New internal affairs minister Seiichiro Murakami has stressed his eagerness to improve regional revitalization measures amid the ongoing concentration of the population and industry in Tokyo.

“I’d like to work on enhancing and strengthening measures so that regions can develop according to their characteristics,” Murakami said in a recent interview.

He unveiled plans to strengthen public relations and other support for local governments so that the number of regional development cooperation volunteers will increase from 7,200 to 10,000. Also proposed was the acceleration of efforts to create attractive communities that harness the energy of young people and to train future community leaders.