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Market Sounding for PPP: 8-Item Question Template and Step-by-Step Guide
How to design and conduct market sounding for public-private partnerships. Includes an 8-item question template with design rationale, three sounding types, result publication methods, and consulting cost benchmarks.
Small Concession Expert Dispatch Program — How to Access Free Expert Support [2026 Edition]
A complete guide to the Small Concession Formation Support Program's expert dispatch mechanism — covering the 7 participating municipalities, scope of expert work, application process, the incorporated association adoption precedent (Ikeda Town), and preparation steps for future solicitations.
5 Steps to Implementing Small Concession — From Concept to Operator Selection [2026 Edition]
For municipal officials: A guide to the 5 phases of Small Concession project development (momentum-building → facility selection → feasibility study → project plan → solicitation and selection), including estimated timelines, tasks, and costs for each step.
Small Concession Platform — Benefits of Membership and How to Use It [2026 Edition]
A complete guide to the Small Concession Platform established by MLIT in December 2024 — covering its purpose, 1,547 registered members, registration process, three core membership benefits, and practical tips for businesses, municipalities, and individuals.
47 Former School Reuse Cases — Success Patterns and Failure Factors from Ministry of Education Data [2026 Edition]
For municipal officials: the 47 cases in MEXT's casebook on repurposing closed schools (March 2023), counted by the uses the casebook assigns and listed in full. The most common use is company or organization facilities (22 cases). Why welfare conversion is chosen, the renovation costs and subsidies in Nishiwaga, Nagaoka and Yokkaichi, and how consensus with residents was built, all read from the casebook.
Change of Use for Former Government Buildings — Three Legal Walls and How to Break Through Them
When a former government building is put to a different use, the Building Standards Act, the Fire Service Act and the Act on Promotion of Seismic Retrofitting of Buildings each set their own conditions. This article checks them against the statutes and MLIT documents: the three conditions that trigger building confirmation, how to investigate a building without an inspection certificate, when fire protection equipment must meet the standards for the new use, and the effort duty, instruction and mandatory categories of the seismic retrofitting act. It then traces, from Shimoda City's own documents, how the city turned the former Inouzawa Junior High School into its city hall.
Institutional Framework for Welfare Facilities under Park-PFI — Organizing the Issues Around Inclusive Park Complex Models
Under Japan's Urban Park Act, installing social welfare facilities within public parks is institutionally permitted, and the Park-PFI (public solicitation-based installation and management system) framework can accommodate this under certain conditions. This article provides a neutral institutional review of a complex model combining inclusive parks and disability welfare (Type B continuous employment support), focusing on the legal basis and implementation issues. It is not an endorsement of any specific operator or model, but an organization of institutional options.
The Complete Guide to LABV (Local Asset Backed Vehicle) — Proposing Public Asset Development Without Waiting for Park-PFI Public Calls Through Municipal Land-Contribution LLCs
The Local Asset Backed Vehicle (LABV), originating in the UK, is a public-private joint scheme in which a municipality contributes land in-kind while the private sector contributes capital to form an LLC-type joint venture. Although Japanese case accumulation is still in its infancy, LABV deserves consideration as a third option alongside Park-PFI and Small Concessions — particularly when combined with the private-sector proposal system, which enables private actors to initiate proposals without waiting for public procurement. This guide carefully organizes the distinctions from SPCs, institutional positioning, applicable targets, implementation hurdles, and the potential scope of sequential development.
How Local Companies Become PFI Lead Sponsors — Lessons from Yonago Joint Government Building and Date City School Lunch Center Companion-Model Success
Traditionally, large general contractors and major consultants have filled the lead sponsor role in PFI projects. But local companies are now emerging as lead sponsors in nationally recognized exemplary cases. Using the Yonago Joint Government Building wide-area PFI and the Date City School Lunch Center as case studies, this article examines the companion model structure, five success conditions, and the role of municipalities in enabling local participation.
5 Park-PFI Success Cases — From Large Urban Parks to Cities of 23,000 Residents [2026 Edition]
For municipal officials: Structural analysis of 5 successful Park-PFI (Public Solicitation Management System) cases. From Kaiseizan Park's 500-point evaluation rubric and 3-phase sounding design to Kadaru Terrace Kindaichi (Ninohe City, population 23,000) — detailed preconditions and success factors.
The Toyoake Model — How a Population-70,000 City Masters the Priority Review Procedure (The "Private Sector Utilization Projects" Naming Strategy)
Toyoake City in Aichi Prefecture, with a population of approximately 70,000, established its Priority Review Procedure in FY2018 — a notable achievement given that the formulation rate among municipalities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000, the band Toyoake belongs to, stood at 17.3% as of the end of March 2025. This article examines the naming strategy of calling it 'Private Sector Utilization Projects' instead of 'PPP/PFI', the three-part organizational design (Private Utilization Promotion Office, Review Committee, Project Advisor), the lower-than-national project cost thresholds, the institutional incorporation of designated manager renewals, and the stepwise rollout of comprehensive facility management outsourcing.
The Complete Guide to Water PPP — The FY2027 Grant Requirement and the Level 3.5 Transition
A structured guide to Water PPP (since FY2025 the national government calls it Mizu no Kanmin Renkei, public-private partnership for water), the framework that entrusts the upkeep and renewal of water and sewerage to private operators together. From FY2027, receiving grants for sewage pipe renewal requires that adoption already be decided, and at Level 3.5 that means the tender must be open, not merely that an implementation policy has been published (MLIT Guideline ver. 3.0). Covers which renewal works are in scope, the level taxonomy and four requirements, Myoko City's case, and the three routes left when the deadline is out of reach.
READING GUIDE
Choose a starting point.
Follow a short route through the basics, examples and practical steps. Community groups, researchers and students are welcome.
ROUTE 01
For municipal planning
Start with the basics, then move through cases, process and dialogue design.
- What Is Public Facility Management? Challenges, Concepts, and Next Steps
- Sapporo Yurigahara Park Park-PFI LiLiLi — Sapporo's First Case, Community-Led SPV Park Operation
- The Complete Park-PFI Process — A Four-Year Roadmap from Concept to Opening [2026 Edition]
- Market Sounding for PPP: 8-Item Question Template and Step-by-Step Guide
ROUTE 02
For prospective operators
Understand the system, test viability and prepare a proposal.
- What Is a Small Concession? A Complete Guide for Local Government Officials [2026 Edition]
- Higashi Yuenchi URBAN PICNIC — Kobe Sannomiya Redevelopment and Park-PFI After 8 Years of Citizen-Led Social Experiments
- How to Build a Park-PFI Revenue Plan — With Simulation Template [2026 Edition]
- How to Write a Park-PFI Proposal — Working Backward from the Scoring Criteria [2026 Edition]
ROUTE 03
Learn from setbacks
See how projects stall and which conditions to avoid.
- Abandoned School Reuse Failures — Why Repurposed Schools Become Idle Again: Structural Causes of Withdrawal and Business Collapse
- 5 Patterns of Park-PFI Project Failure — Structural Analysis of Contract Termination, Financial Deterioration, and Resident Opposition
- The Zero-Response Sounding Problem — 5 Reasons Private Operators Don't Participate and How to Fix It