A Town Where Hundreds of Billions of Yen Flow, Yet Power Outages Occur

A new building by Micron is being constructed in Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima. Asahi Shuzo is investing 9.8 billion yen to establish a new brewery for Dassai in Iwakuni, and an APA Hotel has had its pre-opening in front of the station. With semiconductor-related capital investments reaching hundreds of billions of yen, one might conclude that this region is thriving based solely on the headlines.

However, during the same period, approximately 4,000 households in Iwakuni City and Suo-Oshima Town experienced power outages. In Yamaguchi Prefecture, the number of bears captured has surged, with sightings near human habitats increasing. The effective job openings-to-applicants ratio stands at 1.03 — while this figure suggests a recovery, the actual atmosphere on the ground is described as having a “weak recovery trend.”

The juxtaposition of massive investments and the everyday lives adjacent to them prompts us to analyze both perspectives through numbers and structure. The question we want to ask is not whether investments have arrived, but “Who is benefiting from them?”

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Semiconductor — Analyzing the Breakdown of “1,000 Jobs”

Micron is introducing cutting-edge EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography equipment at its existing site in Higashi-Hiroshima City, preparing for mass production of 1γ generation DRAM. The Japanese government is providing subsidies of up to 192 billion yen. Reports suggest this will create “approximately 1,000 jobs,” but we need to pause here.

What is required in semiconductor manufacturing are highly skilled process engineers and specialized personnel for equipment maintenance. It is difficult to determine how many positions are available that local high school graduates can directly apply for based solely on publicly available information. Similarly, Mitsubishi Electric’s new power semiconductor factory being constructed in Fukuyama City (with an investment of about 100 billion yen) also faces an invisible gap between “local employment” and “jobs that local job seekers can actually access” due to skill and experience requirements.

The effective job openings-to-applicants ratio of 1.03 announced by the Hiroshima Labor Bureau for April 2023 quietly reflects this gap. Job openings have increased. However, whether the number of job openings that applicants feel are “their own jobs” has increased is not visible through the ratio alone. While job openings in manufacturing are growing, there is a chronic labor shortage in sectors that support local living, such as nursing care and retail. The heat of investment is selectively reaching certain industries and job types.

Disco is also moving to build a new factory in Kure City. As a company that holds a top-class global market share in semiconductor cutting and polishing equipment, expanding its base in the Chugoku region is significant. However, Kure City has also experienced the closure of steel mills in the past. For residents who remember the arrival and departure of large factories, the phrase “this time it’s semiconductors” raises questions beyond mere numbers.

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Dassai’s New Brewery — What It Means for 9.8 Billion Yen to “Fall in the Mountains”

Asahi Shuzo has announced the construction of a new brewery in Shuto Town, Iwakuni City, with an investment of 9.8 billion yen. It is scheduled to begin operations in 2028 and will serve as a production base for high-priced Dassai. Chairman Hiroshi Sakurai has previously stated that the reason for continuing to place the brewery in the mountainous areas of Yamaguchi Prefecture is “because of this water.”

This investment carries two structural meanings.

First, it creates a “manufacturing base connected to the global market in a rural, mountainous area.” Dassai is consumed in New York, Paris, and Shanghai. The 9.8 billion yen brewery paints a somewhat curious map where the starting point of a global supply chain is located in a depopulated valley.

Second, the connection to tourism does not happen automatically. There are voices that expect tourists to come once the brewery is built. However, access from the center of Iwakuni City to Shuto Town relies on cars, with limited public transportation. For tourists visiting Kintai Bridge to extend their journey to the brewery, careful planning of the routes is necessary. There is a distance equivalent to a bus timetable between “a famous site is created” and “people circulate around it.”

Asahi Shuzo is known for managing quality through data and systems in sake brewing. Rather than relying on the traditional toji system, they produce consistent sake through quantified process management — this philosophy embodies a structure that eliminates individual dependency and operates through systems. If the new brewery further deepens this philosophy, it could become a model for “how local manufacturing can be.”
However, how this model connects with local employment and living conditions is still in the design phase.

