In this second installment of the “Industrial Zones and Regions Japanese Elementary School Students Learn About in Textbooks” series, we focus on the Chukyo Industrial Area, Japan’s largest industrial region. We’ll focus on automobiles, a major industry in Japan, as well as steel, which is heavily used in automobiles, as well as the Morimura Group, a leading corporate group in the Chukyo region.
When you think of the Chukyo Industrial Zone, you think of “automobiles.”
The Chukyo Industrial Zone generally refers to the area encompassing Aichi, Mie, and Gifu prefectures.
Here, let’s take another look at the graph we published in the first article.
The Chukyo Industrial Zone leads the way in production value by industrial zone and region, at 55 trillion yen (approximately $350 billion).
Also, as you can see from the graph, the orange color, or machinery production, is extremely large.
Do you know why? The Chukyo Industrial Zone includes Toyota City, home to Toyota’s headquarters. And not only Toyota, but many other automotive OEMs and auto parts manufacturers are also located here. In other words, the graph is structured this way because of the large production volume of automobiles and related machinery.
Even among Japanese people, the Chukyo Industrial Zone is often associated with Toyota. However, there are other automotive OEM bases here, which we’d like to discuss as well.
First of all, Honda has a factory in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture. That Suzuka is well known to motorsports fans.
Mitsubishi Motors has a factory in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. Officially called the Okazaki Plant, this factory produces all cars except Mitsubishi’s kei cars (small cars with an engine displacement of 660cc or less, a unique Japanese standard).
The steel industry, with automotive OEMs as its main customers, is also thriving.
The graph above also highlights the strong presence of the metals sector. Since automobiles are made using a large amount of iron and metal, it’s no surprise that steel and metal manufacturers are also concentrated in the Chukyo Industrial Zone.
I spent my early career in the steel industry. During that time, I toured the Chita Plant of Daido Steel (Daido), Japan’s largest specialty steel manufacturer, with a client. The plant is located in the Chukyo Industrial Zone, straddling Tokai City and Chita City in Aichi Prefecture.
What’s interesting about Daido’s Chita Plant is that it’s home to three steel manufacturers’ factories. From north to south, they are Aichi Steel, Nippon Steel Corporation’s (NSC) Nagoya Works, and Daido’s Chita Plant.
Although NSC is a major shareholder in Daido, each company operates independently. Furthermore, Aichi Steel is a specialty steel manufacturer within the Toyota Group. As a result, their companies are rivals, albeit partially. However, the factories seem to get along well. During the aforementioned factory tour, a Daido member said, “The gates are usually closed, but the three factories are designed so that you can move between them.”
Furthermore, when production at Aichi Steel was halted due to an accident at its factory in 2016, Daido’s Chita factory agreed to take over production.
Morimura Group, a Powerful Corporate Group in the Chukyo Region
Like steel, the chemical sector is prominent in the graph. Morimura Group is a ceramics company in the Chukyo Industrial Zone, known both in Japan and around the world for its ceramics industry.
The Morimura Group began as a ceramics trader in the late 19th century, and today includes NGK, a ceramics manufacturer that grew out of this, and Niterra, a manufacturer of automotive spark plugs.
I’ve covered NGK’s NAS batteries several times. NAS batteries are large sodium batteries used in factories to store electricity during low-cost periods and discharge it during operation, as well as to store renewable energy.
However, in early November, NGK announced it would withdraw from the NAS battery business. Citing reasons such as its inability to compete with lithium-ion batteries, NGK will redirect its management resources to semiconductor-related businesses.
More Than Just Automobiles
To reiterate, even Japanese people tend to associate the Chukyo Industrial Zone with “Toyota” and “automobiles.” While this is true, the region is also home to the ceramics and traditional textile industries discussed in this article. Toyota’s origins lie in the manufacture of weaving machines, known as Toyota Automatic Loom Works (still in business today), suggesting that the textile industry has long been deeply rooted in the Chukyo region.
As such, industries other than automobiles also have a significant presence in the Chukyo Industrial Zone.
The Chukyo region is also home to numerous corporate museums, primarily dedicated to the Toyota Group, so readers interested in seeing Japan from a business perspective are encouraged to visit.
