Japan Picks Up the ‘Innovation’ Mantra
Source： Science Magazine （4/12/2007）
RedHerring and Steve Jobs
Have you heard of RedHerring?
It’s a famous media in Silicon Valley. They held a 2 day conference from July 22 to 24 in Kyoto, for the first time in Japan. Venture entrepreneurs and venture capitalists gathered. I was asked to make a speech on “Innovation” so I went to participate. You can see part of the program, speakers and panel in RedHerring Japan 2007 site. I was new to such kind of gatherings, so to get a grasp of what it was like, I took part from the first day. People like Mr. Semmoto formerly from KDDI (also met him in St.Petersburg in June) and Mr.Idei formerly from Sony (I introduced him in my blog in April “From Camarague”) were familiar to me, but to know the audience before I speak is very important, so thought that it was a good opportunity.
Approximately there were about 150 participants. Half were Japanese and the rest were diverse, but all young. 70% of the Japanese were from Silicon Valley. Half of the foreigners were based in Japan and there were a lot of Koreans from Silicon Valley. Most of them were ICT related ventures and not so many bio people.
Mr. Fredrick Haren from Sweden talked about “Creativity, Innovation” which was very unique and full of impacts. (Some people may say that he is an "out of box" type.) He introduced his book called “New Ideas” and later, as we got along so well, gave me the book saying he brought some with him. I seem to be compatible with queer people. Maybe because we share something like Don Qixote? Sounds odd, though.
Well, since it was like that, I listened to other people’s story and changed my slides back and forth. Eventually, I used the slides at GIES2000 and part of Prof. Jorgenson’s slides that was used at the Workshop in June. These were updated slides based on Prof. Jorgenson’s latest book, 「Productivity: Information Technology And the American Growth Resurgence」（MIT Press, 2005）. This is a perfect guide to learn about the growth in the US industry and IT related companies after the IT bubble burst in 2000. For everyone in the industry, policy, university related field, please read it thoroughly. This is another example of dynamism of United States that many such books are published from universities. I closed my speech referring to Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University. It goes like this.
1） you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something…
2） You’ve got to find what you love. Don’t settle.
3） Death is Life’s change agent.
4） STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH！
To grasp the meaning of these, you have to read his speech thoroughly. Go to the link that I cited above. I think it is a wonderful message. I envy the graduates for being given the chance to listen to his live speech. By the way, Bill Gates delivered a commencement speech this year at Harvard, and this is also a very touching speech. Their words are based on their true experience, therefore convincing more than anything else.
Since I closed my speech with this slide, President of RedHerring, Mr. Alex Vieux who acted as MC totally got happy and added his story after my speech. I was delighted.
The participants were obviously not the Japanese businessman type that I usually see. They enjoy their work, young, energetic, outspoken, and spoke out without caring whether their English was good or bad. It was quite interesting.
I met with Ms. Etsuko Okajima, a friend of Yoko Ishikura and met many other people. You can see photos of the party etc. at http://v.japan.cnet.com/blog/katsuya/2007/07/24/entry_27011214/. (My photo was posted too!)
Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize and a speech by former Prime Minister Mr. Junichiro Koizumi
In the blog of June 19 (“A few words about the low plublicity of Japan, from Paris”), I have quoted three cases as an actual example but all these three were about the large contribution of Japan in Africa. The contribution of Japan in Africa is not much recognized domestically or internationally as compared to its contribution in Asia. This may be due to geographical conditions. As I have mentioned in the above column, my article “Challenges for Japan’s Scientific Community in the 2008 G8 Summit” appeared in Business Daily Africa, one of the newspapers in Kenya, as “Analysis: G8 Summit will provide a major test for Japanese scientists”, “Comment: Challenges for Japan’s Scientific Community in the 2008 G8 Summit”. It is only at individual level but I want the world to know a little about the contribution made by Japan. World today is On-Line age, isn’t it?
