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Sister & Friendship Cities

Outline ofthe Fukuoka City Council

BordeauxBusan
Guangzhou
Yangon ●Oakland

FukuokaAtlanta

Ipoh

AucklandThe geographic locatoin of Fukuoka:
Latitude: 33°North, 35ʼ24”
Longitude: 130°East, 24ʼ06”

History of the Fukuoka City Council
Date

EventApril，1889 Fukuoka became a city. The ﬁrst election

was held to elect 30 city councilors for aterm of six years. Suﬀrage was limited, andhalf of the councilors were subject to anelection every three years. The populationof Fukuoka was 50,847 at the end of 1889.
The ﬁrst city council meeting was held.

April, 1911 The municipal system was revised, and theterm of city councilors was changed to fouryears.

April, 1929 The ﬁrst City Council general election washeld with an electorate of only male voters.
A total of 40 councilors took oﬃce. The
population of Fukuoka at the end of 1929
was 213,751.

April，1947 Under a new electoral system, both male andCity Council Secretariat
The Fukuoka City Council Secretariat
was established in order to help thechairperson and councilors with theiractivities.
The secretariat comprises the GeneralAﬀairs & Secretary Section, theProcedure Section and the Research &Legal Aﬀairs Section. These sections arein charge of clerical work and research
for the plenary assembly and committee
meetings.

Published: March 2020
Research & Legal Aﬀairs Section, Secretariat of the Fukuoka City Council
1-8-1 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City 810-8620, JAPAN
Telephone: (092) 711-4749
Fax: (092) 733-5869 https://gikai.city.fukuoka.lg.jp

female citizens voted, and 48 city councilors
were elected. The population of Fukuoka Cityat the end of 1947 was 328,458.

May，1947 The committee system was introduced.
April, 1972 The Cabinet of Japan decreed Fukuoka agovernment ordinance-designated city. The
number of city councilors increased to 60,
and the population of the city was 912,059.

June, 1982 Construction of a new council wing in the city
hall was completed.

September, City councilors met for the ﬁrst time in the1982 newly-built council wing.
May, 2013 The population of the City of Fukuoka

exceeded 1.5 million, reaching 1,500,899.
The number of city councilors was 62.

Japan s Local Government SystemIn Japan s local government system,
prefectures and municipalities oversee local
aﬀairs in accordance with the JapaneseConstitution. For example, municipalities
focus on public services such as education,social welfare and water supply and sewage
services. On the other hand, prefectural
governments are responsible for multiple
municipalities over a wider area.
The City of Fukuoka, however, isauthorized to perform some
prefectural-level responsibilities,
because the city is a government
ordinance-designated city with apopulation of over 500,000.
This status means the city is entitled togreater authority than other municipalities.

Local public entities comprise adecision-making assembly or council
and the leader of the executive body.
The assembly has the overall authority
to make decisions on agenda items
submitted to the assembly for discussion.
The leader s role is to instruct andsupervise government employees
to carry out what has been decided
by the assembly. AssemblyElectionsElectionsmembers and the leader arePetitions anddirectly elected by the electorate,
lobbying
and better governance isPolicy
ensured through theimplementation
separation of powers,Proposals on ordinance and budgetmutual checks and
cooperating with eachVoting, inquiries, examinations
other.

Citizens andthe City Council
Higashi Ward
Hakata Bay
Chuo Ward
Hakata Ward

Nishi Ward
Jonan Ward

Minami Ward

Sawara Ward

Constituencies and quotas

Powers ofthe City Council
The City Council has the authority tomake resolutions, to conduct inquiries
and to perform audits etc. to ensure thatit properly performs its duties asrepresentatives of the people.
The Council carries out the following:Citizens aged 18 years and older have the rightto vote in city council elections. Citizens aged
25 years and older can run for council. TheFukuoka City Council consists of 62 members
elected from seven electoral constituencies
that correspond with the city's administrative
wards, each of which has a set quota ofcouncilors to elect.

member, but a decision on whether or not toadopt a proposal will not be issued.

