Staff writer OSAKA -- Newly elected Osaka Gov. Fusae Ota said Monday that her priority is to restore financial health to the prefecture, noting she is confident she can push through plans for major cuts in local government jobs as part of the effort. "If prefectural officials really want to save Osaka as I do, we can definitely come to a compromise," Ota, 48, who was elected governor in the Sunday election by collecting 1.38 million votes, said in an interview. During the campaign, Ota said she would carry on her predecessor "Knock" Yokoyama's program to cut 2,200 out of 16,400 administrative jobs, and 4,800 out of the prefecture's 57,100 public school teachers over the next 10 years. Asked if she would still push for the job cuts considering the support she received from Rengo Osaka, the local chapter of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), Ota said its votes meant that she is already trusted by the union. The Osaka chapter of the All Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers' Union (Jichiro), which belongs to Rengo Osaka's organization, has about 5,000 members. "I will talk with union officials thoroughly while building a relationship of trust with them," Ota said, adding that she managed to gain trust while serving as vice governor of Okayama Prefecture between 1997 and 1999. As part of her promise to increase accountability to voters, Ota said she will try to hold sessions facilitating dialogue with local residents. "I think going to the front line is very important to know what people really want. For example, I want to talk with owners of small and medium-size companies. I also want to have a luncheon meeting with mothers who have difficulty raising their children," she said. Ota also said she intends to increase foreign residents' participation in the prefecture's activities, saying that she sees them not as foreign residents but as Osaka residents. However, she did not comment on whether she has any plans to open more local public job categories to non-Japanese. Promoting welfare programs for the elderly to cope with the rapidly aging population will also be on the agenda, she added. Having worked with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ota said her strong links with the central bureaucracy will be an effective tool for dealing with the national government. The central and prefectural governments must work as equal partners, rather than in a master-servant relationship, she said. As for her private life, Ota said she wants to cook for herself and her husband as often as possible, noting that "handmade meals are a basis for health." Ota, a MITI bureaucrat until just before she announced her candidacy in January, has commuted every weekend to her husband's house in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. She will now live in the governor's official residence because it is closer to her office.