After 8 years, Japan is hosting the next year’s G8 summit (which will be held at Toya Lake in July). Japan is going to play a leading role, and the fourth meeting of TICAD（Tokyo International Conference on African Development）(Ref. www.ticad-csf.net/eng/index.htm), a groundbreaking national undertaking that was started with the United Nations 15 years ago as a part of aid to Africa, which is held once in every 5 years, will be held in Yokohama in May. This conference is well recognized by various countries in Africa and the heads of more than 50 countries from Africa will gather in Tokyo for this conference. However, how many people in the world know about it? Recently, the media is only concentrating on the topic of China reaching to Africa…….
Last year, Prime Minister Koizumi visited Africa. He had been to Ethiopia and Ghana on this visit. Why Ethiopia and Ghana will be discussed later. Accra, the capital of Ghana, is the place where Dr. Hideyo Noguchi passed away due to the yellow fever and there is Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Institute. At this institute, Prime Minister Koizumi has declared the foundation of “Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize” by the government of Japan. This is an international award that acknowledges medical research and medical services that contribute to control the infectious disease in Africa. It will be given to an individual who has contributed in these two fields (It is introduced on Internet TV of the government also). The Awarding ceremony will be held once in every 5 years and we are planning to announce the first prize next year at TICAD. Currently, the selection is in process. As you know, issues like development in Africa, HIV/AIDS, poverty etc. are the serious problems of the world.
The other day, Mr. Koizumi, former prime minister went to the board meeting of "Japan Federation of Economic Organizations" to address the board for the fund-raising of this award. I heard that his speech was excellent. It was a short speech without any note, addressing about 200 business leaders including Chairman Mr. Mitarai. I heard that the atmosphere in that hall has changed dramatically after the speech. Please download and see the file, since the content of the speech is posted with the permission of former prime ministers’ office.
Down load the (PDF) “Introduction by Junichiro Koizumi, Member of Parliament, in standing committee meeting of Japan Federation of Economic Organization" (In Japanese only)
How do you feel about it? Isn’t it really an excellent speech? I think it was a very lively speech full of wit. I am thinking of translating this speech into English and transmitting it to the media in Africa.
If you think carefully, we can certainly say that the business people got hypnotized by “Koizumi magic”. This means Prime Minister Koizumi is very genius and “out of the box”. Actually, from the historical viewpoint, people who changed the world and the society through science and technology were all ”out of the box” , having imagination beyond the common sense of the people in that era. I have also mentioned this once in front of Prime Minister Mr. Koizumi at the meeting of Council for Science and Technology Policy that was held at his official residence. Everyone started laughing but I was quiet serious.
It is the same opinion as in the blog of June 4 ("St Petersburg, then from Mr. Deguchi to Don Quixote") as well as in the mail magazine of Mr. Deguchi （in Japanese only）that “Don Quixote" is very important in all-times.
Gender empowerment still has long way to go. Why? – Advanced Technology Award ceremony and “Race for the Exits (Japanese title “The Struggle of Japan, ‘the last nation of socialism’ ”)
On July 4th, I had an opportunity to present a 20 minute keynote speech at the Advanced Technology Award ceremony. Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado whom I have met in Okinawa recently was also present. The summary of my speech was posted as below on the morning edition of “Fuji Sankei Business i” the following day.
Keynote speech by Dr. Kurokawa:
●Let me focus my speech on a certain part of “Innovation 25” (note: this is a long term strategic government policy towards the society in 2025 which was put together by Dr.Kurokawa as the chair person). Considering on the basis of the framework of “Innovation 25”, I am disappointed with today’s award. In the student’s category only two out of nine winners are women, and in the corporate category only one out of twenty five. In the 21-year history of this award, only one non- Japanese was awarded. This is extremely abnormal. I urge you to be aware that this is not the type of the world that will continue to exist in the future. Here lies the message from the “Innovation”.
●Since the “development of steam engine”, there were 5 major waves of evolution in the paradigm of industry, economy and society. Now we are in a very mature stage of a paradigm which began since the mass production of automobiles in 1908; “oil, automobile, mass production of standardized products and culture of consuming goods away”. Since 1971 when Intel developed micro processor, information society became an infrastructure and then the internet, Netscape, Linux and Google emerged. People who make the changes are people like you award winners who have the passion and tenacity to dedicate yourself in research, and take actions.
