3.Priority policies to make Tokyo the world's best city

Next, I would like to speak about Tokyo's key policies

A city with the most advanced welfare system in the world

Japanese society is being shaken by large fundamental changes taking the form of a decreasing and rapidly graying population. The aim of welfare policies is to deal with such changes and raise the quality of life of Tokyo residents. We wish to dedicate our total efforts to achieving our huge goal of becoming the city with the most advanced welfare system in the world.

Build a system supporting Tokyo's welfare policies

Major obstacles that arise when we consider Tokyo's welfare are the lack of land and human resources. With regard to land, we have already formulated schemes to utilize land centering on properties owned by the metropolitan government, and we are also advancing measures based on the supplementary budget approved by the Assembly last year. We will newly establish an infrastructure fund for facilities contributing to welfare, and using this fund we will engage in measures taking various approaches, such as supporting the construction of what we could call the "Tokyo version CCRC (continuing care retirement community)," which brings together facilities such as child-raising support facilities, senior facilities, and rental housing.

Regarding human resources for long-term care and child daycare, I believe a large problem exists in the availability of future career paths. Unless there is a system where workers can feel that their current efforts at work have a future and they can design their lives, those with skills and experience could likely leave their jobs. No matter how many facilities we build, we will not become a city with an advanced welfare system if we lack the necessary human resources. Tokyo will thus roll out its own advanced measures and support businesses that are striving to provide career opportunities and improve working conditions for their employees. With regard to child daycare service workers, under the condition that the business operator introduces a career path system, in a model case, the TMG will provide a subsidy of 21,000 yen in addition to the national subsidy of 9,000 yen, which would raise the average monthly salary by 30,000 yen. With regard to long-term care workers as well, we will support businesses that make use of the national government's evaluation system for occupational skills to build a system for employee career paths and pay their staff allowances commensurate with their nursing skills. We will have this initiative lead to a salary raise of some 20,000 yen per month for each employee accredited by this evaluation system. We will also build, within the next two years, a human resources bank system that will centrally manage information on welfare service personnel to raise both the quality and quantity of welfare professionals.

Prepare an environment where people can live with peace of mind

We will build a comprehensive regional care system to ensure the seamless provision of proper medical care, nursing care, preventive care, living support, and housing. Also, in order to secure facilities and housing that meet various needs, we have raised the goals of increasing capacity in special nursing homes for the elderly to 60,000, long-term care health facilities to 30,000, group homes for dementia care to 20,000, and securing a total of 28,000 serviced senior apartments by the end of fiscal 2025, and we are now steadily advancing efforts to achieve these targets. With regard to dementia, comprehensive initiatives will be taken such as further advancing the designation of medical institutions as dementia care medical centers and assignment of dementia support coordinators.

With regard to support for our disabled residents as well, we will develop an environment where they can live with peace of mind by steadily building living infrastructure, which will include increasing capacity in group homes by 2,000 and places for daytime activities by 4,500 over the next three years.

A city ensuring the sound growth of children

We will also advance measures to ensure that parents can feel reassured about the sound growth of their children.

In order to bring the number of children wait-listed for daycare from the 8,600 children as of April last year down to zero over the next three years, we have raised the target of increasing daycare service capacity by 40,000 and have prepared an annual timetable to achieve this goal. Other efforts we are actively promoting include increasing the capacity of gakudo clubs ("after-school clubs" for elementary school children needing daytime after-school care) by 12,000 over the next six years.

On the other hand, the number of consultations concerning child abuse is increasing. We will bolster the system at child guidance centers, and in order to meet the sharply increasing needs for temporary protection, we will also increase the capacity of such facilities. We will also promote the establishment of group homes and strengthen initiatives for social care to protect children and support their future independence.

I recently participated in a symposium with the residents of Tokyo held in Arakawa Ward under the theme of "the sound growth of children, power of the community, and power of sports in the run up to 2020." This made me again think about how necessary it is to reinvigorate the local community and cultivate the spirit of consideration toward others to ensure the sound growth of children. This will also lead to solid provision of omotenashi (hospitality) in 2020. I would like to include this perspective in a range of policies.

