Policy Speech by the Governor of Tokyo, Yoichi Masuzoe, at the Second Regular Session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, 2014
In opening the second regular session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in 2014, I wish to relate my basic stance on future metropolitan administration, and seek the understanding and cooperation of the members of this Assembly and the people of Tokyo.
His Imperial Highness Prince Katsura passed away on June 8. To our deep sorrow, our prayers for his recovery from illness were not answered. On behalf of the citizens of Tokyo, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the Imperial family.
Scoring errors on Tokyo metropolitan high school entrance examinations recently came to light. As the governor of Tokyo, I apologize to the applicants and their families, as well as to the citizens of Tokyo and the members of this Assembly for the tremendous trouble and concern brought about from this incident. The Board of Education will thoroughly look into the cause and plan measures to improve the scoring process and prevent such a case from ever happening again.
1. Real start of new metropolitan administration
(My strategy for metropolitan administration)
The budget for the new fiscal year was approved at the previous session of this Assembly, which convened immediately after I took office. This allowed me to make a real start for new administration of the metropolitan government. From April I have been visiting various places to see what is occurring on the ground. By directly hearing from local residents, people from private companies, members of the Assembly, and municipal government officials, I can observe firsthand what is happening in Tokyo, including matters that I would not have noticed if I had remained inside the office. It is certainly true that seeing is believing. These visits have reminded me of the diverse nature of Tokyo, the broad range of responsibilities the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has, and the difficulty of the issues we face.
In politics or government administration, vague idealism or armchair theories that ignore the real situation are useless. We need to squarely confront the problems faced by the citizens of Tokyo and Japan, listen attentively to outside views, and move things forward to deliver results. I will shift the metropolitan government into high gear and implement policies quickly and aggressively to open the doors to a brighter future for the people of Tokyo and across Japan.
