The Osaka Municipal Government will sever ties with the Japanese Red Cross Society in August and stop collecting donations on behalf of the organization, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Tuesday.
Hashimoto told reporters the city has already informed the Red Cross of the decision, based on the idea the municipal government should abstain from having ties with any particular community group.
The Japan Red Cross Society said it has been teaming up with all municipal governments across the nation to collect donations and that it has entrusted an Osaka vice mayor since the 1950s to serve as the city's regional head for the organization, while the 24 ward mayors serve as the Red Cross chiefs in those areas.
It is unusual for a municipal government to end ties with the Red Cross, which engages in disaster relief operations and other services considered beneficial to the public, experts said.
The deputy mayor and ward mayors will resign as heads of the Red Cross' regional offices at the end of July. The municipal government will cease collecting donations on behalf of the Red Cross at the same time, officials said.
The city of Osaka has been transferring more than ¥200 million worth of donations a year to the Red Cross, which spends the money on disaster relief, blood drives and life-saving activities.
The Japan Red Cross Society said it is searching for alternative partners.
Hashimoto, who served as Osaka governor between February 2008 and last November, resigned as head of the Osaka prefectural chapter of the Red Cross in June 2010, saying he was not directly involved in the organization's operations.