At this regular session of the Assembly, we are proposing an amendment to the Metropolitan Ordinance on Environment for Protection of Resident Health and Safety with regard to the sounds made by children. This amendment will do away with mechanically placing restrictions on the lively voices of playing children and change this to a scheme where the parties involved strive to resolve issues by devising necessary measures through discussion and communication. We hope to have this also lead to the creation of better communities and better child daycare environments.

Make Tokyo the stage where everyone can fulfill their dreams and hopes

For the resource-poor nation of Japan, people are the most precious resource. In order to fully draw out the power of this resource, we will make employment and education our two priorities to make Tokyo the stage where anyone can fulfill his or her dreams and hopes.

Employment policies

Among the causes for a household to fall into despair, large impact is felt by illness in the family, and then there is the case when a family member loses a job. People cannot even draw up prospects for the future unless they have stable work. To this end, we will advance the shift from non-regular employment to regular employment.

From the next fiscal year, we will newly implement our own program to support non-regular workers and roll out other forms of active support such as creating a system to subsidize companies working to shift their employees to regular employment within their companies. We aim to have an annual 5,000 non-regular employees become regular employees, for a total of 15,000 in three years. We hope to reduce the current number of 170,000 people in non-regular employment who are looking for regular employment by 50 percent in eight years.

I believe women will be the driving force for the economic growth of Tokyo and Japan. We will launch a networking site where women using the Women Reemployment Support Center can exchange information, and we will also encourage their employment in areas such as manufacturing and construction, where there are still few women employed. By also enhancing support services for daily life, such as household chores, we will comprehensively support the activities of women in society.

In order to further advance measures directed at various issues concerning labor, I recently concluded and signed an agreement on employment measures with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, Yasuhisa Shiozaki. I hope to have this combination of the comprehensive strengths of the Tokyo government, which is directly engaged in education and welfare on the ground, and the network of the Tokyo Labor Bureau, which is a national government organization, lead to even more effective measures.

Education is the foundation for a city's development

In the realm of education for our children, who hold our future in their hands, in order to provide them with an environment where they can get a direct feel of what it is like to be international, we wish to begin studies on the opening of a Tokyo version of an English village, tentatively called Tokyo Global Square, where participants can experience daily life in a place where they can only use English. In addition, in order to provide more students with the opportunity to learn foreign languages other than English at metropolitan high schools and others, we will increase foreign language classes. The first year of students in the baccalaureat course at the Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School will be entering in April. We will further accelerate the cultivation of globally proficient talent.

A legal amendment stipulates that from the next fiscal year the Tokyo governor will convene a comprehensive education council and formulate a comprehensive outline that will be the TMG's fundamental policy for education. I believe, for example, that issues such as students dropping out of high school are major concerns that are also linked to the aforementioned issue of employment. As governor, I will work closer with the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education to draw out and develop the possibilities of children.

Making Tokyo more safe and secure

Safety and security are at the foundation of enhancing the lives of the Tokyo residents. As the governor of Tokyo, I will implement policies giving priority to the safety and security of the capital and our residents.

Preparing for a disaster

This year marks 20 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Over those years there have been numerous occurrences of disasters, including the Great East Japan Earthquake. We will continue to make steady efforts while maintaining a sense of crisis; to support this, in the final proposed supplementary budget for this fiscal year we newly established a fund for development of a disaster resilient city and appropriated 100 billion yen.

Initiatives for disaster preparedness will not make progress without the understanding of our residents. In our budget for the next fiscal year we have appropriated funds to promote the seismic retrofitting of buildings along designated emergency response roads, removal of utility poles from roads, and the priority fire-proofing of designated zones with closely-set wooden houses. The understanding of the residents, their greater awareness of disaster-preparedness and proactive efforts are indispensable to promoting these measures. With regard to disaster drills, in addition to drill with resident participation held four times a year with the municipalities, the TMG will also support drills conducted by neighborhood and community organizations, with the aim to have a total of 20 million people participating over a period of 10 years. Targeting September 1, Disaster Preparedness Day, we will also distribute the "Disaster Preparedness Book," a household guide to disaster readiness, and devote our energies to raising resident awareness of "self-help" and "mutual help."

We will also boost initiatives for help given by the government. We will create an air hyper-rescue unit for rapid response firefighting and rescue operations in high-rise residences, mountainous areas such as in the Tama area, and the islands. In order to strengthen response to ship disasters in the Port of Tokyo, a firefighting tugboat will be designed for the first-ever deployment of such a ship in Japan. To respond to localized torrential rain, which has been occurring frequently in recent years, we will also firmly advance measures in places that are not normally visible, such as constructing underground reservoirs, sewer mains, and pumping stations.

