Tokyo Metropolitan Government

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The Tōkyō Tochō ( Japanese. 東京 都 庁 , Tochō for short , ( 都 庁 ); English Tokyo Metropolitan Government , short TMG ) has been the administration of the Japanese prefecture of Tokyo ( Tōkyō-to , English Tokyo Metropolis ) since 1943 . Until 1946/47 it was subordinate to the Tosei of the central government and at the same time functioned as local government for the 35 districts of the former city ​​of Tokyo in the east of the prefecture. Since 1947, the Tokyo Prefecture has been a self-governing local authority within the meaning of Chapter 8 of the post-war constitution , and the metropolitan area of ​​Tokyo has been reorganized into special districts ( tokubetsu-ku , today: cities , at the prefecture administration and earlier: special wards ) at the local level. The latter still leave some local taxes and tasks to the prefecture administration, but today they have largely the same rights of self-government as the other municipalities in the prefecture and throughout the country. The special status of the Tokyo metropolitan area results in some peculiarities of the Tokyo people compared to other prefectural administrations. Regardless of this, Tokyo Prefecture is the most populous, economically and financially strongest prefecture in Japan, which increases its room for maneuver compared to other prefectures that are more dependent on central government allocations.

The prefectural administration has its seat in the Tōkyō Tochō-sha (English Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building ), which has been in the Shinjuku district (English Shinjuku City ) since 1991 : The main office of the governor, most of the offices, independent committees, and sub-prefectures are located there public company of Tokyo Prefecture. The prefectural parliament meets next door in the same building complex.

Often, e.g. B. at the [subway] station or the former tram stop Tochō-mae, Tochō is used in Japanese as a short name for the building, not the institution. For the prefecture administration again often only Tōkyō-to , Tokyo prefecture, is used. Depending on the context, only to ( 都 ) is sufficient , since Tokyo is the only prefecture so far called -to - the other 46 are -dō , -fu or -ken .

Including the public companies and independent authorities, over 168,000 people are employed by the prefecture: over 38,000 in the governor's departments and the three public companies, over 64,000 in schools, around 46,500 in the police and around 18,500 in the fire service (permanent positions, fiscal year 2018) .

organization

Status: October 2018

Note: The German terms used in this article are neither official nor the only possible translations that appear in literature; For the sake of consistency, uniform translations have been used for the same Japanese term. The English translations given are "official" in the sense that they are used by the prefecture administration itself, but as translations are by definition unofficial in the legal sense (unless, for example, they have been so stipulated in international agreements); English translations for the same institutions can sometimes be found in English-language literature and at other government agencies.

  • The governor ( chiji ) elected directly by the people, as in all prefectures
    • and in Tokyo up to four lieutenant governors ( fuku-chiji ), who are appointed by the governor with the consent of the prefecture parliament, are subordinate to the governor departments ( chiji bukyoku ):
      • the political planning office ( seisaku kikaku-kyoku , 政策 企 画 局 , English Office of the Governor for Policy Planning ) as a kind of governor's office, whose tasks include international relations and public relations,
        • the main department for children, adolescents and public safety ( seishōnen, chian taisaku hombu , 青少年 ・ 治安 対 策 本部 , English Office for Youth Affairs and Public Safety ),
      • the Office for General Affairs ( sōmu-kyoku , 総 務 局 , English Bureau Of General Affairs ), which is responsible, among other things, for administrative matters and relations with the communities and
        • its sub-departments include the four sub-prefectures ( shichō , literally " branch office" ) for the Izu and Ogasawara Islands,
      • the Office of Financial Affairs ( zaimu-kyoku , 財務 局 , English Bureau Of Finance ),
      • the tax office, literally "office for taxes" ( shuzei-kyoku , 主 税局 , English Bureau of Taxation ),
      • the Office for "Life and Culture" ( seikatsu-bunka-kyoku , 生活 文化局 , English Bureau of Citizens and Culture ),
      • the Preparatory Office for the Olympic and Paralympic Games ( Olympic, Paralympic Junbi-kyoku オリンピック·パラリンピック準備局, Eng. Bureau of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Preparation ), the 2014 from the sports promotion office ( sports-Shinko-kyoku , スポーツ振興局 , English Bureau of Sports ) emerged,
      • the office for " city ​​planning " ( toshi-seibi-kyoku , 都市 整 備 局 , English Bureau Of Urban Development ), which deals with urban, spatial planning and some construction matters,
      • the Environment Agency ( kankyō-kyoku , 環境 局 , English Bureau of Environment ),
      • the Office for Social Welfare and Public Health ( fukushi-hoken-kyoku , 福祉 保健 局 , English Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health ),
        • the main department for hospital operations ( byōin-keiei-hombu , 病院 経 営 本部 , English Office of Metropolitan Hospital Management ),
      • the Office for Industry and Labor ( sangyō-rōdō-kyoku , 産業 労 働 局 , English Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs ),
      • the building authority ( kensetsu-kyoku , 建設 局 , English Bureau of Construction ),
      • the port authority ( kōwan-kyoku , 港湾 局 , English Bureau of Port and Harbor ), which in addition to the ports of Tokyo and on the islands also some prefecture parks ( toritsu kōen ) and prefecture-operated airports ( Chōfu , Hachijōjima, Ōshima , Kōzushima, Niijima, Miyakejima, Tōkyō Heliport ), and
      • the Office of Accounting Supervision ( kaikei-kanri-kyoku , 会計 管理局 , English Bureau of Accounting ).
    • No Governor Department, but part of the prefecture administration, the Tokyo Fire Department ( Tōkyō Shobo-chō , 東京消防庁 , Eng. Tokyo Fire Department ), which until 1960 former only for the city of Tokyo, but is responsible for almost the entire prefecture today.

