Innovation City Forum Panel

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It is already the tenth anniversary of Roppongi Hills. To commemorate the tenth anniversary, there have been many events held recently. One of those events, the Innovation City Forum took place over three days during mid-October.

I was invited to the closing session of the last day and was quite moved. The moderator was Mr. Nanjo, the director of the Mori Art Museum and the panel was composed of Glen Lowry, the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate Gallery(1) in London, Joi Ito director of the MIT Media Lab, and myself.

Mr. Joi has been involved in the organisation of this forum and Mr. Lowry and Mr. Serota are superstars. Each of the panellists gave ten minute presentations and then proceeded to the panel discussion.

The presentations and comments were brilliant. I spoke about future cities and museums and prepared some presentation slides which allowed flexibility in what I would say so that I would not be overlap with the others.

It is also the ten year anniversary for the Academy Hills. However, it feels like it has been here for a longer time. I am grateful to Mr. Mori, who has overcome many obstacles and spent much time pursuing the ideal of the urban planning.

I am grateful to Mr. Nanjo and everyone who gave me this opportunity.

Philadelphia-2: Fireside Chat With Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa

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The main objective of this trip was to attend the two day conference of the Japan America Society of Philadelphia “Health Sciences Dialogue,” which I had been invited to for several times in the past but had not been able to attend. As an organization that connects Japanese　pharmaceutical companies and various bio-venture companies, it has received high acclaim.

A breakfast meeting in Japanese was arranged from seven a.m. primarily for around ten people for Japan and we had a lively and interesting discussion.

The session began at nine a.m. Mr. Ai, the Director of the Public Information Center of the Consulate General of Japan in New York, gave his greetings.

The session and panelists covered the topics of biotech venture and venture capital, focusing on the pharmaceutical sector in the United States and Japan. After lunch was my turn to speak at the eighty minute session entitled, “Fireside Chat with Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa: How Can Japan Better Foster Innovation?” I took questions from David Flores (Co-Founder of BioCentury Publications) and Howard Brooks (Partner, Americas Life Sciences Sector Leader, Ernst and Young: I was also able to talk with Glen Giovannetti, who specializes in the same area), and the rest was a question and answer dialogue session with the audience.

Philadelphia is a place to which I have many strong ties. The University of Philadelphia was the first place I lived abroad, and it was in the two years that I spent there that I changed my career from being based in Japan to the world. It was also here that Umeko Tsuda, for whom I have the utmost respect, studied abroad (please search on this site, “Umeko Tsuda”), as well as where Hideyo Noguchi, whom I have touched upon through my work with the Noguchi Hideyo Africa Prize (1) began his global career. It is a place of many fond memories for me.

I was able to spend a fulfilling day here at the session.

The next day, I departed at seven a.m. and after a three-hour drive by car, reached JFK and boarded my flight.

My stay in Philadelphia was a quick but nostalgic, meaningful trip.

Nature Café: Can Japan Change?

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As I have mentioned before, the well-known scientific journal ‘Nature’ organizes an annual ‘Nature Café’ (Japanese).

This was the 12th such event, and was organized in collaboration with Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). The panel for the Japan session was mainly composed of the ‘Crazy Ones’, scientists who are willing to think different. The title for the discussion session was ‘Will Japan Change? Universities and Research Facilities Faced with Change’.

The venue for the session was SONY CSL, the small research laboratory where geniuses and other ‘crazy’ people have been rcruited.

The panel was composed of the director of SONY CSL, Mr. Hiroaki Kitano (1); the leader of the initiative to bring about a new collaboration between the astronomy and the mathematics department of Tokyo University, Hitoshi Murayama (there are a lot of videos with him as well); a professor at OIST, Yoko Sugiyama Yazaki; and me. The moderator for the event was Yukiko Motomura (Japanese), from the Mainichi Shimbun.

I liked that the audience was composed mainly of students. Each of the panelists gave a brief but energetic 10 minute ‘talk with a twist’ before entering a panel discussion. We had a surprise during this discussion as Joi Ito (1), the head of MIT Media Lab, joined in.

For the details of the ‘Nature Café’, please check the OIST web site.

It was a  wonderful evening and the young people in the audience enjoyed it immensely.

I am glad it was a very stimulating session.

