No.126 Establishment of “Infrastructure Maintenance Municipal Mayors Conference”

In Japan, social infrastructure was developed intensively during the period of high economic growth, and in recent years, the aging of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, tunnels, and sewers has progressed at an accelerated pace, resulting in accidents and disasters that have become a social problem. It has turned into. In December 2012, a concrete ceiling plate fell in the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway, causing a tragic accident in which many people were caught in it and died.
With this as an opportunity, the law was amended, and a shift in awareness from corrective maintenance to preventive maintenance has been attempted.
Infrastructure is indispensable for our daily lives and economic activities, and at the same time, its aging is related to human life, so proper implementation of maintenance is extremely important.

In January 2013, the national government set up the "Meeting for Countermeasures against Aging Social Capital" and began cross-deliberations among relevant ministries and agencies. was established in November.
Since its establishment, the Kokumin Kaigi has been active in a variety of fields, including the development of innovative maintenance technology, support for local governments that manage infrastructure, training of engineers, requests for securing financial resources, and public awareness among citizens.
We, local governments, have a part of responsibility for infrastructure development. However, until now, we have been busy building new infrastructure to meet the ever-increasing administrative demand, and there is also the reality that we cannot take care of maintenance. Furthermore, with the end of the period of rapid economic growth, the bursting of the bubble economy, and the era of administrative reforms, there are major issues such as budget constraints, shortages of technical staff, and difficulties in passing on know-how.

Therefore, in order to support discussions at the national conference, take steps in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and other related ministries and agencies, and solve problems together, the mayors of municipalities who have a strong interest in infrastructure maintenance are themselves members. It was decided to establish the “Infrastructure Maintenance Municipal Mayors Conference”.
Of the 9 blocks nationwide, I was appointed as a block secretary for the Kanto block. At the 2021 National Conference on Infrastructure Maintenance held at Tokyo Big Sight on December 8, 2021, we communicated our policy toward the establishment of a council of mayors of municipalities. We were able to hold the establishment ceremony on May 28th.
With the participation of 690 mayors (as of March 31), which is about 40% of the total number of 1,741 municipalities in Japan, I was humbly appointed as the representative secretary of the whole country along with the secretary of the Kanto block.

In the future, while collaborating with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, we will exchange opinions among mayors, strongly promote top-down infrastructure maintenance, and raise awareness of the importance of maintenance.