●The world will become united by internet. In the past, research and mass production (within a company) was connected in a straight line, but that does not lead to devastating innovation. What is important in future innovation is heterogeneity, diversity and adaptiveness. I made a candid advice in the beginning my speech based on a diversity point of view.
●A rival could arrive from anywhere in the world. Strengths can be further extended through competition, but to overcome weaknesses, you need a strategy to collaborate with the strong ones. Therefore I urge you to make friends all over the world and experience what is occurring in the world in issues like energy, environment, natural resources, North-South issues etc. and exert your entrepreneur spirit to solve these problems. Based upon that, consider what kind of country Japan should be or how your company wants to be.
In fact, out of the five 2006 award winners in the students’ category, there were no women. In the corporate reasearch category, only 1 out of 20 was woman. The only woman who won this award in 2006 students’ category was the first foreigner ever, so when you come to think about it, you can understand how Japan is closed-door minded. What do you think about it?
Recently, I found an interesting book based on this point. It’s called “Race for the exits “The Unraveling of Japan’s System of Social Protection””(March 2007, Mainichi Newspapers) written by Leonard Schoppa, an American who spent his childhood in Japan for 15 years. He knows Japan very well and has authored several books. The data used are precise and I think his observation and interpretation are to the point.
Japanese women’s participation in the society, as you can see in UNDP Gender Development Index (voting right, education opportunity and college going rate etc.) is ranked 8th in the world which is something great, but Gender Empowerment Index goes down to 43rd. This gap shows that women are losing the opportunity to play an active role in the society which apparently is a waste of human resource. For Japan to gain its vitality depends largely on whether they can fully utilize women’s power and ability. It is no small issue. I have mentioned about this several times in the past, so please look up the keyword “gender equality”.
Unlike the “Feminism” act in the past, women became liberated compared to the old days with the introduction of elderly care system. As the appearance of “Parasite single”, who manage to live independently show, there are more choices for women to stay single and be free from the burden of having a husband. They don’t have to get married if they chose not to, can go abroad freely and choose not to get involved in bearing and upbringing children thinking it as a burden. (A while ago, it was thought to be ideal for Japanese women to get married, but how about now? This may be a stereotype value of a male centered society…) As a result, drop in birth rate is inevitable and gender equality becomes only a slogan, losing its impact on political reformation. As he points out, these are the backgrounds of the lumbering reforms. Never a truer word! The English title of this book is “Race for The Exits”.
Furthermore, excellent global companies are free to choose to go abroad to escape Japan where too many regulations and high energy cost impose burdens. You can say that what remains then is a miserable society where people and companies stay because they have no choice. This is the scary part of global era.
By the way, regarding women’s leadership, there was an interesting article in Foreign Affairs, May/June issue. As I introduced in my blog on 2007/3/3 and 2006/1/28, out of the 8 US Ivy League universities, 4 of them, Harvard, Princeton, Penn and Brown now have women Presidents. On the other hand, in Japanese national universities for example, out of the 87 national universities, only Ochanomizu University (a women’s university) has a woman President. Also in this article, the author points out that while the number of women leaders in the political world is still limited, more than half of the world’s NPO organization are headed by women. The author then goes on to write about its meaning and impact on politics, so this article is quite interesting. I wanted to introduce this just for your reference.
Global Innovation Convention “GIES2007” and the role of organizer, Director and performer
A global convention called Global Innovation Ecosystem held for the first time last September had its second conference on June29 and 30. Visit their site at http://www.gies2007.com/en/index.html. The first day was at Keidanren Kaikan and the second day was held at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) where I belong. Ikoma, Arimoto, Ishikura and myself were the organizers and the “Director” that manages the whole event was Prof. Yoko Ishikura of Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University. On the first day, as the chairperson, I reported about “Innovation 25”. I followed the Director’s instruction to “talk slowly in Japanese. Don’t talk too much, it’s the report that you have to present” and did my presentation right on time. My role today was an “actor” and I said that actors are not supposed to change their lines on stage, but there were changes of order and content of the slides until the last 10 minute which was quite tense. Wonderful plan, great stage is created when everyone performs their role properly. Job well done!
