From Accra, Ghana – 3

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March 10th started with a visit to Achimota Hospital (Photo) located at the suburb of Accra.  The hospital stands within the site of Achimota School the most prestigious school of Ghana established in 1927.  The school is known for producing a large number of talents through its high ideals as manifested in its school emblem; that (starting in the context of school life), black and white, male and female, should integrate and combine synergistically for the good of all.  This idea was revolutionary, especially in the 1920s when the school was established.  Achimota hospital used to serve to this school.  Many African leaders including three presidents of Ghana after independence are alumni of this school.  Achimota school reminds us that nurturing human resource through a long-term vision is always, in any time of history and any nation, the highest priority.

By the way, it is so a ‘British’ style that they have a Golf Course here.  It is the distinguished Achimota Golf Club.Top schools in Britain and U.S. often have golf courses within their school premises.

At the hospital, many nurses are working together with the director and doctors (there are four Doctors).  They have one computer for the whole clinic.  Patients are moved to larger hospitals in the city if surgical operations are needed.  About 200 pregnant mothers visit the clinic every day.  While we were there a baby was newly born. We were with Drs Greenwood and Were and all hospital people, nurse and patients, were happy to see Dr. Were being so popular.  She is truly the heroine of Africa.

We then moved on to ‘Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research’ established by the government of Japan. (Photos are included in the slide show above).  The Institute is located within the huge premise of University of Ghana (Ref.1, 2) at Legon, the suburb of Accra.  Scientists from University of Tokyo and Medical and Dental University are participating in researches on HIV/AIDS, H1N1, and so on.  It is very encouraging to see the progress of research projects moving.  I fully enjoyed the tour of the institute as well as active discussion with the scientists.

At lunch time, I looked up at the sky and incidently saw the ‘Circle Rainbow: Halo, (Photo on top) a rainbow around the sun just above us.  It was a nice surprise.

Leaving the Institute, we headed to next destination, the laboratory used by Hideyo Noguchi 82 years ago.  HIH Crown Prince has been here just a day before.  The lab is part of the University Hospital of University of Ghana in Accra city, separate from the Legon campus.  I noticed the signatures of HIH Prince and Princess Takamado in the guest book dated 1993.   What was it like to be here 80 years ago, I wonder.  Among the exhibition was a telegram sent from Hideyo to his wife in New York City.  The telegram was sent by
‘Western Union’ a telegram and communication service company which I wrote about in the context of ‘Japan as a closed country’.   Of course, I saw ‘Western Union’ offices here and there in Ghana and Botswana as I traveled.   The service is operated throughout the world except 5 countries including Japan.  This is truly a strange situation for a country like Japan.

In the evening, I was invited by HE Ambassador Katagami to a dinner at the Embassy of Japan.  The embassy was beautiful with a large garden.  This day the weather was not too hot which was a treat for us.  ‘Takai’, a specialty of Ghana was served as digestif.   The taste was somewhat like Tia Maria, very nice, and I had to control myself from asking for too much.

By the way, Ghana is known for produce of cocoa.   It is the nation’s major industry.  Also, oil was discovered at Off Shore recently.  ‘Ghana’ chocolate is very popular in Japan, but here the chocolate will not melt even at this high temperature.  I was told that its taste does not match Japanese or many people, thus may not have commercial value..

Late in the evening, I left to Accra airport heading for Narita via London.  I have traveled 18 days since February 23th and thia last leg is for two nights on the plane.

Now this trip is coming to an end.

From Accra, Ghana – 1

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On March 7th, I left Paris, flew via London to land Accra, the capital city of Ghana, at 10pm.  Accra is located at ‘Latitude 4゜33’00’’ North, Longitude 0゜12’00’’ West’ , an equatorial position, almost ‘0, 0’.  The instant I was out of the aircraft, I felt a very, very, ‘hot, sultry’ air.  ‘La Palm Royal Beach Hotel’ that stands besides the coastline, is the venue of the meeting and also our accommodation.

This visit is to serve as the Chair of ‘Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Symposium’.  The Prize was inaugurated two years ago as the first and only prize under the auspices of the government of Japan.  We had the honor of the presence of HIH Crown Prince of Japan at the symposium.  I understand that this is his first visit to Sub-Sahara.  The winners of the inaugural Award, Drs Greenwood and Were also participated.

Mr. Yohei Sasagawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation who is hopping all over the world tirelessly and Professor Kiyoshi Kita of University of Tokyo also joined with us.  It’s been a long time since I saw Dr Kita last time – a nice and encouraging reunion.

