A dispute has arisen between the town of Oyama in Shizuoka Prefecture and the former designated manager of a roadside station, resulting in the former manager continuing to operate the station while remaining in place.
The roadside station, “Michi-no-Eki Subashiri,” is located at the foot of the majestic Mount Fuji in Oyama Town. It is also known as the roadside station closest to Mount Fuji. Reporter Akira Murata: I am at Michi-no-Eki Subashiri. Looking at the parking lot, I see cars with out-of-prefecture license plates, and I can see people coming and going from the facility. There are no prominent signs, and it gives the impression that it is operating as usual. More than 300,000 visitors come every year, and on April 2nd, many people came from both inside and outside the prefecture.
The facility is operating as usual, but according to Oyama Town, it is in a state of “sluggish operation” by the former designated manager. Michi-no-Eki Subashiri was managed and operated by a private company under the designated manager system introduced by Oyama Town, but the former designated manager’s designated management period was until the end of March. It had been decided that a new company would become the designated manager from April. Oyama Town has requested that the facility be vacated by April 1st, but the former designated manager has not complied.
A man from Atami said: That’s a problem. If you don’t keep your promises, that’s the rule. “Spending time” is unacceptable. A man from Yokohama said: There are issues of sales and the people who work there, so it’s difficult when money is involved. It’s great for users to have a place like this. Why is this situation happening? We asked the former designated manager. Reporter: I thought you might be in discussions with the town, so I thought I’d ask you about that.
An employee at the facility said, “We can’t answer anything other than what’s on the website.” The website explains it as follows: Excerpt from the Roadside Station “Subashiri” website: Although discussions began in January of this year, they are still ongoing, and it has not yet been decided whether to carry out restoration work or to hand it over to the next designated manager without doing so.
After consulting with the lawyer handling this matter, and with the aim of maintaining the functions of the roadside station and minimizing the impact on the local economy, the town of Oyama has provisionally continued operations of the roadside station since April 1st of this year, after explaining its purpose. When will the facility be handed over to a new designated manager? Oyama Town says it will proceed with the necessary actions, including legal procedures.
