New Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki greets the town on his first day at work, saying, "The value of the town office lies in its people and its staff. It's okay to fail, but we will never give up."

Thursday, February 22, 2024

The new mayor, Yasuhiro Sasaki (68 years old), who was elected for the first time in the mayoral election on Sunday, February 4th, reported to Hokuryu Town Hall for the first time on Thursday, February 22nd.

Presenting a bouquet



As snow fell, they arrived at the entrance to the town hall at 8:45 a.m., where they were greeted with applause from all the staff and presented with bouquets of flowers.

Inaugural address from new Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki

After this, the ceremony proceeded to the assembly hall where the inaugural address was given.

“I was elected as mayor of Hokuryu Town on Sunday, February 4th. Today is my first day at work, so I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me.

Yesterday, Mayor Sano retired and spoke about the time he spent with you all. I have known Mayor Sano for 37 years. I have had great respect for him and he has taught me many things. I would like to once again express my gratitude and respect for the achievements of former Mayor Sano.

I am pleased to be able to work with you all from today. Today, I am speaking with you face-to-face. Although we are facing different directions, from tomorrow, I would like to face the same direction and work on various projects.

During the election, I spoke about many things with the happiness of the townspeople in mind. These were promises, or what you might call campaign promises, that I made to all the townspeople. To make these a reality, I would need the cooperation of each and every one of you. I am considering various policies with the image of your cooperation in mind. I would like to ask everyone to please work together with me.

The value of the town office lies in its people and its staff.

You will be doing many different things from now on, but it's okay to fail. It's okay to have various worries and feel like giving up. That will only make you grow more and more, so never give up, and I hope we can do many different things together. You all have a lot of potential talents. I hope you will be able to demonstrate those talents in many different places.

There will be a welcome party tonight, so I would like to talk to each of you and discuss various things.

I would like to walk each step carefully. I will never rush, so I would like to walk slowly in the same direction as you all.

"Today is just the beginning. I look forward to working with you today," said Mayor Sasaki in a calm voice, looking slowly at each and every staff member.

The new administration of Hokuryu Town envisioned by the new mayor, Sasaki!

With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, I hope that the Hokuryu Town administration will listen to the voices of its residents, work together with town hall staff, and share common goals, resonating with each other and cooperating, to create a bright and shining future.

YouTube videos

New Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki attends office for the first time, receives bouquet and gives inaugural address

Yasuhiro Sasaki, the new mayor of Hokuryu Town, Hokkaido, gives his inaugural address (full video)

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◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)