Friday, February 2, 2024
On Thursday, February 1, from 6:00 p.m., a standing speech by the two candidates for mayor of Hokuryu Town was held at the main hall (2F) of the Hokuryu Town Community Center until around 6:30 p.m.
- 1 Witness speeches by two candidates for mayor of Hokuryu Town
- 1.1 Greeting by representative of the organizer: Mr. Kazuya Kitajima (JA Kitasorachi Youth Club, Hokuryu Branch)
- 1.2 Explanation of the rules by Mr. Kiyohiko Fujinobu (Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club), general moderator
- 1.3 Candidate for Mayor of Hokuryu Town: Mr. Yasuhiro Sasaki (in order of notification)
- 1.4 Candidate for Mayor of Hokuryu Town: Mr. Hirokuni Kitakiyo (in order of notification)
- 2 More Photos
- 3 Related Documents
- 4 Related Articles
Witness speeches by two candidates for mayor of Hokuryu Town
This standing speech was co-sponsored by the Hokuryu Branch of the JA Kitasorachi Youth Division and the Youth Division of the Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Approximately 120 townspeople came to the event and listened intently to the passionate speeches of the two candidates.
This candidate's speech was also scheduled to be held at Hekisui Lifelong Center from 2:00 p.m., but was cancelled due to bad weather conditions caused by a snowstorm.
Greeting by representative of the organizer: Mr. Kazuya Kitajima (JA Kitasorachi Youth Club, Hokuryu Branch)
Thank you very much for coming here today in spite of the inclement weather and bad footing.
As today was a standing speech, we were also scheduled to hold it at the Hekisui Ikigai Center at 2:00 p.m., but it was cancelled. We were able to hold the event here at the community center without incident, and I thank you very much.
I know some of you have not yet cast your ballots before the deadline, but I hope that you will listen to Mr. Kitakiyo and Mr. Sasaki's passionate thoughts today and connect them to your future projects. Thank you very much for your cooperation today," said Kazuya Kitajima, representative of the organizer.
Explanation of the rules by Mr. Kiyohiko Fujinobu (Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club), general moderator
Before the candidates begin their speeches, I would like to explain the rules.
Candidates are limited to 15 minutes for their speeches. The timekeeper will ring a bell to inform you when there are 5 minutes and 1 minute remaining.
Now, let's start with the candidate Sasaki," explained Mr. Fujinobu, the moderator.
Candidate for Mayor of Hokuryu Town: Mr. Yasuhiro Sasaki (in order of notification)
Profile
career
October 8, 1956 Born in Hokuryu Town
Graduated from Shinryu Elementary School, Hokuryu Junior High School, and Fukagawa Nishi High School
B.A. in Industrial Management, College of Economics, Nihon University
Joined Hirao Gumi Co., Ltd. in Nae-cho, 1980 (engaged in site work in the Civil Engineering Department)
1983 Joined Sasaki Construction Co.
1996 Representative Director, Sasaki Kengyo Co.
Representative Director of Hokuso Co., Ltd. in 2002 (company name changed due to corporate merger)
political career
Parliamentary Secretary, 1983-1962
1987 First elected to Hokuryu Town Council
2007 Chairman, Hokuryu Town Council
Chairman of Sorachi Town and Village Council Chairpersons Association, 1991
Director, Hokkaido Town and Village Council Chairpersons' Association, 1991
Other Activities
Director of Youth Department, Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Vice President, Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President, Hokuryu Construction Industry Association
speech
My name is Yasuhiro Sasaki. Today, I would like to state my policies as I run for the Mayor of the town.
In front of us, there is a lineup of the campaign team. The members include those who were born in Hokuryu Town, those who work for companies from outside the town, and those who work for companies in the town. They all love the town of sunflowers, so they applied themselves for the campaign team.
First of all, I would like to offer my condolences to the victims of the Noto earthquake that occurred on New Year's Day. A small town similar to Hokuryu-cho was affected by the disaster. We are now in a very difficult situation. We would like to offer our firm support.
I have given four major slogans. Each of them is divided into 16 items. You may think that is a lot.
When given a four-year term, there are four council meetings a year, four times a year, so this is an item where we carefully make suggestions one at a time.
The four items are: "Protecting Livelihoods," "Connecting to the Future," "Promoting Together with Local Communities," and "Supporting Industry and People.
make a living
Every year, major disasters occur across the country. We will prepare for this disaster. Hokuryu Town has plans to rebuild educational and welfare facilities. We will make sure to maintain the facilities for disaster prevention and disaster mitigation at that time.
We would also like to improve public transportation to protect our livelihood.
Last year, the Takigawa Hokuryu Line bus service was discontinued. This April, the Hokuryu Line buses are scheduled to be discontinued. What remains is to utilize the express buses and intercity buses that run on National Routes 275 and 234, but they are not easy to use, so we have to work well together. We have to make sure that the town's residents have access to these services.
