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The Current State of Infrastructure Maintenance as Seen in the Problem of Aging Water Pipes

The sewerage accident in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, has raised concerns about the current state of water and sewerage infrastructure and its future maintenance. A national expert panel has compiled recommendations with unprecedented speed, making unprecedentedly bold proposals, such as "ensuring redundancy and maintainability," "reviewing pipeline planning and design," and "actively promoting wide-area collaboration, including technical staff," calling for fundamental improvements. We talked to three people at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are in charge of water and sewerage projects: Masayuki HACHIUMA, General Manager of Water Supply & Sewage Dept., Land Infrastructure Div.; Masafumi NIIHIRA of the Sewerage Design Sec. within the same department; and Mitsuru AMANO of Water Circulation Design Sec., about what specific measures will be needed going forward.

PACIFIC CONSULTANTS' Naganuma Dam Project

The Hasama River, a Class A river in northern Miyagi Prefecture, frequently floods and is nicknamed the "Wild River." In 1971, a comprehensive flood control plan was drawn up to build 10 dams and one retarding basin, with Naganuma Dam, which utilizes natural lakes and marshes, at the center of the plan. However, the surrounding area is low-lying marshland with continuous soft ground. No dam had ever been built on such soft ground before. Four people who supported this difficult construction project, which lasted 40 years, from planning to completion: Tetsuo KOMORIYA, General Manager of Renewable Energy Promotion/Development Sec., River Basin Structural Dept., Land Infrastructure Div.; Takehiko HIRATSUKA in the Dams and Erosion Control Sec. of the same department; Atsushi FUNAYAMA, Geotechnical Engineering Dept. of the same division; and Ken OKAYA in the Tohoku Land Infrastructure Dept., look back on the efforts.

What is "Gun-Mane"?

The proportion of social infrastructure that has been in place for more than 50 years is rapidly expanding. However, many local governments are facing difficulties in maintaining and managing infrastructure due to a lack of personnel and funds. As a result, they are currently considering "Regional Infrastructure Group Regeneration Strategy Management (abbreviated as "Gun-Mane")," which would involve wide-area government collaboration and the efficient maintenance and management of infrastructure across multiple fields. Currently, 11 model regions across the country have been selected, and consideration is being given to their implementation. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS is actively supporting Gun-Mane, including involvement in all of these model regions. We interviewed Kojiro TODANI from the Infrastructure Management Sec.,Infrastructure Management Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div., and Shigeto TANAKA from the Infrastructure Management Sec.,Osaka Transportation Infrastructure Dept., who are spearheading the initiative, about the current state of Gun-Mane and its future prospects.

What does Carbon Neutrality for Roads mean?

The increasing frequency and severity of disasters caused by extreme weather, such as extreme heat, torrential rain, and forest fires, are threatening people's lives around the world. Steady implementation of measures aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is essential to curbing the progression of global warming, which is the underlying cause of these disasters. Efforts are also being made in the road sector, which accounts for approximately 18% of Japan's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the government revised the Road Act in April 2025 to include a "promotion of road decarbonization," which will come into effect in October 2025. We talked to Hiroyuki WADA, General Manager of Transportation Planning Dept., Social Innovation Div.; Sayo SAITO, Urban Mobility Sec. of the same department; and Nobuo TAKAHASHI, Road Promotion Sec., Road & Highway Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div., to find out what will be required of road administrators in the future.

<Mongolia> Data Collection Survey on Promoting Energy Transition

Mongolia, a signatory to Paris Agreement adopted in 2015, has set long-term goal for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is working to achieve it. However, given the country's abundant coal resources, it will be difficult to break away from its dependence on coal. JICA launched an Data Collection Survey Project in 2024 to determine what kind of assistance Japan could provide and to formulate guidelines. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS served as the prime partner of the joint venture responsible for the project, and Hironori KOBAYASHI of International Facilities Sec., Facility Engineering Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div., worked on-site as an assistant to Project Manager.

What is Smart Forestry?

Japan is one of the world's leading forested countries. The value of forests is not only being reassessed from the perspective of timber utilization, but also from the perspective of achieving carbon neutrality, disaster prevention, and biodiversity conservation. However, Japan's forestry industry is plagued by low productivity and a serious labor shortage. The promotion of smart forestry is expected to solve these issues. We spoke with three people at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are working on this initiative: Hisashi NAKAMURA of the Information Business Dept., Digital Service Div.; Kyosuke SAKURAI of Environmental Symbiosis Dept., Social Innovation Div. and Advanced Technology Center; and Chiyoshi MINAMI of the Project Management Dept., Project Management Div.

What is Water PPP?

PPP/PFI is a promising method for simultaneously resolving various social issues and achieving economic growth. To accelerate its promotion, the government established a new action plan in 2023. One of the pillars of this plan is "Water PPP." What exactly is Water PPP? What are its benefits? What are the key points to consider when implementing it? Representatives from Water Agency and PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, both of which are actively working on this initiative on the private sector, discussed the matter, sharing case studies.

Eco Green Tochigi Project

Tochigi Prefecture began work on the construction of final landfill site after the discovery of illegal dumping of industrial wastes, but its progress was slow due to opposition from residents. However, it is difficult to eradicate illegal dumping without final landfill site within the prefecture. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS has proposed a completely closed, environmentally friendly approach using a unique PFI system that maximizes the business management's know-how of the private sector, contributing to the creation of final landfill site, "Eco Green Tochigi." Toshihiko TOKIDA, Technical Manager of Regional Environment Business Promotion Sec. in Resource Circulation Management Dept. and Wataru SUGIURA, General Manager of Section of the same section, who provided the support, look back on the project.

What is Area Marketing?

