For most Japanese companies and organizations, the enormous damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) was greater than expected. In addition to the great tsunami and the earthquake motion, the lack of electricity, fuel and other supplies disturbed recovery efforts and activities for business continuity. This should be considered an important constraint factor of large earthquakes. The Japanese government and industries should utilize the lessons of the GEJE and execute effective countermeasures, considering the concern of other great earthquakes occurring in Japan in the near future.Of the countermeasures, improving the earthquake-resistance of buildings and facilities is the most basic approach. In addition, the spread of a BCP (Business Continuity Plan) and BCM (Business Continuity Management) to private and public organizations is also indispensable. Based on the lessons of the GEJE, BCM should more clearly include the standpoint of supply chain management, and emphasize "alternate strategy" more. The central and local governments are requested, in addition, to develop their own BCP and to prepare prerequisites for the BCM of private sectors, such as showing damage estimations in detail and improving related frameworks.
Serious damages to enterprises as well as residences and infrastructure resulted from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. Important factories of the automobile, information technology, chemical, and other industries were located in the affected area. The nature of the damage was that there was significant damages to the building of enterprises located near the fault that caused the strong Earthquake. The geographical scope of damage to the enterprises was not very wide.The authors performed continuous research on the public announcements posted on the websites of the affected enterprises for several months, following up with news reports on damaged enterprises and on-site interviews. We found that a considerable number of enterprises supplied their products to their important customers from substitute sites to achieve their business continuity. On the other hand, many enterprises attained early on-the-spot recovery, which might be explained partly by the fact that recovery of essential utilities, particularly electricity and telecommunications, was relatively quick.The authors found many examples of effective utilization of the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). For example, some enterprises adopted the substitution strategy of business continuity management (BCM) that fulfills the responsibility to maintain supplies to the customers. Other enterprises that had experienced the GEJE avoided serious direct damage by having installed adequate earthquake countermeasures to their buildings and facilities.
Construction restrictions implemented in some coastal areas of Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, after the Great East Japan Earthquake were necessary for reconstructing residences and town buildings; however, they were criticized for delaying the recovery and reconstruction of the fish processing industry that was affected by the disaster. In areas that were affected by the construction restrictions, a foundation development for the Cluster Zone (CZ) of fish processing industry facilities was implemented, and companies were only allowed to rebuild their plants more than three years later when the project was completed. In areas that became designated for a land readjustment project (LRP) several years after the disaster, plants that had been repaired were forced to relocate. The present study targeted the fish processing industry of Kesennuma City and conducted a questionnaire on companies that had their offices in the areas that were likely impacted by such policies and projects. We conducted an interview to understand the specific impact of such policies and projects on company management. Based on the above survey, we reached the following conclusions. First, many companies that had plants in the scheduled CZ, which was determined after the disaster, relocated their plants. Many companies felt that construction restrictions and the foundation development project (FDP) for the CZ delayed the recovery of plants. Second, companies that were impacted by the FDP of the CZ, LRP, etc. experienced delays in the recovery of sales channels and hiring, the dispersion of plants, increased costs due to the move, and the abandonment of some manufacturing. Third, as measures to alleviate the impact on companies of the government preparing industrial lands after large-scale disasters, we discuss measures to speed up project implementation, support for the use of production bases, and other important aspects.
The first real estate securitization project of the traditional townhouses in Kyoto (Kyo-Machi-ya) started in 2006. The authors and the vehicle company of this project jointly sent out the questionnaire to the investors. The result of the survey shows 1) most investors were interested in reservation/renewal of the Kyo-Machi-ya, 2) 68% of the investors responded that the dividend rate was not so important, and 3) nearly half of them might invest even if the dividend rate (3%) was two percent points lower. The problem was that the profitability was supported by the drastic cost cut by way of very low fees (like unpaid volunteers) for arrangers and specialists. However, this project suggested the possibility of new finance methods forrenewal of traditional townhouses.keywords: real estate securitization, traditional townhouse(Machi-ya), dividend rate
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