THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 13, 2025 at 07:00 JST
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike delivers a policy speech to the metropolitan assembly in the capital’s Shinjuku Ward on Sept. 24. (Ai Asanuma)
The governor of Tokyo announced plans to prohibit construction of utility poles at new housing plots to accelerate development of underground utility lines and improve disaster preparedness.
Yuriko Koike announced the policy during a Sept. 24 address to the Tokyo metropolitan assembly session that opened earlier in the day.
The measure is intended to encourage the elimination of utility poles and involves burying power lines underground.
Metropolitan government officials said the ordinance would be the first of its kind in Japan.
In 2017, Tokyo adopted an ordinance that prohibits, in principle, new utility poles along roads administered by the metropolitan government.
Under the new policy, Tokyo is expected to designate nearly all parts of its 23 wards as subject to the regulations.
Developers would be obliged to submit written plans for going pole-free. Violators could face public shaming by having their names disclosed, along with being handed guidance and recommendations.
Tokyo officials said they will work out a draft ordinance after soliciting public input over a one-month period.
There are around 500 housing-land development projects in Tokyo each year that involve building new roads. This usually entails building 850 or so new utility poles.
Officials cited concerns that public authorities may not be able to remove utility poles on private roads and privately owned land plots during a disaster.
“Toppled utility poles could render air-conditioning and lighting unavailable,” Koike told reporters in what appeared to be a reference to recent damage from tornados in Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture.
“The circumstances surrounding utility poles should be thought over again. There is a need to go pole-free from the viewpoint of disaster management.”
The Tokyo authorities submitted a total of 46 bills to the current session of the metropolitan assembly.
(This article was written by Masashi Kisanuki and Ai Asanuma.)
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