Former Mayor of Akashi City, Fusaho Izumi: A New Movement for Citizen-Oriented Politics

2023-11-25 21:00:00

Fusaho Izumi (60), former mayor of Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture, has been attracting attention on social networking sites (SNS) by supporting the “non-Liberal Democratic Party” candidates who won the mayoral elections in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, and Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture. ) responded to an interview with this newspaper. Izumi criticized the Kishida administration, saying that due to the effects of high prices and other factors, “the people’s lives are no longer sustainable.” He revealed that he has begun formulating a plan to seize power in order to leverage his momentum in the local elections into the next House of Representatives election and form a “Savior Cabinet” that will shift from increasing the burden on the people to politics that saves the people. . The main exchanges are as follows. (Interviewer: Katsumi Sekiguchi, Political Director, Nao Sakata)

Former Mayor of Akashi City, Fusho Izumi, answers an interview

 Fusaho IzumiBorn in 1963 in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture. He is a lawyer and social worker. After graduating from the Faculty of Education at the University of Tokyo, he worked as an NHK director and secretary to Hiroki Ishii, who later became a member of the Democratic Party of Japan’s House of Representatives, before passing the bar exam. In the 2003 House of Representatives election, he ran from the Hyogo 2nd Ward on the Democratic Party ticket and was elected for the first time in the proportional Kinki bloc. He lost the 2005 House of Representatives election. He was the mayor of Akashi in 2011. He resigned in 2019 after verbally abusing city employees. He was elected in the subsequent re-election. During his 3 terms and 12 years in office, the city established five free programs: medical expenses for children up to the age of 18, school lunch expenses for junior high school students, childcare fees for second and subsequent children, playgrounds in the city, and diapers for children up to 1 year of age. This was achieved by achieving population growth for 10 consecutive years. After stepping down from office in April of this year, he has won consecutive victories by supporting non-Liberal Democratic Party candidates in local elections around the country, and his words and actions have attracted attention not only on social media but also from the ruling and opposition parties.

◆The reason for victory is whether the candidate is more oriented toward organizations or citizens.

-What are the reasons for the success of the candidates you supported in the mayoral elections in Tachikawa City, Tokyo and Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture?

“The difference is whether candidates are oriented towards organizations or citizens. Local government elections are closer to citizens. If candidates are oriented toward citizens rather than political parties, people who are not satisfied with existing political parties will vote and win.”

– According to the media’s predictions, there was a strong view that the candidate you supported would be at a disadvantage.

“The media makes a mistake because they only cover political parties and powerful organizations. These elections are not a showdown between the ruling and opposition parties. The people of today say no to either the ruling or opposition parties. Their lives are difficult, so they feel that they should not impose any more burden on them. I don’t think the opposition party is good either. If it’s a completely independent citizen group, not only opposition supporters but also independents will flow in large numbers, and ruling party supporters will also vote.”

-How do you know that?

“If you give a speech on the street, you can read the votes. Will the voters who use the station ignore the candidate, turn their heads, or stop? Will they listen to the speech even for a minute or two? Will they delay the train by one train? Are you going to keep asking? If you look at this, you can read the votes.”

◆Victory in the metropolitan area was necessary to make the “Akashi Model” known nationwide.

Former Mayor of Akashi City, Fusho Izumi, answers an interview

-Why do you support local government elections in the metropolitan area?

“As the mayor of Akashi, I made medical expenses free for children up to the age of 18, and the population has increased for 10 consecutive years, and tax revenue has also increased. I paid attention to Mita’s mayoral election.The incumbent sought a third term with the endorsements of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, Constitutional Democratic Party, and Democratic People’s Democratic Party, but I supported a newcomer who is a former bank employee and won. was weak.In order to make the “Akashi Model” known nationwide, we thought we needed to win in a famous city in the Tokyo metropolitan area, so we chose Tokorozawa City, which has a population of 300,000 people and is similar in size to Akashi City, as one of them.”


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