1. Strengthen city power in order to protect the lives and assets of the citizens

Take effective measures without passing up opportunities

This autumn, typhoons approaching or landing on Japan caused record rainfalls and windstorms. They also left deep scars in Tokyo such as flooded rivers, collapsed roads and severed lifelines. There are still many people suffering from the disasters. Once again, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to families who lost their loved ones and heartfelt sympathies to all those suffering from the disaster.

The TMG has taken speedy measures such as restoration of infrastructure, temporary provision of metropolitan housing, and provision of support to rebuild the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries. I also visited the sites to see the situation with my own eyes. The supplementary budget submitted to this regular assembly includes measures to aid people affected by the disasters in regaining their daily lives as soon as possible, and disaster management projects that must be urgently promoted as devastating wind and flood damage are occurring every year in various parts of Japan.

Specifically, we will newly establish a subsidy system for residents to repair damaged homes that are not eligible for national government support, and provide financial support to municipalities hit by the disaster through a special subsidy. Also, in order to secure power supply in the event of a disaster, battery chargers for smartphones and other devices will be installed at all metropolitan temporary shelters, and purchase of emergency power supplies for homes such as storage batteries will be subsidized. Furthermore, we will advance a wide range of measures such as building up stockpiles of tarpaulin and sand bags, and introducing drones for faster information gathering.

In order to ensure early recovery from damage and to protect Tokyo residents from frequent disasters, we will not pass up any opportunity to take effective measures. I would appreciate your deliberation on this matter.

Be as prepared as you can

With one natural disaster after another, what we need to do now against the next devastating threat is to shore up preparations as much as we can, without being bound by accepted practice or past experiences.

Construction of regulating reservoirs effective in reducing inundation damage

As regulating reservoirs has been successful in reducing inundation damage, for Ring Road No.7 Underground Regulating Reservoir, which is currently under construction, further excavation of the tunnel will start by the end of the fiscal year. We will work steadily toward the completion of this underground reservoir, Japan's largest, which will also be effective against localized and torrential rainfall of 100 mm per hour. In addition, we will take further steps for the realization of new regulating reservoirs. We are proceeding with the selection of candidate sites and types of structure for eight rivers that were deemed to require early consideration after the urgent comprehensive inspection last year.

Advancing the burying of utility cables at the Tokyo islands

In the Tokyo islands, a series of power failures due to the collapse of utility poles and fallen trees inconvenienced the lives of many islanders. We have to accelerate our efforts to bury utility lines on the islands, which are located on the paths of typhoons. During the current fiscal year, we will start work promptly on the severely damaged metropolitan roads in Oshima Town, and as for other regions, in cooperation with local towns and villages, investigate the specific requirements and determine places in need of maintenance.

Encourage proper evacuation procedures to save lives

During the recent typhoon, proper evacuation was performed in some neighborhood communities where appropriate actions to be taken in the event of storms and floods were shared within the community in advance. At the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, we will continue to actively disseminate the Tokyo My Timeline, a tool for each Tokyo citizen to acquire knowledge necessary at the time of evacuation and organize what actions they need to take in advance. Also, we will promote initiatives to encourage the proper evacuation of all Tokyo citizens through efforts such as further strengthening the dissemination of information, and raising awareness with a picture book published last month, the Tokyo Bousai Ehon, targeted for children and their parents.

Upgrade projects for disaster management

New issues are being highlighted by each occurrence of storm and flood damage, which are increasing in severity every year. What challenges were revealed by the recent typhoon and how should we make improvements? Last month, in order to take all possible precautions against natural disasters, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched the large scale storm and flood damage review committee, headed by the vice governor, to promote prompt verification of the issue. Recently, we compiled the results and together with the revision of the flood damage section of the regional disaster management plans scheduled to be announced next fiscal year, we will further upgrade disaster management programs.

Accelerating initial response at disaster sites

For even faster first response at the disaster site, the Tokyo Fire Department will launch a First Aid Team next month that utilizes highly mobile and environmentally-friendly electric tricycles. The trike will enable early emergency rescue in narrow areas that are difficult to enter. Its light footwork can be leveraged to mitigate damage from accidents in normal times as well, as part of our efforts to further enhance measures to make Tokyo a “safe city.”

Measures against climate change can no longer be delayed

The extreme heat and heavy rains of recent years are making us again acutely aware of the enormous impact of global warming that is threatening our daily lives. As measures against climate change cannot be delayed any further, we will promote policies for realization of Zero Emission Tokyo while sharing this understanding with the Tokyo citizens.

Building a resilient city that protects citizens from the impacts of climate change

Promotion of energy conservation and expanded usage of renewable energy. Wide adoption of zero emission vehicles such as electric cars. And encouragement of progressive innovations. In order to realize a carbon-free society, we must develop the diverse initiatives taken in a wide range of fields into measures to address climate change. We will announce the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy by the end of this year, which presents a specific roadmap for such efforts to have Tokyo help achieve the world’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Also, taking into account climate change impacts in Tokyo, we will formulate a Tokyo climate change adaptation policy, presenting approaches for avoiding or reducing damage in a wide range of fields including natural disasters, public health, and agriculture. With these approaches, we will implement comprehensive measures from the aspects of both climate change mitigation and adaptation, and build a resilient city that protects its citizens from extreme weather.

Announcement of the Plastic Reduction Program

For sustainable use of plastic, the final report submitted by the Tokyo Waste Management Council in October broadly indicated long term goals and immediate measures. It also touches on urgent measures for proper treatment and effective use of plastic waste in Japan to respond to international import restrictions. Based on these various proposals, we will announce the Tokyo Plastic Strategy, which lays out specific measures to be taken, by the end of this year.