TOKYO — Iris Ohyama, a maker of household products, will start producing face masks in Japan without relying on materials from China or elsewhere as it bows to the Japanese government’s aim for domestic industries to diversify supply chains away from China.
Iris in June will begin making masks for non-medical use at its factory in Kakuda, a city in the northern prefecture of Miyagi. By August, the company intends to be producing about 150 million pieces per month.
Iris currently produces face masks at Chinese factories in Dalian, the big port city in Liaoning Province, and Suzhou, west of Shanghai, with non-woven fabrics and other main materials procured from Chinese companies.
The consumer goods maker has decided to also make the main materials itself at its Miyagi factory.
By taking the steps, Iris is likely to be the first recipient of a government subsidy for companies that reorganize their supply chains. The government set aside more than 240 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in the fiscal 2020 supplementary budget for the program.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has come out in support of investments to strengthen domestic production and procurement networks. “Products that depend on one country and have high added value will be returned to Japan as production bases,” Abe said during a government meeting last month. “Even if the products do not depend on one nation, and do not have high added value, the manufacturing will be diversified to ASEAN.”
The government will urge companies to consider whether stable procurement and production can be maintained in times of crisis. It will also support reforms in industries such as automobile parts and electronic parts.