News Outgoing Tsukuba mayor proposes online vote on retirement bonus

That's what I call direct democracy:

The mayor of Tsukuba announced yesterday that he would allow residents to determine the amount of his retirement bonus through an online vote. While he is set to receive the bonus at the end of his four-year term in November, he believes the public should decide on the appropriate amount. According to city officials, this is a groundbreaking move in Japan, as it marks the first time a mayor's retirement pay will be decided by an online vote. Residents will evaluate the mayor's performance on a scale of 0 to 100 points, with the average score directly influencing the retirement bonus.


Approximately 130,000 residents aged 15 or older with a My Number identification card and a valid electronic certificate can participate in the online vote. The voting process will be conducted through the city's smartphone app. The retirement bonus will be calculated by multiplying the average score by the mayor's monthly salary. To ensure a minimum payment, the law stipulates that the bonus cannot be reduced to zero, resulting in a range of 22 yen (15 cents) to 20,394,000 yen.

Recently, there has been a growing trend of mayors refusing their retirement payouts. In July last year, an ordinance was passed in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, to eliminate Mayor Akitsu Kamoda's retirement bonus. On 9 Aug. this year, Mayor Yasuhiro Nakane of Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, announced his intention not to receive a retirement bonus of around 27 million yen, in line with his campaign pledge. Some have expressed doubts. In a Tsukuba city assembly meeting four years ago, an assembly member said, "While it's important to keep campaign promises, it should be carefully considered from a long-term perspective." In October last year, the Morioka city assembly passed a proposed ordinance amendment to eliminate the 31.68 million yen retirement bonus for Mayor Shigeru Uchidate, who had been elected for the first time. However, some assembly members criticized the move, saying, "The job is so hard that even the retirement bonus is not enough. They should receive it."

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He pledged to not receive a bonus so it's a tricky way to renege on this pledge and end up with a bonus.