6. Promotion of the Tama area and Tokyo islands full of new possibilities

Next, I will speak about the promotion of the Tama area and Tokyo islands, which is essential for achieving a vision of a vibrant Tokyo.

High-tech companies, universities and research organizations cluster in the Tama area. Their potentials will be fully drawn out to generate innovation. To this end, we will promote collaboration among various entities centering on the industrial hubs of Tokyo, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Business Activation Center scheduled to open next autumn. To establish the Tama area’s position as one of the world’s leading areas for innovation, we will establish an executive committee in collaboration with relevant organizations and accelerate efforts such as drawing up the basic guidelines in the next fiscal year.

As part of our effort to generate Tokyo’s growth from the Tama region, we will also improve the English learning environment. We have had many young people in and out of Tokyo use the immersive English education facility established in Koto-ku. The same facility will be constructed in the Tama area by the end of FY2022. We will provide strong support to children and students throughout Tokyo to improve their English ability and greatly expand their potential.

In the nature-rich Tama area, we will prepare an environment where people can live close to work. We will implement model projects aimed at revitalizing communities by supporting the municipalities and private sector in developing and operating satellite offices and by operating small offices using vacant stores and other buildings in shopping streets. In such ways, we will have the Tama area promote examples of diverse workstyles that befit the new normal.

To further enhance the appeal of the Tama area and put a renewed spotlight on its value as a place full of new possibilities, we will compile the New Tama Area Promotion Plan in the next fiscal year. The draft plan will be released around May. It will take into consideration changes in the social landscape and analyses of local characteristics and challenges, and fully take into account the voices of the municipalities and experts.

In the island area, we must swiftly reduce the risk of utility poles falling down due to typhoons, which have been increasing in scale and intensity in recent years. Our aim is to quickly remove utility poles in the island area through adoption whenever possible of a method that is simple in structure for reduction of costs and shortening of the construction period. In the next fiscal year, we will complete the work of utility pole removal on metropolitan roads in the Sashikiji and Habuminato districts of Oshima-machi, which were damaged by a powerful typhoon two years ago, and also formulate removal plans by taking into account the wishes of towns and villages, for the safety and security of the island residents.

To enhance and promote the appeals of the islands, we will advance initiatives aimed at developing communities with distinctive characteristics and full of attractions, such as continuing to support each island’s effort to increase its branding power to attract people, and rolling out a new project that encourages tourists to stay for longer durations.

Moreover, for the maintenance and preservation of the remote border islands of Okinotorishima and Minamitorishima islands, which are directly linked to national interests, we will strengthen our efforts such as conducting a basic survey to study what direction to take, and widely publicizing the importance of these islands in cooperation with the national government as well.