April 27, 1999
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| April 27, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Japan Economy Ishihara takes over a Tokyo in deep financial trouble TOKYO - Shintaro Ishihara, an authorand former member of parliament known for his nationalist views,begins his term as governor of Tokyo Friday, taking overadministration of a city in deep financial trouble. Ishihara, elected April 11 with about 30 percent of votescast, drew voters with his fiery promises to return a U.S. airbase to civilian use and to defy the national government whennecessary. Two days after the election, however, Ishihara, 66, told theJapan Times that his pledge to take back the base was only a''bluff,'' and that he hoped to negotiate a pact that would allowjoint military-commercial use of Yokota Air Base, located withinthe capital's borders. The co-author of ''The Japan That Can Say 'No''' with Sonyfounder Akio Morita has also been criticized for failing to sayhow he plans to resolve Tokyo's financial crisis, brought on by acombination of overspending and shrinking tax revenues as aresult of the nation's recession.''With Tokyo on the verge of bankruptcy, his biggest andmost urgent task is reconstruction of the city's finances,'' theYomiuri newspaper said in an editorial. The city's budget deficit is running at around 100 billionyen ($836 million), and the government expects a revenueshortfall of 620 billion yen in the year through March 2001, thepaper said. The Yomiuri blamed Tokyo's first red ink in 18 years on anirresponsible bureaucracy and ''a lack of leadership'' byoutgoing Governor Yukio Aoshima. Aoshima, 66, yesterday gave himself high marks for hisperformance over the last four years, saying: ''I have done allthe things I had to do,'' the Japan Times reported. A novelist, television personality and member of the upperhouse of parliament before his surprise victory in 1994 as anindependent, Aoshima pledged to take back Tokyo's government fromthe hands of bureaucrats. He quickly fulfilled his promise to mothball the World CityExpo Tokyo '96, a waterfront project pushed by his predecessorthat would have cost billions of yen. Yet that soured Aoshima'srelationship with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-dominatedcity assembly. Aoshima disappointed his supporters when he failed to breakthe grip of bureaucrats on the city's administration, and insteadheavily relied on their guidance. (Bloomberg) | |||||||||
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