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Shingu City in Wakayama Prefecture is located in the east of the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula, approximately 7 hours from Tokyo by land and 5 hours by plane. The city has roughly 30,000 residents, and has a long history, being a part of “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”, which was listed as World Heritage in 2004. Mr. Tetsuji Namikawa (from Osaka) was elected as a member of the city council in 2011, when he was 25 for his first term, and reelected this April when he was 29. Ms Nanami Kitamura (from Nagano) was chosen as a member this April when she was 27. I got a chance to interview those two.

 

 

I decided to stick to my faith, so it often turned out that the voting result was 16 to 1

 

Niki
I remember reading an interesting article of your interview by “Chikirin’s Diary”, which included the reason why you moved to Shingu City, how you came to run for the election, and your faith in responding to natural disaster. Today, I came here to ask you about what you have done since then and what you are engaged in right now.

Namikawa
In that interview, I didn’t talk about what I did in the City Council, so let me begin with that.

Niki
Let me ask a question. What is your posture when you are in the Council?

Namikawa
I had decided to stick to my faith, so from the beginning I was critical to the statements and ideas of the others. I think I would die due to stress if I give up what I think is right (laugh).

Niki
Then, could you tell me the details of your faith?

Namikawa
I always keep thinking about the future. I think it’s important to be rational in terms of finance when we think about the future. For example, when the Council was discussing a project, I ask the fellow members “is this really necessary for the future generations” or “isn’t there a way to make this more effective”. I kept trying to make comments when I thought the Council hasn’t discuss well logically.

Niki
What you said seems quite natural in private companies in a sense.

Namikawa
That’s true but, in the Council only a few members think this way. For example, there was an item on the agenda about building a dike to prevent tsunami from hitting our City, and I found that the location of the dike was proposed before the prefecture’s survey on estimated area of tsunami impact was released. So I asked why they proposed to build a dike in that particular location, and City government responded “You don’t want to protect the lives of the residents, Mr. Namikawa?” I was so surprised that I couldn’t say a word. We are never on the same wavelength, unfortunately.

Namikawa
I didn’t vote for what I think was strange, so in the first term, it often turned out that the voting result was 16 to 1.

Namikawa
I usually try to have discussion. When I have a different opinion from others, I always do so. When you don’t know your opinion clearly, you cannot have debate, right? Up until now, my opinion/ comment has never been adopted unfortunately, but I never thought what I said was wrong. To that extent I make my ideas concreate, before making a statement.

In the Council, “who says” matters more than “what is said”

 

Niki
You need more energy when you make opposing arguments. But I think it’s even hard for you being in the environment where you cannot have logical discussion.

Namikawa
Not all of the members, but many people are not good at thinking logically. Maybe it’s because the difference in values due to generation gap, but I feel many people think “who says” matters more than “what is said”.

Namikawa
That was my first term. This made me think if I was reelected in the next election the same would be repeated and I would never be able to move ahead. It was difficult to make allies in the Council, so I thought the only way is to get a new member, and encouraged many people to run for the election.

The image of a member of a City Council? The only member I knew was Mr. Namikawa

Niki
Then, you met Ms. Kitamura

Kitamura
That’s right. He recommended me to be a member only once, but I remembered. I thought being in the Council was never easy. (laugh)

Kitamura
At that time, I was visiting Shingu City from Kaishi Town in Shimane prefecture to energize rural areas. Another person told me that being a member of “Rural Development Cooperation Volunteers” would be a good idea, so I had two options including to become a member of the City Council. I am lazy person so I thought it would be better to be in a position which is monitored by residents more closely. Then I came to think the duties of members of the City Council may fit to my character.

Niki
What was your image of members of a City Council, then?

Kitamura
I had never thought being a member of a Council, and I hadn’t had any acquaintances who are serving as a member other than Mr. Namikawa. The only image I had was Mr. Namikawa.

Niki
So you mean, you came to think you want be a member because you met with Mr. Namikawa?

Kitamura
At that time, I didn’t observe closely what Mr. Namikawa was doing as the member, but I heard he was having a tough time being isolated, and I thought it was impressive that the person whose age was close to mine is struggling that way. If I met a member other than him, I think I never thought to run for election.

 

I cried once in 2 days during campaign period

Niki
You are in your 20s, you are from outside of the City and you don’t have a strong organization/ institution which support you. Those factors made extremely difficult for you to get into the Council, but were you confident that you would be chosen?