SONY CSL

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The breeding ground of some of Japan’s craziest and most eccentric people, the SONY CSL marks its 25th anniversary this year. I attended its annual Open House and other special events at its headquarters.. Started by Mario Tokoro, this laboratory  is truly special.

The event started with a speech by Chief Manager Hiroaki Kitano. The suit and tie not being his every-day attire, he looked ill at ease. He talked about how important it is for people to ‘Act Beyond Borders’, to surpass the frontiers of whatever they choose to do, and to be second to none in enjoying that very process by harnessing their own creativity.

Each of the presentations that were made were interesting, and the visitors were fascinated. The first section of speakers included the likes of Junichi Rekimoto, Alexis Andre, Shigeru Owada, and Ken Endo.

The second section boasted the likes of Hiroaki Kitano, Masato Funabashi, Natalia Polouliakh, Yuji Yamamoto, and Takahiro Sasaki.

Each of their presentations was interesting and inspiring, and I felt the fact that they are not receiving orders from others, while making things complicated, allows them the freedom to do the awesome.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion featuring Mario Tokoro, Mr. Kitano and Mr. Rekimoto on the topic of ‘Toward The Next 25 Years’ and a play by Luc Steels, a member of the French division of SONY CSL. Titled ‘AI- Artificial Intelligence-Opera, Casparo’ , the play showcased Luc’s genius as well as the refined style and depth that we associate with European tradition. Unfortunately, I was forced to leave mid-way through because of prior commitments.

Mr. Kitano is one of those rare people who is a visionary in varied fields, who is able to understand the patterns and trends and to act accordingly, making him capable of getting results without any regard to time or place. He is indeed, one of the ‘Crazy Ones’.

I was lucky to be able to dine with him a few days earlier, and needless to say, this man is something!

Being with people like him is sure to make one feel excited and hungry to explore.

HGPI Health Summit, then to Rio de Janeiro

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After returning from my Paris – Boston trip, I was in Tokyo for one week and was quite busy. On the 22nd, the Health Summit (1)of the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) was held. Both the panellists and audience were outstanding and was a great success. I received many kind words of thanks and support from many individuals. The panel was excellent, perhaps due to our focus on the challenges facing Japan two years after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto gave a greeting, and the wife of Ambassador Roos sat on the Gender Equality panel. Please see the HGPI website to learn more about the Health Summit. Reports will be uploaded shortly.

On the 24th Sunday, I took a thirty-hour flight to mid-summer Rio de Janeiro. For the past ten years, I have been deeply involved with the “InterAcademy Panel” as Vice-President and President of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), and I was asked by SCJ and IAP to serve on the panel at the general conference.

This time I flew via Dubai, flying twelve hours from Narita to Dubai, stopping over there for two hours, and then flying to Rio de Janeiro for fifteen hours. Both flights were Emirates and were very convenient. I slept from time to time, watched a few movies and had a restful trip.

Rio was very hot, around 30 to 35C, but I was almost always inside the conference rooms and I was able to enjoy my time meeting with many friends. The main theme of the conference was “Grand Challenges and Integrated Innovation: Science for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development”. I went to the conference venue for the last afternoon session of Feb 25th. Peter Singer of Grand Challenges Canada lead the session.

The next morning, I took a wonderful hour long stroll along the Copacabana beach. I spent the day attending the conferences, had dinner with Chairman Onishi of the Science Council of Japan and some others, and at two in the morning, took the Emirates flight back the route which I came.

With the multitude of changes occurring throughout the world, academia must not fall short of being highly aware of its role as an important actor. On this note, the closed session on the report by the Royal Society, “Science as an Open Enterprise 2012,” in which the Editor-in-Chief of Nature, Philip Campbell was a panelist (and also one of the commission members of the report), was excellent. The high awareness and active approach of British scientists, who continuously publish pioneering reports on new topics, is outstanding. The British government takes the same approach, for example, see the “Stern Report”.

By the way, this time n the flights, the movies which I thought were particularly good were “Chasing Mavericks” (US) and “All About My Wife” (Korea). Although it was business class, the screen was large and there was a good line up of movies. I have already seen academy nominated films such as “Lincoln” (congratulations on winning the Academy Award for Best Actor) some time ago.

However, I was disappointed that I could not take the “shower in midair”, since I did not ride first class on any of the flights between Narita and Dubai.

