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KYUSHU HEADLINE NEWS |
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Report: Kyushu Industrializing While Losing Population 03/21/2008 19:47 |
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The Kyushu branch of the Development Bank of Japan released a report examining the Kyushu economy over the past 20 years and concluded that while the region's population is declining, the area has strengthened its position as Japan's second largest manufacturing center. They note that while the Kyushu economy is more dynamic than that of the country as a whole, the region must devote more attention to attracting companies from overseas. They forecast that capital investment in the manufacturing industry will decline in the future, which will require a strategy of incorporating overseas demand in the agricultural and tourism industries. |
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Group Publishes Information on NPO Projects 03/21/2008 19:47 |
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The Fukuoka City-based Kyushu Industrial Advancement Center has published a book with 748 examples of regional development projects conducted by local non-profit organizations. Titled 'Kyushu no Genki no Minamoto 700 Sen', the book is designed to serve as a reference for the creation of new enterprises. It profiles a wide range of successful efforts, including those in the auto and tourism industries. |
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Eastern Kyushu Cities Working To Attract Korean Tourists 03/21/2008 19:46 |
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With regular ferry service between the Port of Moji in Kitakyushu and Busan, South Korea, slated to start in June, government officials and representatives of the tourism industry in Kitakyushu, Oita City, and Beppu visited Busan on the 17th to discuss possible tour packages to take advantage of the new route. One Kitakyushu official said they were planning to offer a two-or three-hour tour of the city that would begin just after the ferry docked. A travel agency also reported that they hoped to have a bus from Moji meet small groups of tourists for golf tours. |
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JR Kyushu Employees Settle for 400 Yen Salary Increase 03/21/2008 19:46 |
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In the spring labor negotiations, JR Kyushu reached agreement with its largest union for a monthly salary increase of 400 yen over the current average salary for employees. This is 100 yen more than last year's wage increase, but considerably less than the 3,000 yen requested by the unions. The union has 8,400 members. |
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Kumamoto Company Develops Electric Motorbike 03/21/2008 19:44 |
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Ocean Energy Technica of Kumamoto City has developed a motor scooter that runs on an electric motor instead of a gasoline engine. The company is offering four models that reach a top speed of 50 kph. One charge will last for about 80 kilometers of driving, which works out to an expenditure of eight kilometers per yen for some models. The company is not publicizing the price, but says it is not much different than that of a regular scooter. |
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Elderly Who Stop Driving to Get Discounts 03/21/2008 19:44 |
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The Miyakoh Group announced it would launch a new program in April that will allow those people aged 65 and older who have turned in their drivers licenses due to concerns about their ability to drive safely to receive fare discounts for route buses it operates in the prefecture. The elderly can purchase the Yuyu Pass at half price to receive the fare discounts. The Kyushu District Transport Bureau says it is the first program of its kind in Kyushu. In addition, prefectural police will offer those who turn in their drivers licenses a card enabling them to receive discounts at hotels, hot spring facilities, and restaurants. |
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Saibu Gas Buys Housing Development Company 03/21/2008 19:43 |
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Fukuoka City-based Saibu Gas has purchased Kyushu Yaesu Kogyo, a mid-sized local housing development company, to strengthen its presence in the housing industry, it was learned. Observers believe the company's objective is to counter the efforts of Kyushu Electric Power to promote the total electrification of homes. The purchase allows Saibu Gas to develop housing designed with specifications enhancing the use of gas, and to efficiently collect information that will enable it to offer an alternative to electrification. |
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Kagoshima U. and Shimonoseki City U. Form Ties 03/21/2008 19:42 |
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Kagoshima University's Graduate School of Humanistic-Sociological Sciences and Shimonoseki City University's Graduate School of Economics have signed an academic exchange agreement. They plan to conduct joint research into strategies for converting regional products, such as shochu and the blowfish, into special brands, and to exchange students. It is the first academic agreement with another Japanese university for both schools. |
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Japan-Thai Telesurgery a Success 03/21/2008 19:41 |
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Surgeons at the Kyushu University Hospital successfully performed an operation on animals at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand with an endoscope attached to a robotic arm and manipulated with instructions issued using a broadband telecommunication network. The surgeons removed lymph nodes from the animal's stomach as well as its appendix. It was the first successful operation of its type in the world. |
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Kumamoto Prefecture Develops Heat-Resistant Rice Strain 03/21/2008 19:40 |
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Kumamoto Prefecture announced it has successfully developed a new strain of heat-resistant rice for wet paddy cultivation to maintain the yield and quality of a rice crop in warmer global temperatures. The new rice, which took nine years to develop, is a cross between the local koshihikari rice and Hokuriku #174. It has been given the name Kumasan no Chikara. |
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