2. Making Tokyo a city that drives global growth

First, measures to spur on Tokyo’s return as a city that drives the growth of Asia and the world.

Evolving into an innovative city

The amalgamation of technologies and ideas conceived around the world creates new businesses and innovative solutions to tackle urban challenges and build a bright future. Held with the aim to elevate Tokyo into a hub for these activities, our SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 event recently came to a very successful conclusion. Despite the fact that it is still in its second year, having just been launched last year, SusHi Tech Tokyo has already become one of Asia’s leading events of its kind, with over 430 startups and representatives from 45 cities around the world participating, as well as a cumulative total of more than 600,000 attendees. Through this event, I am certain that many people were able to experience our vision for a sustainable future forged through intercity collaboration and innovative technologies. I believe that we were also able to raise expectations for our city, with more people thinking: “Insights for problem solving can be found in Tokyo,” “Tokyo is a great place to start a business,” and “Opportunities can be found in Tokyo.” This event is not the final goal. It is only a starting point for our efforts. Specific projects for collaboration between cities and startups have also been put into motion. It is crucial that we have the networks created and seeds for innovation sown this time take firm root and flourish, in order to contribute to a brighter future.

Serving an integral role in this effort is the Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB). Having further enhanced its functionality, the TIB recently held its grand opening. Earlier this month, I visited the Silicon Valley area in the United States. It is a place where people gather from all over the world, creating a diverse environment that enables them to inspire and motivate each other. Leveraging SusHi Tech Tokyo, we will also strengthen our international networks and make the TIB a node that connects a diverse range of players. And, while working closely with the central government as it advances the Special Zones for Financial and Asset Management Businesses initiative, we will create a virtuous cycle of investment and innovation.

An infrastructure that is crucial to an innovative city is digital infrastructure. Utilizing GovTech Tokyo launched last year as the driving force, we will accelerate the digital transformation of Tokyo (Tokyo DX) so the people of Tokyo can benefit from the convenience of digitalization. Our efforts to date are already producing results. For example, we have been providing close ongoing support to municipalities concerning challenges they share, such as the digitalization of facility reservation systems. Through joint procurement of digital tools, we have successfully reduced administrative workload and cut costs by about two billion yen. Moving forward, along with expanding the scope of such joint development and procurement of systems and tools, we will also advance efforts to match municipalities with human resources holding specialized skills who have registered with GovTech Tokyo. In addition, preliminary implementation of Children’s DX projects, which aim to transform parenting support services, is already underway in multiple municipalities. By advancing both support tailored to the needs of the municipalities and measures to advance DX as a whole, we will significantly improve the quality of services available to Tokyo residents.

Realizing an inclusive city

Continuing on, next year the long-awaited World Athletics Championships (WAC) and Deaflympics will be held here in Tokyo. Through the power of sports to deliver hopes and dreams to many people, it is my hope that these events will contribute momentum to the realization of an inclusive city. With less than 500 days to go to the opening of the World Athletics Championships, we will speed up preparations under the new WAC Tokyo 25 logo, including the recruitment of volunteers, and build excitement for the event worldwide. Concerning the Deaflympics, we will establish “Deaflympics Square” at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center for the duration of the tournament to serve as a base that centralizes various functions, including operations, transportation, and interaction between the athletes. With the desire to include everyone in efforts to deliver this event, we have also launched crowdfunding, and are promoting the implementation of “universal communications” technologies that aim to transcend hearing impairments and language barriers to facilitate communication. The greatly successful Tokyo 2020 Games served as an impetus for advancing the removal of barriers of all kinds, not only at railway stations and lodging facilities, but at locations throughout Tokyo. By holding these two international sporting events, we will accelerate this trend to contribute to the realization of an inclusive society.

Drawing out Tokyo’s vast potential to captivate the world

Developing the city’s strengths into a new appeal

We will draw upon Tokyo’s strengths to create new appeal. For example, there are the highly popular projection mapping shows that we have been offering at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, including one featuring Godzilla. These shows have been enjoyed by over 200,000 people from Japan and abroad, turning a location that was once quiet at night into a tourist attraction in just three short months since their launch. We will continue to work with local organizations and private businesses to create new popular night spots. In addition to further promoting a project to bring color to locations such as construction site enclosures, with the Tokyo Odaiba Triennale international art festival scheduled to be held in the city’s bay area next fiscal year as a catalyst, we also will continue working to refine Tokyo as a city of art. And, in the area of the Nihombashi-gawa River, where the memory of Edo lives on, we will create a bustling waterfront that features greenery and incorporates the area’s history and culture, under the lead of our recently established new study group,

A balanced approach to urban development

In the waterfront area, cutting-edge urban development is now surging ahead, and a new project will finally be launched at the former site of the Tsukiji wholesale market, a prime location that holds incredible potential, including historical and cultural resources. While leveraging the food culture deeply rooted in the area, this project will have the unique vibrancy of Tsukiji evolve into one that is in synergy with not only the Outer Market, but the entire bay area. At the same time, an important component of development that reflects the essence of Tokyo is to also preserve the personality and charm of cityscapes formed over many years. Therefore, we will provide new support for the development of cityscapes brimming with Edo atmosphere. Pushing ahead, we will also focus efforts on urban development through renovation. We will start the process of revising the Tokyo Metropolitan Building Safety Ordinance to make it easier to convert existing buildings, while also ensuring safety, allowing existing stock to contribute to the creation of local charm.

Connecting communities and generating vitality throughout the city. That is the role played by transportation infrastructure. Since taking office as governor, I have devoted efforts to enhancing the railway network that drives the sustainable growth of Tokyo. Next month, city planning decisions will be finalized for development of the Subway Line No. 8 extension and the new Shinagawa subway line. This will be the first finalization of city plans related to the construction of new railway lines in roughly 25 years. We will also work to ensure an early start to the development of the waterfront area subway that will link the city center and the bay area, and in this way, promote the enhancement of the transportation network.

Promoting the appeal of the Tama area and Tokyo’s islands

It is impossible to talk about the appeal of Tokyo without including the Tama area and the islands. I hope to elevate the profile of these areas and make them places where many people would like to visit and live.

With this in mind, we will roll out a campaign to attract visitors to the Tama area, including carrying out promotional activities at major tourism events held in Japan and disseminating information using various forms of media. We will also work to encourage individual companies to use the area for working vacations (work-ations) in order to achieve goals such as raising employee productivity, and promote the appeal of the Tama area from a variety of angles.

In the Tokyo islands, we will roll out the Tokyo Treasure Islands Challenge Project to support the development of new services that cover multiple islands, among others, and contribute to the creation of appeal across the area. In addition, we have recently compiled a draft of the promotion and development plan for the Ogasawara Islands, surrounded by beautiful blue ocean waters and home to unique ecosystems. While promoting industries that utilize local resources, developing infrastructure in harmony with nature, and advancing other measures that take into consideration the special characteristics of the Ogasawara Islands, we will work to stabilize the livelihoods of residents and improve their well-being.