Children commuting to school, elderly people going to the hospital, and these vulnerable people tend not to want to live in a town without buses or JR lines. We are planning to combine the transportation system with a solid town budget and, most importantly, in close cooperation with the Hollow and Northern Sorachi regions.
And one is snow removal measures.
In Hokkaido, the issue of snow is really important. When it rains, it flows. When it snows, it piles up and remains, piling up and piling up. Dealing with it can be very labor intensive for the elderly and women living alone. We would like to discuss the current snow removal system in Hokuryu Town and subsidize a more efficient snow removal system.
Connecting to the Future
Next, in "Connecting to the Future," the major pillar for the future is children.
We would like to firmly realize a supportive society for children. Let us consider the education that children themselves desire. All children born are equal. Child development support programs must be done first. We must support working families.
We must be very selective about what parents do and what the government does. It is the parents' role to provide school and athletic supplies. The role for club activities and other activities is the job of the administration.
We want to make a firm distinction between the work that parents do and the work of government, and we want to make sure that our children are well nurtured.
There are many issues in Sunflower Village. The issue of the observatory, the issue of the tourist center, we would like to discuss these issues once again with the townspeople from the very beginning. Please do so. Together, we would like to draw up a forecast of the future of Sunflower Village.
In the digital society, DX (digital transformation) in the construction of a society where machines are used to solve labor shortages and save labor and where AI allows machines to operate on their own will be necessary.
Hokuryu Town is primarily agricultural and smart farming is an absolute necessity. We feel that this town has fallen far behind. The absolute prerequisite for promoting smart agriculture is large tracts of farmland. Only then can drones fly and autopilot tractors run. I would like to firmly create an agricultural version of the DX (Digital Transformation) plan for Hokuryu Town.
carry forward with the local community
Next, as for the "promoting with the community" project, medical care, nursing care, and welfare are projects that test the strength of the community.
First of all, as for the welfare area, when a member of the Diet came to the town and visited Eirakuen with us, he was very surprised to see that the clinic, Eirakuen, and senior citizens' residence were integrated and that he could go anywhere and anytime to each of them. He said, "There is no other example like this in Japan, so let's designate it as a model area and make it an example of welfare creation.
We are planning to rebuild the welfare center in the future, so when these are combined, a tremendous area concept will be formed.
And in the health area, Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen will once again aim to improve its health appeal by providing food using ingredients from Hokuryu Town and hot springs with good spring quality.
Supporting Industry and People
In the last pillar, "Supporting Industry and People," I would like to talk about the perspective of supporting agriculture.
As you mentioned last October, there was a problem with the color sorter at the rose collection and shipping facility. I am not sure how many years this machine will last, but it must be renewed.
In November, I happened to have an opportunity to visit Tokyo and spoke with an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries about color sorters. He hinted that although there is no subsidy for maintenance and renewal through a single subsidized project, there may be a way to open the way to renew color sorters through a combination of subsidized and subsidized projects.
Another thing we were told is that in the budget for agriculture, we could implement a subsidy program that would allow us to add ancillary facilities that would have a positive effect that would be appreciated by the town's residents.
He suggested that we could convert the fuel into slim fuel, and that the fuel itself could be used for school facilities in Hokuryu Town. He also suggested that we try mixing the oily, highly combustion-efficient residue from sunflower harvesting and turning it into coke to be used as fuel energy. We think this is a wonderful suggestion as a town of sunflowers.
In order to realize these four pillars, we need the support of each of your organizations. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
We would like to firmly expand the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vigor Support Fund Ordinance to include large parcels, direct sales, agricultural infrastructure development, budgetary support, systems to encourage business, and employment capacity to subsidize and support the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
We want the farmers and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to make money, and in the process, we want to create a bustling, hometown-like atmosphere and firmly establish the town of Hokuryu.
Today, Mr. Kitajima, Mr. Mihara of the Agricultural Cooperative Youth Club, and the youth of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture have done a great job in making the arrangements. Thank you very much.
I believe that the role of the chief executive is to provide an economic environment and underpinnings that allow you to have a strong sense of hope.
I hope that we can talk about the future together as we deal with the situation. I would like to expand the great potential of Hokuryu Town and do my best to create a wonderful Hokuryu Town that will lead to the future, so please give me your support and let me thank you for today. Thank you very much.
Candidate for Mayor of Hokuryu Town: Mr. Hirokuni Kitakiyo (in order of notification)
Profile
career
November 30, 1961 Born in Hokuryu Town
Graduated from Hekisui Elementary School, Hokuryu Junior High School, Fukagawa Nishi High School, and Dairy Farm Management Department of Dairy Farm University.
work experience
1984 Joined Bikkuri Donkey Co.
1988 Commenced farming.
1995 Director of the Youth Department of the former Hokuryu Agricultural Cooperative
2004 Director, JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu District; Director, Kita Sorachi NOSAI
2013 Representative Director, JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu District
speech
My name is Hirokuni Kitakiyo. I, too, would like to express my heartfelt sympathy to the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
Today, I would like to thank the Agricultural Cooperative Youth Club and the Youth Club of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for this opportunity to stand up and make this speech. Thank you very much.
