New Year’s Greetings from the Mayor

As the Mayor of Minato City, I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

Now that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, vitality has returned to the City, with many large-scale events being held again in various area. Our ways of working and living have also been transformed by the pandemic.

Looking towards a new post-COVID era, we are currently engaged in work to update the Minato City Basic Plan. The Basic Plan was formulated based on opinions we received from our residents and we continue to advance it, aiming to achieve the vision of “Minato City, a place where all are welcome and can take pride in their communities.”

In terms of child-raising support measures, we are enhancing our services and programs, including young carer support measures, temporary childcare and in-home temporary childcare services that are accessible for whatever reason, babysitter usage support, and housework and child raising support during pregnancy and the postpartum. Through these measures we aim to realize a city full of smiling children.

Digital technologies continue to make remarkable advances, and by accelerating “Minato City Version DX” which will transform administrative services to respond to the needs of the new age, we will dramatically improve resident service by making online application procedures and cashless payments.

Given the major impact of commodity price increases, in order to provide a boost to both residents’ daily lives and help businesses in the City, this fiscal year we are supporting the issuance of “Premium Minato City Gift Certificates” on two occasions, with a total value of 1 billion yen. Following on from the previous fiscal year, we are also implementing the second 1 billion yen “Mina-Profit Point Return Campaign,” aiming to make the City even more lively than before the pandemic.

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake. Minato City is currently working to revise local disaster management plan. In order to protect the lives of residents from all kinds of danger, including infectious diseases, large-scale earthquakes, and flood damage, we will further strengthen measures from prevention to recovery, and steadily advance initiatives to realize a resilient city than ever before, including earthquake countermeasures for residential complexes, measures for people who have difficulty returning home, and sending information at the time of a disaster through the Minato City Disaster Prevention Portal Site.

The population of Minato City continues to grow, and is projected to reach 300,000 seven years from now, in 2031. The City will continue to do our utmost this year to respond accurately to demand for administrative services that is expanding along with population growth, welfare for the elderly and people with disabilities, city development and disaster prevention measures after COVID, measures for children, and to make the City a place where everyone can continue to live in safety and comfort.

We hope this year will be full of happiness and cheer for all of you.

TAKEI Masaaki, Mayor of Minato City