 

Davos -2

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Copyright by World Economic Forum.
swiss-image.ch/Photo Remy Steinegger.

Many business and government leaders from all over the world come to gather at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. There is a great advantage with so many people here at one time in this small village, as there are plenty of opportunities to make behind the scenes arrangements in politics and business. The interviews (1, in Japanese) by Ms. Iida of NHK were also possible because she was in Davos. Those whose work is conducted behind the cameras, like Ms. Iida, are also very busy. Aside from the usual work, many extra preparations are necessary before coming to and after arriving in Davos, such as setting up appointments, reserving places and times, and chasing and getting hold of people.

Even for business conferences, there is a rule that only one top person from each company can attend (even secretaries are not allowed), so there is a whole other set of meetings held outside of the conferences at hotels.

On the 25th (Friday), there was a breakfast meeting of around twenty people from Japan and China. As no politicians attended the meeting, we enjoyed a frank discussion. Afterwards, the Global Agenda Council was held in which the three chairs of Japan, China and South Korea (China was the representative) held a one hour private discussion.

In the afternoon, there was the usual conference between the leaders of the world’s chemical companies which I have been invited to. It allows people to listen in and study. The regulars from Japan were Mitsubishi Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, and Teijin but many elements are involved and the topics are now broadening from chemistry to include biotech-sciences.

On the 26th, Saturday, there was a panel titled “The Japan Growth Context” (1), which was moderated by former British Ambassador to Japan Sir David Wright and was comprised of the following panelists: Minister Motegi of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (I heard that Minister Motegi was moving about the conference arena by himself afterwards), President Hasegawa of Takeda Pharmaceutical, Chairman Kobayashi of Mitsubishi Chemical, Mr. Heizo Takenaka, and myself. As NHK news reports, there are high expectations for the Abe Cabinet, but the question is what to do about economic growth. Around one hundred people were in the audience, of which about eighty percent were Japanese, and several good questions were raised. I spoke mainly of the significance of the Fukushima nuclear accident, the delay in the women empowerment in the Japanese society (WEForum’s 2012 report shows that Japan is ranked 102 out of 134 countries on the Gender Empowerment), and the insular mind-set of many Japanese people’s, though these are topics I always discuss.

Afterwards, I went to a private conference on US foreign policy, and later rode the cable car up the Weissfluhjoch in Parsenn, to enjoy the beautiful weather. Everyone was skiing. I rested there a little while and then returned back down to the conferences.

At night, I attended a soiree. We took a mountain tram to reach the luxury hotel, Schatzalp, where it was held. The hotel is the sanatorium in Thomas Mann’s book Magic Mountain.

Professor Takeuchi of Harvard Business School and his wife were with me; Professor M. Useem of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, who chaired my earlier panel (see my posting ‘Davos -1’) introduced me to many people and I had a very enjoyable evening.

The next day, I woke up early and took a bus to Zurich. The flight from Zurich delayed two hours before departure. I arrived in Narita at three in the afternoon the next day.

 

MIT Media Lab in Tokyo 2013

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I wrote about it last year as well, but MIT Media Lab in Tokyo was held for two days this year in January again. Towards the end of the first day, I was one of the three panel members along with Media Lab’s director Mr. Joi Ito and SONY’s former chairman, Mr. Idei.

On the list of 14 speakers stood out Director Ito, Co-Director Ishii (the fact that there were no women was bit of a problem-a big issue that has to be reflected on) and also coincidentally, Mr. Idei and other SONY-affiliated people (Kenichiro Mogi, Hiroaki Kitano, Ken Endo, Shunichi Kasahara). 6 were from MIT Media Lab and IDEO joined from overseas.

On the second day, at the “Unconference” there were various parallel sessions. Ingenuity was exercised here and there.

The two days have been pretty fun. I’m guessing a lot of the participants were inspired by each other.

 

A Wake-up Call To Those Who Want To Make a Difference: TEDxKeioSFC and H-LAB

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I was up early on the 22nd of December; I was on my way to the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) of Keio University to participate in the TEDxKeioSFC.

This is an event that has its origins in the course 'Global Science and Innovation', a course that I taught in the academic years 2010 and 2011 during the fall term. Through conversations with the students where I heard their requests, it so happened that I invited Todd Porter, who was involved when we launched the TEDxTokyo event, as a guest to one of my lectures.

