Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, local governments have been forced to suspend or postpone their plans to build large facilities for attracting customers, such as outlet shopping malls and an international air terminal.
There is little hope of attracting people now, and local governments have to reserve their budgets for measures to deal with the coronavirus.
On the Makinohara Plateau in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, where green tea fields spread out, a private company had planned to build an outlet shopping mall on a 5.4-hectare vacant lot that used to house a junior high school. The company applied to a public tender by the municipal government.
"With throngs of people coming [to the shopping mall], we hoped that would also advertise our green tea," said a woman who belongs to a tea-growing family in the nearby area.
The outlet was scheduled to open next spring, with 40 to 50 stores expected to do business. Thanks to being located near Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport, and an interchange of the Shin Tomei Expressway, the outlet was expected not only to attract young people and foreign tourists, but also to create jobs.
While there is no prospect for the coronavirus to be brought under control, entry restrictions on foreign tourists continue. The city government announced in August that it would put its construction plan on hold, saying "it has become difficult to establish our business model."
Mayor Kinuyo Someya said, "We have made our decision with broken hearts."
Elsewhere in the country, the prefectural government of Kochi has also been hit by the spread of virus -- it has decided to put off the construction of an international terminal building at Kochi Ryoma Airport. The new terminal had been slated to open in the summer of 2022 with the airport's first regular international flight service.
An official in charge at the prefectural government said, "We'll restart the development plan when we ascertain the timing of a pickup in inbound tourists and the like."
The deterioration in the financial state of local governments has also hit these development plans directly.
The prefectural government of Shizuoka will reconsider its plans on six facilities, including postponing the establishment of a prefecture-run baseball stadium in Hamamatsu and the relocation of a prefecture-operated library in the city of Shizuoka.
The prefecture's tax revenues for this fiscal year -- as of the end of July -- have fallen short of its originally projected amount by 16.7 billion yen, due partly to a drop in tax payments by companies. The rate of decline in its tax revenues may swell further.
The prefectural government expects to reduce its spending by 1.7 billion yen by reviewing these plans. It will also have the new facilities designed to better deal with the coronavirus, for example by keeping seats away from each other to avoid close-contact settings.
Outdoor facilities opened
Meanwhile, some local governments have embarked on opening outdoor facilities where close contact between people can be avoided and where they can expect to attract customers even amid the coronavirus crisis.
The city government of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, created in August the Kashiwazaki Central Beach, where people can enjoy such activities as camping. As such big events as its famed fireworks display, a major event held every summer, were canceled this year, the city government decided to open the camping facilities on the grounds that projects were needed that would draw people in.
In Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, a glamping facility called Etowa Kasama opened in mid-August, equipped with log cabins and tents. The facilities were opened through the renovation of existing facilities owned by the city, conducted under the leadership of a private company.
The facilities have proved so popular that weekends are almost fully booked. Mayor Shinju Yamaguchi said, "Compared with the onset of the pandemic, an awareness is spreading that 'we have to get the economy going.'"
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