In a different kind of competition where jobs and tax money are the prize, sporting goods giant Xebio Co. is fielding a steady stream of suitors from local governments from around the nation.
In a different kind of competition where jobs and tax money are the prize, sporting goods giant Xebio Co. is fielding a steady stream of suitors from local governments from around the nation.
These officials are eager to attract the Koriyama-based company to their municipalities after reports surfaced in late October that it is considering moving its headquarters out of Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"The central government and local governments are not able to guarantee our security and safety," said Kei Wakabayashi, Xebio spokesman. "We have no choice but to start action ourselves."
Xebio, operator of 137 sporting goods stores across the nation, could join the dozens of other local companies that have left Fukushima Prefecture in the fallout from the nuclear crisis, with many more considering relocating outside the prefecture.
Fukushima Prefecture boasted 4.978 trillion yen ($64 billion) in the value of product shipments in 2010, by far the largest of all six prefectures in the Tohoku region.
But at least 30 companies have already left amid mounting concern over radiation levels, according to the prefectural government.
Local officials are trying to retain other companies by expanding their business subsidy program.
Still, that will probably not help them retain Xebio, which has shifted its procurement center to Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, to the immediate south of Fukushima Prefecture.
The company was forced to take that step because its suppliers stopped coming to the main office in Koriyama out of fear following the nuclear accident.
"I have heard that some companies even banned their employees from visiting Fukushima Prefecture," Wakabayashi said.
Clients, however, have begun returning to Xebio headquarters in recent months.
Still, radiation levels are hovering at 0.8 microsieverts per hour, a level not considered low.
"We would have never considered relocating if the nuclear accident had not occurred," Wakabayashi said.
A metal parts manufacturer based in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, said that it had lost a business deal worth 300 million yen in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
A client ended negotiations after the manufacturer said that its factory is about 50 kilometers from the crippled nuclear power plant.
Overall sales of the company were expected to reach 2.7 billion yen for the current fiscal year, up from about 2 billion yen annually in the past.
It had initially planned to expand its factory in Iwaki with expected growth in sales, but changed the plan to purchase land in Tochigi Prefecture instead.
"We had sought to consolidate our facilities in one location," said a senior official at the company, whose business is slowly recovering. "But we will disperse them in the future."
The chief of the Fukushima branch of a leading brokerage house said the branch has received inquiries from several companies about potential targets in the Kanto region for takeover bids.
They are apparently attempting, the official said, to set up a base outside the prefecture to prepare for an eventual exit.
"I am under the impression that there are more companies hoping to leave the prefecture than they are generally believed," the branch chief said.