miji.beInformation dissemination by local governments is an important function closely tied to residents' daily lives. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Municipal DX Promotion Plan set a target of migrating core municipal systems, such as resident records and taxation, to standards-compliant systems by the end of fiscal 2025, with case-by-case extensions for systems that are difficult to migrate. However, URLs published by local governments tend to be long, reflecting the internal structure of government systems, making them difficult to read when printed in newsletters and flyers and leading to input errors when residents try to type them manually. In practice, long URLs printed in municipal newsletters are easy to mistype, and some residents may not reach the intended page. One way to reduce this input effort and see resident access patterns in data is to adopt short URLs.
Among the situations where local governments use short URLs is information delivery to residents. Municipalities communicate a variety of URLs to residents throughout the year - child-rearing support programs, elderly welfare services, garbage collection calendars, and various application guides. For example, if the URL for a child allowance application page is something like `https://www.city.example.lg.jp/kosodate/teate/jidou/shinsei/online/index.html`, converting it to a short URL and printing it in newsletters or flyers allows residents to access the application page simply by entering a short URL on their smartphones. Furthermore, by assigning a unique short URL to each program, click data offers clues for comparing which programs attract greater interest and material for planning the next fiscal year's communication strategy.
Disaster information dissemination is a use case where short URLs directly impact resident safety. When disasters strike or evacuation orders are issued, municipalities must deliver urgent information as quickly as possible. When including URLs for evacuation shelter maps or water distribution point lists in disaster alert emails or emergency notifications, long URLs not only exceed character limits but are also hard for panicked residents to type accurately. Short URLs fit within SMS character limits and are easier for elderly residents to input. During a disaster, residents trying to obtain information from their municipality's website are easily blocked by long, complex URLs that are hard to type correctly under stress. By pre-assigning fixed short URLs to key disaster preparedness pages - hazard maps, evacuation shelter lists, and emergency contact information - municipalities can publicize them during normal times, making the pages easier to reach when emergencies arise. Another option is to combine short URLs with QR codes: by printing both a QR code and a short URL on disaster preparedness handbooks and evacuation shelter bulletin boards, residents can still manually enter the URL even when their smartphone camera is unavailable.
Short URLs can also be used for tourism promotion. By printing short URLs on tourism brochures, posters at train stations and airports, and signage at roadside rest areas, tourists can easily access detailed information on their smartphones. According to Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) statistics, the number of inbound visitors reached a record 36.87 million in 2024, and attracting visitors to regional areas is also seen as a challenge. By assigning short URLs to multilingual tourism pages and setting up language-specific redirects for English, Chinese, and Korean pages, municipalities can help improve convenience for international visitors. Creating unique short URLs for seasonal events - cherry blossom festivals, fireworks displays, autumn foliage illuminations - and switching the redirect destination to the next year's announcement page after each event ends allows the same short URL to be reused year after year. Analyzing click data reveals which tourist attractions generate the most interest and during which periods access peaks, enabling municipalities to measure the effectiveness of their tourism initiatives.
Short URLs also play an important role in the digitization of administrative procedures. Online applications using My Number cards, electronic filings, and convenience store issuance of various certificates - digital services offered by municipalities are expanding. However, for residents unfamiliar with digital technology, accurately entering a complex URL to reach a service is itself a barrier. By printing a short URL prominently on guidance flyers distributed at service counters and instructing residents to enter the address on their smartphones, municipalities can offer residents unfamiliar with digital technology a pointer to the service. While smartphone ownership among older residents is spreading, the number of older residents who have used a government online service is still limited. One way to narrow this gap is to simplify the access path with short URLs.
Short URLs can also be used in municipal assembly newsletters and public hearing announcements. By using short URLs as pathways to content that encourages civic participation - assembly minutes, budget summaries, and public comment solicitation pages - municipalities may lower the barrier to resident participation. For public comment solicitations, announcing the short URL to the solicitation page through newsletters, social media, and disaster prevention radio makes it easier to compare, from click counts by channel, which medium draws resident interest.
Among the points to note when municipalities introduce short URLs are security and accessibility. Official municipal URLs are backed by the trusted `lg.jp` domain, but converting them to short URLs changes the domain, creating a risk that residents may mistake them for phishing sites. One countermeasure is to note that the link redirects to the official site when using short URLs, and to include the municipality's official logo alongside the short URL in newsletters and flyers to support trust. Additionally, for visually impaired residents using screen readers, shorter URLs are easier to hear when read aloud. On the operational side, a structure in which the public relations division manages short URLs centrally and standardizes naming conventions (for example: department-name-service-name), rather than each department creating them independently, can help prevent internal confusion. For expiration dates, one approach is to set operational rules by use case, such as assigning expiration dates to time-limited program announcements and permanent short URLs to ongoing service pages.