After my speech, from Washington DC, Chairman Deborah Wince-Smith of Council on Competitiveness that published the “Innovate America” (so called “Palmisano Report”) made a powerful keynote speech. Then, representing Science Council of Japan, Mr. Kitazawa made a very nice speech. He spoke in Japanese, but the slides were both in English and Japanese.
After that, Chairman Ellis Rubinstein of New York Academy of Sciences, Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama who served as the COO of Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan, Mr.Nakamura from Hitachi, Mr. Bangalore from India (who happened to be quite an interesting person and a lot of friends I have in common), Professor Gu from China were the participants of the panel. Professor Ishikura who acted as the MC facilitated the panel elegantly and it zipped along very well. The whole panel was also done in English. For details, documents of the program etc., please visit "GIES2007". They plan to disclose it on video, so I hope you will enjoy it. But when you come to think back, only Mr.Kitazawa and my speech were in Japanese…
To get a grasp of the atmosphere, please visit Mr.Deguchi’s report (in Japanese) which you must be familiar with by now. As he has just returned from Russia when he wrote this, it seems that he has mistaken that my speech was also in English, and later he corrects it. Not only he participated directly from Narita after the visit to Russia, but also since my Power Point was in English, he seemed to get it wrong that I was speaking in English. But this proves that his ability to understand English is the same as Japanese, sort of a state of “trance”. Amazing!
To get a feeling of the conference, I recommend going to Mr. Deguchi’s report (in Japanese) as he is the “professional” in writing. It is more entertaining, so I’ll leave it all up to him for now.
From Paris, Comment on Japan’s weak public relations
I’ve left Slovenia and am now in Paris. It’s a wonderful city. My previous visit was in early May, but every time I come here it lifts my spirits. It is a bit hot though, with temperatures at about 30 degrees Celsius.
My article “Challenges for Japan’s Scientific Community in the 2008 G8 Summit” is now uploaded on the site of the Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies, or JIIA. (The pdf version is here.)
The article points out how the Japanese government is not very good at public relations, both domestically and internationally, which is working to its big disadvantage. I wonder if it’s a mentality that everything is up to the government that results in weak PR. No, because Japanese private companies and universities are bad at public relations too. Basically, the sense of where the responsibility lies seems to be unclear.
I wanted to show in a small way my sense of responsibility, through my March 13 posting entitled “Jeffrey Sachs and the Millennium Village Project” and one on May 29 called “Nikkei Discussion with President Yonekura of Sumitomo Chemical and Professor Jeffrey Sachs.” I want more people to learn about Japan’s activities and contributions around the world so that they will become more confident.
I understand that “be modest,” “never brag,” or “stay quiet because the truth will eventually be known” are considered Japanese virtues. But government projects are using taxpayers’ money. So, the government needs to better communicate its activities to the public, casually on a daily basis and with style. Well-planned public relations is an indispensable strategy for a nation. But the big problem is that those in responsible positions lack the sense that they are working with public money.
For a long time, the basic principle of the Japanese government was represented in a saying that goes, “You can make people follow you, but it is difficult to get them to understand the reason.” One classic example of this mentality may be the recent problems at the Social Insurance Agency. It really shows how lightly it takes the public. Enough is enough. Browsing through government websites also makes me think that the government doesn’t care to get the public to read the information and understand it. I have always mentioned this to the people in charge of the sites, but they probably don’t have the power change them. Basically, public offices are filled with people that always give reasons why you can’t try something new.
Abraham Lincoln who is considered by many Americans to have been the greatest president of the United States delivered a speech in 1861 that goes, “Government of the People, Government by the People, and Government for the People.” I feel that this basic principle of democracy has not taken root in Japan even today.
What do you think? After giving some thought to what you can do, take action. Start doing it, even if it’s something small.
