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Five Years of MLIT Hands-On Support: A Framework for Municipal Staff to Realize PPP/PFI Projects Themselves
A structured breakdown of MLIT Policy Bureau's April 2025 document 'Points for Realizing PPP Projects Obtained from Hands-On Support via Specialist Dispatch.' Covers the 26-municipality support track record from FY 2019 through FY 2024, the four difficulty levels for staff self-implementation, the three-stage project realization procedure, and the design intent of targeting municipalities with populations under 200,000.
Regional Platforms and Smooth Public-Private Dialogue: Nine Lessons from MLIT's Three-Year Effort
A structured breakdown of MLIT's January 2020 document 'Points for Smooth Public-Private Dialogue Obtained from Regional Platform Efforts.' Covers the three-year effort from FY 2017, the open-format sounding across six venues with 71 entities and 84 cases in FY 2019, and the six lessons for municipalities and three lessons for private operators.
MLIT's Priority Review Regulation: 10 Billion Yen Threshold, 8 Methods, 3 Review Stages, Four Listed Project Categories
A structural breakdown of MLIT's Priority Review Regulation (effective April 1, 2017). Covers project thresholds (10 billion yen for projects including construction / manufacturing / refurbishment, 1 billion yen annual for operation only), the eight PPP/PFI methods covered, the three review stages (method selection, simplified review, detailed review), result publication rules, the four listed project categories, and propagation to local governments via the Cabinet Office Guidelines.
How to Conduct Market Sounding: A Six-Step Procedure from MLIT's Guidance for Municipalities
A structured breakdown of MLIT's guidance on market sounding for local public entities (published June 2018, updated October 2019). Covers the purpose of sounding between project conception and operator selection, the five things it captures, the six-step implementation flow with cautions at each step, the IP protection question, and the confirmation procedure at result publication.
VFM Simplified Calculation Model: How Municipal Staff Evaluate PPP/PFI Feasibility at the Internal Review Stage
A comprehensive walkthrough of the VFM Simplified Calculation Model Manual published by MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) in April 2017. Covers the definition of VFM (Value For Money), the five-step calculation procedure in the Excel-based model, three changes from the 2008 model, the four outputs, and operational limits. The manual positions itself as an in-house judgment tool for municipal staff before commissioning external consultants.
Public Facility Management DX: The State of FM System Adoption in Japanese Municipalities
An analysis of municipal facility management (FM) system adoption in light of the 2024 revisions to MIC's 'Comprehensive Plan for Public Facilities Management.' Integration of BIM/CIM, GIS, and inspection data, and the connection points with PPP/PFI.
Closed School Reuse Trends in 2026: The MEXT Survey Breakdown, Why Uses Stay Undecided, Hearing from Residents, and National Programs
MEXT's FY2024 Survey on the Utilization of Closed School Facilities (as of 1 May 2024), read alongside the previous survey: 8,850 closed schools, the use counts behind the 5,661 in use among the 7,612 still standing, the breakdown of the 1,951 not in use and why their uses stay undecided, and how residents were consulted. Added are the FY2025 School Basic Survey, three studies on community participation, and the 2026 surplus classroom survey, small concession guidebook and formation project.
SCPF Newsletter 2026-06 Public Call Review — Small Concession Trends in the Last 3 Months
A review of the public call and sounding trends visible through Japan's Small Concession Platform (SCPF), jointly operated by MLIT and the Cabinet Office, as of June 2026. We organize the six active municipal cases and two MLIT direct programs from the last three months, parsing scheme types, municipal intent, and the structural questions facing private operators.
Information Asymmetry in Japan's Traditional Townhouse Market — Connecting Individual Purchase to Public Asset Activation
The single biggest obstacle in Japan's secondhand traditional townhouse (kominka) market is the information asymmetry around renovation costs. Starting from FIRST-HAND Local's field reporting in Nara Prefecture, this article re-reads the structure through the lens of public asset activation — closed schools, former government buildings, and akiya (vacant house) policy.
Small Concession Case Study: The Reproducibility of Fukuchiyama's Zero-Burden Public Model
Drawing on MLIT's 'Recommendations for Small Concession' (R8.5.25) and Public Management Consulting seminar materials, this article extracts Fukuchiyama City's small-scale concession case and structurally analyzes the reproducibility of the model that delivers VFM-exempt status and minimum administrative burden.
Park-PFI in 2025: Reviewing the Year's Awards and Regional Application Patterns
A review of MLIT's Park-PFI activation status for 2025: 21 sites starting in FY2024 and 23 in FY2025, the May 2025 guideline revision, the new application patterns in non-metropolitan cities, and the structural connection to VFM-exempt Small Concession schemes.
Park-PFI and Park Management Policy 2026 — 203 Parks Reached, TSUNAG and Guideline Updates, and the Coming 20-Year Maturity Problem
Park-PFI, created by the 2017 Urban Park Act revision, has spread to more than 203 parks as of March 2026. Meanwhile, the 2024 Urban Greenery Act revision introduced TSUNAG (effective Nov 2024), and the Park-PFI Activation Guidelines were revised in May 2025. The Regulatory Reform Council proposed extending the contract validity period in February 2025, anticipating the 2037 'first-generation 20-year maturity problem.' This guide maps the policy state, comparison with the Designated Manager System, international models, and expert critiques.
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