A small town surrounded by mountains on Japan's southeast coast, Kanda is hundreds of miles from the major business and politics centre. But recently, the only thing in the hearts of residents is President Trump.
In restaurants and bars and around the small city offices of Kanda, people are nervously chatting about the 25% tariff he declared in car imports to the US.
The reason for anxiety is impossible to overlook. The lifeline of the town is a vast automobile factory owned by Nissan Motor in Japan.
On two-thirds of the size of Central Park, more than 4,000 Nissan Line workers produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles each year. Half of them are sold in the US.
“We really don't know what to do with the tariffs here,” said Hironori Bep, a council member of the Kanda Chamber of Commerce. “Without Nissan, Kanda's financial situation would be very serious,” Bepp said.
Much remains unknown regarding Trump's automobile tariffs, which took effect Thursday. Most importantly, how long will you stay? Or is the Trump administration willing to negotiate?
Kanda, a town of about 38,000 on Kyushu Island in southern Japan, proves to be a preview of what will unfold in similar export-oriented towns around the world when tariffs are in place.
Since Trump announced the auto tariffs on March 26, Nissan has been considering moving some of the fraud, one of the models it produces in Kanda, to the US, according to two people who spoke about the state of anonymity when discussing internal plans.
A major production shift could encourage employment cuts at the Kanda plant, cause economic pain in the town, and if replicated by other automobile companies, it could affect Japan's wider industrial environment. Some economists predict that U.S. automotive prices will be as half as Japan's economic growth this year.
Kanda's Nissan manufacturing site resembles a small town, spreading over 500 acres with restaurants, traffic lights and well-maintained lawns. The complex has around 10,000 people working there, counting logistics and workers from companies that supply parts to Nissan.
The site connects the residential line of the building directly to the port. There, hundreds of rows of vehicles equipped with left-controlled steering wheels sit in the sun, waiting to be shipped overseas. The giant blue and white transport tanker marked “Panama” was sitting in the nearby waters last week.
In Kanda, where Nissan first opened its factory 50 years ago, The economics of export cars have long made sense.
The fraudulent sports utility vehicles Nissan makes in Kanda and sells in the US are also produced in the US. However, Kanda increased efficiency and, even considering the previous tariffs of 2.5% and vehicle shipping costs, exporting rogues from Japan was not expensive.
With 25% tariffs in place, factory workers say they don't know what the calculation is. Nissan did not respond to requests for comment.
The town of Kanda has grown in parallel with Nissan since the car manufacturer opened its factory in 1975. During the global expansion of the 1990s, Nissan built a second factory, making Kanda the largest domestic production zone in the country.
Most areas outside of major cities in Japan are aging rapidly. Kanda stood out as one of the few towns with a steadily growing population. City officials proudly speak of Kanda's status as one of the nation's dozens of municipalities.
“That's thanks to Nissan,” said Kajiyuki, chief of Kanda's Ministry of Transport and Commerce. “Our town is our automotive industry,” he said. “That's why we're trying to figure out whether tariffs are short-term, long-term, and what impact they will have.”
It's a problem for everyone, from Nissan leaders to the finest Japanese staff.
In response to US auto rates, Prime Minister Isba said last week that he plans to establish around 1,000 offices nationwide to investigate the impact of taxes on domestic industries.
Nissan's recently appointed chief executive Ivan Espinosa said at an event last month that Nissan is struggling with lack of clarity, as he is trying to plan ahead for different tariff scenarios.
U.S. tariffs will be incurred as Nissan was already restructuring its global business.
In November, after operating profit fell 90% for six months, Nissan said it plans to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce global production capacity by around 20%. Around that time, Nissan began considering a potential merger with Honda Motor, but the discussion fell apart a few months later.
Nissan people say it is working on a restructuring plan that will likely bring deeper cuts.
Nissan intended to reduce production of some in the US and elsewhere. However, last week the company said it plans to maintain previous levels of American production, including its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.
According to Nissan, the goal was to “maintain more localized volumes in the US where there are no new car rates.” It says that production of the US model in Mexico and Japan will “continue based on market needs.”
For now, if production is to be moved from Japan, auto companies are unlikely to take a big knee action in response to tariffs, said Nakajima Jo, head of Nakajima Research Institute, Tokyo's automobile consulting firm. Rather, they sold about a month or two worth of stock they have in the US and “wait and see,” he said.
If tariffs are past six months or a year, “companies can more or less engulf this impact,” Nakajima said. “If this lasts for four years, this will require structural changes.”
On a recent Sunday evening in Kanda, several Nissan workers gathered at a small bar near the station to drink and sing karaoke. Chieko Isshiki, 62, the owner of the bar, said Nissan employees have been her main clients for the past 20 years.
Behind the counter, sipping drinks and sometimes vaping, Isshiki said customers read about the news tariffs. “Even us, who are indirectly supported by our Nissan factories, are feeling uneasy,” she said.
That night, one of the Nissan employees at Ms. Isshiki's bar was a 39-year-old line worker who moved from Nagasaki to work at the Kanda factory. Now the father of two, he lives near plants and builds vans primarily on its production line.
“Although tariffs are a concern, I think Nissan is doing its best to protect Japanese employees,” he asks not to use his name and tries his best. “Anyway, all we can do for us on the floor is to listen from above and continue building our cars.”
