Word: nagoya
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Above all, Nagoyans do not see themselves as quaint-not now, not in the future. Ditching the expo is the kind of unconventional thinking that has turned greater Nagoya (pop. 7.2 million) into Japan's most vibrant region. While the rest of the country wheezes in and out of the economic recovery room, Aichi prefecture has become Japan's most reliable and energetic commercial engine. Specializing in high-value, high-tech manufacturing, Aichi has posted one of the top economic growth rates in the nation in recent years. It boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates, the second highest household...
...late 16th century, the area was home to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the country's greatest shogun. But Ieyasu abandoned it in 1603 when he established his new capital in what is now Tokyo. Overshadowed not just by Tokyo to its east, but also by Osaka to its west, Nagoya languished, developing a reputation as a backwater among many Japanese (and a complete cipher to most foreigners) despite being Japan's fourth largest city. When a new generation of bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka was introduced in 1992, the original schedules didn't even include a Nagoya stop. Two decades...
...avenues and green ribbons of urban parks abut rows of gleaming shops, department stores and restaurants. Some of the women out for shopping or dinner have dyed-brown hair piled high with looping curls and ultra-feminine (and frequently pink) outfits replete with bows and frills. These are the "Nagoya Gals," a look that swept Japan last year when Tokyo fashion bible JJ gave it its stamp of approval. "Nagoya Gal Kits" flew off Tokyo department-store shelves, and toymaker Takara released a "Nagoya Gal" edition of Rika-chan, the Japanese equivalent of Barbie. Says Maiko Takagi, editor of Nagoya...
...secret to Nagoya's success: the region excels at monozukuri-"making things." Around here you will quickly be disabused of the notion that it is impossible for Japanese manufacturers to compete against China's low labor costs. Fully one-third of the region's economy is tied to manufacturing, among the highest rates in the nation. China and Korea still cannot match many of the design and process-improvement techniques that are invented and perfected here, neither can they produce the high-end, R&D-heavy, design-intensive products like capital equipment, aerospace equipment and industrial ceramics that are Nagoya...
...throughout Japan as kenjitsu (rock solid). Compared with residents of Osaka, where personal and corporate bankruptcy rates are among the highest in the nation, Nagoyans are frugal. Local companies resisted making foolish bets during the bubble years, hence avoiding most of the damage from the crash. To this day, Nagoya companies sport some of the lowest debt loads in the country...