A Tokyo machinery maker will launch a cutting-edge research and development center for robots in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, in April to support the recovery of the disaster-hit prefecture.
Kikuchi Seisakusho Co., led by President and CEO Isao Kikuchi, a native of the local village of Iitate, plans to hire workers from the area and outsource services to local businesses, hoping to support reconstruction of industry in the Soso area in the prefecture's eastern edge.
"We want to help the recovery (of Fukushima) by doing what we can as a manufacturing company," said the firm's director, Naotaka Otogawa.