Jiji Press TOKYO (Jiji Press for Japan News/ANN) — Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike came under fire at a committee meeting of the metropolitan assembly on Monday over the metropolitan government’s plan to redevelop the former Tsukiji market site.
Assembly members from the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party argued that a recently announced draft of the redevelopment plan, featuring the establishment of an international convention center, is inconsistent with Koike’s earlier proposal to keep some market functions at the Tsukiji site.
“We haven’t necessarily changed our policy,” Koike told the assembly meeting. She claimed that the proposal aimed to utilize the food culture that supported the Tsukiji brand.
The redevelopment plan is slated to be adopted later this month and implemented in stages after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. It may become an issue in the next Tokyo gubernatorial election, expected to take place shortly before the 2020 Games.
In August 2016, soon after she took office, Koike announced a postponement of the market relocation, then scheduled for November that year, from the Tsukiji area in Chuo Ward to the Toyosu district in neighboring Koto Ward, citing concerns about soil contamination in Toyosu, among other reasons.
In June 2017, Koike declared that the metropolitan government would carry out the market relocation in October 2018, after taking additional measures against the pollution.
At the same time, the governor revealed a basic policy of using the Tsukiji site as a “food theme park” where existing businesses would be allowed to continue to operate.
In the following month, Koike-backed Tomin First no Kai performed strongly in a Tokyo assembly election, while the LDP sank to a record low share of assembly seats.
After the new Toyosu market was opened last October, the metropolitan government released the draft Tsukiji redevelopment plan in January.
Over the draft plan, LDP and other members criticized Koike for a “breach of faith,” as well as an abrupt policy change, during the assembly meeting on Monday.
“We’ll develop a new face of Tokyo with innovative and international features, making full use of the capacities of the private sector,” Koike said.
“We’ll create a new Tokyo brand,” the governor added, while not mentioning a commitment to maintaining the established Tsukiji brand.
