Maebashi Mayor Akira Ogawa

Every single action by each individual can make a difference. Let's revitalize the town through collaboration between the government and the private sector.

Akira Ogawa, Mayor of Maebashi

■ Profile
Born in 1982. Originally from Sōsa City, Chiba Prefecture.
He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Chuo University in 2006 and completed his legal training at the Maebashi District Court.
I have been working as a lawyer at a law firm in Maebashi City since 2007.
He was first elected to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly in 2011 and served four terms.
She was first elected mayor of Maebashi in 2024. (The first woman to hold the position)
With the motto "Bringing smiles to Maebashi," they are working on a new form of community development with citizen participation, while valuing dialogue and interaction with citizens. Their favorite word is "gratitude," and their hobby is visiting hot springs.

Maebashi City in Gunma Prefecture, known as the "City of Water and Green Poetry," is a place where time flows peacefully. In recent years, its growth has been unstoppable, with initiatives such as childcare support, agricultural policies, and anime tourism. We spoke with Mayor Akira Ogawa, who is driving the city's development through a "public-private partnership," about his own journey and the unique charm of Maebashi City.

I decided to become a lawyer after the Kobe serial child murders that occurred in Kobe when I was in my third year of junior high school. It was a very publicized case at the time, and I became interested in it because the arrested perpetrator was a boy the same age as me. While the whole of Japan was attacking him and making him their enemy, the only person who stood by the boy was the lawyer who was accompanying him. That realization led me to aspire to become a lawyer who is close to social issues and can stand by people. After graduating from university, I was assigned to the Maebashi District Court for my legal training and came to Maebashi. Due to the impact of judicial system reforms, we were hit by a job market freeze, but the Gunma Bar Association accepted people from outside the local area, so I was able to start my legal career here. As I continued my work, I came to feel that political power is necessary to change systems such as gender discrimination and educational disparities. The Bar Association has requested the prefecture to increase the number of social workers and create a grant-based scholarship system, but society does not change easily. Amidst all of this, I happened to receive information that the then-Democratic Party was looking for a candidate for the 2011 prefectural assembly election, and that's when I decided to take on a political challenge. After serving as a prefectural assembly member, I am now working on urban development as the mayor of Maebashi. I feel that Maebashi has great potential as a livable city and is truly outstanding. I aim to create a city where citizens feel like they want to "build the city together" and "participate in city politics," through citizen participation.

■ Let's all work together to build Maebashi City with a sense of responsibility.

Compared to other cities, Maebashi City has high potential and stands out as a place to live. In addition to excellent medical care and welfare services, there is a strong system of mutual support within the community. There are 284 neighborhood associations in Maebashi City, and each one is actively working, so a system of mutual support is in place at the local level. Furthermore, it is necessary to change the mindset of not only city hall staff but also the citizens. I believe that having the awareness that "we are all building this city together!" is important in everything we do. Regarding childcare, I want to make this a city where society as a whole can support people, not just those raising their own children. I want to make childcare a matter that everyone can be involved in, rather than just the responsibility of those raising children. The same can be said for agriculture. Agricultural policy tends to be thought of as something that only farmers need to work hard at, but that will ultimately lead to a dead end. If farmers disappear, it will be all of us who suffer. Therefore, it is important for everyone to think about what they can do to support farmers, such as buying local vegetables. I am conveying in all areas that the whole city will improve if everyone cooperates.
In this way, we convey the message of "how much value can be made by one person taking action, even if it's just once" through social media and videos, but we also make an effort to take real-world actions such as town meetings and events. I myself want to be someone who is approachable and can talk to citizens at any time. For that reason, I value listening directly to various stories from citizens and thinking together about future prospects and solutions to challenges. I want to work towards a change in mindset so that people don't see community development as someone else's problem, but as their own, and work together to build Maebashi City.

■ The anime "Maebashi Witches" and coexistence with the local community

"Maebashi Witches" is not only popular with young people, but also has many female fans of my generation, so I think it's been well-received by a wide audience. The anime's content tackles contemporary social issues such as young carers and lookism. Maebashi City has also implemented initiatives such as wrapping trains and buses with the anime's image and collaborating with Maebashi's specialty, "strawberries." Thanks to these efforts, many fans have come from outside the prefecture. In addition, various people, both government and private, are working to liven up Maebashi with Witches. Recently, SDRS, a manufacturing company in Maebashi that makes vending machines and other items, has set up a trailer house called the "Oshikatsu Trailer" where you can buy Witches merchandise. It's located in Rakuhodo Maebashi Park, about 5 minutes from the city hall, so please stop by. With this, you can buy Witches merchandise wherever you go. In addition, a collaboration product with "Tabigarasu," a specialty of Gunma, has also been created. It was just released on May 25th, and I think it makes a great souvenir. In this way, everyone is enjoying themselves while using anime to liven up the town. I think one of Maebashi's characteristics is that it's a public-private partnership, where the government doesn't do all the work alone, but rather the private sector works together on promotion. I think it's important that everyone works together to nurture the community, rather than the government being the only one to take the lead.

■Message to university students

Looking back on my university life, I feel it was truly a precious time. It's a period full of possibilities where you can try anything. Once you enter the workforce, you're constrained by time and work, making it difficult to act as freely as you did as a student.
That's why I want you to cherish the things you can only do as a student, and the things you can only try now. Go meet the people you want to meet, visit the places you want to go, and try things you've never done before. I hope you'll make the most of your limited time and gain a variety of experiences.

Interview conducted by Tomoki Takahara, 3rd year student at Hosei University, for Student Newspaper Online on June 3, 2026.

Chiharu Yamada (2nd year, Information Management Innovation Professional University) / Naokazu Shimada (4th year, Hosei University) / Tomoki Takahara (3rd year, Hosei University)