading foreign firms to use the city either as a base for their Japan operations or a distribution hub remains to be seen, but as Julian Miller says, “diversification is healthy and globalization is here to stay, so Nagoya is heading in the right direction.”