The Abe administration's czar for regional regeneration believes it is a case of sink or swim: Enterprising communities will maintain their grip on state funding and flourish, and stragglers will be cut loose.
"Am I telling them to compete? Yes, I am," Shigeru Ishiba, the minister responsible for regional revival, said in an interview in Tokyo. "Does that mean wider gaps among the regions? You bet. If we equalize things among those who make an effort and those who don't, the whole nation will collapse."
With Japan's debt topping ¥1 quadrillion, the government can't keep bringing prosperity to the countryside via public works, according to Ishiba. His comments come ahead of local elections in the spring and as municipalities prepare submissions for subsidies for the fiscal year starting in April 2016.