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Article: JAPANESE FIRMS FORCED TO BRANCH OUT
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- March 29, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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KITAKYUSHU, Japan - Yoshimasa Koyanemara, 48, still proudly
calls himself a steelworker. But a year ago he gave up the fire and
roar of Nippon Steel's Blast Furnace No. 1 for the floral-scented
quiet of a greenhouse tucked in a remote corner of the company's
sprawling Yawata Works.
There he spends his days fussing over hydroponically grown
orchids, upon which the giant steel firm is staking part of its
future.
"It is a little strange," said Koyanemara, stepping back to
admire a particularly exquisite bloom. "But the company sees that
it must change to survive, and so I am willing to change."
Change, dramatic change in the economic structure, is what it
will take if smokestack cities ...