On 8th, I had discussion with NIH Fogerty Program, Japanese delegates of Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Health, JICA, etc., Professor Nobuo Oota of Tokyo Medical and Dental University with other Japanese scientists working at Noguchi Institute, some of African experts participating this Symposium and so on to discuss and draft possible inputs to the agenda on ‘Global Health’ of the G8 Summit which will be held in Canada this year.

At the Davos meeting of January this year, Prime Minister Harper stated that ‘Maternal and Child Health’  be an agenda of his G8 Summit.  Japan has been making a great contribution in this area (‘Global Health’) since it set the foundation of Global Fund at the 2000 Okinawa Kyusyu G8 Summit as the host, and again its follow ups at the 2008 Toyako Summit.  Especially when we take into account the fact that this year’s Summit may be the last ‘G8 Summit’ along with the poor progress of MDGs, I am but concerned how ‘Global Health’ will develop after the ‘G8 Summit’….

In the evening, a reception was held welcoming the two Laureates, participants from Africa, Ghana, Japanese delegates from Cabinet Administration Office (Naikakufu), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, JICA, etc.   Anyway, the hot, soggy climate here is overwhelming.  I sweated all the time.

From Paris – 2

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After the evening of L’Oreal Award, I visited American Hospital of Paris (AHP) next morning to see Madam Christiane Guerlain (famous perfume), a member of the Hospital's Board of Governors since 1977, with other members of the Board, Mr John Crowford, Drs Bloch, the head of the Hospital, Drs Kyhayat, and other staff Drs Bard, Matsushita, Mimura and so on.  After listening to them, I was guided to a tour to its major facilities including the new Dialysis Center.   Dr Mimura, a newly appointed Japanese Doctor at AHP from last autumn to lead its Japanese section, is apparently earning good reputation and I was happy to feel the welcoming mood among his colleagues and staffs.

In the afternoon, I had a 2 hours’ teleconference on Global Health with 10 people or so from Canada and other countries, then from 4 pm, joined two executives in charge of technology from Schlumberger Paris head office (I understand that one of them, Mr Ashok Belani from India is the youngest of all board members).  We had quite a stimulating conversation/discussions over interesting topics including possible international collaboration with Japan on global issues.  Schlumberger has placed a branch office in Japan  30 years ago and has been active in many areas ever since.

In the evening, Drs Jean-Louis Armand and Yves Mieux who used to work at the Embassy of France to Japan, Drs Mimura (husband and wife) and I went out to have dinner at KGB ‘Kitchen Galeise Bis’ (Ref.1), a nice restaurant that is quite popular recently (reservations are full 3 to 4 weeks ahead, I was told).  Menu was original and interesting, and everything was so delicious.  The reputation did not betray us.  So, naturally we enjoyed conversation with high spirits.

The next day was Sunday.  HE Ambassador Hattori of OECD invited me for lunch at his residence which was a very relaxing experience.  I have had the honor of knowing him since he was the Ambassador of Japan to Vietnam when he supported us in many ways at Science Council of Asia which we held at Hanoi.  It’s been a very long time since then, and I thank him so much for his unchanging kindness

After leaving his residence, I spent time at Musee Bourdelle  (Ref.1) enjoying the exhibition of ‘Isadora Duncun’.  Musee Bourdelle is a compact but beautiful art museum.  Ms Duncan is a highly unconventional dancer born in San Francisco having performed mainly in Europe and Russia.  I assume people may describe her today as ‘a scandalous, eccentric woman’.

Duncan socialized with Rodin, sculptor, and his close friend Carrier, painter so the exhibition included sculpture of Isadora by Rodin as well as sketches by Carriere and Bourdelle.  The fact that Rodin and Carriere were very close friends is well known and I have mentioned it in my keynote lecture on ‘Molecular Imaging’.  I also summarized the lecture in a essay.  
 
Next noon I took a flight from Charles de Gaulle CDG airport heading to Accra, Ghana via Heathrow, London.

Paris is always beautiful.  There are so many interesting places to visit.  It is such an attractive city.

I have traveled for more than two weeks, visited two African countries, worked in Paris, and had some private time in Bourgogn to enjoy (which I haven’t have had for a long time).

