Muroran City, Hokkaido Introduces Parking Fee Settlement System at "Cape Chikyu" Tourist Spot

Muroran City, Hokkaido (Mayor: Takeshi Aoyama), will introduce a new parking fee settlement system at the "Cape Chikyu Green Space Parking Lot" starting April 1, 2026. This system is a nationally advanced initiative that utilizes authentication of My Number Cards, driver's licenses, and MyNa licenses to perform "citizen identification" in real-time at payment machines, making usage free for citizens.

1. Background and Purpose

Cape Chikyu is a major tourist destination in our city, attracting many visitors annually. Up until now, all maintenance and management costs, such as toilet cleaning, weeding, and facility repairs, have been covered by public funds. Moving forward, in order to pass on this beautiful scenery to the next generation and further enhance it as an attractive tourist destination, we have decided to collect parking fees from tourists. The collected fees will be utilized for the following purposes:

Environmental maintenance: Maintaining clean toilets, weeding, etc. Enhancing attractiveness: Creating new tourist content Sustainability: Securing financial resources to maintain the quality of the tourist destination while reducing the burden on local residents.

2. Technical Features of the Parking Fee Settlement System

When implementing the fee system, the city's top priority was "how easily citizens can enjoy Cape Chikyu as before." To achieve this, we have introduced the latest DX technology.

Automatic Citizen Identification: By simply holding a My Number Card, driver's license, or MyNa license over the card reader installed in the payment machine, residency within the city is instantly identified. Parking fees become free without the need for staffed windows or prior procedures. Japan's First-Level Social Implementation: The mechanism of directly reading My Number Cards, driver's licenses, and MyNa licenses at payment machines and processing discounts/free usage in real-time is an advanced initiative for parking systems in Japanese tourist facilities. Balancing Convenience and Privacy: Eliminates the need for complex application forms or presentation of identity verification documents, enabling smooth exit. It utilizes highly secure public personal authentication.

Overview of the Parking Fee Settlement System

3. Operation Overview

Start Date: April 1, 2026, 9:00 AM Target Facility: Cape Chikyu Green Space Parking Lot Operation Method: 24-hour unmanned payment system Fee Structure: General (tourists): Paid (Standard cars, small cars, light cars: 500 yen / Buses: 2,000 yen / Motorcycles (including motorized bicycles): 200 yen) *Muroran citizens: Free (requires authentication using My Number Card, driver's license, or MyNa license at the payment machine)

Muroran City Official Website: https://www.city.muroran.lg.jp/culture/?content=10743

Contact for Media Inquiries Muroran City Economic Department, Tourism Division Phone: 0143-25-3220 Email: kankou@city.muroran.lg.jp