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Kyushu Headline News Get Kyushu News Now! !Mobile phone: http://www.fukuoka-now.com/mobileHP: www.fukuoka-now.com/news

English language summaries of last month's top Kyushu area news stories. 1

Honda Kumamoto Delays Full ProductionHonda Motor Co. revealed that it expects to delay the start of full production at its new motorcycle and motorbike plant in Ozu-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, until at least early FY 2009, and possibly for longer than a full calendar year. The plant was built to consolidate Honda's motorcycle and motorbike production in Japan. The delay is the result of the global economic downturn and the decline in sales in Japan and the Western countries. Honda also said that it does not expect to lay off workers.

Referendum on Children's Hospital MoveFamilies of patients and others opposed to the pending move of the Fukuoka Children's Hospital and Medical Center for Infectious Diseases from its current location in Chuo Ward to "Island City", a man-made island in Higashi Ward, formed a citizen's group opposed to the plan and collected enough signatures on a petition to call for a citizen's referendum on the issue. They presented the petition to Mayor Wataru Aso, who said he thought it wasn't necessary, but left it in the hands of the City Council. The City Council voted down the proposed referendum by a 50-12 margin. One of those council members who voted against the referendum said, "We've debated that issue for a long time here. Holding a citizen's referendum would be contemptuous of the Council."

3 PR Joint PR Effort in ChinaFukuoka C i ty , Kumamoto C i ty , and Kagoshima City jointly participated in a tourism and trade fair in Shanghai, China, from the 20th to the 23rd to promote themselves as the primary cities on the Kyushu Shinkansen route due to open in 2011. The fair is the largest of its kind in China, and draws roughly 100,000 visitors every year. It is the first time the three cities have worked together on a promotional project overseas since signing a cooperative agreement in August.

Children's Website for Imari-yakiT h e I m a r i B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n h a s launched the Imari-yaki Kids' Site as an educational tool for primary and middle school students to learn about Imari ware. The site features easy-to-understand explanations about the history and production processes of the ceramics, as well as videos and quizzes. The board wants schools to use it in their general education and social studies courses. For those classes that do not use PCs, the board has put together a 64-page booklet with the same content.

Kyushu Companies to Limit HiringA survey conducted by the Nishinippon Shimbun of the 20 leading companies in the Kyushu region shows that seven, or 35%, plan to cut new hires in FY 2009 by at least 10% from the totals this fiscal year. Those companies that had been actively seeking new employees are concerned about rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. Only two companies plan to hire at least 10% more new employees than they did this year.

Worst in Nation for Rear Seat Belt UseThe National Police Agency and the Japan Auto Federation released the results of their nationwide survey of seatbelt awareness, which ranked prefectures according to the percentage of rear seatbelt use in automobiles on ordinary roads. The national average was 30.8%, and Fukuoka Prefecture ranked at the bottom nationwide with a usage rate of 8.0%. In contrast, Kumamoto Prefecture's rate of 50.1% placed it second in the nation, behind Shiga Prefecture's 50.5%. The rest of the five Kyushu prefectures were below the national average, with the exception of Nagasaki Prefecture at 33.6%.

106 34%Mayors Split on Stimulus PaymentThe Nishinippon Shimbun conducted a survey questionnaire of Kyushu's 106 mayors asking for their opinions of the government's proposed payment to cit izens as an economic stimulus measure. Of those responding, 34% said they approved while 17% said they were opposed. Those mayors in the remaining categories ("don't know", "others") thought it wouldn't have any effect, or that the money would be better spent on other government programs. When added to the 17% opposed, those with an overall negative attitude accounted for 36%, roughly balancing out those in favor.

Regional Female Fishermen Meet in BusanTwelve female commercial fishermen from Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Yamaguchi prefectures met six of their counterparts from South Korea at a conference held to discuss mutual problems in Busan, South Korea. Among the issues that arose were soaring fuel costs and the difficulty in finding successors to the business. One Korean representative said during her opening address, "We hope to achieve mutual development with our neighbors across the sea." The Japanese representative answered during her address, saying, "We will look for new ideas through our exchange."

No Longer Leading Furniture-Producing RegionFor many years, the city of Okawa in Fukuoka Prefecture and the surrounding area has led Japan in furniture production based on the value of product shipments. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry for product ion in bus iness year 2006, however, shows that the area has lost its number one status to the Chita area of Aichi Prefecture, which rose from the number two position it held the previous year. Okawa had continuously been the industry leader since 1990, but its dominance was based primarily on the sale of new furniture to newlyweds. Changing lifestyles have resulted in declining sales in that category.

Taxi Company to Use HybridsThe Hikari-Nikko Taxi Group in Nagasaki City is moving ahead with plans to add 30 hybrid vehicles to its fleet by next fall. The company is concerned about rising prices of liquid propane gas, and estimates that a conversion to hybrids would result in savings of 40,000 yen per month per vehicle. They will be the first cab company in Nagasaki Prefecture to use hybrid vehicles on a large scale.

Metals to be Recycled from WasteMitsui Kinzoku subsidiary Miike Smelting Co. of Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture , announced it will build in that city a furnace capable of extracting such metals as zinc and copper from the incinerated ash of household refuse for conversion into resources. Ordinarily, this ash from household refuse is fused and then buried by local governments. The processors are having difficulty finding burial sites for the processed waste, however, so Miike Smelting thinks there is a latent demand for their service.