Quick response to new risks arising in the metropolis

Tokyo could be called the frontlines for new forms of risks to public security. In order to protect the lives and assets of the citizens of Tokyo and Japan, we will thoroughly strengthen counterterrorism measures including those for cyberterrorism. Security during the 2020 Games is an extremely important issue. Focusing on counterterrorism, we are reviewing the TMG civil protection plan in order to revise it within this fiscal year. Furthermore, concrete studies on security have been launched under the Legacy Committee. In close collaboration with the Games Organising Committee and the national government, and in cooperation with the private sector as well, we will implement flawless preparations for risks, including natural disasters.

Tokyo, which aims to be the world's safest city, must eliminate all forms of crime, including scams targeting senior citizens and dangerous kiken drugs (new psychoactive drugs). We will come up with measures based on our strong aspiration to "stamp out scams and kiken drugs from Tokyo." We will strengthen measures to arrest scam artists, and in order to prevent senior citizens from being victimized, we will conduct intensive activities to have their children and grandchildren on their guard against such scams. With regard to kiken drugs, we will implement a thorough eradication operation by reducing the amount of time it takes for substances to be designated by the governor as kiken drugs, and by raising search efficiency by increasing the number of staff assigned to such activities and the number of analyzers for substance identification.

Also, there is no end to the harm inflicted on consumers by malicious and cleverly devised criminal techniques. Some target students and young people, and there is also a new method called "stage performance-type solicitation," which involves several operators. As this case falls under a legal loophole, we have proposed an amendment to our consumer protection ordinance at this assembly. We wish to broaden the type of transactions that fall under the ordinance's restrictions, and strengthen authority for on-site investigations.

Measures against infectious diseases are also one of the key pillars of our preparations for the 2020 Games. With regard to Ebola hemorrhagic fever, we will work to bolster our response through measures such as having designated medical institutions share information, introducing new equipment to reduce risk of infection among medical workers and other relevant personnel, and implementing more drills. For dengue fever as well, in addition to deterring the appearance of mosquitoes and improving the examination and treatment system, we hope to have the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science begin work on the development of a new vaccine. We will steadily advance measures against infectious diseases while also keeping an eye on new outbreaks.

Creation of a global city to support Japan's growth

A firm growth strategy is what is currently most essential for the Japanese economy. Good policies will place the economy on an upward trend and put Japan's economy on the track to growth; the wealth generated will lead to further improvement of policies and enrich the lives of the citizens of Tokyo and Japan. I wish to create this type of virtuous circle of policy and economy.

Riding the tide of global economy

In this age of the global economy, concentrated efforts in high value-added areas are necessary. Presently, we are advancing measures to revitalize Tokyo as a global financial center. We will undertake preparations to open a course for the training of high-level financial professionals at the Tokyo Metropolitan University business school. By also engaging in efforts to host and attract international financial conferences to Tokyo, we hope to gather talent and information indispensable for the finance sector.

The life sciences industry, centering on drug development, is also anticipated to grow in the global economy, and this is a field that is strengthened by gathering companies together in an urban area. Industry-academia-government activities to build a center for business interaction in Nihombashi have begun. Tokyo will also support such efforts.

The field of life sciences presents a great opportunity for Tokyo's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well. I recently visited an SME in Hachioji, and tried out the training equipment the company developed to ward off needs for nursing care. This equipment received a special award in the Tokyo Venture Technology Awards. The company is also working on a device and reagents to diagnose prostate cancer. To ensure the birth of more companies that are likewise excellent, we wish to newly provide support to startups in the life sciences industry for their business establishment, patent applications, development of markets, and other matters.

Drawing out the strengths of SMEs even more

The technologies of Tokyo's SMEs truly hold enormous potential for the future. Going forward, by strategically supporting SMEs in their entry into anticipated growth areas such as robots and medical devices, we hope to also see the development of products that will contribute to even richer lives. In 2020, Tokyo and Japan will be the focus of the world's attention. So that the SMEs of not just Tokyo, but all over the country can thoroughly exhibit their strengths, we will centrally provide information such as that pertaining to contracts for the 2020 Games over the Internet in order to expand opportunities for SMEs.