There was no looking back since that class. Backed by my TA, Mr Nojima and the Dean, Mr. Murai, the students teamed up and poured in their efforts to make the TEDx event a possibility.

On a cold, rainy, winter day, Theta (θ) Auditorium of the SFC campus far from the Tokyo city center, was packed with 500+ students and guests. The theme this time round the team of students picked was 'Think Like a Child'. Everybody was tensed up, but still managed to produce sterling performances. The passion of the speakers was infectious, and soon the air was charged with the shared excitement. I was also happy to meet Atsuyoshi Saisho after a year and half. He bowled the audience over with his superb presentation about his work which takes him to places like Bangladesh and Palestine.

I really feel that the students gathered in SFC were excellent. Those who were in charge of the whole event must have felt very tired, and this sentiment was echoed in the email that I received later.

It must have been an unforgettable experience for them; this working together in a team to achieve a goal within a limited amount of time. This hands-on experience is something that will stand them in good stead in the years to come, and will also boost their self-confidence, enabling them to become game-changers in the years to come. Well done, everybody. As for me, I had to leave for Tokyo right after my talk in the last session. Sorry guys!

I had a good reason, though. I was going to attend an end-of-the-year party organized by some highly motivated undergraduates. They were part of a group that I had lent my support to 2 years ago, and already this group was producing astounding and unexpected results. This group is known as H-LAB (1, 2), or Harvard College Liberal Arts Without Borders.

As a result of these activities and perhaps because of the networks it created, many young participants (high school students) went on to enter prestigious institutes of higher learning like Harvard, Yale, Ivy League and other colleges. It is very heartening to hear that more and more young people in junior high and high schools opting to study abroad in and around UK and the USA.

Yes, its good to know that young people are not being bound by adults who say that they are increasingly reticent. They are taking advantage of new opportunities. And yes, this is the point (1) that I am always trying to get across (1) … Increasingly, young people are able to see opportunities where their parents could not simply because they did not have any role-models close by.

I feel that what we as adults can do is to fully support the activities of these youngsters who have realized that they can change the world for the better.

Impact Japan is one such organization which we created in order to support the 'nails that stand out'. These outliers need all the support that they can get and we try to provide it.

Please do visit our site!

 

Interacting with Young ‘rikejo’

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‘rikejo’ is a shortened form of Rikei joshi which in Japanese means ‘women in science’.

One of the biggest companies in the cosmetic industry today, L’Oreal has a highly successful awards program called ‘For Women in Science’ which it has been running for the past 12 years. There has even been Nobel Prize winners among the recipients of this prize.

As a judge on the panel of this prize(1), I have had the opportunity to play an active part on its here in Japan. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in this year’s award ceremony held in Paris because I was busy with my work at the NAIIC.

However, I was able to attend the special awards ceremony held here in Japan and meet the young Rikejo who were in attendance. Ms Miki Ando, world figure skate champion, received a special prize this year; Ms Meisa Kuroki, one of top TV/movie stars, was the recipient a year earlier, and this I think is proves that L’Oreal does things in style. Interestingly, it was at the ceremony last year (unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to introduce this in my blog) that the word Rikejo started gaining currency, and this has developed into the award ceremony that it is today.

Held on the day of the General Election for the Lower House of Representatives, there was a contest where around 50 students from universities and high schools participated. Called ‘Team Match-Up:What If…You Could Create Your Own Cosmetics!’, the participants were divided into 8 teams and asked to dream up of new cosmetics. The well-practiced participants were able to come up with novel ideas within 45 minutes despite being put into random groups and then make their case in a 2-3 minute presentation. I got into the action by tweeting my thoughts as well.

There were three prizes in all, two presented by the panelists and one by the participants. Amazingly, the verdicts were the same. The products had daring and innovative names, and all the presentations were delivered with confidence and convincing. Just as I said, you’d better watch out for the awesome Rikejo!.

First Prize
Product name: Pheromone Eyeliners to Woo the Opposite Sex!
Concept:
? Baseliner equipped multifunctional eyeliner.
? Different eyeliners for each sex (differentiate on basis of fragrance and packaging)
? Introduce as the world’s first fragrant eyeliner!
? Encourage the spread of cosmetics in Japanese men a la Korean men.

