Yokohama Illumination Month November 1 (Wed.) – December 31 (Sun.) Participation-oriented programs based on the concept of Yokohama nightscapes created by all citizens will be held in various parts of the city. During the run of this project, people will be able to admire works of art featuring light and have fun at events with enchanting nighttime scenery. Please visit the website for detailed information on venues, participating groups, artworks, and other matters. Contact: Smart Illumination Yokohama Executive Committee Secretariat Tel: 045-633-9660 (Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., excluding holidays) Fax: 045-662-0082 ヨコハマイルミネーションマンス　Search The photos contain conceptual images. 【キャプション】 Yokohama Chinatown Development Association Yokohama Marine Tower Yokohama Customs Smart Illumination Yokohama 2017 The day, from Me to You Artist: Kyota Takahashi Special cooperation: Color Kinetics Japan Incorporated An interlude for warming the heart with optical art Fumiko Hayashi Mayor of Yokohama In the evening, lights illuminate the ships operating in the harbor, the streets of the Minato Mirai zone, and the historical buildings on Nihon-odori. Eventually, the whole area is transformed into a beguiling nocturnal landscape. Gazing at the magical scene created by the sparkling lights of multicolored illumination in the clear, chilly air is enough to make you forget the passage of time. The breathtaking lighting imparts a sense of happiness. It can lighten our mood, warm our hearts, and soothe our souls. This year marks the seventh anniversary of Smart Illumination Yokohama, the world’s only nightscape project combining the latest energy-saving technology and art. It is a time for us to feel warm ties with each other, while our imaginations are stimulated by the messages arriving from the works of art applying light. The project is certainly one of the attractions of Yokohama, and many visitors come to enjoy themselves at it every year. About 30 years have passed since Yokohama began orchestrating its nightscape by illuminating its streets and buildings. First held in the central waterfront district, the show of artworks featuring light has since spread to all parts of the city thanks to the efforts of our citizens, companies, and other groups, and continues to shine with a dazzling sparkle. Please go and have fun at this festival of light, which could only be held in this season! Towards a society without bullying —Revision of Yokohama’s basic guidelines for prevention of bullying— Yokohama has determined basic guidelines for the prevention of bullying. These guidelines set forth our fundamental thought on initiatives to prevent bullying. We revised them in October based on the revisions to related national guidelines and other developments, with reflection of citizen views. Bullying is a serious infringement of the bullied child’s right to an education. It also exerts a major impact on sound physical and mental growth and on the formation of character. It definitely must not be tolerated. We aspire to a bullying-free society in which the idea that bullying is absolutely intolerable is shared by schools, guardians, communities, and all other parties. Key points of the revision Definition of bullying: from the perspective of the bullied side In accordance with legal thinking on the subject, the guidelines define “bullying” as the physical and mental pain felt by the bullied children. This definition is formulated from the perspective of the child on the receiving end of bullying, and takes a broad view of it, toward the goals of preventing it from occurring and resolving it early when it does occur. Active use of experts: heightening school ability to cope The guidelines call for systemic arrangements including the appointment of school counselors and school social workers, dispatch of lawyers and other experts, and coordination with concerned institutions, in order to heighten the ability of schools to deal with bullying. Reinforcement of organizational action by schools etc. — towards early resolution of bullying At the stage of suspected occurrence of bullying, an ad hoc committee (school anti-bullying initiative committee), whose members consist of parties including the principal, vice-principal, and instructors especially appointed to support children and guide students, will engage in a closely-knit sharing of information and take organized action. If necessary, the committee will also coordinate its activities with the ward office, child guidance centers, and other concerned institutions, and take aim at early resolution of any bullying. Contact: Human Rights Education and Young Students Division, Board of Education Tel: 045-671-3250 Fax: 045-671-1215 State of pay for city employees Besides bolstering the requisite setups in step with the diversification of citizen needs, Yokohama is rigorously revising its existing setups in pursuit more efficient and effective administrative operations. We are going to continue striving to run a personnel payment system enabling maximum exercise of talent, in order to increase the degree of citizen satisfaction. 