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The Prime Minister in Action

The Prime Minister Visits Fukuoka Prefecture

Friday, July 18, 2014

Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (1)

  • Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (1)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a hydrogen filling station
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (2)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (1)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (2)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (3)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a work site employing women agricultural workers
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister tasting egg-based products
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister exchanging opinions with managers of venture businesses
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the ceremony to launch a parade against criminal organizations
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (1)
  • Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a hydrogen filling station

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a hydrogen filling station

Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister test driving a fuel cell car (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (3)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring Yawata Steel Works (3)

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a work site employing women agricultural workers

Photograph of the Prime Minister touring a work site employing women agricultural workers

Photograph of the Prime Minister tasting egg-based products

Photograph of the Prime Minister tasting egg-based products

Photograph of the Prime Minister exchanging opinions with managers of venture businesses

Photograph of the Prime Minister exchanging opinions with managers of venture businesses

Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the ceremony to launch a parade against criminal organizations

Photograph of the Prime Minister delivering an address at the ceremony to launch a parade against criminal organizations

Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (1)

Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (2)

Photograph of the Prime Minister participating in the parade against criminal organizations (2)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Fukuoka Prefecture.
The Prime Minister first visited a hydrogen filling station and tried filling up a fuel cell car. After this, the Prime Minister test drove a fuel cell car. The Prime Minister then visited Yawata Steel Works, which is an industrial heritage site.
Following this, the Prime Minister toured a chicken hatchery that employs women agricultural workers and sampled egg-based products. Afterwards, the Prime Minister exchanged opinions with managers of venture businesses at Robosquare, before participating in a parade against criminal organizations held in the Nakasu district. 
The Prime Minister described the goal of his visit to Fukuoka Prefecture as follows, 
“The regional revitalization we are promoting today differs from approaches taken in the past, when we sought to create completely identical regional cities. Our vision now is to revitalize the regions by building unique communities with unique futures  that make the most of their individual strengths.
The chicken hatchery I visited was run by a female president who is working hard together with members of the local community to foster value-added industries through the integration of processing, retail, and other functions,  which is generating employment in the process. The Government will also do its part to support efforts to pursue such ideas. In addition, Fukuoka City has been designated as a National Strategic Special Zone. I found that young managers of venture businesses were strongly motivated to make the most of this development and share their ideas with the rest of the world from Fukuoka. I truly believe that these people are supporting the future of Japan and the Japanese economy. I believe that in the future it will not just be Tokyo sharing innovative ideas with the rest of the world, but all regions across Japan.
With regard to the commercialization of the hydrogen fuel cell car, which has faced its fair share of challenges to date, last year I declared that instead of dealing with individual regulations one by one, we would eliminate all related restrictions in one fell swoop. Today, I was amazed at local efforts to create hydrogen filling stations using locally produced hydrogen, and to make fuel cell cars a reality and spread them throughout the market. This is truly an example of local production for local consumption. The results of regulatory reform can already be seen. However, this is only the beginning, and the Government will need to continue to provide solid support. I believe the fuel cell car represents the environmentally-friendly car of the future because it does not emit exhaust gases or CO2.
Therefore, first the Government would like ministries and agencies to fully utilize fuel cell cars. At the same time, if the price is not reasonable, people in Japan will not be able to afford a fuel cell car. We would like to provide a subsidy of at least 2 million yen. We also plan on completing a network of more than 100 hydrogen filling stations across Japan.”

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