#PPP

What is LABV?

LABV (Local Asset Backed Vehicle) is attracting attention as a new way to utilize vacant land owned by local public organizations. In this model, each of the public and private sector invests to create a business entity that develops a complex of public and private revenue-generating facilities, with both parties sharing risks and benefits equally. We talked to Nobuyoshi TAKAGI and Tomoki ONISHI from the PPP Project Sec., PPP Management Dept., Social Innovation Div. of PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are also providing support for its implementation.

What are Microplastics?

Addressing plastic waste that persists in the environment for extended periods is a major global challenge. In particular, there are concerns about the impact of microplastics on marine life and human health, but the sources, movement, and diffusion of these plastics are not fully understood, making effective countermeasures difficult. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS is developing technologies to elucidate the dynamics of plastic waste from its generation in terrestrial areas (watersheds) to its transport. This time, we spoke with Hiroshi UEHARA and Taro SHOJI from the Water Management Sec., Watershed Planning Dept., Land Infrastructure Div. who are in charge of this initiative.

What is area management?

The term "area management" is by no means new. The government spoke of the need for such initiatives nearly 20 years ago, in 2008. Even before that, they had been considering central urban area revitalization, town management, and new roles for regional management. And now, the role that regions must play is becoming increasingly important, and there is a demand for comprehensive improvement of urban capabilities that encompass elements such as disaster prevention, decarbonization, and biodiversity. What does modern area management entail? We spoke with Daisaku TANAKA, General Manager of the Business Design Department, Solution Business Division PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, and Sayaka YAMAMOTO, Project Manager, who are working on various social experiments.

Working as a Private Sector's Engineers Team to Quickly Complete the "Kamaishi-Yamada Road"

The Sanriku Coastal Road (Sanriku Road), which runs along the coast of the Tohoku region and connects Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, and Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, had been under construction before the earthquake, but only a portion of it was open. National Route 45, which also runs along the coast, suffered extensive damage in various parts from the Tsunami. The early reopening of the Sanriku Road was essential for the restoration from the earthquake. In order to advance this project at the exceptional speed of approximately 10 years, the government introduced a PPP to expedite the project, a first in the country. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS was awarded the contract for this work in the Kamaishi-Yamada construction section, making a significant contribution to the early completion of the road. Four people who played a central role in the project - Amane TOMATSU from the Structural Sec., Tohoku Transportation Infrastructure Dept. of the Tohoku Branch Office, Osamu YAMAKAGE, Masato SHIRAISHI, and Tomohiro OYAMA from the Roads Sec. of the same department - look back on that time.

What is Floating Offshore Wind Power Generation?

In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the Japanese government has set a target of 40-50% of renewable energy in the energy mix by fiscal year 2040. Wind power, particularly floating offshore wind power, is expected to play a major role alongside solar power. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS has a proven track record in the wind power field since the early 2000s. We spoke with three people about the current state and future outlook for floating offshore wind power: Takehiko SANO, General Manager of the Wind Power Promotion Project Sec. in the Project Management Dept. of the Project Management Div.; Katsuhide FUJISHIMA, Chief Engineer; and Aya IWANAMI, Assistant Technical Manager at the Earthquake Resistance Center in Structural Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div.

Climate Change Adaptation Measures in Ports and Harbors

With rising sea levels and larger typhoons due to climate change, how to protect ports from flooding damage has become a major issue. However, because ports are spread across a wide area and involve a variety of public and private entities, no single entity can take effective measures alone. What is needed is "collaborative protection," in which all stakeholders work together toward a common goal. The government has also published "Guidelines for Creating Collaborative Protection Plans," and in the future, each port will begin full-scale efforts. We spoke with Takayuki Ooie, General Manager of Section of Ports and Harbors and Coast Sec. in the Port Ports and Harbors Dept. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, and Ryunosuke Kanno Chief Project Manager of Ports and Harbors Planning Sec. about the latest trends in collaborative protection efforts.

