Tokyo Gubernatorial Election 2020: Profile on the Horiemon New Party

This is the 11th post introducing candidates in the Tokyo governor race.

Check the other candidate profiles using these links: Koike; Utsunomiya; Ono; Yamamoto; Sakurai; Komiyama; Takemoto; Nishimoto; Sekiguchi; Oshikoshi.

The goal of these profiles is to get readers to know all the candidates on one website. I want to help people find information with minimal effort.

This post will focus on the 3 candidates affiliated with the Horiemon New Party: leader Takashi Tachibana, Osamu Hattori, and Kenichiro Saito.

Bio

① Takashi Tachibana

② Osamu Hattori

③ Kenichiro Saito

2020 Policies

The policies put forth by these candidates are very similar. In fact, most align with the 37 emergency recommendations put forth by the party.

Economy

1. Really achieving zero congestion
2. Get rid of ETC gates 
3. Become a city that promotes personal mobility 
4. Increase train fees during peak hours/crowded trains
5. Get rid of tickets + ticket gates/turnstiles
6. Ban cash (only cards/electronic currency)
7. Merge & privatize Tokyo Metro + the Toei Subway (metro subway)
8. Allow Uber
9. Open skies 
10. Reconstruct Edo castle
11. Build infrastructure to hold VR (virtual reality) live performances
12. Redevelop Adachi ward as the “Japanese Brooklyn”
13. Develop a plan to reform the Tsukiji/Toyosu fish market
14. Create a brand on the Tsukiji fish market site
15. Host the Olympic games remotely 

Education/Social Welfare

16. Promote online education
17. Replace paper textbooks with online material
18. Free children by dismantling the school system
19. Shift to an education that doesn’t teach answers
20. Allow cannabis 
21. Work style reform through low-dose pills for women
22. Aim to be #1 in terms of longevity
23. Support senior interaction through “jiji-katsu” and “baba-katsu” 
24. Promoting a diverse Tokyo

COVID-19 Response

25. Stop the infodemic (excessive amount of information that prevents identification of a solution)
26. Resume all economic activities

Metropolitan Government 

27. Implement online campaigning/elections
28. Make it so people can vote with a QR code
29. Ensure all press conferences are online
30. Make 90% of all government employees work from home
31. Add English as an official language
32. Aim for the complete privatization of Tokyo

Future Work Styles

33. Implement a restructuring plan that starts by firing “fairy workers” (middle aged employees who come to work but don’t actually do anything)
34. More playgrounds
35. Lower the cost of living 
36. Foster a “100 years of life” community 
37. Create a free online salon (community) for citizens of Tokyo

First Impressions

• There are some really progressive ideas, but realistically, they seem unattainable 
• Plans include much-needed reforms including online elections & promoting online education
• Also includes some challenging & controversial policies such as legalizing cannabis & completely privatizing Tokyo (which seems impossible)