Birds chirp under blue skies as luscious greenery stretches beyond. Researchers in white lab coats walk to and from the uncluttered chic and modern buildings. This is the natural and clean environment the Yokosuka Research Park (YRP) offers its tenants conducting business there.
Measuring a vast 58 hectares, YRP was originally home to a laboratory of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (the current Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, or NTT). After NTT left the site, the city of Yokosuka decided to court high-tech corporations specializing in information and telecommunications technology to the area. "Since our company owned the land, we cooperated with the city on the YRP project. Opened in 1997, we have worked very closely with the city to develop and promote this site," explained Masaru Saito, deputy department chief of the Project Planning Department, Development and Administration of Facilities Headquarters of Keihin Electric Express Railway Co.
Originally functioning as the R&D hub for information and telecommunications technology-related corporations, YRP was eventually settled by various other industries. "This is because technological development, especially the evolution and progress of Internet technology, no longer required telecom corporations to operate in geographical proximity. As a result, several of those companies spread out. YRP now serves as home to 60 companies from various industries, while the number of people working there now stands at about 4,000," said Saito.