Japanese maritime cluster in the globalization and restructuring of the business groups
As of 2019, the small city of Imabari, where 0.001% of Japan's population lives, owns 46% of Japan's ocean-going ships, equivalent to 5% of the world. This paper focuses on the period from 1973, when the global shipping recession hit, to 2000, when Imabari overcame the recession and laid the foundation for global competitiveness and clarify the historical background that made this growth possible.
As for the shipping industry and maritime clusters, there have been diverse researches on Northern Europe and Greece, and the UK has been discussed from the perspective of the ability to respond to changes in the business environment, such as the emergence of the flag of convenience (FoC) and specialized ships like a container, and has been clarified the change of strategy and appropriate investment were needed in this era (Tenold:2019, Gelina:2015, Ronald:1990). In contrast, this global cluster in Japan has not been analyzed at all from the perspective of business history. In fact, Japanese companies also changed their style of investment, and the division of labor between ship owning and operating has advanced supported by the government. At that time, Imabari shipowners specialized in owning bulk ships which were the most useful for operators in any country.
This paper analyzes structural changes in competition among major Japanese companies, which increased the importance of local economies, during the shipping recession, using Japanese government and corporate data. Furthermore, using previous research on Nordic shipowners, sources from corporate archives, and oral history by interviewing in Imabari, this paper shows the formation and self-reinforcing function of the maritime cluster. In the shipping industry, where boom and bust waves are fierce, maritime clusters can keep companies alive during recessions and allow them to continue investing even when their competitors are weaker.