Analyzing trade areas and regional characteristics is essential for corporate marketing and for planning services and urban development measures promoted by local governments. Various types of big data are now available, and their utilization is attracting attention, but many people are unsure of the effects they can expect. We spoke to Taichi FUDAMOTO of the DX Business Promotion Dept., Digital Service Div. and one of the core members developing the human flow statistics service "Nation-wide Movement Statistics," about what area marketing using big data is, what it can reveal, and how it can be utilized.

What is a Parametric Model?

With the promotion of BIM/CIM to improve productivity at construction sites, a major issue at present is the amount of work required to create BIM/CIM. In particular, how efficiently creating structural models can be achieved will have a major impact on future productivity improvements. This is why parametric models are now attracting attention. They are also entering the practical application stage in the world of civil engineering. We talked to four people at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are involved in the development and promotion of parametric models: Satoshi TOBIOKA of Erosion Control Dept. of the National Land and Infrastructure Div.; Masato KIKUCHI of Erosion Control Dept. and Advanced Technology Center; Tatsuji YAMAGUCHI of the Ports and Harbors Dept. of the same division; and Miho TANAKA of Ports and Harbors Dept. and Advanced Technology CenterWith the promotion of BIM/CIM to improve productivity at construction sites, a major issue at present is the amount of work required to create BIM/CIM. In particular, how efficiently creating structural models can be achieved will have a major impact on future productivity improvements. This is why parametric models are now attracting attention. They are also entering the practical application stage in the world of civil engineering. We talked to four people at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are involved in the development and promotion of parametric models: Satoshi TOBIOKA of Erosion Control Dept. of the National Land and Infrastructure Div.; Masato KIKUCHI of Erosion Control Dept. and Advanced Technology Center; Tatsuji YAMAGUCHI of the Ports and Harbors Dept. of the same division; and Miho TANAKA of Ports and Harbors Dept. and Advanced Technology Center, about the current situation and future development.

What is a Autonomous Driving Bus?

Route buses are essential public transportation that anyone can use easily. However, an increasing number of routes are being forced to reduce or discontinue service due to decreasing users and a lack of drivers, making stable continuity a major issue. This is where expectations are rising for autonomous driving buses. While a field demonstration experiment and demonstration runs are underway across the country, challenges are also emerging. We interviewed three people who have been involved in the development of autonomous driving systems and supporting the introduction of autonomous driving buses for a long time, including Akira MITSUYASU and Kai KOMORI from the Mobility DX Sec., DX Business Promotion Dept., and Ken WATANABE from Urban Management Sec., Transportation Planning Dept., about the current state of the introduction of autonomous driving buses, the steps involved, and points to be aware of.

What is Roadside Station?

"Roadside Stations", which began in 1993, are expected to have 1,230 registered stations as of the end of January 2025, and are expected to play a key role in revitalizing regional areas. However, while some are popular for selling goods, many are struggling with low user numbers. We interviewed about the current state of roadside station and their future direction to Ichiro MIYAMORI from the Infrastructure Business Management Dept., and Masaharu KATSURADA from the Project Promotion Sec. of Tohoku Social Innovation Business Dept. of Project Innovation Div. of PACIFIC CONSULTANTS which have been deeply involved in roadside station as a private business sector as well as providing consulting services to many local governments across the country, such as creating basic plans and conducting feasibility studies.

Corporate's Climate Change Countermeasures

In recent years, extreme weather events such as extreme heat waves and torrential rains have been occurring frequently in many parts of the world, causing severe damage such as floods and landslides. These weather disasters are believed to be caused by global warming in addition to the effects of natural variability. It is "beyond doubt" ("IPCC 6th Report") that human activities have caused global warming mainly through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and how to reduce GHG emissions has become an important issue not only for governments and local public organizations but also for private companies and individual citizens. We interviewed three people who are involved in the formulation of guidelines for national climate change countermeasures and at the same time provide a wide range of support for local public organizations and corporate carbon neutrality, from strategic planning to on-site implementation: Kimiko KAJII, Chief Technical General Manager and General Project Manager of ESG Sustainable Smart City, Ryota II, General Manager of GX Promotion Dept., Social Innovation Div., and Keizo IKEDA, General Manager of Climate and Resources Policy Sec., who is also a member of this department of PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, about how companies should promote climate change countermeasures.

What is a Bulk Plastic Waste Collection?

In April 2022, the "Act on the Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics" came into effect, requiring local governments to collect and recycle plastic waste other than plastic waste used for conventional containers and packaging in bulk. While there are some issues that need to be addressed, such as the need to review the collection and transportation system and the garbage collection calendar, the importance of this initiative is increasing in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We interviewed Takuma KANO from the Resource Circulation Management Dept.,Atsushi TAKENOUCHI from the DX Business Promotion Dept. , and Gou YAMAMURA from the Disaster Prevention Dept. of PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, who provide various consulting services, including analysis of the current situation, identification of issues, and operation management systems for collection vehicles, to ensure smooth implementation of bulk collection.

Protecting Corporate Facilities and Factories from Landslides

In recent years, there have been many landslides caused by short periods of heavy rain, and the number of casualties per disaster has been on the rise. Protecting corporate employees, their families, facilities, and factories from landslides is a major issue for business continuity. However, when it comes to deciding specifically where to start, many people say they don't know where to start. We spoke with Takahiro Igarashi, who is in charge of supporting companies in formulating disaster prevention plans, business creation, and the development and operation of the landslide information service "Doshaburu®" in the Disaster Disaster Prevention Dept. of PACIFIC CONSULTANTS 'Digital Service Div. Headquarters, and Tatsuki Hirano of the Resilience Promotion Office in the same department.