From Botswana to the Center of French Wine

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March2010 Burgundy 010
Romanee Conti

After spending 5 full days in Botswana, I said farewell to this charming nation to the next destination in the evening of February 28th.  By the next morning, March 1st, I was at Paris CDG airport via Johannesburg.  Took TGV to Dijon（photo 1） then from here to the center of Burgundy wine.   Then got on a car to run throughRoute des Grands Cru stopping by at ‘Romanee-Conti’ （only about 1.8 hectare…）（photo top and 2）, everybody’s dream, and finally arrived at Savigny les Beaune, the heart of Burgundy wine .  Here the vineyard spread for more than 40km!

In the afternoon, relaxed at one of the local wineries ‘Simon Bize et Fils‘ (Ref.1) (Photos). Time passes slowly here.  We enjoyed various good tasting wines.

Next day, we spent half day at Beaune ‘The Center of the Burgundy Wine’ （Photos）  This town had good soothing atmosphere, good food, sweets, chocolates…  We had lunch at ‘Caves Madeleine’.  As you can imagine from her name Mrs. Rika is Japanese.

March2010 Burgundy 006 Photo１To Dijon by TGV

March2010 Burgundy 008 Photo ２ Romanee-Conti

March2010 Burgundy 064 

Caves Madeleine、Madame Rika and her husband Monsieur Rawland.

Food is all nice and fresh here and wine is of course local product..  Here, life is so nice.  I saw several Japanese youths in apprenticeship of wine making and other jobs.  There were some who even plan to stay here for living.  It is encouraging to see those focused and determined young people.

‘Hospices les Beaune’ (Photos)  a hospice known throughout the world, was established in 15th century in this town.

And of course this place is famous for Dijon Mustard.

I will stay here for two nights before leaving for Paris, my next destination.

From Botswana – 3

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Photos from Botswana are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whsaito/sets/72157623508216878/

In the evening of 25th, the second day at Botswana, I was invited to a reception at Phakalane Golf Estate and Hotel Resort with Dr. William Saito of GRIPS and Mr. Tada of Sojitz Corporation who traveled with me, as well as Minister Kosaka of Japan Embassy in Botswana and Mr. Nakai of local NHK office.

On 26th and 27th, we had discussion sessions on science, technology and innovation policy of this nation.with the 6 ministries of Botswana government, University of Botswana, 4 national research centers  Everybody was very passionate but on the other hand, had, understandably, tendency to see things from their own points of view.  For instance, university was obviously focused on the importance of research asking for more government funding, but was not too prepared to answer questions such as what kind of jobs are available to students after graduation.  I do understand well, though, of faculty’s concern.
Interestingly enough, after having a joint meeting with 3 ministries due to their (and our) limited time, they said that they learned much from this style, ie, cross pollination, a critical issue for innovation or out-of-box thinking.  Looks like this kind of joint meetings are rare here, too..  I felt that government officials are alike anywhere.

On 26th, we went to'Mokolodi Nature Reserve' nearby using spare time in the afternoon.  Seeing beautiful wild life is a pleasure ? always gives us some moving experience.  However, this place is not a full open nature reserve.  So we cannot complain if the views are not as impressive as Masai Mara of Kenya or Serengeti of Tanzania.  I look forward to coming back with enough free time to visit real nature in this beautiful country, like Okavango Delta, Kalahari Desert, Zanbezi River, variety and richness of wild life such as lions and elephants ? they are the treasures of Botswana.

In the afternoon of 27th, we went to Lobatse （I found Western Union (Ref.1) here, too） to visit JOGMEC  (Japanese websites are in many cases not visitor friendly.  I wonder why, and wish to see more improvements). They are helping in searching natural resource using satellite and met Director Suzuki and Mr. Numata – I respect their hard work.  This day, we traveled more than 200 kilometers by car the route along the great ‘Mokolodi Nature Reserve’.

Anywhere I went, a hot and heated discussion took place which was well worth the time.  There are lots of issues and challenges ? from bilateral ones between Botswana and Japan to those that must be considered in larger frameworks. How can we cooperate and collaborate? This is the question.

From Botswana – 2: Domestic and International Money Transfer, Mobile, and Western Union

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Photos from Botswana are at; http://www.flickr.com/photos/whsaito/sets/72157623508216878/

Botswana is a very big country, covering 581730 square kilometers of land approximately equivalent to France.  So far, I learned that in Botswana mobile phones are used widely, official language is English, compulsory education is widely spread and most children go to school until 10th grade (equivalent to high school 1st grade in Japan).  Tuitions are free with government support.  Such policy for education indicates without doubt, this country has a great potential.  Such characteristics are the strength of this nation.

