Governor’s 250M Yen Investment in K-POP Concert: Controversy and Background

–Omitted–
– Korean side’s request
These issues have not yet been fully discussed, and there will inevitably be controversy in the lead-up to the event in October, but
why did Nara Prefecture decide to hold this event in the first place? A prefectural government official said: “It’s a governor’s matter. The governor visited South Korea last year and met with the governor of South Chungcheong Province. This year, the governor from that country also visited Japan and met with him in Tokyo. In the midst of all this, they were asked to hold a free concert, and it appears they readily agreed, saying, “Okay,” without giving it any serious thought.”
However, once negotiations began,
“the Korean side attached detailed conditions. I want the stage to be of a high standard, the laser lighting to be even better,
and so on. There were so many conditions that the costs ballooned.” Governor Yamashita is 56 years old. He graduated from the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo and became a reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, but later transferred to the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University, and after graduating he became a lawyer. In 2006, he was elected mayor of Ikoma at the age of 37. At the time, he was the youngest mayor in the country. After serving three terms, he ran for the Nara Prefectural Governor election in 2015
and for the Nara Mayor election in 2017, but lost. He was elected in last year’s gubernatorial election, defeating Governor Masago Arai, who was seeking a fifth term, and others. “However, there appears to be a lack of consideration in the implementation of individual policies. It often feels like I’m just speaking on a whim. Governor Yamashita has scrapped the plans for establishing a large-scale disaster prevention center in Nara that were decided by the previous governor, but regardless of the merits of this, there seems to be no well-thought-out view on how to proceed with disaster prevention measures. It almost seems as if the purpose was to stop the project.”

– Denial by former governor
During last year’s gubernatorial election, Governor Yamashita gained support by harshly criticizing the policies of the previous governor. “So, it seems like the core of the idea is a rejection of the policies of the previous governor. This is true of disaster prevention centers as well as the abolition of the operating costs for the Tenpyo Festival. The Tenpyo Festival is an event that began during the previous governor’s term, but will end this year. Perhaps the reason he jumped on K-pop this time was to highlight the difference between him and the former governor, who was in his late 70s. Perhaps he also wanted to show that he is younger than the previous governor and can implement policies aimed at the younger generation. On the other hand, his favorite sayings are, “Cost-effectiveness is important” and “We don’t do temporary businesses.” However, this K-pop event goes completely against that ideology. It’s hard to explain.”
– Also serves as prefectural federation representative
Even during last year’s gubernatorial election, Governor Yamashita was never considered a strong candidate to win. This is because the incumbent Governor Arai, who has served four terms, was in a strong position. However, Sanae Takaichi, the former Minister of National Security and who was then the chairperson of the prefectural LDP chapter, nominated a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications bureaucrat who had been her secretary when she was minister. The election was a split for conservatives, and Yamashita, who was endorsed by the Ishin Party, was the one who benefited from it. Yamashita became the first head of a local government outside of Osaka Prefecture to be officially endorsed by the Japan Innovation Party, which caused quite a stir. However, when it comes to the Restoration, its motto is “painful reform.” Why is the prefectural assembly group not speaking out about this spending of public funds? In the plenary session vote, all 12 prefectural assembly members from the Ishin Party voted in favor. “It seems that the matter was not properly explained to the prefectural assembly. They found out just before the budget amendment was due to be submitted to Parliament. As soon as this became known,
a series of reports questioning it came out, which must have been a huge inconvenience for them. However, there are circumstances that prevent them from openly opposing it. Governor Yamashita is a senior member of the Japan Innovation Party and also serves as the representative of the Nara Prefectural Chapter. As the prefectural assembly group is the authority on personnel and official approval, they cannot directly oppose it. Although he had no choice but to vote in favor, he seemed to think that this was not good, and only “posed” by proposing to cut expenses.”
In the last general election, the Ishin Party lost six seats from the previous election, and is continuing its decline. Depending on how things develop in the future, the “K-pop” controversy may also become a stumbling block. Daily Shincho Editorial Department
Full text from source
Published 11:14 on 12/20 (Fri).

【奈良県K-POPコンサート】「維新」公認、元「朝日新聞」記者の知事が「2億5000万円」投入を決めた“知られざる背景”（デイリー新潮） - Yahoo!ニュース

山下真知事肝煎りの奈良県「K-POP」無料コンサート開催が大きな話題になっている。16日、奈良県議会に、この事業費のうち約2億5000万円を盛り込んだ予算修正案が提出された。しかし、一夜限りのコン

news.yahoo.co.jp

“The Korean side has attached detailed conditions. I want the stage to be of a high standard, the laser lighting to be even better than this,
> and so on. There were so many conditions that the costs ballooned.”
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