Kagoshima Prefecture

At a glance

Company profile

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Japanese regional-government exhibitor and industry-promotion organizer whose semiconductor program supports local semiconductor-related companies seeking new entry into Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain and expansion of transactions. This market-entry and transaction-expansion support is also stated directly in its prefectural recruitment language for local businesses. Its manufacturing-policy portfolio includes a Production Innovation Support Project for core companies and companies aiming to become core companies, with the purpose of improving productivity and strengthening their ability to generate earnings. The prefecture describes core companies as firms including METI-selected Regional Future Leading Companies that have high technical capability or growth potential and produce substantial regional economic effects through local transactions and employment expansion. Eligible recipients under that project are small and medium-sized manufacturing companies with a business establishment in Kagoshima Prefecture. Supported measures include productivity improvement through digital-technology introduction, added-value improvement through new-product or technology development and sales-channel development, and workforce development for multi-skilled operations. The project provides a subsidy rate of 3分の2以内 with an upper limit of 3,000万円, and it requires a business plan of about three years that targets average annual growth of at least 3% in added value or labor productivity while maintaining the employee count and agreeing to publish project results. Its review points include growth and motivation as a core company, appropriateness of the project purpose and content, project advantages, expected productivity and added-value effects and regional spillovers, feasibility and schedule, and the soundness of the financial plan.

