Focus: Asia Franchise Markets April 2016 | Page 16

Do you have to open your franchise in Tokyo?

Japan's Regions

Central Japan

Central Japan:
The Chubu region has the third biggest population in Japan. The area
consists of nine prefectures: Gifu, Shizuoka, Fukui, Ishikawa, Aichi, Mie,
Nagano, Toyama and Yamanashi. The region accounts for 17% of
Japan's GDP, and nearly 70% of Japan's total trade surplus with the
United States. The biggest city is Nagoya with 2.2 million inhabitants
and is Japan's fourth largest city.
The majority of industry is concentrated in the four prefectures of
Aichi, Gifu, Mie, and Shizuoka. The region is the main centre of Japan's
processing industry and approximately 20% of Japan's industrial
production occurs here.
The region's infrastructure has been greatly extended around the
Aichi-Expo site. The Chubu Airport Centrai has daily connections to
Europe and a there is a new logistical hub for DHL. There has also been
a certain trend, discernible for decades, for companies to relocate their
headquarters away from Tokyo back to the Chubu area.