1. Building efficient organizations Contact: Personnel Division, General Affairs Bureau Tel: 045-671-2097 Fax: 045-662-7712 Prescribed number of personnel In fiscal 2017, an additional 421 city employees were hired owing to various factors, including support for holding the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, augmentation of measures for medical and welfare services, and action on the problem of bullying. Meanwhile, there was a decrease of 342 personnel due to the transfer of ownership of municipal childcare centers to private companies and expanded consignment of services in school lunch preparation to private companies. In addition, effective this fiscal year, the cost burden for the pay of teachers in municipal elementary and junior high schools, for example, was transferred to the city as part of a transfer of authority accompanying fiscal measures. Previously, the city government had the authority to appoint such teachers, but the prefectural government has responsibility for the aforementioned cost burden as well as authority related to standards for the number of teachers and organization of grades. This transfer added pay for 16,142 teachers to the city budget. As a result, the number of teachers in the city as a whole rose from 28,483 in fiscal 2016 to 44,704, an increase of 16,221. Efficient executive system At 5.47*, the number of city employees per 1,000 of population in Yokohama is the second-lowest among the 20 ordinance-designated Japanese cities (which have a population of at least 500,000). This figure is released by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications as one of the indicators for comparison of the operation of local self-governing entities. * This figure is based on the number of city employees in the Ordinary Account (in fiscal 2016) and the population figure in the basic resident register (as of January 1, 2016). The Ordinary Account is an accounting category enabling comparison by the national government based on unified standards. 2. Pay for city employees Contact: Labor Affairs Division, General Affairs Bureau Tel: 045-671-2157 Fax: 045-664-7386 The determination of pay for city employees begins with a survey of the facts of pay among private enterprises by the city’s Personnel Commission. The Commission then refers the results along with advice as necessary to the City Council, which engages in deliberations with respect for these results. The pay is finally determined by enactment of an ordinance. For salary and compensation for special positions such as mayor and city council chairperson, the process begins with examination in an ad-hoc committee whose membership includes citizens, experts, and representatives of public bodies in Yokohama. This committee reports the results of its examination to the City Council, which deliberates on them and finally makes a determination by ordinance. *Tables 1 – 3 and charts 1 and 2 (all figures are tax-included) Table 1 City employee average monthly salary, average monthly pay, and average age Category Average monthly salary Average monthly pay Average age General administrative personnel 312,840 yen 380,256 yen 40 years and six months Skilled personnel 325,230 yen 389,715 yen 48 years and two months * Figures for salary do not include various allowances. * Figures for average monthly pay are totals of salary, dependency allowance, area allowance, housing allowance, and managerial allowance. Table 2 City employee average monthly salary in each category of years of experience and education (general administrative personnel) Category University graduate High school graduate Years of experience 10 269,503 yen 227,229 yen 15 324,564 yen 279,169 yen 20 366,849 yen 332,706 yen 25 386,236 yen 365,509 yen 30 410,124 yen 375,426 yen Table 3 Monthly salary and monthly compensation for special positions Salary Mayor Deputy mayor Superintendent of the Board of Education 1,599,000 yen 1,285,000 yen 940,000 yen Compensation City Council chairperson City Council deputy chairperson City Council member 1,179,000 yen 1,061,000 yen 953,000 yen * All figures are based on the “2017 Survey of the State of Local Public Employee Pay,” and are as of April 1, 2017. Chart 1 Trend of the share of city employee expenses in the Ordinary Account (budget) Ordinary Account city employee expense budget (former basis) City employee expenses as percentage of the Ordinary