Relay Talk
YUKAWA Yoshiaki (Representative Director, HYAKUSHO Co., Ltd.)
“Flying Cars” are the Future of the Setouchi Region
Hello, everyone. I am YUKAWA Yoshiaki, Representative Director of HYAKUSHO. I am honored to have this opportunity to write an essay for the relay talk. I run a small, insignificant micro-business in Kagawa Prefecture. Nine years ago when I left the city for life in the country, I made a wife-turn, not an I-turn, when I moved to Takamatsu City where my wife’s family’s home is located.
I’d like to briefly introduce myself. I left my job with the Kagawa Prefectural Government four years ago to start my own business. I am motivated by a desire to be involved in public service as part of the private sector and offer support to local authorities and private companies that are engaged in the development and utilization of public spaces and facilities, with a focus on consulting in PPP/PFI and area management. For example, I’m involved in field tests targeting the use of parks and roads together with local companies, universities and city hall, and this year, I have also started working with the younger generation of fishers from Honjima Island in the Shiwaku Islands on an aquaculture fishery project. In general, the work I am involved in is “for the future of the community”, but I’m not really sure what line of work I’m in. I’d appreciate any advice!
Officially, I am currently under contract with Takamatsu City in the position of Area Design Architect, working with staff in Takamatsu City to bring the perspective of the private sector into the revitalization of the Sunport Area, which is the gateway to Takamatsu City. As part of the younger generation (at age 37), I would like to write about how I recently think the future of the Setouchi region and Kagawa.
The Setouchi area where we live is comprised of numerous islands. Boats come and go on a daily basis and are mainly used to travel between the islands. But our lifestyle is not limited to boats, as there is also an expressway and railway running along the Seto Ohashi Bridge, which marked its 35th anniversary on April 10, 2023, connecting Okayama on Honshu Island to Sakaide. Our lifestyles are supported by these boats, cars and trains.
However, mobility has changed in recent years. In the context of ordinary vehicles or means of transportation, electric kickboards are now a part of everyday life, while if we look up into space, we can see civilians in spacecrafts tweeting from the stratosphere. But out of all of these, the means of transportation I’m most interested in is the “flying car.” I have a picture in my head that it will be like the car we drive now, but flying, and I feel that people’s lifestyles will change dramatically if air routes (“skyways”) are built that are easy for anyone to use to move around.
For example, I think that the number of people living on islands in the Setouchi region will increase. If someone can travel from an island to Takamatsu City in 10 minutes by flying car, people will have no need to live in crowded areas and access to medical care will pose no hurdles to living on an island. This also goes for education. Perhaps as food deliveries become automated via the skyways, the supermarket may function as simple warehouses. A petition could also be started in the national government to connect Costco in Hiroshima with Ogijima Island, the remote island in Takamatsu City by the skyways.
With these thoughts in mind, I feel that future innovations in mobility will change the Setouchi region and Kagawa dramatically, and the value of land on the islands will also jump considerably. I get the feeling that we are on the verge of an era where we can more freely enjoy life in the archipelago. It’s very exciting. I invite everyone reading this to place a bet on this kind of future and visit the islands in the Setouchi region and Kagawa. Let’s toast to and talk about the future of this area as we listen to the sounds of the waves on the beach.
With these thoughts in mind, I feel that future innovations in mobility will change the Setouchi region and Kagawa dramatically, and the value of land on the islands will also jump considerably. I get the feeling that we are on the verge of an era where we can more freely enjoy life in the archipelago. It’s very exciting. I invite everyone reading this to place a bet on this kind of future and visit the islands in the Setouchi region and Kagawa. Let’s toast to and talk about the future of this area as we listen to the sounds of the waves on the beach.