Challenges for Japan’s Scientific Community in the 2008 G8 Summit
Challenges for Japan’s Scientific Community in the 2008 G8 Summit
Source: AJISS Commentary
Once again from St. Petersburg- Discussion between Mr. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board, IBM Corporation and Mr. Cho, President of Toyota about innovation
On Tuesday, 5th I went to Hermitage, the long awaited place. Everything was wonderful and splendid. 300 years ago, Peter I the Great ordered to build a city on this barren land. Huge number of people must have died, as it is a damp area at the mouth of the river. In the winter, it will be cold beyond one’s imagination, so the situation must have been tragically miserable. Information about this place is available through the column which I posted last time and the site of Mr. Deguchi. Speaking of it reminds me the tragic story of Napoleon’s attack on Russia and his defeat.
‘Wonderful’ is the best word to express this Museum. There is a nice view of the porch (Photograph 1) after climbing the main staircase of entrance; it is also good that most of the internal flooring is made of wood. How did the people in those days live and what did they do to earn their living? What was the lifestyle of the people called as common people or the serfs? What was the composition of the population? Most of these exhibits are available on the site of Hermitage.
When you see the site, you can understand the extent of the support of IBM. I think that there are hardly 20 paintings of Davinci, but his very famous 2 paintings “Litta Madonna” and “Benois Madonna” are exhibited in a pair here.
If you see the pictures you will say “Oh! those pictures.”
“Head of Medusa" of Rubens was also on special exhibition. (Taking snap of that picture was not allowed). Matis’ collection was also wonderful. These paintings can be viewed on the website as above.
Like Vatican and Louvre Museum, the banquet hall gives you an idea of the great luxury in those prosperous days. It was really something.
Let me show you some of the photos (Photographs 1-6). The photographs may be blur, as they are taken with a small camera.
Photo1: Porch after climbing the main staircase of entrance of Hermitage
Photo2: In the court of Peter 1 the Great
Photo3: Banquet hall (1)
Photo4: Banquet hall (2)
Photo5: Pictures of Generals
Photo6: Hall
In the evening, I attended the reception hosted by IBM in the courtyard. After the reception, others went on admiring the beauty of Hermitage in the midnight sun but I returned back. It seems that many of them had returned after midnight.
Photo7: In the Hermitage courtyard, Professor Takeuchi of Hitotsubashi business school (On observer’s right) and Mr. Nagashima, President of Teijin Limited
Photo8: In the same courtyard, Mr. Mehta, former Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on left, Mr. Arimoto (on extreme right)
Next day, I attended the Business Leadership Forum of IBM, for which I came here. It was held in the Philpharmonic concert hall in front of Russian Museum that I had introduced in my column of June 4. A welcome speech by Mr. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board, IBM Corporation (he had worked in IBM, Japan during year 1991 to 1993) followed by a speech of Mr. Cho, President of Toyota. Then, a discussion by those two moderated by Mr. Takeuchi, whom I had introduced to you before. The duration of each speech was about 45 minutes, but the content was so excellent that two and a half hours passed with surprising swiftness before one could know, and all were very pleased. There were about 20 participants from Japan as well. It was a pleasure to see that 2 out of the 3 people on the platform were Japanese which had an impact, and the contents of speech were filled with knowledge and inspirations.
Especially, the Q and A session of Mr. Cho was excellent. Situation like this, where Japanese played an active role was rare recently, so people who participated must have been encouraged and given energy. Mr. Takeuchi has presided over very well as if he was like an outstanding entertainer. Mr. Takeuchi was entrusted to host 2 panels in the morning session. Apparently people highly trusted him which is very nice.
Photo9: In front of the assembly hall, Mr. Otoshi, Director of IBM Japan and Mr. Arimoto. They were classmates at the university.
People came to participate from various countries and all were great people. To name a few, Dr. Carlota Perez, Dr. Rosabeth Kantor, and people from Telstra of Australia and ZARA of Spain (both are distinct enterprises) were fantastic. I think hereabouts are posted on IBM’s website. I also heard several instructive phrases all of which are placed in the latest "Innovation 25".