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APA Hotel — The Significance of “A Box Being Built in Front of the Station”

“APA Hotel ” has pre-opened as the second APA Hotel in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It is located within walking distance from the west exit of Iwakuni Station, targeting both business travelers and tourists.

The opening of a national chain hotel in front of a train station in a regional city is not a rare occurrence. However, when viewed in the context of Iwakuni, a slightly different narrative emerges.

Iwakuni hosts a U.S. military base. Demand related to the base has supported the accommodation industry for some time, but recently, there has been an overlap with the increase in tourists around Kintai Bridge and business travel needs. Brewery tours at Dassai, business trips to semiconductor-related companies — when these flows overlap, preparations are made to ensure there are accommodations available before the voices of “there’s nowhere to stay” arise. The decision by the APA Group to open this hotel is likely a result of such demand forecasting.

However, the construction of the hotel will change the scenery in front of the station. It will create competition with local inns and guesthouses. The introduction of standardized services from a national chain may change the benchmark for accommodation prices, potentially drawing local accommodation providers into price competition. The increase in “boxes” also brings new dynamics to the existing ecosystem.

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4,000 Power Outages and Bears — The View of the “Neighbor”

In the corner of the same page where massive investment news appears, another article exists.

In 2023, approximately 4,000 households in Iwakuni City and Suo-Oshima Town experienced power outages. The causes are attributed to aging transmission facilities and the impact of natural disasters. The figure of 4,000 households is nearly equivalent to all households in a small town. When the power goes out, refrigerators stop, air conditioners stop, and home medical equipment ceases to function. In areas with a high aging rate, power outages become not just inconvenient but dangerous.

The increasing number of bears captured in Yamaguchi Prefecture is also part of the same structure. As the population decreases in mountainous areas, abandoned farmland expands, and the boundary between humans and animals becomes blurred. Right behind the new brewery or factory, bears are shaking persimmon trees — this is the reality of the region.

This is not to say that massive investments are bad. We want investments to come. Employment and tourists are needed. The issue lies in the fact that the “light” of investments does not overlap with the “shadows” of living conditions on the same map.

While hundreds of billions of yen are poured into semiconductor factories, budgets for updating power lines and measures against wildlife damage are on a different scale. National subsidies are generous for advanced industries, while the maintenance of living infrastructure is often left to the general funds of local governments. Unless this structure changes, the feeling that “investments have come, yet lives remain unchanged” will not disappear.

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Reading as a Question of Structure

When we line up the movements discussed this time, a certain structure becomes visible.

The upper rows represent larger amounts and are more likely to make the news. The lower rows are less visible in terms of amounts and their recipients are “everyone.” Moreover, when the lower rows collapse, the upper rows cannot stand either. Factories do not operate without electricity. If the mountains surrounding the brewery become degraded, water quality will change. Hotel guests stay because it is a safe town.

What supports massive investments are the unglamorous infrastructures that do not make the news and the very presence of people who continue to live there.

How many municipalities and companies are aware of this structure? Can they discuss inspection plans for power lines and systems for wildlife damage with the same passion as their efforts to attract investments? This will determine the “next ten years” for this region.

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The Focus Should Be on Designing Connections

In the future, what we should observe in this region is not the size of the investment amounts.

How the employment from semiconductor factories connects with local high schools and technical colleges. How the Dassai brewery connects with the regional transportation network and tourism routes. How the opening of the APA Hotel impacts local restaurants and souvenir shops — is there a circuit where investments that have come down as “points” spread out as a “plane” across the region?

And another question is whether issues related to living infrastructure, such as power outages and wildlife damage, are properly positioned within the context of investments. “Attracting advanced industries” and “updating power lines” tend to be discussed in separate budgets, departments, and meetings. However, from the perspective of those living there, these are merely events occurring within the same day.

If someone returns home after their factory shift only to find a power outage — investments will not come to a town where such nights continue.

Revisiting the scenery adjacent to massive figures as a structure is a perspective that all stakeholders in this region — businesses, government, and residents — need to adopt.