Namikawa
Not at all. I did all what I could do. (laugh)

Kitamura
I didn’t even know how to carry out the campaign. The most difficult thing for me was to ask others to do some work as a part of the campaign. Several people told me that they were not sure whether I was doing my best for the election. I was feeling that I was doing my best, so I cried once in 2 days during campaign period, feeling ashamed.

Kitamura
On the last day of the campaign, a friend who came from outside the prefecture said that “you are lazy person if I have to say or another, so it would be impossible for you to be chosen. This is the reason why I’m here to support you.”

Niki
You may have made the residents think that they have to support you. I don’t know how to say, but you won with the support of the people.

Namikawa
Most of our staff were in their 20s or 30s, and we both saw that the staff of the other side were trying to do their best, so after the election, there was atmosphere where we naturally thought we should cooperate.

Niki
I feel you two are not pretending to be stereotyped “politician”, but you stick to what you think is right, with relaxed posture. I think this is the reason the youth gathers to support you. What is most is that you seem to be having fun (laugh). The new group named “Singu policy laboratory (Shin lab)” that you two established, sounds fresh. And only you two put your cell phone number on the list of the Council members, which also shows your freshness.

 

 

I thought I was dreaming, looking at the voting result of 4 or 5 in favor (laugh). I had always been the only one.

 

Niki
You said that you established a group in the Council named “Singu policy laboratory (Shin lab)”, but had you been decided to make a new group when you were elected?

Namikawa
Not really, but I thought Ms. Kitamura would support my ideas if I explain them logically. I think being able to use the same language or being able to have discussions is really a big factor.

Niki
I think now I understand your painful effort in your first term better than I did before. What have you done after establishing the group?

Namikawa
I have been proposing a lot of motions. In June, I proposed a motion to submit a report in the Council, and the result was 6 in favor, 9 against, (1 rejected).

In the following session in September, I proposed two draft amendments to budget. Both failed with 4 in favor, 12 against and 5 in favor, 11 against, respectively. But as you can see, some of the fellow members thought our amendments were good. The amendments to the supplementary budget were proposed for the first time in at least 4 years in the general assembly.

I thought I was dreaming, looking at the voting result of 4 or 5 in favor (laugh). I had always been the only one.

Kitamura
What made me happy was that a member who we couldn’t explain our amendments and ask to support beforehand, stood up to show that he was in favor, having heard our opinion.

Namikawa
This is a very big change.

Niki
Depending of the proposal, perhaps the Council will adopt it.

Namikawa
That’s one of my goals in my second term.

We can change the mindset of people in the meetings and in the field.

Namikawa
Many members of the Council asked a lot of questions regarding the draft amendments this time. 5 members asked questions again and again, which was not good for my mental health (laugh). I have to praise the governor and the local government staff for always enduring that.

Niki
I heard that question-and –answer style* is increasing all around Japan. I think that makes the debate more interesting for people who listen to it.

Kitamura
One day I found a person who was about to leave, so I told him that you should stay because the upcoming debate on the draft amendments to the budget would be exciting. He stayed till the closing of the debate, and he said the debate should be broadcasted by Ustream or something, having seen the hot debate.

Namikawa
I got a change to talk with him the other day, and he said that the politics should be closer to people’s daily lives. I recommended “Voters Bar”, and he said he wants to have one. If it is held in Shingu, I should definitely go.

Niki
“Voters Bar” is an event for members of councils and the youth, talking with each other while having drinks. This is a project run by an NPO “YouthCreate”, led by Mr. Kensuke Harada, also known as Haraken, who is also in our generation. So you have changed one resident’s mindset from the Council. That’s really wonderful.

Namikawa
Let me talk about what happened outside the Council. The other day, we held a meeting to report what our group did in the session of the Council. Surprisingly, a person working for the City government came.

I always try to talk with the people in the field so I thought we are in a good relation, but I didn’t think he would come to the meeting. In the Council, we member tend to be against the City government, but I realized that we can make the Council a venue to discuss toward better design of the City regardless of the position, which made me happy.

Niki
I think you two are changing the attitude of the persons around you because you are so devoted to the activities in the Council.

Namikawa
We are often told that they cannot support us because of the bondages typical to rural areas, but I feel some people are supporting us secretly.

That’s really encouraging.

 

What I gain from activities in the City outside the Council

Niki
Mr. Namikawa, you are also engaged in activities in the City outside the Council such as “Youth Library Engawa”. Could you tell me the purposes of these?

Namikawa
I run “Youth Library Engawa” as a private library where people can stay overnight, wishing to generate new possibility by giving the youth of the City and the travelers coming from abroad a chance to meet.

