Some time ago, in February 2002, The Legal Culture published an issue focusing on urban revitalization. Whilst I have personal experience of the changes that have gone on in Tokyo over the last 44 years, researching this theme on this occasion has given me cause to reflect deeply on my own ignorance of the problems of urbanization. During my student days, which were before even the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, I went to Europe for 6 months of holiday and work experience. I studied and experienced the cities of the major developed nations, including Rome, Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels, Stockholm and Helsinki. Although the cities of Europe were magnificent, when I compared them with Japan their structure was obviously different, just as the ethnicity of Japan's populace was different and, in my youth, I accepted this unquestioningly. It was after this that Japan entered the period of high economic growth and surpassed the annual per capita income levels of Europe and the U.S., taking on a lifestyle identical to that of the West. For the ensuing period we have carried out the same kind of capitalist economy and lived the same lifestyle and now many of the peoples of those cities are staying and living in each other's cities. It is necessary to give careful consideration to why, despite these things, Japanese cities continue to be different to the cities of other developed nations.

(1)Tokyo as Our Capital: Failure to Complete Construction

Tokyo is the capital of Japan. A capital is a symbol of the people and of the nation; when we think of a foreign country what often comes to mind first is that nation's capital: what we picture in our minds when we hear 'France' or 'Italy' is probably Paris and Rome. It is not an overstatement to say that a nation's image is the face of its capital. A capital city is accurately represents the level and condition of the culture of a nation's people: one could say it is the entrance hall or living room of a home. Every home has places one does not wish to be seen, however it is customary to keep the entrance hall and living room attractive for receiving visitors.

Unfortunately our capital, Tokyo, does not accurately manifest to the world the power of the Japanese economy and the high level of Japanese culture in which we take pride. I wonder why it is that Tokyo has not succeeded in taking hold of its function as a capital. Tokyo has let 3 opportunities for urban revitalization slip by in the past. These were at the times of the Meiji Restoration, the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Tokyo Air Raids. It is said that on each occasion a rezoning plan was drawn up for the city.

There have been four National Development Plans drawn up with the aim of achieving 'balanced development' based on the Comprehensive National Development Law enacted in 1950. These are now a burden left to us by the 20th century. Whilst provision of the same services to cities and regions is an attempt to provide equality in name, it actually damages substantive equality and violates the Constitution.

Statistically speaking, the national average for agricultural household income exceeds that of working households by more than 20%. (*1) Redistribution of excess income from cities to regions is the same thing as building excessively grand public buildings in agricultural villages and must be rectified. These days the debate on urban revitalization lumps Tokyo in with other regions for planning purposes, but Tokyo should be considered separately from those other regions. Japanese citizens will surely have no cause to oppose investment into our capital, Tokyo, which serves as the face of Japan. It is time at last for the budget set aside for moving the capital to be used for making the public investments we are so good at in Japan into Tokyo. I believe that the entire Japanese community would not oppose a major remodeling of our capital.

(2)Lack of Action

It is not necessarily that there is a dearth of good plans for urban revitalization; the problem is that plans are not implemented as proposed.

Urban issues gather up various interests emanating from lofty principles; they are matters that cannot be realized unless those interests are adjusted, whether or not budgets exist is not the concern. They are also matters that were not carried through to implementation in the past, even though laws were in place. In other words, urban remodeling is an issue that is at the level of superlative political resolve. This means that political will grounded in strong leadership is required.

The decentralization of power is progressing rapidly at present. Priorities are switching to local governments in terms of revenue sources, human resources and budgetary allocations in order to establish their sovereignty. The time is good for the revitalization of the core regional cities. Proposals have been put forward for the reorganization of the nation into either 12 provinces and 257 cities, (*2) or 12 provinces and 300 cities. (*3) It is necessary, in light of these factors, to reorganize local governments across the board, actively and independently promoting and furthering the revitalization of Japan and her economy at the local government level for the 21st century.

(3)Lack of Perspective on Urban Revitalization Suited to Japan in the 21st Century

Land development investments took place during the land prices bubble of the 1980's sufficient to change the shape of every corner of the country. However, particularly in Tokyo and Osaka, remodeling was not undertaken from the perspective of suitable revitalization planning for those actual cities. Urban revitalization in Tokyo and Osaka was unattractive both in terms of profitability and the speculative aspect. There should be no opposition to remodeling our capital, Tokyo, to rank alongside Paris and New York.

Japan's vision for the 21st century is to establish itself as an intellectually creative nation. The 'accumulated gains' that would accompany reinvigoration of Tokyo, Osaka and other cities are indispensable for developing an intellectually creative society. I consider that, as the revitalization of Japan depends on establishing Japan as an intellectually creative nation, it is the role of politics to overcome any opposition and implement that change. In the past we thought of 'the economy in first place, politics third' but a comprehensive plan only becomes achievable through powerful political influence. We were unable to resolve urban problems even in the 1980's, when the world thought of 'Japan as Number One'. City spaces that are livable are not a budgetary or economic issue but a political matter.