"My confidence became strong assurance”, as Daisuke Matsuzaka put it, best expresses my feeling. However, the challenge is whether it can be implemented. The problem with Japan is always whether they can carry the plans out. At least the people who have visited my blogs will understand the reason. Action is vital. I don’t want to hear any reasons for not being able to implement plans.
At night, there was a reception in Russian Museum of Ethnography (Photograph 10, 11). Next morning I woke up at 3 a.m. I am writing this in the flight to Vancouver via Frankfurt.
Photo10: Bird eye view of Assembly hall of Russian Museum of Ethnography
Photo11: Mr. Arimoto and Professor Wu Maw-Kuen, Head of Institute of Physics, Taiwan
St. Petersburg, Mr. Deguchi and Don Quixote
This is the first time visiting Russia for me. I have not gotten used to it yet, for the sun did not set nor did it get dark, even at 11pm.
I am here in St. Petersburg to attend "The IBM Business Leadership Forum" a conference hosted by IBM. The chairperson of the event is Samual Palmisano, IBM Chairman and CEO, who chaired the "Innovate America" published in 2006. The event has been held annually for four years. Hirotaka Takeuchi, Dean of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University appears to be among the regular attendees of this event. He is one of the best panelists in such international conferences from Japan. Expected noted attendees include Fujio Cho, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation whom I met in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Information of St. Petersburg is available through the website;www.geographia.com/russia/peter01.htm. In brief, St. Petersburg is a city located in the delta of the Neva River flowing to the Baltic Sea. The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great as a "window to Europe” in early 18th century. As is always the case, the lack of historical recognition does not allow us to fully relish how interesting this historic city is. St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia until the government moved to Moscow due to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The scenery of the city is evocative of great luxury in the 18th to 19th centuries. St. Petersburg is also the birthplace of the Russian revolution of 1917.
How wonderful the scenery is! Beautiful green, large parks, and lots of trees. It is really cold here, though people enjoy it in their own way. I am going to stay here for a few days. I would highly recommend St. Petersburg as a great place to visit.
I stayed at Hotel Astoｒia, which is located in a very convenient location. Unfortunately, today is June 4th, Monday, and the Hermitage Museum was closed. Instead, I strolled around here for three hours. The city was crowded with a lot of people, especially the young, even though it was Monday. I was wondering why so many people were around on such a weekday. Was it summer vacation? I did not see so many cars but did frequently see old buildings around here. This led me to imagine that economic growth was yet to come.
First of all, I visited the State Russian Museum, which was founded by Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor, at the end of the 19th century. It has the largest collection of Russian traditional arts. Next to the museum, there is a church located on the place where Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.
Photo1－2
The highlight is the Winter Palace Hermitage (See photos 3-5), which was built by Empress Elizabeth in the 18th century, daughter of Peter the Great. The Winter Place had served as the winter formal royal residence of Russian Tsars until the Russian Revolution in 1919. The museum is the biggest in terms of area in the world and also one of the world’s four greatest museums (the other three being the Metropolitan, NYC, USA, British Museum, London, UK, and Musee de Louvre, Paris, France). The museum has many European collections, which tells what a superpower Russia was in those days. I have it in mind to visit the Winter Palace sometime tomorrow.
Photo3－5
By the way, in some columns here, I have mentioned the website "Digital New Deal" hosted by Shunichi Deguchi, Digital New Deal, DND Director, Visiting Professor Professional Graduate School, Management of Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. In fact, Mr. Deguchi has given valuable support to the cabinet-run project "Innovation 25”, which I chaired. The website includes archives of email newsletters, titled the "DND email newsletters", which Mr. Deguchi delivers. Please check his website. There are several articles on his visit to Russia in the issues: April 25th, May 9th, May 16th and May 23rd. It was just a month ago. It is a really great read. How good his writing is and what a variety of topics he covers! He is an ex-newspaper reporter.
Especially in the May 16th, 2007 issue, he describes St. Petersburg beautifully and vividly. So I’d better stop writing on St. Petersburg. For there is no doubt that Mr. Deguchi is better at putting his own experiences into writing than me.