On February 19th, I posted a column on ‘Western Union’ pointing out how terribly closed Japan’s policies are.

I received several comments and feedbacks from frequent visitors of my blog site.  With the visionary leadership of Vodafone, a cross-border Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) service between the UK and Kenya will be piloted.

In Kenya, ‘Safaricom’, a leading mobile network operator, is offering a service of transferring small amount of money via mobile phone.  This is apparently quite useful in many countries in Africa, where social infrastructures such as transportation and communication are still developing.  Even ‘Western Union’ cannot be of much use if the areas do not have Western Union offices to remit money.  So this kind of money transfer service is an example of a new ‘Demand-driven innovation’.

Sending money via mobile domestically seemed to be quite simple in Botswana.  I saw immediately one Western Union office in town.

In countries that rely on foreign work force such as the United Arab Emirates, sending money to family at home can be an important business.  Remittance to abroad from UAE is estimated to amount up to one trillion yen (10 billion dollars), and it seems that more transparent service of remitting money via mobile phone is going to be available soon.

Are Japanese banks against offering services of sending small money easily via mobile phone or other devices?  If so, then why?  Could it be because they raise a good profit by charging a very high handling fee?  In this ‘Flattening World’ where big paradigm shifts are taking place, institution and corprate that try to fight against the trend of this majot CHANGE will certainly and inevitably decline and a sure loser.  Wake up and get on to the world!

‘North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Somalia, and Japan’; What Do They Have in Common? Is Japan a Closed Country After All?

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Have you heard of Western Union?  It is a financial services and communications company of the United States.  This company was founded in the 19th century.  Mr. Cornell, one of its founders, is probably more familiar to many people through Cornell University, a prestigious university which was named after him.

Western Union started primarily as a telegraph and communication service company but with the rapid progress of IT technologies has spread its area to online money transfer services etc.  Now, it has a global network which is so handy for sending money.  Anywhere in the world, your credit cared is accepted, you can send checks, so you will hardly feel need for sending cash.  You are able to send money to your family abroad or send money to your family or friends from overseas by using a big bank.  Payment via internet is also possible, particularly in developed countries, but I feel there are some limitations to it when it comes to a personal level. 

Many foreigners come to Japan to work.  Many of them are from poorer countries, i.e. ‘migrant workers’.  How they send money to their families, I wonder.  Can these people open an account at Japanese Banks without any difficulties?  What local banks offer services to them?  Are these local banks willing or capable to send money to overseas for these workers?

Quite a number of foreigners work in Japan.  Of course, people from high society or people working for big companies may not have such problems. Nurses from Indonesia or Philippines are allowed to work in Japan these days in the field of elderly care or nursing is permitted for up to 3 years. However, if they wish to stay longer, they are required to pass the national qualification exam IN JAPANESE during that initial 3 years.  I must say that this hurdle is very high ? more of a kind of harassment, ‘a sign of closed country’.  Who is opposing to accept these people?  Please think hard.

By the way, do you know how these people are sending money to their family at home?  I imagine that many think of Western Union and many others wish they could.  All you have to do is go to a counter of Western Union, hand them cash (and a processing fee ? about 10% or so), designate the recipient, and receive a Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN).  Then, you tell the intended recipient, using telephone or any other means this number and the amount you have sent to the recipient. That person will in return go to their local Western Union counter, show their ID and tell the number you gave him/her in order to receive the money.  This is truly convenient, especially for the people in developed countries.

So, how broad is the area covered by Western Union?  You will be surprised to know that its service is available almost every countries of the world.  Today, the nations not covered by Western Union are ‘Iran, North Korea, Somalia, and Myanmar’; probably because these countries do not have diplomatic relations with US.  And another country is ‘Japan’.  Yes, there are its branches in the US military bases in Japan but the service is not available to Japanese.  I suspect that the Japanese authorities are holding back permission to do business by crafting various reasons or logics, but I seriously question their attitudes.  Oh, give me a break!

How are those foreign workers in Japan sending money to their family back at home?  I hear that various underground money transactions are going on ? most likely with illegally higher rebates; sadly  Japan is and want to remain really special?

‘Getting Health Reform Right; A Guide to Improving Performance and Equity’： A monumental work.

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Health Reform is without doubt a great issue in any nation of the world.  In Japan and the United States, too, it is counted as one of the most pressing challenges in national political agendas.