5 Prolonged Financial Crisis ExpectedA questionnaire survey conducted by the Nishinippon Shimbun revealed that roughly half of the leading companies in Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture think the current financial crisis will not be resolved quickly. Broken down, 26.6% think it will last at least two years, while 23.4% have no idea when conditions will improve. The questionnaire was distributed to the CEOs and chief financial officers of 76 exchange-listed companies in the region from the end of October to November 14.

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7 70% of Regional Companies Post Profit DeclinesMost of the exchange-listed companies in the Kyushu/Yamaguchi Prefecture region have released their interim reports for the current fiscal year, and roughly 70% have suffered either year-on-year profit declines or outright losses. A total of 63 companies have statistics for which year-before comparisons can be made, and 45 have taken a financial hit. A detailed look shows that this includes 22 of the 25 companies in the manufacturing industry, or nearly 90%.

Kyushu Electric to Expand Wind PowerKyushu Electric Power announced it will increase the amount of power it purchases from regional wind power generators from the present 700,000 kW to one million kW. This will be the first expansion in the utility's wind power purchases since August 2006. It will also be the largest amount of wind power purchased by any of Japan's 10 power companies, exceeding the 850,000 kW acquired by Tohoku Electric Power. The power buys are made to promote the use of wind and solar power, the generation of which does not create greenhouse gases.

8.3% Kyushu Exports Plunge 8.3% in OctoberMoji Customs announced that the value of October exports from the Kyushu region, which includes Yamaguchi and Okinawa prefectures, fell 8.3% from the year-before period to 676.1 billion yen. This is the first year-on-year decline in Kyushu exports since May 2005, a period of three years and five months. This confirms the impact that the global financial downturn has had on exports, which drive the Kyushu economy.

UAE Defers Halal Designation for Saga BeefSaga Prefecture has been working to export Saga-brand beef to Middle Eastern countries, and the greatest obstacle has involved the certification of the special processing methods required in Islam, called Halal. It was revealed, however, that the certification of the slaughterhouse in Taku has been denied by authorities in the United Arab Republic because there is insufficient space between the area in the facility for slaughtering cows and slaughtering pigs, the eating of which is forbidden in Islam. This will force the prefecture to reevaluate its export program. News source: With permission from the morning editions of the

Nishinippon Newspaper.

5 Large-Scale Power Demand FallsKyushu Electric Power revealed that power demand for industry and other large users in Kyushu fell 2.4% in October from the year-before period to 2.168 billion kWh. This is the first decline in demand for these users since December 2003, or a period of about five years. The drop was attributed to production cutbacks in the local steel, semi- conductor, and auto manufacturing sectors.

10 Saga Airport Posts Red Ink, AgainSaga Prefecture, which operates Saga Airport, released a financial statement showing that the prefectural airport lost 173 million yen in FY 2007, the 10th straight year of losses. The airport has never made money, and the aggregate losses have now risen to 2.76 billion yen. One positive note is that the amount of the annual losses is declining. During its first year of operation, the airport lost 379 million yen.

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Parking

Gas Station Info Desk

Post Office Cinema

Hotel

Convenience Stores

Car Rental

Bank

The map is split into areas for your convenience. For a full list of the map numbers and letters, please see page 33 for Map Index.P33

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Poplar

Police

Chiyo-K

encho

guchi

Fukuoka International Congress Center

Fukuoka Kyotei

Chikko-honmachi

Sekijo-machi Bayside Place Big Air

Fukuoka Kokusai Center

Fukuoka Sun Palace

Marine Messe Fukuoka

Marizon

Fukuoka Tower

Nishijin

Yahoo! Dome

Hawks Town

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Nanakuma Subway Line

Kuko Subway Line

Tenji

n Mina

mi

Yakuin

Hakoz

aki Su

bway

Line

YakuinNishitetsu Fukuoka

Nakasukawabata

Tenjin

Hakata

Nishitetsu Omuta Line

Some articles and ads have a See Map symbol. Use this list and the grid references to locate them.

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Bars, Cafes & RestaurantsMap# Grid .

26 Bar Eternity D116 Benten B236 British Pub Morris B211 Dark Room B219 Delgados B318 Fasika B240 Fireball Cafe B2 29 Gossip B161 Hard Rock Cafe (Momochi map)13 Kamontei A214 Kuzushi-Kappou Itochihisaki A23 La Boheme Qualita B22 Musk / The Voodoo Lounge B215 Off Broadway B1 22 One Way B138 Rakuten-an A216 Rhythm Music Lounge B221 Sancho Panza B225 Sam & Dave B210 Subway B248 Tapas Oki B36 The Craic and The Porter B235 The Faces C141 The Hakata Harp C11 Three Kings B2 11 Xaymaca B228 Zaeka A2

Travel AgenciesMap# Grid .

27 LTK C227 No.1 Travel C2 HotelsMap# Grid .

37 Greenland ESPA E212 With The Style Fukuoka F3Health ServicesMap# Grid .

30 Dental Office Lily C231 Dental Office Plumeria C347 Okamura Dental Clinic F2

VariousMap# Grid .

5 Axis Jiu-Jitsu Academy A227 Eurocentres Fukuoka C224 Foreign Talent Club B1

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