The issue: May 16, 2007 mentioned Mstislav Rostropovich, a great Russian cellist, who died on April 27th, 2007. Another issue: May 23, 2007 discussed Don Quixote, including the communication between us and his review on a Japanese book "INOBEISYON-NO-SAHOU (How to make innovation)" written by Ikujiro Nonaka, whom I respect. Please check Mr. Deguchi’s writing on Russia. Why Don Quixote? Don Quixote-ship is really important for innovation.
Please let me call it a day with some photos of today’s visit.
Photo 6 : Peter and Paul Fortress across Neva River Neva
Photos 7 and 8 : St. Isaac Cathedral across the Hotel Hotel and Field of Mars in front.
From St. Gallen
I am attending the 37th St. Gallen Symposium at the University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland. This student-run event brings together a group of international participants, including 200 students and 400 prominent international business leaders. Many are from Europe, including Switzerland, and others from across the world. This year the symposium turns thirty seven years old. The event began around the same time when the World Economic Forum, so-called Davos meeting in Davos, Switzerland, was launched, which I have been attending for the last six years.
On May 31, the first day of the event, I attended keynote sessions, including a lecture given by Dr. Seyed Mohammad Khatani, former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whom I met at the United Nations University in 2006 and the World Economic Forum, Davos, Netherlands in 2007, and a panel session where I and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr. gave lectures. The webcast of the session is available through www.stgallen-symposium.org. (Click on "Video-streaming.")
Photo1－2
Although business was the main topic of the session, I focused on innovative leadership for young people as future leaders. My lecture appeared to be received well, cheered by the students. I also received some compliments: "Excellent" from the moderator of the session Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach as well as a number of attendants even after the session. Afterwards, many students came together and we had a lot of exciting talk far into the night. There were 17 student attendees from Japan. Half of them are currently studying in Japan and from overseas, including Argentina, Singapore, Malaysia, Poland and US. I was so impressed by such outstanding students I met. Here are some photos taken at the session: Photo 3) Left to right, Toyoo Gyohten, President of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs, who have supported the Japanese attendees for fifteen years, and Hiroshi Watanabe, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, who also attended the last symposium in 2006 as well and Photo 4) with student attendees.
Photo3－4
In the evening of the second day of the symposium, I had dinner with some Japanese people supporting the symposium at Gupf, a restaurant in St. Gallen, which is well known for the scenery as well as the wine cellar. Unfortunately, it rained and dense fog covered up to the top of the mountains so we could not enjoy the scenery a lot. Noted attendees include: Toyoo Gyohten, President of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs, Hiroshi Watanabe, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, both of whom I’ve already introduced above, Hisashi Owada, member of the International Court of Justice, the Haag, Netherlands and his wife Yumiko, Fujio Cho, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation and his wife, Takaji Kunimatsu, former Commissioner-General of the National Police Agency, Nobuyasu Abe, Ambassador of Japan to Switzerland and his wife, Tomio Tsutsumi, Member of the Board, Mitsubishi Corporation, former Administrative Vice-Minister of the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Yoshinori Imai, Executive Editor, Program Host, NHK Japan Broadcasting Corp. and his wife, Yuji Suzuki, Chairman, Credit Suisse Group and his wife. They play a pivotal role in giving valuable support for the St. Gallen Symposium from the standpoint of Japan.
This place overlooked Lake Constance. The other side across the Lake is in Germany, where annual Lindau Meeting with Nobel Laureates is taken place. I know some of the young researchers attending the meeting, many of who told me that they were so inspired by spending almost a week with the Nobel Laureates and that the atmosphere and attitude toward them was quite different from those in Japan. Last year, the theme of the meeting was chemistry so Prof. Ryoji Noyori, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Chairman of the Education Rebuilding Council of JAPAN, attended the meeting. This program was kicked off fifty years ago aiming at fostering next generation. That is the way educational platform fostering people should be. We Japanese should believe much more in young people.
I will attend the session again tomorrow on June 2nd then leave for St. Peterburg, Russia, on June 3rd.