High-Priced Mountain Left Unused for 27 Years

The prefecture-owned site covers about 144 hectares in the Hazu district of Nishio, an area roughly equivalent to 30 Vantelin Domes.

"We bought the entire mountain area," said Shun Masuda, a section chief in the Corporate Location Department of the Aichi Public Enterprise Bureau. "The plan was to develop an industrial park and housing."

The land was acquired in 1999 as part of preparations for the construction of Chubu Centrair International Airport.

At the time, airport construction had to move quickly so the facility could open in time for the 2005 Aichi Expo. About 50 million tons of soil were required for land reclamation in the sea, and the Hazu mountain site was expected to provide part of that material.

Aichi Prefecture spent 5.5 billion yen in public funds to purchase the land.

The plan collapsed in December 2000, however, when the airport company decided to obtain soil from other locations, including Mie Prefecture, because of delays in the schedule.

Then-Aichi Governor Masaaki Kanda said in January 2001, "There is no longer any benefit to continuing the Hazu project."

Not a single load of soil from the Hazu site was ultimately used for the airport.

The abrupt cancellation caused anger in the community, where residents had already sold land in anticipation of the project.

"The project was suddenly abandoned completely just before construction, even though preparatory work had already begun and bidding had been completed," then-Hazu Mayor Motoji Fukaya said in January 2001. "It goes beyond anger. I do not know what words could express how we feel."

The mountain has remained largely untouched ever since. Local volunteers now visit about once a month to cut grass, plant hydrangeas and help maintain the environment.

Some residents who sold land at the time say they would like the site turned into a park or educational facility that makes use of its natural surroundings.

Others say they want the neglected land put to productive use, while some are concerned about an increase in wild boars and want stronger countermeasures.

Another resident said attracting a large factory could create significant employment opportunities.

There is also opposition to major development.

Hirotada Yamazaki, managing director of traditional sake brewer Sonno Kuramoto Yamazaki, said he now believes the mountain may be better left in its natural state.

The brewery draws underground water flowing from Mount Sangane to produce sake.

"If a large-scale factory is built, there is a possibility that the underground water flow could change," Yamazaki said. "That would naturally affect the taste of the sake as well."

The prefecture outsources management of the property to a private company, spending about 15 million yen a year on land that currently generates no economic return.

Masuda said the prefecture has examined numerous possibilities over the past quarter-century without finding a workable solution.

"For the past 25 years, we have considered various options within the prefecture," he said. "They have all failed, one after another, and we have exhausted the ideas we can come up with internally."

Previous proposals have included a multipurpose sports ground, nursing care facilities, environmentally friendly housing and attracting companies to the site.

Development is complicated by the fact that the mountain is designated by the central government as a protection forest to prevent landslides, meaning trees cannot simply be cut down freely.

Plans have also been abandoned because of concerns that proposed projects would not be economically viable.

Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura said in May that he had personally examined possible uses for the property several times since taking office.

"I have looked into whether we could somehow use this place about three times since becoming governor, but the land is so steep that it is extremely difficult," Omura said.

With its own options exhausted, the prefecture decided to solicit land-use ideas from the private sector for three months from June through the end of August.

Among those responding was local resident Takanori Fujino, publisher of the Nishio Mirai Shimbun, a local newspaper covering the area.

Fujino visited Terabe Beach, a coastal area popularly known as Hazufornia that has recently attracted attention for its cafes and hamburger shops aimed at younger visitors, to hear what local people wanted from the mountain development.

One operator at Hazufornia Burger House said the mountain itself does not have a strong image locally because attention tends to focus on Mikawa Bay and the sea.

"What we want to leave behind, and how we think about the next generation, are the kinds of approaches that are needed," he said.

Takayoshi Suzuki of Fukujudo said the area needs a hospital.

"To be honest, I want a hospital," Suzuki said. "Ideally, I would be happiest if companies came here, but if that is difficult..."

Yoshiho Suzuki, head of the Terabe Beach parking management association, said he wants something that will bring new energy to the area and help preserve local train services.

"If the train disappears, that is the end," Suzuki said. "Even an old man like me, now 80, thinks we need to find ways to make sure the train does not disappear."

Fujino said connecting the mountain and the sea could make better use of the Hazu district's strengths.

He later compiled his own proposal and submitted it to the prefecture.

The central idea is to use the area from the mountains to the sea as one integrated zone, with Meitetsu Nishihazu Station serving as a base. The station building has already been demolished and the station is now unmanned.

Fujino's proposal has three main pillars.

"The first is creating factories or industries that generate employment," he said. "The second is creating a place where people with and without disabilities can live together. The third is a nature park. This area has been land rather than sea since the Jomon period, so by examining its geological and natural value, we may find new possibilities."

Aichi Prefecture says it is open to virtually any proposal.

"We would like people to give us ideas, whatever they may be," Masuda said. "We want to pick up promising ideas from among them and consider what can be done, so we encourage people to submit proposals."

The Hazu district was once swept up in one of Aichi's largest infrastructure projects, only to be left with a vast unused mountain after the plans changed.

With the local population now declining and more than two decades having passed without a solution, the future of the 144-hectare property remains uncertain.

Source: CBC