Three public companies are also subject to the governor:

  • the transport office ( kōtsū-kyoku , 交通局 , English Bureau of Transportation ), which operates the prefectural subway ( toei chikatetsu ), the prefectural buses ( toei bus ), the prefectural tram ( Toden ), the Nippori-Toneri-Liner, operates the Ueno monorail and hydropower plants on the upper reaches of the Tama in the west of the prefecture,
  • the water supply office ( suidō-kyoku , 水道 局 , English Bureau of Waterworks ), which (like the fire brigade) is not responsible for the entire prefecture, and
  • the sewage office ( gesuidō-kyoku , 下水道 局 , English Bureau of Sewerage ), which is responsible for the sewage network in the former city of Tokyo and the disposal of sewage for large parts of the prefecture.

As "administrative committees" ( gyōsei iinkai , 行政 委員会 ) part of the prefecture administration, but to varying degrees independent in their tasks:

  • the Education Committee ( kyōiku iinkai , 教育 委員会 , English Board of Education ) with the associated education authority ( 教育 庁 , kyōiku-chō , English Office of Education ), which, as in all prefectures, is responsible for the supervision of public schools and the operation of the prefectural schools (mainly high schools) is responsible (but not private schools and / or universities),
  • the Election Administration Commission ( Senkyo kanri iinkai , 選 挙 管理 委員会 , English Election Administration Commission ) as in all prefectures, see elections in Japan # Organization and supervision ,
  • the Personnel Commission ( jinji iinkai , 人事 委員会 , English Personnel Commission ), which, as in all prefectures, is to oversee and regulate human resources as an independent body,
  • the auditors or the revision [committee] ( kansa iin , 監 査 委員 ; since it is not a collectively acting committee ( iiinkai ) but individually acting auditors, the institution is only called iin ( 委員 ), which is normally the name for a / who is a member of a committee; English Audit and Inspection Commissioners ) with the associated secretariat ( kansa-jimukyoku , 監 査 事務 局 , English Secretariat ), which, as in all prefectures, an independent audit of the finances of prefectural authorities and recipients of prefectural funds,
  • the Public Safety Commission ( kōan iinkai , 公安 委員会 , English Public Safety Commission ), which, as in all prefectures, is responsible for overseeing the prefectural police ; However, the Tokyo Prefectural Police, Keishi-chō (English Metropolitan Police Department ), is subject to the influence of the central government because of its capital functions, unlike other prefectural police forces.
  • the Working Committee ( rōdō iinkai , 労 働 委員会 , Labor Relations Commission ), which, like in all prefectures, is supposed to mediate in collective bargaining issues and prevent unfair working conditions, and
  • the Expropriation Committee ( shūyō iinkai , 収 用 委員会 , English Expropriation Commission ), which, as in all prefectures, decides on expropriations under the " Land Expropriation Act " ( tochi-shūyō-hō 土地 収 用法 ).

Also part of the prefecture administration (e.g. in the budget) is the parliamentary office ( gikai-kyoku , 議会 局 , English Secretariat to the Assembly ), the organizational tasks for the prefectural parliament ( Tōkyō togikai , 東京 都 議会 , English Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly ) perceives.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press release January 26, 2018: 平 成 30 年度 職員 定 数 等 の 概要 , accessed on October 11, 2018