Account Personnel expenses after transfer of the prefectural burden of teacher expenses to the city City employee expenses as percentage of the Ordinary Account (former basis) (Hundreds of millions of yen) 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 0 (%) 35 30 25 20 15 10 0 1,796 1,856 1,879 1,878 ─ Settlement value 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (FY) 1,898 1,863 1,883 1,905 3,366 1,892 13.5% 13.1% 13.0% 12.6% 20.5% 11.5% Under the influence of the transfer of the prefectural burden of teacher expenses to the city, city employee expenses increased in fiscal 2017. When the increase accompanying this transfer is excluded, nevertheless, the Ordinary Account city employee expense budget (former basis) is about 1.3 billion yen (or 0.6 percent) less than that in the previous fiscal year. Chart 2 State of city employee pay expenses (fiscal 2017 Ordinary Account budget) Number of city employees (A) 35,428 Salary 141,484.58 million yen City employee allowances 45,543.67 million yen Year-end and civil servant bonus 65,435.49 million yen Total (B) = 252,463.74 million yen (Per-capita pay expense (B) / (A)) = 7.126 million yen Note 1: The number of city employees (A) is the number in the Ordinary Account (excluding re-appointed personnel). The city employee expense is the amount after subtraction of items including the employer’s burden of social insurance premiums and retirement allowance from the personnel expenses noted in Chart 1. Note 2: City employee allowances consist of the dependency allowance, area allowance, housing allowance, managerial allowance, transportation allowance, overtime allowance, and other allowances. Note 3: The share of the total number of city employees in all accounts occupied by the number of city employees in the Ordinary Account (A) amounts to 83.9 percent. Fractions are rounded to the nearest integer in terms of the units indicated. The vicinity of Totsuka Station will be a no-smoking area beginning in March 2018. Contact: Resources and Waste Collection Operation Division, Resources and Waste Recycling Bureau Tel: 045-671-2556 Fax: 045-663-8199 In some areas within districts for priority promotion of beautification, there are problems with littering of cigarette butts and risks of burns from lit cigarettes. Yokohama designates these areas as no-smoking areas, in the belief that they require prohibition of smoking in public space outdoors. So far, it has designated six such areas, one of which is the vicinity of Yokohama Station, and is going to designate the vicinity of Totsuka Station as another one. 【キャプション】 A seal bearing this mark is displayed in the designated area. When an area is designated as a no-smoking area: ● Smoking is prohibited in public space outdoors. (This prohibition includes the carrying of a lit cigarette.) ● The city will establish a smoking zone within the no-smoking area, so please smoke only there. ● Specially appointed supervisors will make patrols in the no-smoking area. ● A fine (of 2,000 yen) will be imposed for violations. 【地図内】 Futakake Square Totsuka Station East Gate Saclass Totsuka Totsukana Totsuka Station West Gate Bus Center Bus Center Mae Totsuka Ward Office Totsuka Station Lapis Totsuka 1 (Totsuka Modi) East Gate Bus Terminal Moto-Yoshikura Bridge Kashio River Asahi Bridge たばこ　ヨコハマ　　Search By ordinance, smoking while walking and the littering of cigarette butts are prohibited throughout the city. Use e-Tax service with your My Number card. e-Tax (the system for electronic filing and payment of national taxes) uses electronic certificates recorded on My Number cards or the Basic Resident Registration Card. If the period of validity of the electronic certificate recorded on your Basic Resident Registration Card has expired, your Basic Resident Registration Card cannot be used for e-Tax even if the Card itself has not yet expired, and you must use your My Number card instead. If you intend to use your Basic Resident Registration Card, please check the expiration date of the electronic certificate recorded on it. Apply for your My Number card early! After receipt of the application, it takes anywhere from one to about two months for issuance of the My Number card. Please apply for one early. Please be careful! The electronic certificate for the Basic Resident Registration Card is valid for three years after the date of issuance. Its date of expiration is not the same as that written on the Basic Resident Registration Card. 【キャプション】 My Number mascot “Maina-chan” ■About e-Tax Contact: Help Desk (National Tax Agency) Tel: 0570-01-5901 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and the New Year’s break) ■About application procedure for My Number cards Contact: City Call Center Tel: 045-664-2525 Fax: 045-664-2828