Foreign companies have begun shifting their Japanese headquarters from Tokyo amid repeated aftershocks, disrupted transport stemming from rotating blackouts and the crisis at a nuclear power plant more than 200 kilometers north of the capital.
Swedish clothing chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) announced Thursday that it will temporarily transfer its Japanese headquarters from Tokyo to Osaka.
As justification for the move, the retailer cited continuing aftershocks and the reduced train services introduced to cope with rotating powercuts in Tokyo and the surrounding area.
The retailer plans to rent a conference room at a hotel in Osaka and move about 15 employees there.
Of the 10 H&M outlets in Japan, the only one currently open is in Osaka.
The remaining nine are all in the Kanto region and have been closed since the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake struck March 11.
H&M was due to open a new outlet in a commercial complex in Tokyo this Saturday, but it has postponed doing so until further notice.
The Japanese unit of French tire maker Michelin sent an e-mail to its staff Wednesday, encouraging them to relocate outside of Tokyo and other parts of the Kanto region to either western Japan or outside of the country.
It will pick up the tab for its seven employees and their family members living within a radius of 100 kilometers of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture to move out.
