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| For the establishment of safe and comfort foods and healthy island Kyushu |
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Aiming for the establishment of a hub of development and mass-production of the functional and healthy foods |
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Functional, healthy foods and biotechnology industry that supports them |
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Entire region of Kyushu (Fukuoka Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture, Oita Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kagoshima Prefecture) |
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Kyushu Bio Cluster Conference
URL: http://kyushu-bio.jp/
Kumamoto Technology and Industry Foundation
TEL: +81-96-289-3116 FAX: +81-96-286-3929 |
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| After the inaugural meeting in September 2007, the number of members is steadily growing. As of April 1, 2009, the number of members is 176 (72 associations and organizations, 93 individuals and 11 special members). |
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| In collaboration with the activities to promote the biotech industry conducting in various regions of Kyushu, not only forging a complementary relationship, we are working for market-oriented activities such as offering a forum to exchange opinions directly with consumers and collaboration between Asia utilizing our geographical advantage. |
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| We are aiming for establishment of structure handling every phase from research and development to market expansion. |
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| We will try to collaborate with projects such as bio-related research and development programs in Kyushu that are a collaboration of regional entities, Urban Area Industry-University-Government Collaboration Promotion Project and Food Industry cluster lead by MAFF. |
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Katsuya Fukami
Cluster Manager |
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The traditional brewing industries of the Kyushu region, including those involved in the production of miso, soy sauce, sake, and shochu, remain active and there are many research and analytical organizations associated with these industries.
The Kyushu region biotechnology cluster plan is building on these regional characteristics through industry-university-government collaboration to create a product development and mass production center for functional and health foods which will serve a growing market and establish a “Kyushu brand.”
To that end, work is going forward to provide support for
research and development, human resources development, and
expansion of the sales channels which sustain these industries,
and there are initiatives now under way which focus on Asian
and world markets. In FY 2008, a database was created covering
corporate and research facility information and the technical
capabilities of researchers relating to functional evaluation.
It is now available to the public on the cluster's website.
Sales have also begun of new products which are based upon
scientific work performed both by the industry and through
industry-university-government collaboration.
Going forward, we will promote additional collaborations in support of R&D to generate new products and new businesses. |
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| Number of new businesses launched (In FY 2007): |
42 |
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| Number of new businesses launched: 400 businesses in 4 years |
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Main Participants of the Project
Private companies (96 companies): Toyo Shinyaku Co.,Ltd., Unkai Shuzo Co.,Ltd., Japan Organic Company, Omu milk products Co.,Ltd., Tohmatsu Venture Support Co.,Ltd., Ajinomoto Co.,Inc.
Kyushu branch office, Choko Shoyu Miso Co-op., Trans Genic
Inc., Sanwa Shurui Co.,Ltd.,
Sakamoto Kurozu, Inc., etc.
Related administrative organizations (19 organizations): SMRJ, etc.
Universities and public examination and research institutes (18 organizations): Kumamoto Health Science University, Kyushu University, Sojo University, etc.
Financial institutions (10 institutions): The Higo Bank, Ltd., etc. |
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| ACHIEVEMENT EXAMPLE 1 |
Product development through cluster manager support |
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| A pairing of tourism and health: The development of new products using the functionality of reishi (bracket fungus) Aso Farmland Co., Ltd. |
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Aso Farmland is a company which owns residence-type resort facilities in Kumamoto Prefecture. Drawing on their expertise in the functional characteristics of mushrooms, Aso Farmland is engaged in the development of foods that are safe and promote good health.
The cluster manager matched Aso Farmland with Mizota Corporation, a company with proprietary technology to extract the ingredient ß-glucan from Ganoderma amboinense, a type of mushroom. This is a form of hands-on support going all the way to product development and it has led to the development of a new product. Studies have shown that ß-glucan boosts the human anti-cancer immune system.
The raw material mushrooms are becoming more widely known through the framework agreement set up by the cluster manager to stimulate the development of the village of Itsukimura and Kumamoto Prefecture industries.
The manager of this cluster has assigned people to the project who have expertise in technical development, product development, marketing, etc. and is working to respond to the companies’ needs.
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| ACHIEVEMENT EXAMPLE 2 |
Commercialization through support of research and development |
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Development of functional tea using yame tea as a raw ingredient Ichiban Foods Co. Ltd. |
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In this cluster, the research and development system of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was used to provide support to the research and development activities of a company.
Ichiban Foods Co. Ltd. worked with Kyushu University, Fukuoka Agricultural Research Center Yame Branch Station, the Institute of Rheological Function of Foods Co., Ltd., the Fukuoka Soy Sauce Brewing Cooperation, and the regional resource-utilization research and development program (FY 2007, 2008) to develop “Fermented Black Yame Tea” by using black koji (mold grown on rice as a sake precursor) to ferment yame tea, which is a regional resource in Fukuoka Prefecture.
A functional evaluation of the newly-discovered “Black Tea polyphenol” (patent pending) was conducted as well as research into fermentation technology, commercialization conditions (quality evaluations), etc., and it was found that this new ingredient, “Black Tea polyphenol,” is effective in improving blood circulatory function.
Plans call for continued support of research and development in the commercialization activities of small and medium-size companies along with efforts toward the development of new products and the creation of new businesses.
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| ACHIEVEMENT EXAMPLE 3 |
Building a functional evaluation network system |
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Creating a system to acquire evidence for functional evaluations quickly and at low cost |
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Support is being provided to leading small and medium-sized enterprises in the Kyushu region by creating a network of evaluation and analysis research institutions, universities, and companies in Kyushu to facilitate the rapid and low-cost acquisition of evidence of the reliability of functional and health food products.
A one-stop service center has been created in the council
and a system has been put in place to build a database for
testing organizations and the like to provide one-stop shopping
to meet companies' needs. |
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