I am running for mayor because I want to make Hokuryu Town more energetic and lively so that young people can live here with hope and for the future of our children, who are the town's treasure, and I want to take the town's agriculture industry one step further.
I will try to get to the point and talk about one aspect of town development.
Creating a bright town utilizing sunflowers
First of all, as part of our effort to "create a bright town utilizing sunflowers," our town, Hokuryu-cho, declared in 1990, during the term of Mayor Mori, that it would become a "town that produces safe food that protects the lives and health of the people.
Since I was young, I have experienced rice cultivation with reduced pesticides and without herbicides.
These are the fruits of our efforts to build a relationship of trust between producers and consumers through a face-to-face relationship, and to create a "production-consumption partnership" that connects producers and consumers.
In order to promote sustainable agriculture, I would like to further promote the "production-supply partnership" more strongly and further increase the recognition of Hokuryu Town's agriculture.
We believe that this will lead to the promotion of agriculture by passing on to the next generation the rice production that has been accumulated over the past 30 years, which protects life and health.
Since he became mayor, he and Mayor Sano have traveled around the country to promote Hokuryu Town's agricultural products.
We also visit the East and North Hokkaido areas, and when the town mayor is present, the top management of our sales partners come out to discuss various topics with us, which greatly increases our level of trust. This has allowed us to continue our long relationship with Hokuryu-cho for its agricultural products. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Mayor Sano.
In the promotion of smart in each field, we would like to set up a specialized contact point to ensure that information and applications for government subsidies are smoothly communicated.
In addition, we will work to support the commercial and industrial sectors, which support the livelihood of the town's residents, by encouraging them to come from outside the town and by supporting the enhancement of the civil engineering and construction sectors.
Although there is no observatory in Sunflower Village, we will continue to improve it to the delight of tourists.
Creating a caring town where town residents support each other together
Next, as part of "building a caring town where town residents support each other together," we will focus on expanding medical care, nursing care, welfare, and lifestyle support, as well as comprehensively promoting childcare support.
The aging rate in Hokuryu Town is just under 44%. With the aging of the population, there are concerns about living in the area, such as hospital visits and shopping. We will work on how to secure transportation for residents living in the community, such as shared-ride cabs, to support their daily lives.
With regard to childcare support, we will continue to support economic assistance such as reduction of financial burdens related to childbirth and child rearing, childbirth gifts, and correction of childcare fees.
The severe operating conditions at Eirakuen, including a shortage of caregivers and a decrease in the number of residents, are major challenges for the management of Eirakuen.
However, Eirakuen is an important facility and a stronghold for the elderly, so the government must maintain it. The government must maintain this facility.
Creating a town where residents can live safely and comfortably
Next, as for "creating a town where residents can live comfortably and safely," in light of the abolition of reduced bus routes, the development of a public transportation network to ensure the transportation of town residents is an urgent issue. This must be tackled as soon as possible.
Regarding measures to promote immigration and settlement, we have been working on the development of a system to accept new farmers since one year ago. We have just launched the Hokuryu Town Bearers' Council.
Most recently, two couples who have taken over watermelon cultivation have achieved excellent business results.
I believe that the steady accumulation of these efforts, including the establishment of agricultural corporations to farm the fields, will lead to the development of Hokuryu Town's specialties and countermeasures against the decline in population.
Creating an active town where all generations grow together
Next, we will enhance school education and lifelong learning to "create an active town where all generations can grow together.
In addition, we will strive to promote sports, culture, and the arts to support enriched lifestyles.
Regarding the construction of the public facilities currently proposed, we will proceed with the planning of the government building, the community center, and the town hall building in a comprehensive and rational manner.
Creating a dynamic town that connects the thoughts of its residents
Next, as for "building a dynamic town that connects the thoughts of the town's residents," we will actively work on building measures to secure human resources while nurturing the next generation that will support the town in the future.
Finally, the inevitable population decline and labor shortage in our town of Hokuryu is a major challenge.
When I think about the town 10 years from now, I am considering the establishment of a mechanism to bring in human resources from outside, for example, a cooperative version of a staffing agency, with government subsidies, in order to actively circulate the current commerce and industry that support our daily lives, including agriculture, which is a key industry. We hope this will help with the shortage of labor.
I strongly believe that the town government should be close to the townspeople, considering that the thoughts of the townspeople should be used in the town government.
We will do our best to tackle each of the many obstacles piling up in each field carefully and honestly.
There are only three days left to vote. I would like to conclude my speech by sincerely asking for your tremendous support and for you to further expand your circle of wisdom.
Our thoughts are passionate, and we ask for your kind cooperation."
With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers for the passion of both candidates for the next mayoral election, who will be responsible for the development of Hokuryu Town, which will shine brightly in the future.
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◇ Reporting and writing by Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editorial assistance by Noboru Terauchi)
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