In each country, there exist complicated elements ? social, political, economical, cultural ? unique  to each society and country, but on the other hand, medicine and health care technologies are developing faster in speed.  There is no such health system which fits to every society and country.  Developed nations are struggling on how to reform existing system, which is one of the greatest challenges for policy makers of today.   In the world where information spread with no time, the gap between expectation and perception of the society and actual reality of the health care as they see receive continues to widen.

Large numbers of books on health care system are available including those which illustrate the reform carried out in many countries.  Any universal model does not exist, so each ‘leaders/experts’ must learn as much as possible and speak from better perspective, not only from the value of one’s position.  As I often point out in this web-site and elsewhere (Ref.1, 2), it seems that too many leaders/experts in Japan speak only from their limited personal experiences or positions, thus tend to be less objective and not much perspectives, visions for a bigger picture or longer time frame.

This is one of weak points of ‘Tate shakai (Hierarchical society)’ of Japan where the great majority of people pursue their careers in a linear style (i.e. within the same organization and often seniority-based) within Japan.

Several days ago, ‘How to Realize Health Care Reform’was published from Nihon Keizai Shinbun sha.  This is the translation of ‘Getting Health Reform Right; A Guide to Improving Performance and Equity‘（2nd edition, 2008） by Professors of Harvard School of Public Health, Drs Marc Roberts, William Hsiao, Peter Berman, and Michael Reich.  Japanese students who were taught by the authors translated it.  Please search for this book at Amazon.

What makes this book unique from other books of the same theme is that the authors have rich experiences in many countries, understand the difference of social backgrounds of each country; they write not only about policies but also analyses of five ‘Controllers’, i.e. ‘Finance, Expense, Organization, Rules, Actions’, and discuss ethical, political aspects (of the policy) as well as the processes that explain how reform is possible.  The content is very rich and outstanding

The book also provides the analysis of issues and situations pertinent to Japan, how to make reform possible, how policies being developed and advanced on what basis…   Everything is so well thought-out; they encourage us to see the health policy from overall perspectives, stimulate our practical thinking.

I would sincerely like to express my deep appreciation and respect to the four Professors of Harvard University who had written such a wonderful book as well as those who planned and carried out the publication of its Japanese translation.  It was my pleasure and honor to be asked to write a ‘recommendation’（in Japanese ） in this book.

This is a book that I recommend strongly to anyone who cares about health policy.  The price seems a bit high (4,500 yen), but is well worth it.

What’s Going on in Toyota? Something is Terribly Wrong

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Toyota is without doubt Japan’s top enterprise known throughout the world for the high quality of its products and the size of its market capture.  The company earned high reputation for its quality cars and more recently for the development of hybrid engine technologies.  However, recent conducts of Toyota appear to be somewhat strange to me.

First, problems in accelerator pedals were reported of Toyota cars in the United States, then followed problems in the brakes of Prius that triggered accidents repeatedly which eventually led to the recall of the huge number of Toyota cars.  I understand that some technical problems were the cause of these events and I say this is a great problem since Toyota is known as the leading company of Japan ? a nation characterized by its technology and high quality of products.  The company even received some tough words from the U.S. government.  This already is a great problem by itself, but what worries me (and I think you will agree) is the response of Toyota.

This issue is reported as big news by overseas media, but I feel that the news coverage has been smaller, in fact too small, in Japan.  Can it be that Japanese newspapers have difficulty in handling this news coverage because it might threaten the basic credibility of Japanese industries?  I think Japanese people should investigate this issue more closely and think more seriously.

I hear that this problem was being reported in the United States since 2007 and Europe was aware of this problem for more than 2 years or so.

Recently the executive in charge of the matter appeared in press interview in Japan.  Since the interview was on TV what he said before or after is unknown, but when he said ‘The customer’s senses on brake….’ I thought ‘What a response, ｔhis is a big problem’. It looked like nothing but an interview for ‘making excuses’.  Toyota totally missed the point in question.  Later on February 5th, President Akio Toyoda talked to the press (Although his English was acceptable I think he needed to have ‘the professional’ – I don’t think they have any in the company ? prepare draft and coach him).  Everything he said was a late response, not to mention of his comments which were all ‘defensive, excuses, putting the blame on customer’s senses’ etc., etc.  I must say this was a worst example of risk management.

I doubt that some kind of atmosphere which made people refrain from expressing open opinions have been developed over years in the company and the factories..  Toyota’s slogan used to be ‘kaizen’, ‘from bottom-up’, and ‘expect every employee to identify problems and come up with solutions’ – this was their claimed culture.

