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Home >> National and Regional Planning Bureau >> The Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations >> Reports >> Chairpersons’ Report
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December 22, 2004
To Mr. Jiro Kawasaki
Chairperson of the Committee of the House of Representatives on Rules and Administration
To Mr. Kensei Mizote
Chairperson of the Committee of the House of Councillors on Rules and Administration
With regard to the relocation of the Diet and other organizations, we adopted the Resolution on the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations in 1990 and subsequently have deliberated this issue in accordance with the Act for the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations enacted in 1992.
It is obvious that the occurrence of a major earthquake or any other large-scale disaster in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, where political and economic activities and population are concentrated, would dramatically impact not only Japan’s economy but also the global economy, as well as destroy lifeline services essential to people’s lives, disrupt the transportation network such as Shinkansen (bullet trains) and airports, and cause deterioration in public security. In preparation for such circumstances, it is becoming increasingly important to relocate the Diet and other organizations—the core functions of our country—outside the Tokyo Metropolitan area as a measure of risk management.
Furthermore, the necessity of the relocation of the Diet and other organizations is increasing from viewpoints such as a countermeasure against global warming caused by environmental destruction, a solution to traffic congestion, and revitalization of the local economy.
In the meantime, the social and economic conditions of our country have been dramatically changing in recent years. Total population will begin dropping in the near future due to a rapid trend toward a lower birthrate and an aging society. Under these circumstances, various new issues closely related to the relocation of the Diet and other organizations are arising and being discussed. The issues include the creation of new relationships between the central and local governments such as the promotion of decentralization and the do-shu system and the review of the disaster and crisis management system based on the recent experience of the Niigata-Ken Chuetsu Earthquake.
Since its establishment in June 2003, the Conference Committee has deliberated on the “methods for seeking the Diet’s will” in close collaboration with both Houses. The majority of the Conference Committee members is of the opinion that the relocation of the Diet and other organizations, the most critical matter for the future of the nation, should be decided in full accordance with the responses to the above-mentioned issues, and therefore we should attain a certain level of understanding on how to address these issues at first, and then deliberate from a broader prospective and make a decision.
To contribute to discussions toward the above decision-making, the Conference Committee hereafter will conduct examinations and deliberations, with collaboration from the government and other concerned parties, to deepen our understanding on views such as relocation to more than one new area and the preceded relocation of the core function of disaster management and particularly crisis management (so-called back-up function), as described in the interim reports of the Special Committees of both Houses for the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations in 2003.
Tsuneo Suzuki, Chairperson (House of Representatives)
Tetsuo Kutsukake, Chairperson (House of Councillors)
Inter-party Conference Committee of Both Houses on the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations
