Small factory owners call for government support

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Small factory owners call for government support

In a rally in the Diet Building on June 26, 76 small factory owners from 12 prefectures demanded that the government provide support to small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

The rally was organized by small- and medium-sized factory owners' associations including the National Federation of Merchant and Industrialist's Organizations (Zenshoren) and the Higashiosaka Industrial Thinking (HIT) that consists of small factory owners at Higashiosaka City, Osaka.

Citing the suicide of a small factory owner in financial difficulty, Sasaki Tadayoshi from Ota Ward in Tokyo called for financial assistance in the payment of rents for factory buildings and support for the effort to ensure that the manufacturing businesses be succeeded by the next generation.

An owner from Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture demanded that the government instruct large corporations to set unit piece prices that will guarantee their subcontractors' survival by stating, "One factory received a Toyota Prius-related order. Its unit price was reduced by 25 percent. Toyota then established 25 percent cut in unit piece prices for next year."

Lawmakers of the Japanese Communist Party as well as the Liberal Democratic Party attended the rally.

JCP member of the House of Representative Yoshii Hidekatsu in his speech said, "Small- and medium-sized factories, which are the pillar of manufacturing in Japan, should survive. The JCP will do its utmost to increase support measures."

A senior official of the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry also took part in the rally.

- Akahata, June 27, 2009