Official car spa commute and IR ground issue: ……Numerous allegations that have been swept under the rug by Osaka Mayor Matsui’s retirement.

On April 6, Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui, 59, will retire from politics at the end of his term. Matsui, who founded the Osaka Restoration Association and has been politically active in promoting the “Osaka Metropolis Plan” and bidding for the World Exposition, has been reported by “FRIDAY” on a number of behind-the-scenes issues. Will his retirement from politics leave him in the dark? The following is a recounting of the allegations against Mayor Matsui that this magazine has been pursuing.

(The information is current at the time of publication. (Information was current at the time of publication, but has been updated to reflect current conditions.)

Mayor Matsui’s Unstoppable “Commuting to Spas in Official Vehicles

Shortly after 5:00 p.m. in mid-July 2022, an Alphard arrived at the entrance of a hotel in Osaka City. From the license plate, we could tell that it was an official car of the city of Osaka. Getting out of the back seat of the car was then 58-year-old Ichiro Matsui, the mayor of Osaka City. Without looking aside, the mayor headed for the floor where the hotel’s spa facilities were located.

The hotel is a 10-minute drive from Osaka City Hall, and is equipped with a spa, sauna, fitness gym, and other facilities. How could he conduct “official business” at a spa facility? When we checked the “Mayor’s Schedule” on the city’s website, there was no mention of his stopover at this hotel. If it is not listed, then it must be “personal business. According to the logbook of the official car obtained by “FRIDAY,” he stopped at the hotel 34 times from January to June 2010.

To begin with, Mayor Matsui has a “record” of commuting to spas in his official car.

At the end of 2008, “Nikkan Gendai” reported that Mayor Matsui visited the facility 64 times in his official car between January and November of the same year. At that time, he was criticized for mixing his public and private life, and he was supposed to have refrained from going to the spa for a while. However, he seems to have cooled off and resumed his spa visits this year,” said an Osaka City Hall official.

When we asked the Osaka City Office of Policy Planning about the appropriateness of the purpose of the use of official vehicles, we received the following response.

When we asked the Osaka City Office of Policy Planning about the appropriateness of the purpose of the use of official cars, they responded as follows: “We do not see any problem with the use of official cars for transportation to and from hotels and other places after the completion of official duties, taking into consideration that hotels and other places are closer than his home.

The city claims that the use of the room is in accordance with the standards, but there is still a problem with Mayor Matsui. The problem with Mayor Matsui, however, is that he is not performing his official duties. A City Hall employee makes the accusation.

In May of this year, he worked only 12 days. Even when he does come to the office, he usually comes in the afternoon and leaves at 5:00 p.m., so it cannot be said that he is doing much work, and the staff is being pushed around. Therefore, we have been told, ‘If you have a matter that requires the mayor’s approval, submit it during the council session when you can be sure of getting to work.

Mayor Matsui has only nine months left in his term as mayor after announcing his resignation as head of The Japan Innovation Party. He has lost all motivation as a politician, leaving work earlier than the rest of the staff and driving to the spa in his official car.

Political journalist Koichi Kakutani said, “He seems to have lost all motivation as a politician.

The head of Osaka City, who was elected on the promise of “decisive reform,” is using an official car for personal use. The city may as well demand that the driver’s personnel expenses and gasoline be returned to him. It is also a problem of the lack of checks by the city council, of which the majority is dominated by the Restoration Party.”

One day at 6:30 p.m., when we directly confronted the mayor after his “bath,” he replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.

–You drove your official car to the hotel today, didn’t you?

Yes.

–It has been a problem before, but have you changed your mind?

No.

–Is it correct to think that there is no problem?

Yes.

After answering that, he got into the car that picked him up and headed home. This time, it was an Alphard belonging to Ishin. He was very devious.

The planned IR construction site was “lily-livered ground” like a bottomless swamp. ……

Just taking a step forward, my boots were sucked into the ground up to my ankles. It was like a bottomless swamp. It is obvious at a glance that the ground is so slippery that not even a stake can be driven into it. It is absolutely impossible to build a casino or hotel here.

Yumeshima, Osaka, is the planned site of an integrated resort (IR) that Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City are trying to attract to the area. Yumeshima is an artificial island created by landfill, and problems of liquefaction, soil contamination, and ground subsidence have long been pointed out.

The photo at the beginning of this report is a picture of the planned construction site obtained by this magazine from a person involved in the construction. The ochre-colored soil mixed with grass and branches resembles a swamp. Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City are proceeding with the construction of the plot with the aim of opening the IR in the fall or winter of 2029. Excavators, excavating cranes, and other heavy machinery are in operation at the site.

The workers at the site said, “We knew there were some problems with the ground and soil, but we didn’t realize how soft it was. It is rare to find such a difficult site. Osaka City had insisted that no public funds would be used for the casino construction costs, but decided to invest approximately 79 billion yen for soil contamination countermeasures and liquefaction measures. However, having actually seen the site with my own eyes, my impression is that 79 billion yen is not going to be enough.

The planned construction site is off-limits to all parties concerned, and its internal conditions are a black box. Moreover, the 79 billion yen that the city plans to spend on the project does not include measures to prevent land subsidence.

According to the Osaka City Port and Harbor Bureau’s document explaining the status of the land development project (Osaka Port Reclamation Project), the area in question has been reclaimed with dredged earth and soil and construction debris. The Osaka IR Basic Concept states, “The land is reclaimed with dredged soil, which is mainly composed of clay, and the ground is liquefaction-resistant. Dredged soil and sand are scooped up from the bottom of oceans and rivers and reprocessed. Although research is underway to find a strong and safe way to reuse dredged soil and sand, concerns about liquefaction cannot be dispelled.

In the first place, the attraction of IRs has not been successful. In January of this year, a local residents’ audit was requested regarding the lease of 490,000 square meters (49 hectares) of land to an operator for the low monthly rent of 428 yen per square meter.

The approval for the Osaka IR project will not be finalized by the end of 2010, and The Japan Innovation Party leader Baba Nobuyuki’s prediction that “good news (approval) will be delivered before the opening of the ordinary Diet session (in January 2011 )” has also failed.

An Osaka IR official said, “There are many Osaka City executives who say, ‘It is unreasonable to build an IR on that land.

Many Osaka City officials are of the opinion that it is unreasonable to build an IR on that land,” said one person involved in the Osaka IR industry. However, Mayor Matsui refuses to listen to them and has asked for an estimate of the additional cost to prevent land subsidence. It’s just that, The situation on the ground is so bad that I can’t even play the soroban.”

We inquired at the Osaka Prefectural Government’s IR Promotion Bureau about the current situation.

We asked the IR Promotion Bureau about the current situation.

We have not yet decided on the specific measures to be taken, as they will be decided after the IR is approved.

Is there any possibility of incurring costs for subsidence countermeasures?

We are aware of the risk of ground subsidence due to the nature of Yumeshima. If it does occur, the operator (Osaka IR Co., Ltd.) will take appropriate measures. The cost will be borne by the operator and not by Osaka Prefecture or the city.

–What is currently being done in Yumeshima?

We are currently working on infrastructure development, including the Osaka-Kansai Expo scheduled to be held in 2013, and construction of the IR will not begin until approval is granted, so we are currently conducting boring surveys and other work.

As a result, the approval for the IR facility was not granted during Mayor Matsui’s term in office. Will he be relieved of his post now, or will he continue to work on resolving issues after stepping down? As a one-time mayor, he will be held accountable.