Sunday, January 1, 2023
New Year's Greetings from Mayor Yutaka Sano of Hokuryu Town
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Happy New Year to all the townspeople.
We hope that you and your families are in good health and well-being as we welcome the New Year of Reiwa 5.
Looking back over the past year, the novel coronavirus, which has been raging around the world, has also affected our town, where a confirmed case among a townsperson was confirmed in January of last year. In May, a cluster of cases occurred at a special nursing home for the elderly, with a total of 36 confirmed cases among residents and staff. We would like to once again express our gratitude to the facilities and staff who readily accepted requests for support from neighboring facilities and to the facilities and staff who sent staff, and we would also like to express our respect to the facility staff who worked tirelessly to respond to this difficult situation.
The town will continue to take measures to prevent the spread of infection, so we ask for your cooperation.
In agriculture, our core industry, farm work has progressed smoothly since the snow melted, and we have been blessed with relatively stable weather, allowing us to welcome the autumn harvest with excellent quality and yield. I would like to express my deep respect to all producers for their hard work.
Although the decline in rice prices has been halted to a certain extent, the situation remains unpredictable due to the impact of COVID-19, rising crude oil prices due to political uncertainty, and changes in national policy, and we will continue to urge the national and prefectural governments to take strong measures.
In addition, the town's major event, the Sunflower Festival, was held for the first time in three years, and with the opening of the tourist center, Sunflower Village was bustling with visitors, with approximately 280,000 people visiting. This year, we will once again take all possible measures to prevent infectious diseases and strive to welcome many people to the town.
The "Hometown Support Donation" program, which has received a lot of support from all over the country, is expected to exceed 300 million yen for the ninth consecutive year, with return gifts such as sunflower rice and sunflower melons remaining popular. Going forward, we will continue to work to encourage many people to support Hokuryu Town through attractive town development and local specialties.
The government faces a mountain of challenges, including a declining population and a lack of successors, but we will continue to work hard to create a town where each and every resident can live a fulfilling life, by utilizing the values and experience we have cultivated together with the townspeople.
In closing, I hope that the new year will be a bright and happy one for everyone, and this concludes my New Year's greetings.
<Excerpt from "Hokuryu Public Relations" January 2023 issue, No. 689>
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