Legislation Urged for Collaboration among Local Govts in Japan

July 3, 2018

Tokyo- A study group of the Japanese internal affairs ministry on Tuesday called for legislating for a system to allow local governments to jointly provide administrative services in areas with shrinking populations.

The proposal was included in the final report of the group, submitted to Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda.

The panel also highlighted the need to create a forum bringing together local governments in the greater Tokyo area and the national government for talks on issues that should be tackled by the region as a whole, including medical and elderly care services.

The panel has been tasked with working on possible administrative challenges around 2040, when Japan's elderly population is projected to reach a peak.

The national government will start talks to give shape to proposals in the report, by launching the 32nd Local Government System Research Council, an advisory panel to the prime minister, on Thursday.

In the report, the ministry panel said it is increasingly difficult for local governments to individually provide full-fledged administrative services, amid declining populations.

The panel called for a new legal framework for expanded administrative zones that comprise core cities and surrounding municipalities. For such zones that lack core cities, the panel proposed that prefectural governments serve as substitutes.

For Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, a region-wide forum including the national government was recommended to address issues including cross-border evacuation in the wake of a major earthquake directly below the metropolitan area, as well as the creation of suburban communities supportive of working parents.

The panel also mentioned a concept of "smart" local government, including the use of artificial intelligence, with the view to ensuring the continuation of administrative services even if local government personnel are halved from now. Jiji Press