Particularly when faced with ‘accidents’ or ‘events’, the damage caused tends to grow bigger and bigger along with the passage of time.  ‘Transparency, objectivity, speed, customer (victim) first attitude’ is the basics of risk management.  I wonder what is going on in Toyota…

I am very, very concerned.

From Davos – 3

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On 29th, the 3rd　ｄay at Davos, I spent the morning in private meeting with a few VIPs. In the afternoon, I participated as a ‘Discussion Leaders’  in ‘Prepared for a Pandemic?’- a full two hour session with specialists on pandemics, academics, business enterprises, and insurance companies.  It was a highly informative session with discussions covering wide range; lessons from H1V1 since last spring, role of government, arrangements/preparedness of the companies, risks to be considered, insurance, financial loss, employees and their family, impacts on economy etc., etc.  I was impressed to know that the width of some business leaders thinking and also making effort to prepare themselves to the expected risks.  It is such learning and knowledge sharings that makes this sort of discussions with the leaders of diverse sectors enjoyable and meaningful.

I came across Mr. Bill Gates and had an opportunity to talk with him for a minute on several things such as our encounter in Jakarta in 2008.  In the evening at the main hall, I went to watch ‘Business Leadership’, ans‘The US Economic Outlook’ hosted by Charlie Rose, with Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House’s National Economic Council for President Obama.  Charlie Rose, was wonderful in his soft ways of raising good focused questions in a very good timing and Summers’ response was also very persuasive and powerful. Please see them for yourself on the web.

In the evening, I stopped by at the reception of Harvard University and exchanged a few words with President Drew Gilpin Faust （President Faust is female – I suppose you know? ) I understand that she will be visiting Japan this March.  Since Minister Sengoku and three other Ministers were scheduled to arrive after midnight, Dr. Heizo Takenaka, Mr. Yoichi Funabashi of Asahi Newspaper, myself, with several others, had an opportunity to get together at a Chinese restaurant and talk about the new Administration, an opportunity we haven’t have had among ourselves for some time.  When I returned to the hotel, I came across Dr. Yunus of Grameen Bank at the lobby –just like we did last year.  I talked about the group of Japanese students who went to Bangladesh (Ref.1, 2, 3) (Ref.2 and 3 are in Japanese) this January and last year. They also had an opportunity to see Dr. Yunus several times at Bangladesh.  This year, Professor Seichiro Yonekura (Ref.1 in Japanese) of Hitotsubashi University, a leading expert on innovation, accompanied them to Bangladesh.  Dr. Yonekura is a wonderful role model as mentor/teacher and I admire his activities as Innovator (=Entrepreneur, Change Agent or ‘a nail that sticks out’) ; the way he supports young people, and make things happen.

1 IMG_2129 IMG_2128 3 IMG_2131

Photo 1-3: ‘Toward an East Asia Community?’ Panel.

Next morning on the 30th, I checked out from the hotel to be at ‘Toward an East Asia Community?’  where Minister of Trade, Economy and Industry (METI), Mr. Naoshima were among the panelists.  The panel was moderated by Dr. Kishore Mahbubani (Ref.1), Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore.  I was seated at the front raw with my friends, Hiroshi Tasaka-san and President Ninami-san of Lawson (Photo).

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Photo 4: From left, Mr. Ninami, Dr. Tasaka, and myself

Then, after listening to the former half of ‘Global Economic Outlook’ in which Minister Sengoku participated as a panelist, I left the venue and headed to Zurich airport to catch my return flight.  Please see this session on the web.  A well known columnist of Financial Times, Mr. Martin Wolf moderated the panel in his keen and insightful style.  In the afternoon, NHK hosted ‘The Great Shift East in the Global Agenda’ moderated by Ms. Aiko Doden, with Vice Minister Furukawa as a panelist.  Report on web  is available, and also TV broadcasts are scheduled on February 6 (Sat), and 13 (Sat) in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan.

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Photo 5: With Dr. Takenaka

From Zurich, I returned to Narita via Paris.  I was able to sleep only a bit during the flight, thus  a bit tired.  Somehow a feeling of concern about the future of Japan made me awake.  This theme appears repeatedly in my web-site, and I hear that‘Japan in Transition’ in the afternoon of 30th wrapped up the session in a comment like my view.

The web-site of Davos meeting is apparently quite packed with good information.  Please enjoy according to your interest.  Tons of information, backgrounds, interpretations, and thoughts are introduced and I am sure that they will open up your minds to the world.