Exhibits

For semiconductor-facing supply-chain promotion, Kagoshima Prefecture recruits Japanese companies that have a business establishment in the prefecture and possess products or technologies relevant to semiconductor manufacturing and related fields. The eligible supply categories explicitly include semiconductor manufacturing equipment, semiconductor-related materials and parts, auxiliary materials such as packaging materials, MEMS, and sensors. Additional target fields include flexible hybrid electronics, IC-device applications, system integration, IoT, consumer-equipment manufacturing, and other relevant products and technologies. Participation is required to have a business-negotiation purpose rather than a research or training purpose, linking the prefecture's exhibition support directly to commercial engagement. Applicants are also required to have no unpaid prefectural taxes and to satisfy the stated exclusion conditions concerning substantial involvement by organized-crime groups or members. Kagoshima Prefecture describes the semiconductor exhibition it uses for this program as a specialist event covering semiconductor manufacturing technology, packaging, equipment, materials, and related technologies and products. For food-related manufacturing, Kagoshima Prefecture operates a support program intended to raise productivity and competitiveness through production-process automation, labor saving, and introduction of machinery needed to capture new demand. Eligible recipients are small and medium-sized food-related manufacturers with a business establishment in Kagoshima Prefecture, and the subsidy rate is up to two-thirds with an upper limit of 10 million yen. Eligible costs include machinery and equipment for automating manual work, reducing labor in existing production processes, improving work efficiency, and increasing production capacity. The program also covers systems for remote manufacturing monitoring and visualization of quality or safety management, machinery for products expected to create new demand, visualization of logistics and inventory management from production through delivery, and equipment that reduces energy use in production processes. Supported projects must use a business plan of about three years, address production-efficiency and added-value improvement and regional economic spillovers, target average annual growth of at least 3% in added value or labor productivity, maintain the employee count, and agree to publish results. Review points for the food-manufacturing program include the appropriateness of purpose and content, expected production-efficiency and added-value gains and spillovers to sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism, feasibility and schedule, project advantages, and the soundness of the financial plan. For overseas market development, the prefecture supports small and medium-sized manufacturers with a headquarters or factory in Kagoshima Prefecture in exhibiting at overseas trade fairs and business meetings so they can expand transactions with new overseas companies. Eligible overseas events are exhibitions or business meetings that include a product-display booth, while individually arranged company meetings are excluded, and travel to the local venue is not mandatory. Eligible exhibition expenses include booth and registration fees, display-space decoration and construction, venue electricity and water charges, and packing and transportation of products, brochures, and other display materials. The program also covers travel and lodging for up to two people, foreign-language brochure production and printing, interpretation for up to one person, translation of brochures and promotional materials, business or trade adviser fees, and other items specifically recognized as necessary by the governor. The subsidy is up to one-half of eligible expenses with an upper limit of 500,000 yen, and the program states a planned selection of three cases. Purchases, contracts, and other expenditures made before a grant decision are not eligible for this overseas-exhibition subsidy. The Kagoshima SME DX Promotion subsidy supports prefectural small and medium-sized companies responding to changing business conditions and pursuing growth by helping with costs for digital-technology introduction and development of in-house digital personnel. Eligible companies are SMEs with a business establishment in Kagoshima Prefecture, and the subsidy covers up to two-thirds of eligible expenses with an upper limit of 4 million yen. Its eligible activity categories are productivity improvement through digital-technology introduction, added-value improvement through new-product or technology development and sales-channel development, and workforce development for multi-skilled operations. A principal requirement is to prepare the business plan jointly with an IT vendor or a certified management-innovation support organization. Review examines the status of internal digital education and personnel development, current management issues, the implementation and expected effects of issue-solving measures, the project organization and schedule, the post-project DX promotion plan, and the financial plan. Kagoshima Prefecture and Saga Prefecture have implemented the Kagoshima-Saga Yale Project since Reiwa 3 fiscal year to deepen relations between the two prefectures in various fields and carry those ties into the future. During Reiwa 3 fiscal year and Reiwa 4 fiscal year, manufacturing companies from the two prefectures conducted mutual governor visits, opinion-exchange meetings, and company visits to deepen their relationships. From Reiwa 5 fiscal year through Reiwa 7 fiscal year, the program used joint participation in exhibitions held in urban areas to deepen ties among manufacturing companies and expand their sales channels. For Reiwa 8 fiscal year, the prefectures continued joint exhibition participation by companies from Kagoshima Prefecture and Saga Prefecture as part of the manufacturing-company exchange program. Eligible Kagoshima Prefecture participants are small and medium-sized manufacturers, and the semiconductor-related products and technologies identified for the program include manufacturing equipment, materials and parts, auxiliary materials, MEMS and sensors, flexible hybrid electronics, IC-device applications, system integration, IoT, and consumer-equipment manufacturing. The program requires participation for business negotiations and no unpaid prefectural taxes, while travel expenses and transportation costs for exhibition items are borne by participating companies. Kagoshima Prefecture also provides emergency support to shochu producers and other food-related manufacturers affected by sharp price increases in processing rice and similar inputs by covering part of the increase in purchase costs. Eligible recipients are SMEs that manufacture processed foods or shochu using processing rice or similar inputs and have their head office or principal office in Kagoshima Prefecture. The support rate is up to one-half with an upper limit of 3 million yen, and eligible costs are purchases of processing rice and similar inputs that were paid between 1 April 2025 (Reiwa 7) and 31 March 2026 (Reiwa 8). As a standard calculation, the support amount is one-half of the difference between the Reiwa 7 fiscal year average purchase unit price and the Reiwa 6 fiscal year average purchase unit price for eligible processing-rice inputs, multiplied by the Reiwa 7 fiscal year purchase quantity, subject to the 3 million yen ceiling and rounding down amounts below 1,000 yen. For businesses holding the specified liquor-manufacturing licenses under the Liquor Tax Act, the calculation uses the purchase unit price and purchase quantity of rice used for koji. For businesses that bought processing rice in the Reiwa 5 fiscal year or the Reiwa 6 fiscal year and used it to make processed foods but used staple rice or similar inputs in the Reiwa 7 fiscal year, the calculation compares the Reiwa 7 fiscal year staple-rice purchase price and quantity with the Reiwa 6 fiscal year processing-rice purchase price and quantity.

Capabilities and products

• Support for entry into Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain and transaction expansion
• Food manufacturing process automation and labor-saving support
• Subsidies for remote manufacturing monitoring and quality/safety visualization systems
• Subsidies for machinery and equipment for products targeting new demand
• Subsidies for production logistics and inventory-management visualization
• Subsidies for energy-saving equipment in production processes
• Subsidies for new product/technology development and sales-channel expansion
• Subsidies for multi-skilled workforce development
• Support for exhibiting at overseas trade fairs and business meetings
• SME DX and in-house digital workforce development subsidies
• Joint exhibition support for Kagoshima and Saga manufacturing companies
• Support for increased procurement costs of processing rice

Related product topics

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