Fuji City in Shizuoka Prefecture this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of its incorporation as a city. As a key focus of PR and tourism programs, Fuji has also become the seventh city in Japan to declare its status as a so-called “Factory Night View City.” At the end of this year, the city also plans to host a “factory night view summit” locally.
As part of the efforts to make this summit successful, the Fuji Factory Night View Project Promotion Council (under the Fuji Chamber of Commerce and Industry) has announced plans for photo shoots limited to women. As part of that idea, a request was also directed to Polyplastics for permission for a nighttime photo shoot at the Fuji Plant. The normal practice is to ban such independent photographing by women at night out of concern for safety and in the interest of preventing potential crimes. Because of this, the announcement of plans to go ahead with such a shoot was greeted with great enthusiasm. In fact, all available spots were immediately filled after we began to accept bookings.
On the day of the shoot, a large bus arrived at the Fuji Plant at 6:00 p.m. carrying 40 “lady photo buffs” ranging in age from 17 to 77. The group was received in the lobby of the Technical Solution Center (TSC), where they were given a brief explanation of the Polyplastics business. The ladies then divided up into two separate groups to begin the shoot. One group proceeded to the TSC roof and the other to the area in front of the plant’s main gate. The participants quickly became absorbed in getting good shots, with silence in the air as they snapped photo after photo.
I took that occasion to ask some of them why they found factory night scenery so interesting. The comments included, “The intricate curving of the piping systems is indescribably charismatic,” “There is a sense of charm and elegance in the rust,” “I’m so envious of the people who are able to work at such a factory” and more. For someone like me, who honestly has no interest in factory nightscapes, such sentiment seems difficult to identify with. Nevertheless, the great fun that these ladies camera fans had out there left a deep impression in my mind.
Nighttime photo shoot in front of the plant main gate and from a park neighboring the plant.
Just before 7:00 p.m. the group left the plant to get some shots from Shinhama Park (which is located nearby). At that time, the ladies warmly thanked us for our support. Also accompanying us that evening was a National Diet member elected from the local district and filming crews from three TV stations. The stations asked permission to air the photo shoot on news programs to be aired at a later date. Perhaps my request to avoid any close-ups inside the plant was taken too seriously. While one of the stations filmed the company’s sign, the other two avoided showing any scenes suggesting that the Fuji Plant was the location.
The idea had been to generate some PR for Polyplastics through this activity, so it was somewhat disappointing that this didn’t work out as hoped. Besides the coverage, however, the shoot did provide an excellent opportunity for members of the general public to learn more about Polyplastics and our business activities.
Finally, on this occasion, I want to thank everyone from the Fuji Plant and others for their precious efforts in organizing and carrying out this highly unique activity.
Mr. Kunitomo Yamamoto