Why is Dai Williams working to build a Japanese Restaurant?

In this essay I am going to examine the reasons why Dai Williams has been working to build a Japanese restaurant. I am going to discuss in detail the decline of the coal industry, the location of the Sony factory and what services the Japanese brought with them for their benefits.

Before Dai Williams started work on the Japanese Restaurant, he was a miner in the local coal mines. These coal mines were located in South Wales, Bridgend, and due to the decline Dai Williams along with many other people became unemployed.

Location of the coal mines

The decline of the coal industry was mainly due to the increase in Petroleum and Natural Gas, but another cause was the World War 2. During 1939 – 1945 the coal industry went down as men were sent to go and fight. In 1955 the demand for the coal industry never picked up again; and soon the requirements went extremely down.

WW2 Begins

WW2 ends

Coal was also cheaper to import from abroad, so during the mid 1980s there was competition between Welsh mines and foreign importers. This meant that it was harder for the welsh mines to sell their coal. Soon after oil-fired stations were opened to supply power instead of coal mines. Most of the population was very skilled in mining and due to the decrease there was a mass of unemployment.

The Bridgend Sony Factory was opened in 1973 and created hundreds of jobs; people were brought from Japan and people were employed from South Wales, this was good as there was a mass group of employment in Wales at that time of the decline in coal industry. The Sony factory was located in Bridgend; this was a good location as the M4 had just been built which connected South Wales to the Capital of England, London and many other big cities.

This made it easier for Sony to sell their products as they could travel to all the big cities and people would also come to South Wales and buy there products. It was also near a port which made it easier and cheaper for Sony to import and export goods abroad. There was also a big demand for colour TVs in the UK and abroad which gave Sony huge advantages and profits. Sony then brought another site in Pencoed; this again created more jobs and again was to be found in a perfect location which was next to the M4 motorway and near a port.

Location of the New Sony Factory

Location of the Sony Factory.

Many Japanese families settled into the area of Bridgend. People like Megan Jones benefited from the Sony factory. Megan Jones was employed to start working as a remote control assembler at the remote control factory; this benefited her as she was introduced to a new culture and even liked the Japanese food.

To accommodate the needs of the Japanese, they brought along the services they enjoy in Japan, such as food and sport. A golf course was opened for the owner of Sony, which is Mr Ishiguru. This is a very common sport in Japan and when was brought to the UK, local people also started to engage themselves in this sport. Mrs Ishiguru also opened up a food co-operative which distributes Japanese food to the local community. This again attracts the local people to the Japanese culture.

In conclusion to all this I think that Dai Williams is looking to build a Japanese culture because of the vast amount of Japanese families who have come over to Wales. It helps them adapt to this environment and helps the Wales population adapt to the Japanese. I think that in the future there will be an increase in coal again as other resources may start to decrease and run out.