Following the Japanese General Election of 22 October 2017, the Liberal Democratic Party-led government of Shinzo Abe received a fourth term of office, sworn in as Prime Minister on November 1 and the Cabinet inaugurated that day also.
During November there were a number of national government events related to decentralisation and local autonomy, which are summarised from the Prime Minister’s Office, below.
On November 17, the Prime Minister held the 13th meeting of the Council on Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan at the Prime Minister’s Office. At the meeting, there was discussion regarding the revision of the comprehensive strategy for overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economy. In his opening address, the Prime Minister remarked that over the past 15 years the number of young people in Japan’s regions has declined by five million people, with effects made to bring about regional revitalization over the past three years, but it still has not put a halt to that trend. The government will therefore promote the development of regional universities aimed at attracting students from around the world, especially in advanced science, tourism and agriculture. The government will further advance regional revitalization aimed at ensuring young people see the regions as potential places to study and work. A revision of the government’s strategy will take place by the end of the year.
On November 20, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Local Autonomy Act coming into force, held in Tokyo and attended by the Prime Minister in the presence of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan. At the ceremony, the Prime Minister remarked that Japan had recently made progress in regional decentralization reform aimed at reviewing the division of roles between national and local governments and providing regions with a higher degree of freedom. Local public entities are becoming inventive and implementing their own measures with the goal of making the regions more attractive, Mr Abe remarked, adding that over the past 70 years they had made great contributions for the creation of a prosperous society. The Prime Minister concluded in saying that Japan is faced with the unprecedented situation of a rapidly declining birth-rate and ageing population, with national government and local public entities required to join forces to overcome this and pioneer a future for Japan, with the government taking full advantage of talent and expertise found in the regions.
Finally, on November 24, the Prime Minister attended the National Governors’ Conference held at the Prime Minister’s Office. In his address, Mr Abe remarked that governors are making efforts to further develop and advance their prefectures, while at the national level a positive economic cycle through Abenomics has seen the ratio of active job openings to applicants by work location at over 1.0 in all prefectures. In particular, the employment rate of high school and university graduates this spring was at a record high. Other measures mentioned included intensive investment up to FY2020 to boost productivity in every region, reviewing the use of consumption tax revenues to progress free preschool education, eliminate childcare waiting lists and secure human resources for nursing care (with further measures to be announced next month). In particular, the Prime Minister drew attention to the regional revitalization initiative promoted by the seven prefectures surrounding the Seto Inland Sea, which through integrated destination management had seen a three-fold increase in the number of foreign visitors over the past four years.
