Business Environment of Hyogo Prefecture

MARKET


5.5 million people with some of the highest incomes in the world live in Hyogo Prefecture and a further 15 million within a 60 miles radius of Kobe. In 1999, the gross product of Hyogo Prefecture was 175,100 million US dollars, roughly equivalent to the GDP of Denmark. A wide variety of living environments exist in the Prefecture, from mountain areas and fishing villages to major metropolitan areas. This diversity means Hyogo functions as a kind of Japan in miniature, making it an ideal area in which to conduct markets surveys. Consumers in the Kobe-Hanshin area are particularly keen on new idea and fashions, and Japanese companies frequently use this area as a test market.

Comparative Table of Hyogo Prefecture Gross Product
and Foreign Countries (1999, 100 million U.S. dollars)
Hyogo Prefecture
1,751      
Japan
45,219      
U.S.A. 92,370      
Germany 18,607      
U.K. 14,428      
Denmark 1,743      
Poland 1,555      
Norway 1,529