No.127 Visiting old and new mayors to Ozora town

From May 15th to 16th, I visited our sister city, Ozora-cho, Hokkaido, together with Mr. Watanabe, the chairman of the city council. He expressed his gratitude to Mr. Eiji Yamashita, the former mayor who retired on April 22, and paid a courtesy visit to Mr. Kazumasa Matsukawa, who was appointed as the new mayor from the 23rd. I also greeted Mr. Koji Saito, the new Vice-Chairman.

Former Mayor Yamashita got a job at the Memanbetsu Town Office in 1978, and after serving as Chief of Agricultural Administration, Chief of Planning and Coordination, etc., ran for mayor in 2003 when he was Chief of Planning and Finance, and was elected for the first time. Immediately after taking office, he accomplished a major task of merging with the former Higashimokoto Village, and in 2006, he was re-elected as Mayor of Ozora at the same time as the establishment of Ozora Town. has devoted itself to the development of
At the young age of 62, I thought that he still had enough energy and stamina to play an active role. Therefore, he announced his determination not to run for the April 2020 election.
I was surprised by the sudden announcement of his resignation, but Mr. Yamashita said that from the time he was first elected as mayor of Memanbetsu, he had been thinking about his own retirement.
On November 6th last year, you came to Inagi City and attended the 50th anniversary ceremony of the municipal organization. He didn't say anything at the time, but later I found out that he had already made up his mind, and I felt a little disappointed.

I have been to Memanbetsu-cho and Ozora-cho seven times so far. The first visit was in 1999, as a branch leader of the Inagi City Fire Brigade, to interact with the Memanbetsu Fire Brigade. The mayor at that time was Mr. Yamashita's predecessor. The second time was in 2003, when I was part of the executive branch of the Inagi City Staff Union. We were on a friendly trip, and I remember being very warmly welcomed by Mr. Yamashita, who was first elected Mayor of Memanbetsu that year.
After that, the fourth visit was in 2011, the year I was first elected mayor, and I was invited to the Memanbetsu Tourism Summer Festival. .
Since then, Mr. Yamashita has visited Inagi, and I have visited Ozora-cho, deepening mutual exchanges.
Everyone in Ozora Town welcomed us as if it was our hometown whenever we visited. I feel sad when I think that Mr. Yamashita, who was the center of it, will be gone.

The new Mayor Matsukawa got a job at the Memanbetsu Town Hall in 1992, and has experience in various departments such as general affairs, welfare, commerce, industry and tourism, construction, the Board of Education, and the Social Welfare Council, and is knowledgeable about the administration of Ozora Town. This time, I met with the new Mayor Matsukawa and promised to continue to develop sister city exchanges.
Mr. Yamashita, thank you very much for your time. And Mr. Matsukawa, thank you very much.
We will proceed with the sister city exchange project while praying for the development of Ozora Town and the further strengthening of the bond between the two municipalities. I hope that exchanges between citizens will deepen further.