I want the youth in the City to realize something. But of course, running this itself is a lot of fun for me (laugh).

Through this activity, I happened to meet with people working for advanced libraries. The knowledge I gained from those is helping us as the project to rebuild the City library progresses.

Niki
So the activity in the City outside the Council has good influences in your activities in the Council.

Niki
What other activities are you engaged in?

Namikawa
To give you the most recent one, I organize events to talk named “cafabar where people who started a new thing gather” together with people who visited Santa Cruz, California which is sister to Shingu. Santa Cruz ranked 6 in the Forbes as a city with potential for generating employment, and is supporting entrepreneurs enthusiastically.

The purpose of the event is to give a message to the youth who is about to start a new thing from “people who started a new thing”, as you can tell from the name. Though this event, I would like to make this City a better environment to start a new business or something new. There are no co-working spaces in Singu, so I think it’s important to create such environment.

Niki
I think what you are doing contributes to the community. It is my belief that the youth should start something new in order to revitalize the rural areas. As current industries decline, it’s important to create an environment favorable for entrepreneurs.

Future activities in the City

Niki
Having heard what you said, I’m sure you have lots of things you want to do. Could you tell me what you are going to do in the City?

Namikawa
Next April, I will establish a new type of school with the locals. In the school, adults will not provide curriculums, but they will support what children want to do. There will be no classes divided by their age. I am one of the founding members of the school. I hope I can found something through running this school.

Niki
You are always trying to be in the field.

Namikawa
I think this is different from public education but I think once I engaged in education, I will be able to contribute to the governance of the City as well as to bigger communities.

Also, I will work for an NPO aiming to revitalize the rural areas utilizing IT, which will be established by my acquaintance living in Wakayama, who is the programmer contributed to the establishment of Wakayama’s official GitHub account.

Niki
It became news because it was the first account of GitHub for local governments. I heard there is a project overseas to draft a law on GitHub. I’m so excited to find out what will unfold.

Namikawa
Recently, a brilliant service was released, to issue SIM cards freely to be connected to the Internet.

Niki
You are talking about SORACOM Air, right?

Namikawa
Yes, that one. The programmer was excited about the service, and we have got a lot of ideas, such as less expensive remote control measures against wild animals.

Niki
Innovations impact regardless of the places.

Namikawa
I will utilize those new technologies and services to tackle the various challenges of our society.

Niki
I didn’t imagine that we would talk about SORACOM Air in today’s interview. This was released only recently, but people in IT industry are focusing on this service.

I think we have more to talk. But I will finish today’s interview now, and will come back when these plans seems realized. I hope you two will keep creating the future with the support of locals. Thank you very much for sparing me a long time.

Namikawa, Kitamura
Thank you. We will do our best.

 

*question-and-answer style, is the way to allow every single question to be asked, and repeat questions and answers until no more question is raised. This way, the member of the Council can discuss items deeply.

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○NAMIKAWA, Tetsuji
Member of Shingu City Council Born in August 1985 in Osaka Prefecture. Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University. Moved to Shingu in April 2009, and worked as a private teacher while being a trainee at an organic farm. In 2001, ran for and elected as a member of the Shingu City Council for the first time when he was 25. In 2015, reelected with 831 votes. Selected as one of the Global Shapers by the World Economic Forum. Until February 2015, asked questions in all 14 sessions of the Council. Being engaged in various activities inside and outside the Council, such as establishment of a private library called “Youth Library ENGAWA”.

 

○KITAMURA, Nanami
Member of Shingu City Council Born in December 1987 in Nagano Prefecture. Graduated from Faculty of Arts, Kyoto Women’s University. Belonged to the Kansai Students News Union, consists of 9 major Universities in Kansai area and Executive Committee of Work-Life-Balance Symposium, when she was in the University. Worked for the government of Kaishi-Cho in Shimane Prefecture and moved to Shingu City in May 2015. In 2015, elected as a member of the Shingu City Council for the first time with 805 votes.

 

○NIKI, Takatsugu （General Incorporated Association Youth Democracy Promotion Agency Representative Director）
Born in October 1986 in Nara Prefecture. Graduated from Digital Hollywood University, Graduate School, earning the degree of Digital Contents Management. Graduated from JGSDF Youth Technical School, worked for a venture business, and established KARYOKU SHIEN Inc. in 2010. Supported more than 100 election campaigns in total by its logistical support business for public sector utilizing design and ICT. In 2015, founded General Incorporated Association Youth Democracy Promotion Agency in order to realize politics for the youth and future generations and serving as the Representative Director.

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Translation by MITSUSHIMA, Kaori