Japanese shipbuilders, leapfrogged by South Korean and Chinese yards in an industry they once dominated, are counting on fuel-saving technology to help them overcome the stronger yen and high wages.
"There's a sense of crisis in the medium to long term with the currency," said Hiroshi Minami, president of Oshima Shipbuilding Co., based in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture. "We need to focus on more fuel-efficient ships to compete."
Japan's backlog for ship orders is less than half the size of both China's and South Korea's as prices about 20 percent higher than in China dent sales in a market worth $95 billion a year.