The Stories of Three “Deployments” Arriving in the Same Week

A maternity clinic has opened in Etajima City. This is the first time since the merger in 2004 that a maternity and gynecology sign has been displayed in the city. At the same time, Hiroshima Electric Railway officially announced the full implementation of one-man operation for its streetcars, while Saijo Agricultural High School received guidance from the Hiroshima Labor Bureau regarding violations of the Worker Dispatch Law concerning the outsourcing of farm management tasks.

There is no direct connection among these three events. However, when viewed together, one question arises—”Where to place people?” Doctors, conductors, workers. Who stands where, and under whose direction do they act? The design of these placements quietly, yet decisively, influences the quality of life in the community.

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Etajima—Ending 20 Years of “Nothing” with a System and One Decision

Etajima City has a population of about 20,000. Although it is connected to the mainland by a bridge and ferry, residents had to travel to Kure City or Hiroshima City for gynecological care. Each prenatal check-up required crossing the sea for more than 30 minutes one way. Even those suffering from dysmenorrhea or menopausal symptoms would endure, thinking, “It’s not worth the trouble to go.” This situation persisted for 20 years since the merger.

The newly opened “Ladies Clinic” does not handle deliveries but provides general gynecological care and prenatal check-ups. The physician who established the clinic stated in an interview, “I wanted to create a place where the women of the island could receive standard medical care as a matter of course.”

What is noteworthy is the system that supported this opening. Etajima City has established a subsidy system to secure doctors, providing several tens of millions of yen in subsidies for facility development and medical equipment acquisition. A clinic cannot be established solely based on a doctor’s aspirations. Securing buildings, equipment, and staff—by not leaving these to “individual enthusiasm,” the local government prepared a financial foundation, allowing a clinic to finally take root on the island.

The question here is not whether there are doctors or not. It is whether the community can design the conditions for doctors to come. It is unlikely that obstetricians will naturally gather in a population of 20,000 on an island. Therefore, the subsidy system made this “placement” possible. One could say that the system embraced one person’s decision.

Conversely, without this system, the doctor’s intentions would have remained unfulfilled. The moment when both individual passion and institutional support aligned, the 20-year gap was finally filled.

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Hiroshima Electric Railway—Redesigning the Placement of “Dropping Conductors”

Hiroshima Electric Railway has indicated its policy to advance one-man operation across all lines. Currently, some routes still have a two-person crew consisting of a driver and a conductor, but this will be unified into a single-driver system.

The background to this is a chronic shortage of crew members and the tough business environment. In recent years, Hiroshima Electric Railway has gradually introduced IC card-compatible fare collection machines and onboard cameras. By replacing some of the fare collection and safety checks previously performed by conductors with equipment, the technical conditions for one-man operation are being established.

On the other hand, discussions have been simmering around why Hiroshima Electric Railway decided against a 4 billion yen investment in an LRT-type system. If a credit-based boarding system—where passengers voluntarily pay fares and inspections are conducted randomly, similar to European models—were implemented, the efficiency of boarding and alighting would significantly increase. However, this would require substantial investment in vehicle modifications and station facilities, which Hiroshima Electric Railway opted not to pursue. As a result, the direction of reducing personnel within the existing vehicles and systems—namely, one-man operation—remains a “realistic option.”

Here, the design philosophy of placement becomes apparent. Should the system itself be changed through investment, or should the number of people be adjusted within the existing framework? Hiroshima Electric Railway has chosen the latter.

What changes when conductors are eliminated? Assisting elderly passengers who struggle with fare payments, helping wheelchair users board and alight, ensuring safety during crowded times—these tasks cannot be fully replaced by equipment alone. While Hiroshima Electric Railway asserts that “there will be no hindrance to safe operations,” it remains uncertain how the burden on the drivers in the field will change until they begin operating under this new system.

Efficiency itself is not inherently bad. Reviewing personnel allocation to maintain service frequency is a decision made to protect public transportation. The issue is whether it is clear who will take on the functions that are lost by reducing personnel. If conductors—the “people”—are removed, and the destination of the roles they performed is not designed, the burden will scatter among drivers and passengers without being visible.

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Saijo Agricultural High School—The Line of “Under Whose Direction Are They Acting”

The case involving Saijo Agricultural High School receiving guidance from the Hiroshima Labor Bureau may seem like a mundane contract issue at first glance. However, its content touches on the core of “human placement.”

The school had outsourced farm management tasks to an external contractor under a “contract for work.” A contract for work is a form where the contractor performs tasks based on their own judgment and responsibility. The client—in this case, the school—cannot directly instruct the workers. However, in reality, school staff were routinely giving instructions to the workers regarding their tasks. This is legally considered “disguised contracting” and is viewed as a form of labor dispatch.

There is a reason why the Worker Dispatch Law insists on the “command and control relationship.” The direction under which workers act affects their safety management responsibilities, applicability of labor accident insurance, and employment stability. In a contract for work, the contractor bears the responsibility. In dispatching, the client also incurs responsibilities. Blurring that line equates to obscuring the protection of workers.

The background of such issues arising in school settings is the excessive workload on teaching staff. Farm management at agricultural high schools is highly specialized and labor-intensive. It cannot be managed solely by teachers, hence the decision to outsource. However, the situation where “tasks that were supposed to be outsourced” ultimately require internal instruction indicates that the design of placement has not kept pace with reality.

The discrepancy between the contractual form and the actual situation is left unaddressed. This is not limited to schools. The same structure lurks in municipal outsourcing, corporate management of external contracts, and various other settings. “Who stands where, and under whose direction do they act”—drawing that line accurately is a mundane yet fundamentally essential design act to protect the rights of workers.

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What the Three Contexts Reflect

In Etajima, the system delivered one doctor to the “place it should reach.” In Hiroshima Electric Railway, a design to reduce personnel was chosen, but the destination of the corresponding functions remains unclear. At Saijo Agricultural High School, the ambiguity in drawing the lines of placement compromised what the law aimed to protect.

What is common among these three contexts is that “where to place people” is not merely a numbers issue. There are systems like subsidies, investment decisions in management, and legal frameworks like contract forms. Human placement is nothing less than designing the structure that supports those individuals.

What should be closely observed moving forward is the “afterward” for each case. Will the clinic in Etajima be able to sustain its operations after the subsidy period ends? How will the one-man operation of Hiroshima Electric Railway affect driver turnover rates and passenger safety? How will Saijo Agricultural High School reconcile the discrepancies between contracts and reality after receiving guidance?

Placement is not a one-time decision. Systems continue to operate and create friction. The first to notice that friction is always the people on the ground. —That is why the question of “Who does this make easier?” must not be relinquished by those designing the system.