What is a Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) System?

Efforts are underway to realize Level 4 autonomous driving. As navigating intersections on public roads is a major challenge, the development of a Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) through road infrastructure development has been considered, and demonstration experiment have been carried out in various locations. From next fiscal year, the launch of technical standards and guidelines will finally begin, and the system will enter the widespread adoption phase. We talked to Naoki FUNAOKA from the Transportation Planning Dept., Social Innovation Div., Akira MITSUYASU from the Mobility DX Sec., DX Business Promotion Dept., Digital Service Div., Ryotaro TOMINAGA from the Transportation Strategy Sec., Social Innovation Div. of Chubu, and Daichi NAKAYAMA from the Transportation Policy Sec., Social Innovation Div. of Hokkaido, PACIFIC CONSULTANTS, who have all conducted numerous demonstration experiments tailored to local traffic conditions, about the current state and challenges of road-vehicle collaborative systems.

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.

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?

Extreme weather events such as heat waves, torrential rains, and forest fires are causing increasingly frequent and severe disasters that threaten people's lives around the world. To halt the progression of global warming, which is the cause of these disasters, the steady implementation of measures toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is essential. Efforts are also being made urgently in the road sector, which accounts for approximately 18% of Japan's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The government included "promotion of road decarbonization" in the revised Road Act, which was enacted in April 2025. What will be required of road managers in the future? We spoke with four people: Hiroyuki WADA, General Manager of the Transportation Infrastructure Div. Transportation Planning Dept., Social Innovation Div.; Sayo SAITO, Urban Mobility Sec., the same department; Nobuo TAKAHASHIi, Road Promotion Office, Road & Highway Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Business Headquarters; and Naohiro UCHIYAMA, Urban & Disaster Prevention DX Office, Osaka Digital Services Business Department, Osaka Osaka Headquarters.

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 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.

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.

What is final landfill site? An expert explains the remaining years and environmental measures

Although final landfill site of industrial wastes is an important facility that supports local economic activities, its construction entails great difficulties, including the formation of consensus with local residents. It is difficult for private business sectors to construct a facility by itself, and public-involvement type construction is attracting attention. We interviewed Ko SUGIURA, General Manager of Regional Environment Business Promotion Sec., Resource Circulation Management Dept. and Toshihiko TOKITA, Technical Manager of the same section, who have a great deal of experiences in PACIFIC CONSULTANTS' construction of final landfill sites, about points to keep in mind in public-involved constructio of fifinal landfill site, and points of maintenance and operation, including business support using PFI, a typical method of PPP.

What is PPP/PFI (Public-Private Partnership)?

Amidst financial constraints and a decline in local government staff, maintaining public facilities and services is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, the government is strongly promoting PPP/PFI (Public-Private Partnerships) as a means of solving social issues and driving a growth-oriented economy. We spoke with Takashi Ishikawa, head of PPP Management Dept., and Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, General Manager of Section of the Infrastructure PPP Office in the same department, to learn about the advantages of PPP/PFI and the key factors for its success.

Sanjo City's Comprehensive Private Sector Outsourcing Project

Sanjo City, which has been actively promoting comprehensive private sector outsourcing for infrastructure maintenance and management, began Phase III (5-year) of outsourcing in the spring of 2024. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS has been participating as a member of the joint venture (JV) that will receive comprehensive outsourcing since Phase II (April 2019 - March 2024), which precedes this. This is the first time for a construction consultant in the country to do so. Why did the local construction companies join a mainly made up JV, and what kind of results produced? Nobutaka INAMITSU, General Manager of the Spatial Creation Sect. of Infrastructure Management Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div. who is at the center of the initiative, along with Ryo NAKAI and Masahiro MATSUOKA from the same section, explain the story.

What is Comprehensive Entrustment of Infrastructure to Private Sector?

