The “unprecedented scattering” of 50,000 yen in cash, rice, and even cake in Oto Town, Fukuoka Prefecture, is a “desperate situation.

50,000 yen per person and 5 kg of rice

About an hour’s drive from central Fukuoka City. The policies of Oto Town, with a population of about 5,000, adjacent to Tagawa City, are attracting attention throughout the prefecture.

The town’s mayor was shot and killed, its chairman was shot, and for a long time no public questions were asked at town council meetings. The catchphrase “Ohtomachi is in trouble!　Oto-machi,” a poster that resembles a chivalrous movie with the catchphrase “Oto-machi,” won the “Hometown Pamphlet Award,” and other controversial events have been taking place in the town.

The town will provide “50,000 yen per resident, including 5 kg of rice,” and it is extremely rare for a municipality in Japan to offer such a generous financial support. However, the people of the prefecture seem to have received it in a variety of ways. A reporter for a local newspaper commented, “Ohtomachi is a town in the Tagawa area.

The town of Oto is overwhelmingly financially better off than neighboring municipalities, partly because it accepted a project to build a waste treatment facility in the Tagawa area. The balance of the fiscal adjustment fund and other funds is also 5.1 billion yen, an increase of nearly three times over the past 20 years. Many residents are taking this economic policy as a buffer against accepting a large waste treatment facility, which some have opposed, and as a “scattering” in preparation for the mayoral election coming up next March.

This reporter once visited Daito-cho for an interview and was surprised to find that the town hall and roadside station were stylishly built and the roads were well painted. The town’s size is hard to imagine, but there was construction work going on everywhere. Driving to a neighboring town, the difference was striking.

The total cost of the economic assistance project was 280 million yen. In addition to cash and rice, the payments will include natto (fermented soybeans), dressing, and other specialty products. In addition, the town will present birthday cakes (approximately 18 cm in diameter) to residents who will celebrate their birthdays from January next year onward.

The presence of big-name politicians is also visible.

Although the mayor explains that his aim is “to encourage people to lead bright and healthy lives,” one town council member sighs, “The benefits were paid for the Corona disaster, but this time it is normal times, even though prices are high.

The benefits were paid for the COVID-19 crisis, but this time it is normal times, despite the high cost of living. …… I can only think of it as a disbursement in anticipation of the town mayor’s election, is my frank impression. In the past, the town has provided support for the purchase of school bags and distributed T-shirts with town characters on them, so there is a strong aspect that the residents have become accustomed to receiving supplies. I hear that there have already been more than 200 applications for birthday cakes.

If one were to speak out against the project at a town council meeting, he or she would be loudly booed by the residents, so no one can speak up at the council meeting. On the other hand, neighboring municipalities are asking, ‘What is the policy of Daito-cho? ‘ And rightly so.”

Mayor Nagahara Joji, 71, is sometimes referred to locally as the “Don of Tagawa. He has served four terms as president of the Fukuoka Prefecture Association of Towns and Villages and as vice president of the National Association of Towns and Villages, and has a strong influence among the towns in the prefecture. Behind his conspicuous presence is said to be the presence of a certain big-name politician. A former town council member continues, “Mayor Nagahara used to be Takeda.

Mayor Nagahara used to be the head of the campaign headquarters for Ryota Takeda, 56, the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Takeda was defeated in this year’s lower house election by a new candidate from the Restoration Association, but it is believed that the strong anti-Nagahara voice in the local community had a strong influence on his success. Mayor Nagahara has taken a heavy-handed approach, such as withholding the results of public works bids and banning the filming and recording of news coverage of town government issues at council meetings, claiming that such coverage is biased. In 2009, the mayor was arrested for threatening a man in his 20s with a baton.

What is the aim of this “excessive” economic support? When we asked an official in charge of the General Affairs, Planning, and Finance Division of the town office, he replied, “The town government is trying to support the local economy against the background of high prices.

One of the reasons is to reduce the economic burden on the lives of the town’s residents against a backdrop of high prices. It is also a way of expressing our gratitude to the residents of the town for accepting the construction of so-called “negative facilities,” such as the city’s landfill facility. The distribution of birthday cakes is part of the project to watch over the elderly, as the town wants to support them on their happy day. We also aim to check on the health of the elderly when we visit their homes to deliver the cakes.

When we were asked by a town council member, “Isn’t this a campaign measure for the mayor’s election?This is a town-led program,” he said, denying the allegation outright.

Normally, the residents of the town would be happy to receive extra income and material support. However, there is also a situation in Daito-cho where they cannot simply rejoice in such a situation.