Panelist Special Prize
Product name: Butterfly
Concept:
? Combine lip cream and lipstick for a beautiful color.
? Make it possible to customize the product through the use of stackable and interchangeable parts.
? Make it possible to use each of the parts on its own.
? Allow for decoration of the exterior of the product.
? Attach a removable mirror.

Best Cosmetic Award ( chosen by the votes of the rikejo)
Product name： ‘雌’ girl lip stain (「雌」is Chinese character for female)
Concept
? The must-have product for that all-important Christmas date (Makes him fall in love, but doesn’t fall off!)
? Target girls and women in the range of 15 to 20+ years of age.
? Combine the innocence of a young girl with a hint of mysterious allure. For women who want it all.
? Make it  an affordable luxury at a price of 1800 yen.

What do you think? L’Oreal is certainly going about its business with panache!

 

Late November, the Daily Events

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Everyone who comes to read my column, thank you always for your support.

On a different note, in the last few weeks I had several opportunities to spend time with Ms. Yoko Ishikura. Each time we meet she would quickly report via her blog or twitter, but I am very late at doing this. Almost a month late.

So I shall inform you of the latest events in which I participated during this time.

On November 15, I returned home from Dubai. This is reported two weeks late in this blog. Since then I have been very busy from morning to night almost every day. Below are some of the main activities.

On the 16th (Fri), the board meeting of Impact Japan, the GEW (1) came to an end and I took part in “Venturing Overseas” (it was quite a fun session, a gathering only in the evening for about 3 hours).

17th (Sat): Once again, lots of business meetings and in the evening I departed to Singapore.

18th (Sun) to 20th (Tue): In Singapore I met various people and I visited Nanyan Technological University. It certainly was a very lively atmosphere, including the campus. The three day visit was quite a pleasure. I will write about it some other time.

21st (Wed): In the early morning I returned to Narita. From noon was the interview with BBC, and in the afternoon I attended the board of directors meeting of Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo (One time I was there as a ‘visiting professor’). The main subject of the meeting was the selection of the new director. From evening I had a session with Mr. Joi Ito from MIT Media Lab and the youth at FabCafe (Back in July, right after I submitted the report of NAIIC, I conversed here with Mr. Ito Joi, although I never reported this…). From there I went to the Swiss Embassy and attended the joint reception of WEF’s Global Shapers Community and St. Gallen Symposium (1) and I also gave a greeting.

On the 22nd (Thurs), I participated in ‘Japan Gender Parity Task Force’ organized by the WEF. 

I’ve been reporting this as a topic to focus on, and it is one of the biggest challenges Japan is facing. According to this year’s Gender Parity Report by the WEF, out of over 130 countries in the world, Japan ranks 102nd. A terrible result. How could this be? Please think it over. Individual action is important for the future.

Later I was visited by Mr. Grover from UN Human Rights and we debated specifically on the government responses to the victims and workers in Fukushima based on the report by NAIIC. He had done thorough research of the site and he asked a lot of tough questions. Mr. Grover’s report should be published in the near future. Apparently there was also a press conference.

After that, there was a meeting of Science Council of Japan concerning the standpoint of Science Council of Asia, and in the evening I hastened to the celebration party of former SONY Chairman Mr. Idei’s 75th birthday and then to a different dinner.

23rd (Fri) was a day off. After a long time, for the second time this year, I went golfing with my friends. It was slightly raining but by the afternoon the rain had stopped. Since there was no cart in the course, it was the first time in a while that we walked the entire course. Next day for some reason my ankles were sore.

25th (Sun), I went to the GAS reunion organized by Dr. Ishikura. I also attended the after party.

26th (Mon), In the morning was the board of directors meeting of Teach For Japan(in Japanese). Mr. Yusuke Matsuda is putting a lot of effort into it, but there is still a long way to go. I urge for everyone’s help, support and participation. Also there was an interview by the Tokyo American Club, a consultation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the afternoon there was a visit by the Fukushima accident research committee of the National Academy of Sciences that was initiated by the US Congress and for the first 90 minutes I gave a report of NAIIC followed by Q & A.

I will also report this on a difference occasion, but from this visit alone, a lot of innovative ideas for Japan were clearly presented.

Now slightly up-to-date, but there’s still a lot more.