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Kitakyushu cannot be mentioned without reference to iron. Iron has been essential to Japan's industrial progress and nation building. Exactly a hundred years ago, when Japan was determined to catch up to the advanced nations of the West, the guidelines promulgated by the government of the day were based on self-sufficiency in steel. The nascent industry came into being in Kitakyushu, where Japan's first state-run steel mill went into operation. With its good port and concentration of rail lines, and with coalfields in its hinterlands, Kitakyushu was ideally situated for nurturing the steel industry.
A short, ten-minute walk from Kokura Station, the focus of the city of Kitakyushu and its industrial history, the visitor arrives at the main entrance of Sumitomo Metals (Kokura), Ltd, which lays claim to a steel mill optimized for operation in an urban area. It began in 1953 as the Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. Kokura Steel Works, but further development led to its corporate independence in April 2000. The company currently employs 1,200 people and uses the integrated blast furnace manufacturing process. It is a specialist manufacturer of high-purity, high-performance steel bars and wire rods. The company's products are essential for components in motor vehicles, construction machinery, and electrical appliances, and Sumitomo Metals (Kokura) is unique in its ability to cater to the diverse and sophisticated requirements of motor vehicle manufacturers with a system for manufacturing a wide variety of products in low-volume lots.
Munehisa Okada, Manager of Section the General Administration Department General Affairs & Personnel Section, described the company's vision of the near future:
"We're currently building a new blast furnace, with a view to lighting it in April 2002. It will increase capacity by over 15%, which means we should be able to supply a higher quality product in a finished form, all done in-house. From the perspective of developing our business with the rest of Asia, we have an advantage over other companies in Japan thanks to our location in Kitakyushu. We already have a production base in Thailand, but you can expect we will be working more on a business strategy that is focused on Asia."
Manager Toshiro Takeda spoke to us about a situation only possible in a city that has grown up with steel, "You could look all around the world and probably find very few instances of an integrated steel manufacturer that has its works this close to a city center." And the sky above this steel mill, optimized for its urban location, is a crystal-clear blue. |
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| The powerful image of the steel mill, with its forest of smokestacks and colossal blast furnace, epitomizes Kitakyushu. |
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| Hiraodai is one of Japan's few karst limestone plateaus. Just a short distance from the city streets the visitor can get in touch with the rich natural attributes of Kitakyushu. |
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| The building in the foreground is the Kitakyushu Memorial Library of International Friendship. The building in the background is the Moji PortRetro High Mart, with its 103-meter tall observation platform. The combination of old right alongside new is typical of the scenery of Moji. |
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