*First broadcast on November 3, 2020.
A significant portion of Japan's manufacturing industry is handled by small factories known as "urban workshops," with less than 30 workers. Despite their small scale, a number of urban workshops are globally renowned. This time on Japanology Plus, our theme is urban workshops. Our main guest is university professor Hashimoto Hisayoshi. He takes us to several workshops, and draws attention to some of their chief characteristics.