東京一極集中の是正訴え　「ポスト安倍」へ石破、岸田氏

　安倍晋三首相（自民党総裁）の後継を目指す石破茂元幹事長と岸田文雄政調会長が２７日、東京一極集中の是正に向け持論を展開した。
　石破氏は大阪市内で講演し、新型コロナウイルス感染拡大を踏まえ「東京一極集中を是正するための税制の在り方を今考えないでどうするか」と訴えた。ただ、税制を具体的にどう改めるかには言及しなかった。
　石破氏は、東京への人や資源の集中について「明治政府が短期間に富国強兵、殖産興業を成し遂げるために絶対に必要なものだった」とした上で、「今、国策として地方に分散しないと国家が持たない」と時代背景の違いを強調。次期総裁選でも政権構想の柱に位置付ける考えとみられる。
　一方、岸田氏は党本部で記者会見し、「最新の技術、イノベーションを活用する形で東京の過度の密集（解消）、地方活性化を果たしていく。こういった政治の取り組みは大事ではないか」と語った。（2020/07/27-17:54）

Japanese ruling party bigwigs Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida, both seen as potential candidates to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have voiced their thoughts on correcting the overconcentration in Tokyo.
   In a lecture in the western Japan city of Osaka on Monday, Ishiba, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, stressed the need for overhauling the tax system immediately to deal with the situation amid the novel coronavirus epidemic while stopping short of going into details.
   Concentrating population and resources in Tokyo "was absolutely necessary" for the governments in the Meiji era as they tried to achieve the goals of bringing prosperity to the nation, strengthening its military at the time and nurturing industries in a short period of time.
   But he added, "Our nation would be unable to survive unless we promote decentralization now as a national policy." Ishiba is expected to call for decentralization as a pillar in his policy platform for the next LDP leadership election.
   At a news conference held at the LDP's headquarters in Tokyo the same day, Kishida, chairman of the party's Policy Research Council, said, "I will try to resolve the excessive concentration in Tokyo and revitalize regional communities using cutting-edge technologies and innovation."