OSAKA — Small factories in Japan are taking steps such as opening their doors for public tours to emphasize the big role they play in powering the nation’s manufacturing, aiming to shake off their image as being little more than dimly lit workshops and potentially lure more workers — even from abroad.
“Tin ingot melts at around 200 C. It is so low that tin can harden quickly,” a craftsman at the Nousaku foundry in central Japan’s Takaoka told visitors on one such tour, before breaking apart a sand mold to reveal a freshly cast sake cup.