How to protect infrastructure such as roads with limited personnel and budgets is a major issue for local governments. One promising method that is garnering attention is "Comprehensive Entrustment to Private Sector." We spoke with three people from PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who have pioneered this field and have achieved many successes: Nobutaka INAMITSU of the Spatial Creation Section, Infrastructure Management Dept., Transportation Infrastructure Div.; Kazuya MURAMATSU of the Infrastructure PPP Section, PPP Management Dept., Social Innovation Div.; and Shigeto TANAKA of the Infrastructure Management Section, Transportation Infrastructure Dept., Osaka Headquarters.

What is Disaster Resilience?

Since Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, called for "strengthening resilience against disasters," resilience has become an important keyword in disaster prevention. We talked to with Takashi ITO, General Manager of the Disaster Prevention Dept., Digital Service Div., about what resilience is, which is said to be a step forward from conventional thinking of disaster prevention and reduction, and how it can be realized.

What is a Sounding Research?

"Sounding-type Market Research" is rapidly expanding in PPP projects. As citizen needs become more diverse, it is becoming increasingly important to listen to the voices of private business sectors in order to create and succeed in business. We talked to Toru OGAWA in the Social Good Creation Sec., Integrated Project Dept., Social Innovation Div. about the current status and challenges of sounding research.

Strategic Use of Public Real Estate (PRE) for Urban Development

Utilizing unused public land has become an urgent issue for local governments, and PPP are on the rise. How do you define a business vision, how do you build a business scheme, and what is important for successful public-private partnerships? We interviewed Toru OGAWA of the Social Good Creation Sec., Integrated Project Dept., Social Innovation Div.

Protecting the Roots that Support Society

Have you ever thought about the underground infrastructure that lies beneath our feet? We have summarized our thoughts on the maintenance and management of the ever-changing sewerage business.

Sixth Regional Industrialization: Roadside Station Seseragi no Sato Koura x Farm Kanaya x Odaidoko Yasachi

At roadside station Seseragi no Sato Kora, which is managed by our company, we developed a new specialty product together with local business sectors in 2022. This time, we talked to Agricultural Producers' Co-operative Corporation Farm Kanaya, which was involved in the projects for "fresh pickles made from Kora-grown fresh vegetables" and "delicious dried fruit (persimmon) made from Kora-grown ingredients," about the inside story behind the development.

Challenge to Develop the Sixth Industry in the Region Using Roadside Station as a Base

We would like to introduce you to the "sixth industrialization within the region" project that we have undertaken through our designated management of roadside station, in which the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries work together to utilize each other's strengths and develop, manufacture, and sell original, attractive, and competitive processed foods.

Sixth Regional Industrialization: Roadside Station Seseragi no Sato Koura × Hikone Brewing

Through our designated management of roadside station, we are working to promote "6th regional industrialization" in collaboration with roadside station, producers, and business sectors. How are these efforts progressing?

<Part 2> Using "Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS)" as the Engine for Area Management

In the second part, we will explain the key points for introducing and operating Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS) and the future vision for Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS).

Let's Create a New Tourism Movement with Takamatsu Airport as the Gateway!

It has been five years since Takamatsu Airport was privatized in 2018. The spread of COVID-19 has had a major impact on tourism-related personnel across the country. How has tourism demand, and the businesses and regions that receive it, changed before and after the pandemic? What kind of future should we aim for? We spoke with local businesses about this.

Challenge to Revitalize Local Communities with NFTs

Roadside station NFT "Kouramate". We will introduce the initiative that utilizes NFT at roadside station the first of its kind in Japan.

<Part 1> Using "Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS)" as the Engine for Area Management

What are the real benefits expected from establishing a Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS)? We will introduce the potential of a Municipal Power Producers and Suppliers (PPS) and the key points for establishing and operating it.

Yanagishima Sports Park, Chigasaki City - PFI Project x Sports to Create the Park the Local Community Needs!

We discussed Yanagishima Sports Park in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, the first sports park in Japan to utilize a PFI project.