the beginning of the recession in 1991. In 1964, Saijō was designated the "New Tōyo Industrial Development City", accompanied by increased coastal reclamation projects and the development of heavy industry. This allowed the Saijō port industrial zone to compete with the already developed Tōyo City and Niihama City coastal chemical industries. Asahi Breweries opened a manufacturing plant in the main port area in 1996. The Imabari Shipbuilding Company maintains a shipyard in Saijo. The company's 800-t cranes are among the largest of their kind in the world and are a major visual landmark.The coastal area of Saijō forms the largest industrial zone in Shikoku, and covers a wide variety of fields, including materials, semiconductors, shipbuilding, beverages, power generation, and steel. The value of industrial shipments from Saijō is larger than that of Kochi Prefecture as a whole. Away from the coastline, Coca-Cola operates its Shikoku bottling plant in Komatsu. Panasonic Healthcare had a factory in the Iioka area that closed in 2013. The Saijo Plain in the center of the city, which is located downstream of the Kamo and Nakayama river systems, is known as a breadbasket, with production flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees, making it one of the leading agricultural areas in Ehime Prefecture. Saijō's farms and orchards produce many varieties of crops, and the region is particularly known for producing the herbs used in the traditional spring porridge nanakusa-no-sekku, eggplant, roses, persimmons, and spinach. The Japan Agricultural (JA) Group operates several permanent farmers' markets in the Saijō region. Education Saijō has 26 public elementary schools and ten public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has five public high schools operated by the Ehime Prefectural Board of Education. Transportation Railways Shikoku Railway Company - Yosan Line - - - - - - Highways Matsuyama Expressway Imabari-Komatsu Expressway Ports Port of Toyo Sister cities Baoding, China Local attractions Festivals Saijō is famous for its three fall festivals, held annually from October 14–17, which feature over 100 hand-carried wooden floats known as danjiri or taikodai (depending on the festival) that belong to neighborhood associations across the city. These floats are up to 5 meters tall and weigh between 600 and 800 kilograms. The festivals have been celebrated since the Edo period. Saijō's festivals are known as the Iwaoka Shrine Festival (Oct. 14–15), Isono Shrine Festival (Oct. 15–16), and Iizumi Shrine Festival (Oct. 16–17), with the largest number of