The Governor of Tokyo Yoichi Masuzoe visited London and Berlin last week in a series of visits aimed at promoting the Japanese capital in Europe’s leading cities as well as garner knowledge on smart cities and Olympic legacy. In Berlin the Governor met with outgoing Mayor Klaus Wowereit, where they commemorated the 20th anniversary of the two cities’ twinning by together signing a ‘Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on issues of urban development, environment and culture’.
At the Japan-Germany Centre the two city leaders spoke at a symposium on ‘Urban Development on its way to a Smart City’, which saw officials and experts from both cities exchange views and insights into their respective city strategies. This followed an earlier visit this year to commemorate the city partnership and investigate smart city policies and sports promotion ahead of Tokyo 2020. As well as viewing the iconic Brandenburg Gate, finish line for the Berlin Marathon, the Governor visited the smart quarter ‘EUREF campus’ to examine the city’s test-bed for schemes to promote low carbon urbanism, expressing his hope this could see future deeper collaboration between Germany and Japan across common agendas and expertise.
In London the Governor held talks with Mayor Boris Johnson, where they exchanged similar perspectives around the development of their cities, with Masuzoe expressing his admiration for London’s current top spot in city rankings and vowing to best London as number one global city in the near future. As part of preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics the Governor visited a number of 2012 Games facilities in London, including the Copper Box handball arena, the former Athletes’ Village at the East Village and Here East, the former Main Press and International Broadcast Centre. Having visited the facilities, Masuzoe said that similar bold initiatives as London’s such as attracting a university to Tokyo’s 2020 press and broadcast centre post-Games and converting athletes’ accommodation into commercial real estate should be investigated by city officials, while he also called on the Japanese private sector to consider how best other 2020 facilities could be developed for post-Games use rather than just as Olympic venues in their own right, bringing the expertise into Tokyo Metropolitan Government as necessary.
As well as expressing his hope that a formalised London-Tokyo city partnership would result from the two leaders’ discussions around the Olympics, the Governor spoke at a number of events in London, including at Chatham House (the UK’s most eminent foreign policy think tank) where he set out his vision for ‘Tokyo 2020 and Beyond’. The Governor expanded on this in saying that his three priorities for Tokyo were to deliver the best ever Olympic Games, reinvigorate its economy and develop a welcoming people-friendly environment. This, he said, would transform Tokyo into an international business hub and global financial centre which could rival the City and Wall Street, a point further explored at an event later that afternoon in the City of London Guildhall where he met a number of experts on global finance to exchange views on Tokyo’s future needs in this direction. All of this is and would be further underpinned by his own signature city diplomacy, he argued, as Tokyo’s Governor needs to not only promote the city to the other capitals but also learn winning ways from them.
At a press conference in central London, followed by a dinner hosted by the Japan Society, the Governor set out the lessons he had learned on his visits to both cities and what he would be seeking to introduce to his own administration back in Tokyo.
Chatham House has uploaded selected highlights and transcripts from the event, which you can view here.
