Governors aim to help end overemphasis on Tokyo

Jiji Press

13:09 JST, November 15, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Nearly half of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors formed a group this month amid frustration with slow progress in central government efforts to resolve excess concentrations of power and population in Tokyo.

The group of 22 governors supports a central government council made up of industry and academic experts, which was launched with the goal of resolving the country’s structural problems.

The governor group will team with the council, called Reinventing Infrastructure of Wisdom and Action, also known as Reiwa Rincho, to propose solutions for problems faced by regional areas.

The two sides will work jointly on national land planning that takes account of falling populations. The governor group will present its positions as regional governments on issues such as urban-to-rural migration, business relocation and foreign human resources utilization.

“We will launch a national movement with perspectives from regional areas, in order to make progress in resolving issues that have been put off,” Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai, who serves as the new group’s head, told a press conference Nov. 7 to mark the group’s establishment.