Almost two months have passed since Japan’s devastating earthquake and nuclear disaster, and Kazoumi Ikeda is still dealing daily with the changes to his work and his daily life.
Ikeda is global public relations manager for Wacom Inc., a company that employs 122 workers at its Vancouver headquarters for the Americas that produces computer pen tablets for consumers and design professionals. He lives in Tokyo, which still rumbles every few days with aftershocks from the March 11 quake that was centered some 231 miles northeast of the city.
“I personally feel (traumatized) by shaking all the time,” Ikeda said in broken English, in a telephone interview. “I’m not the only one.”
The devastating disasters in Japan have not slowed Wacom’s operations in Vancouver and have had only minimal impact on its global manufacturing. Other Japanese companies with significant Clark County operations also report that local operations have continued smoothly, thanks in large part to skilled management in Japan’s industrial sector and the resilience of the Japanese people.
“The Japanese people are so industrious and so hardworking, I’m sure they will recover more quickly than expected,” said Rob Bernardi, president and chief operating officer for Kokusai Semiconductor Equipment Corp., a designer and manufacturer of thermal furnaces for semiconductor plants with operations in Vancouver.
Bernardi said Kokusai’s parent company, the vast Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., has sought new suppliers when needed and implemented its backup plans. Kokusai has been forced to delay just three of its deliveries, Bernardi said. “The unknowns are few and far between,” he said.
But as Ikeda’s response suggests, personal and societal recovery from the most powerful earthquake in Japan’s history will take time. Some 25,000 people are reported either dead or missing as a result of the 9.0 magnitude Great East Japan Earthquake, as it is called, and the tsunami that followed. The nation is coping with massive loss of homes and damage to infrastructure, as well as continuing radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear power plant.
Financial analysts are keeping a close watch on Japan’s economy as the nation faces a costly recovery.
Last week, Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook for Japan’s credit rating to negative from its previous stable rating, a possible first step toward downgrading the nation’s debt rating. Such an action could raise the government’s borrowing costs even as Japan faces a reconstruction that S&P estimates could cost from $245 billion to $623 billion. The nation is struggling to reduce its already large debt.
Also last week, the Japanese government reported that industrial production in March plunged 15.3 percent from the previous month, worse than the 11.4 percent decline expected by analysts. The government has projected improvements of 3.9 percent in April and 2.7 percent in May, but analysts greeted even that modest growth estimate with skepticism.
In its most recent earnings report, Wacom reported that it is unable to keep pace with orders for its Cintiq tablets due to a shortage of high definition LCD panels. Ikeda said one of the company’s suppliers has had to slow its production of panels for the high-end product due to unstable ground conditions from aftershocks. “There’s no alternative at the moment,” he said.
Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas this week said it had no comment on the disaster’s impact on its operations in Camas. Company president John Marck said in early April that the Japan disasters could have a short-term impact but added that Sharp is making a strong rebound from the recession. “We could see a slight negative slowdown over the next several months,” Marck predicted.
SEH’s America’s parent company, the Shin-Etsu Group, said in an April 28 update on its website that it partially reopened its damaged Handotai Shirakawa plant on April 20. The company said it hoped to restore production to pre-earthquake levels as early as the end of June or July. In the interim, it said it has increased production operations at each of its worldwide sites. A local spokesman said that list includes the SEH plant in Vancouver. Shin-Etsu also said it was taking steps to reduce electricity consumption and to tap into private power facilities.
The company’s concern over the availability of electricity is shared by much of Japan’s vast industrial sector. With power supply diminished due to the crippled nuclear plant, Ikeda said industry will be competing with residents who air condition their homes in the hot, humid summer. Ikeda said manufacturers are adding holiday work hours this spring so they can curtail operations during the summer and still meet demand. Wacom has backup generators to keep its operations going, he said.
Tokyo residents are trying to contribute to the recovery of the nation’s devastated areas, Ikeda said. Many initially cut back on their usual activities and energy consumption, he said, but now residents are being encouraged to return to their old routines.
“These days we have started thinking that our normal life makes the country and the economy keep going,” he said.
He offers his thanks to Americans who have helped Japan in its recovery.
“We are very thankful, and it’s very helpful,” he said. “I can’t speak for the country, but it’s very much appreciated.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
