April 26, 2011
In Izu-Oshima, an island in the Tokyo administrative area located 120km south of Tokyo, Japanese Communist Party member Kawashima Masafumi was elected as the Oshima Town mayor on April 24, the 9th JCP municipal head in the country.
A record-high number of seven candidates, including Kawashima, a former town assembly chair, and a local tourist agency head, ran in the April 24 mayoral election in Oshima Town with a population 8,500. Kawashima won the election with 35% of the vote.
A growing number of residents criticized former Town Mayor Fujii Shizuo for pushing ahead with his own policies without listening to the residents and without disclosing any information. Fujii gave no explanation to townspeople about the planned development of a public parking lot, although the plan uses 200 million yen in tax money. Furthermore, he unilaterally decided to spend 47 million yen in taxpayer money on an unneeded demolition of an indoor gateball arena.
The JCP town assembly members’ group criticized such spending as “meaningless and a wasteful use of tax money.”
Amid mounting criticism of Mayor Fujii’s policies, various town residents called on Kawashima to stand for the mayoral race. Responding to the residents’ call, Kawashima, who was originally a town assembly election candidate, announced his candidacy in the mayoral election.
During the election campaign, Kawashima promised to change the town government to be open to townspeople, revitalize local economies and industries, and improve nursing-care and childcare support services. Among his election pledges, he put emphasis on a promise to help reconstruct the Great East Japan Disaster-hit areas because Oshima Town in 1986 experienced the emergency evacuation of residents to outside the island due to the major volcanic eruption of Mt. Mihara.
The March 11 Disaster and the prolonged recession have delivered a heavy blow to tourism and agriculture, the town’s key industries. Kawashima expressed his determination to make a difference, saying, “In order to activate the island’s economy, I will urgently carry out policies, including aid for post-disaster recovery and implementing economic-stimulus measures.”
A record-high number of seven candidates, including Kawashima, a former town assembly chair, and a local tourist agency head, ran in the April 24 mayoral election in Oshima Town with a population 8,500. Kawashima won the election with 35% of the vote.
A growing number of residents criticized former Town Mayor Fujii Shizuo for pushing ahead with his own policies without listening to the residents and without disclosing any information. Fujii gave no explanation to townspeople about the planned development of a public parking lot, although the plan uses 200 million yen in tax money. Furthermore, he unilaterally decided to spend 47 million yen in taxpayer money on an unneeded demolition of an indoor gateball arena.
The JCP town assembly members’ group criticized such spending as “meaningless and a wasteful use of tax money.”
Amid mounting criticism of Mayor Fujii’s policies, various town residents called on Kawashima to stand for the mayoral race. Responding to the residents’ call, Kawashima, who was originally a town assembly election candidate, announced his candidacy in the mayoral election.
During the election campaign, Kawashima promised to change the town government to be open to townspeople, revitalize local economies and industries, and improve nursing-care and childcare support services. Among his election pledges, he put emphasis on a promise to help reconstruct the Great East Japan Disaster-hit areas because Oshima Town in 1986 experienced the emergency evacuation of residents to outside the island due to the major volcanic eruption of Mt. Mihara.
The March 11 Disaster and the prolonged recession have delivered a heavy blow to tourism and agriculture, the town’s key industries. Kawashima expressed his determination to make a difference, saying, “In order to activate the island’s economy, I will urgently carry out policies, including aid for post-disaster recovery and implementing economic-stimulus measures.”