Moreover, to capture the vigorous demand of the growing Asian market, we will open a local office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center in Bangkok, Thailand, which could be called the hub of Southeast Asia. While collaborating with the local office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute as well, the overseas market development of SMEs will be supported from both the technological and management aspects.

Accelerating Tokyo's development

In order to accelerate Tokyo's growth and increase its international competitiveness, we will make maximum use of the National Strategic Special Zones scheme. In the project to develop international business centers in 10 districts, following the Hibiya district last year, urban renewal of the Takeshiba and Toranomon 4-chome districts has been launched. By supporting the speedy rollout of projects we will strive to build an attractive business environment and revitalize the city.

Moreover, on March 7, the Shinagawa line of the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Central Circular Route will open to service, heralding the completion of the innermost ring of the three ring expressways. I believe its ripple effects will be immeasurable with, among others, greatly improved access to Haneda Airport and the waterfront area, alleviation of congestion in central Tokyo, and reinforcement of routes to transport relief in the event of a large-scale disaster. Centering on the Tokyo Outer Ring Road, we will continue to strive to strengthen the road network supporting urban activities.

With regard to bolstering the functions of Haneda Airport, which is indispensable for Tokyo's growth, last year the national government made a proposal for flights passing over the city center. I hope this can be achieved without fail because expanding the capacity of Haneda Airport would be crucial in responding to the increase in users in the run-up to the 2020 Games and aviation demand after the Games. Recently, we requested the national government to give a detailed explanation to the residents regarding matters such as safety and noise prevention measures in order to firmly address the concerns of the local communities. The TMG will actively provide cooperation to deepen local understanding and smoothly advance talks on strengthening Haneda Airport functions.

Parks are also an important infrastructure of a city. Regarding the building of daycare centers in parks, which I have spoken about before, the national government's National Strategic Special Zones Advisory Council recently stated that it will study this proposal in a positive manner. I appraise such movements, but this is still not enough. More multifaceted usage of parks should be implemented. While ensuring the protection of the precious greenery of the parks, we will take up the challenge of creating parks with more versatile functions befitting of contemporary urban life, such as daycare and other welfare facilities, and storehouses to stockpile disaster relief goods, and which will serve to generate vitality.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway Central Circular Route, which I just mentioned, took about 50 years from planning to completion, and the completion of Ring Road No. 2 in the Toranomon area required some 70 years. Urban development needs to be implemented on a very long time-axis. Accordingly, under the Long-Term Vision for Tokyo, our guiding policy for metropolitan government affairs, we will compile what we are tentatively calling the Grand Design for Urban Development, which is a vision of Tokyo further down the line, in the 2040s. Studies will be conducted while looking at various changes in society such as the rapidly aging population, population decline, and the advancement of technology. As befits the name, "Grand Design," thorough time will be taken and solid discussion conducted on Tokyo's urban development from a comprehensive standpoint that goes beyond the silo mentality of government administration.

Sustainable city: Tokyo

We will do everything in our power to make Tokyo a smart energy city that is energy efficient and friendly to the environment. In particular, for the further development of resource-poor Japan, large expectations are held on the "creation of a hydrogen society," an initiative taken by the TMG ahead of the national government. We have included advanced and ambitious measures for this in this time's budget proposal as well.

For example, in order to accelerate the introduction of fuel cell buses, we will subsidize operators for the purchase costs. When this subsidy is combined with the national subsidy, a bus can be purchased for about the same amount of money as a conventional bus. Our goal is for over 100 buses to be introduced by 2020. They are also expected to be utilized as emergency power sources in the event of a disaster. We will also give strong support for the purchase of fuel cell vehicles and installation of hydrogen stations. Furthermore, by establishing a new fund, we will show our strong aspirations to build a hydrogen society, and can ensure that initiatives for this will continue to be implemented.

We will also promote the shift to smart energy and the expansion of renewable energy use. We will newly support district-wide efforts to raise energy efficiency and disaster resilience using cogeneration systems. In addition, we will support both the renovation of residences for more energy-saving performance and their introduction of photovoltaic systems. We will also engage in expanding the use of geothermal energy, in which the gradient between the ground and aboveground temperature is used as a heat source for the heating and cooling of buildings.