VISA, Office,Incentives... We support foreign companies setting up business in Osaka.

What led to the decision to establish a subsidiary in Japan?

Our products have been sold in Japan through a trading company for the past 22 years. This trading company worked very hard, and our sales were increasing, but of course trading companies can’t concentrate on a single manufacturer; they import and sell products from more than ten overseas manufacturers because they need to distribute their risks.
From our Head Office’s perspective, there is a larger market for machinery and manufacturing in Japan than there is in Germany. There are a lot of statistics for comparing Japan and Germany, but we see the Japanese market as being about 20% larger than the German market. Overall, this market is valued at about 25 billion yen. That’s why we decided that it would be best for us to move into Japan independently.

Why did you decide to locate your Japanese subsidiary in Osaka, in Kansai?

The area called Kansai is comprised of six prefectures: Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara, and Wakayama. This area represents a market valued at about four billion yen per year.
One reason that we decided to set up in Kansai instead of Kanto was the high-tech industry. Solar cells in particular have gained a lot of attention lately. Several companies in Kansai have been active in this field, including Sanyo, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Electric, and Sharp. We can travel to the Kanto area - the industrial zones in Tokyo and Yokohama - in about ninety minutes, and the southern island of Kyushu is also investing a lot of energy into high-tech. Kansai is right between Kyushu and Kanto, so both are easily accessible.
Of course, Kansai offers cost merits as well; for example, the rent in Kansai is 20-30% cheaper than in Tokyo.
Hiring in Kansai is also easier than it is in Kanto. We currently have nine employees; we started with two, and hired seven people from the Kansai region. All seven are really outstanding workers, and we found them very quickly.
We received a great deal of assistance from Mr. Mori at the Investment Promotion Division of Osaka Prefectural Government, and Mr. Sugioka, Ms. Kambara, and Ms. Igarashi from JETRO Osaka. They recommended that we apply for a subsidy from the Osaka Prefecture, so we prepared the documentation before the end of the last business year, and we were able to receive the grant on the condition that we move our Head Office to Osaka as well.

How do you like living in Kansai?

This is my first time to live in Kansai. I’m originally from Sapporo, in Hokkaido. I’ve been here for six months now, and in fact, I enjoy it very much. I really do.

Tell us a little bit about your products.

We have about 2,000 products in all, including functional parts used in plant facilities and production lines. Our conduit products keep wires and hoses tidy and out of sight. For example, we can help customers to design boutique showcases based on sketches.