http://www.mintetsu.or.jp/association/mintetsu/pdf/59_p08_11.pdf
Maintaining a continuous dialogue with our customers.
Q: What kind of growth would you like Kotoden to go through over the next 100 years?
While I appreciate the value of history, we must focus on the developments that may happen in the future. This is why we didn’t do anything like a “100 years history book” or a review exhibition for the 100th anniversary.
With times rapidly changing, I think that the meaning behind people moving from one place to the other is much different from before. Even if you are physically away, you can still work and have meetings, you can buy anything without going out. The number of things you can do without having to move is increasing exponentially. People still move, nevertheless, so there must be something worth driving them to do so. Commuting is simply seen as a means to an end. However, we believe that we must always consider what we can do for our passengers to enjoy their commuting time.
I can not imagine what public transportation in Takamatsu will be like 100 years from now, but I think that it is the responsibility of a transport operator now to start transforming the current means of transport into what will be the best options for the people when that time comes. What kind of transportation options do we really need in this area? In order to know that, we have to maintain a continuous dialogue with our customers while repeatedly asking ourselves, “Are trains necessary?” “Are buses necessary?”
Bringing diversity to Takamatsu
Q: What you think is the ideal city?
One thing, I think, is creating a healthy, ecological and safe city. As a matter of fact, I think that for a city to be walkable is just as important as an effective public transport network. People rely mostly on automobiles to commute in local areas and rarely walk. This can also have an impact on children, making it harder for their bodies to grow healthy and strong. First of all, we need to promote a habit of walking, so we will use public transport as a way to support that. That way, we can steer the city’s population towards higher standards of living.
Another thing is cultural diversity. Although It is indeed convenient to be able to commute by car, cities developed around the premise that the citizens do so tend to dismiss other groups of people, from children, older people and students to people with disabilities, tourists and people who simply do not own cars.
When a diverse group of people comes together, it creates a diversity of cultures in the city, it adds depth to it. I think that it will play a big part in creating a city where there are cars, bicycles and public transportation. I think that this kind of diversity has been established only in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, but we should be more conscious about diversity in local cities from now on.
During autumn last year, we held a theatrical play titled “Kotoden Three Nine” on the train running along Kotohira Line which attracted a lot of viewers from outside Kagawa. One of my former classmates actually owns a second hand book shop in the city center, which attracts a very particular niche from all over the country. This would probably be difficult to achieve in a car-centric city. Having a range of commuting options such as public transportation and walking is what makes it possible for people from a wide area to gather, bringing us to that diversity of cultures that car-centric cities tend to forget.
Takamatsu is quite lively for its scale, and shows a keen awareness towards culture and art. The city of Bilbao in Spain ー which I love very much ー has been receiving a lot of attention from young art enthusiasts from all over the world since the opening of the Guggenheim Museum. Its population is about the same as the central area of Takamatsu, and yet they have trams running through the town. I think that we could take that as a example to make the most of Takamatsu’s culturally unique features and gather people with different tastes and preferences worldwide. For that, we would like to take part in the city planning of Takamatsu and further add to the role of public transportation in this kind of regional area.