 
Council sessions are open to the public foranyone to observe. Members of the public canalso observe committee meetings.

in the City Council, both of which areconvened by the mayor: regularlyscheduled sessions and emergency
sessions when necessary. Both sessions
must ﬁnish within the predetermined
period, during which, the plenary
assembly as well as committee meetings
are held to examine and adopt proposed
Observation gallery in the City Council Chamber

If a citizen obtains a speciﬁc number of votersʼ
signatures, they may submit a request to
dissolve the City Council or to dismiss acouncilor.

    

The most fundamental duty of the City
Council is to make decisions on importantmatters such as ordinance and budgets.

The City Council has the power to inspect oﬃcial
documents and request audits.

The City Council can perform investigations
into city administration and, when necessary,can summon related persons for testimony
or request the submission of records.

The chairperson, vice chairperson andmembers of the Election Management
Committee are elected by the City Council.

 
The City Council decides whether toapprove deputy mayors and city auditors
appointed by the mayor.

City Council Meetings
There are two types of meetings held

Citizens can make requests about public
administration to the City Council throughpetitions. This process can be done either
through a city councilor or through a direct
lobby to the City Council, but both aresubmitted in writing. The contents ofpetitions are reviewed by a council
committee before the Council itself
chooses whether to adopt the petition
or not. Petitioners are then notiﬁed of theoutcome, and adopted petitions are passed
to the relevant department, such as the Mayor,
to be implemented.
Petitions sent directly to a committee bylobbyists are distributed to each committee items on the agenda. Regular sessions
are held four times a year: in either

The plenary assembly involves all councilors,
where they make the ﬁnal decisions on all
items on the agenda. A session cannot be
convened without at least half of all councilors
present. A majority of votes is required to makedecisions.

Economic Aﬀairs
Committee

Commerce and industry, tourism,culture, agriculture, forestry andﬁsheries, port facilities, etc.
Social welfare, health and hygiene,
housing, construction, urban planning,parks, etc.

EnvironmentalAﬀairs Committee

Environment, waste and recycling, roads,sewerage, rivers, ﬁre prevention,water supply, subways, etc.

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

There are ﬁve standing committees in theCity Council. Each city councilor belongs to
one of the ﬁve committees.

(13 members)(12 members)

Special committees are set up to review initialbudgets and account settlements. They arealso set up when issues arise that require
special examinations or inquiries.




The City Council Management Committee isconvened to discuss matters relating to the orderof the agenda and the procedure of meetings toensure smooth management of the City Council.
The committee consists of 13 councilors.

conclusion on items on the agenda
by the due date. However,if they are unable to do so, they may
convene committee meetings tocontinue examining the item.

Standing Committee Chamber

Council Chamber
Chairperson
PodiumAdministration Department
The City Council can submit written opinions
concerning the cityʼs public interest torelevant administrative organs of the nationaland prefectural governments, such as theNational Diet.

Childcare, education, etc.

(13 members)

Welfare & Civic Aﬀairs
Committee

the City Council has to reach aMayor

General planning, international relations,ﬁnances, local communities, disastersafety, etc.

Committees of a small number of people areestablished for the technical review ofproposed legislation. There are three types ofcommittees: standing committees, special
committees and City Council management
committees.

September and December. In principle,nt(12 members)

Education &Childcare Aﬀairs
Committee(12 members)

February or March, and in June,

Administration Departme

General & FinancialAﬀairs Committee

Activities of the City Council
during an Regular Session Councilor seatingReporter seating (20 seats)Special gallery(5 seats)

Opening of the plenary session
Submission of a bill

Observation gallery (136 seats)

Explanation and discussion on the bill

Structure ofthe City Council

Fukuoka City Council is made up of 62
councilors. Councilors serve for a term offour years.

 
­ The chairperson and vice chairperson of theCity Council are elected from its members.
The chairperson of the City Council represents
the Council and presides over its meetings.
The vice chairperson takes over the duties ofthe chairperson in his/her absence.



There are several political factions formed bycouncilors who share similar opinions andways of thinking in the Fukuoka City Council.

Submission of the bill to the relevant
committee for deliberation
General questions on city administration
Examination of a bill at committee level Reports by the committee chairperson
Discussions on bills
Voting
Closing of the session