(4) Urban Revitalization: 'In season' in today's deflationary times

Progress is now being made in efforts towards urban revitalization, it having been completely abandoned during the bubble economy. An 'Urban Renaissance Headquarters' was set up within the Cabinet Office on 8 May 2001 in accordance with the Emergency Economic Measures put in place by the government in April 2001. The body has announced four successive plans. Further, the Law on Special Measures for Urban Renaissance was enacted in April 2002. Regions deserving of urgent work were designated (45 across the nation) as "Special Zones for Urban Renaissance" or special cases in order to achieve early results through methods including using particular locations, time limits, legal systems, budgets and private enterprise. If this plan were to be carried out the city involved would become truly magnificent, comparable to Paris or New York. However there is some doubt as to whether implementation is possible in the deflationary recession of the moment.

Although it was unachievable during prosperous times, this urban revitalization plan assumes that it is precisely because Japan is at the rock bottom of the recession that it is now possible. Urban revitalization through public investment is a matter of a different dimension to ordinary public investment. This kind of plan is financially speaking, a legitimate investment in tangible things, right when investments into tangible things are being slashed. Related investments will also no doubt be tolerated by the political forces opposing Prime Minister Koizumi. Further, even presupposing an economic policy dispute between the structural reform route faction (excess ability to supply faction) and the insufficiency of demand / proactive finance faction, this is a matter on which both sides can agree. What is more, the fall in land prices is advantageous in terms of buying up land in cities. We want to see Japan's lag behind the countries mentioned earlier resolved in one stroke this time.

(5) Visual Appeal does not Win Votes

Remodeling a city is an extremely visual affair. To give an example, anyone can perceive the benefit if the roads one always uses are made wider and congestion resolved, unlike the case of economic policies where the effects are hard to perceive. This perception should lead to votes gained for Diet members so that it is fine for members to be more passionate about urban revitalization, however it is not the case in the city. There should not be anyone amongst residents of cities who opposes a livable environment. Japan is well behind developed nations and our neighboring nations in all the following areas and more: improving roads to eradicate congestion, putting power lines underground, increasing park acreage, reasonable rents for homes and offices, improving land values, more childcare centers, better access to Japan from overseas (number of air routes, number of containers that can be handled, access time between city centers and airports) and numbers of cultural facilities. Why is it that Japan was unable to address these issues fully during the period when there was ample economic power and funding?

Members elected from cities were unable to form a solid support base in their electorates and so also lacked the capacity to build up powerful influence in the Diet. Even though the problems of urbanization are the chief political concerns of city voters, a candidate who has urban revitalization as their platform, is not believed, as it has failed in the past. Accordingly, members elected from cities cannot even gather up the swinging voters who are concerned about urbanization issues, so that the situation where the elected candidate changes every election is still continuing. This, of all times, is when the Diet members should regain that trust by deciding on the various policies that make up urban revitalization.

Examining urban revitalization from a number of perspectives as above shows that this is a problem that is by no means easy to resolve. Various interests and primary factors are entangled, like an impossible puzzle.

The Special Zones for Structural Reform Law ('Special Zones Law') was passed on 11 December 2002. This law falls short of the mark in matters such as that it still contains too many regulations and that the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor still rejects the running of hospitals by stock companies. It is expected to be again considered in the current Diet session and will be approved in due course. The U.S., the U.K., France and Germany all accept the participation of stock companies in the management of medical facilities. There are currently 62 hospitals managed by stock companies even in Japan. Further, whilst after complications the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is heading in the direction of approving the running of schools in Special Zones by stock companies, it has long been common for stock companies to run universities in America. In particular, there is no limit to the subjects these universities offer as vocational training suited to the needs of the era or the science necessary to obtain a license, in other words as education aimed at career improvement for business people; including MBAs, computer science, marketing, CPA qualifications and law school. A perusal of the curriculum shows it is indeed diverse, covering a wide spectrum. This is truly rapid supply of whatever is wanted in response to consumer demand.

The Special Zones and urban revitalization can probably be compared to the relationship between hardware and software, or by saying that the Special Zone is the content whilst urban revitalization is the infrastructure. When the Special Zones Law has responded to the needs of the city residents and urban revitalization has produced beautiful sights of global standard and improved the functionality and neatness of Japanese culture effectively and at low cost so that Japanese cities have a perfected base on which to compete with the cities of developed nations, then at last our Japan will begin to shine again and revive the beauty of those few eras in man's memory when the greatest cities in the world made their appearance. There is no reason why we, who have learned the intelligence and culture of the whole world, should not be able to achieve what our Japanese predecessors achieved. If we fail at this we will be without excuse before our ancestors.

*1 According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries Agricultural Business Statistics Survey and the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Statistics Bureau Annual Family Income and Expenditure Survey. Note, however, that income earned from agricultural business amounts to less than 20% of total agricultural household income
*2 PHP Institute, Inc. The City-Province Concept [Fushusei Koso](1996). See http://research.php.co.jp/
*3 Yomiuri Shinbunsha The Regional Reorganization Concept [Chiho Saihen Koso](1997)