Beautiful Japan (with her own problems)

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Dr. Nassrine Azimi, Director, UNITAR, Hiroshima office, is one of true intellectuals and good company I very much respect. We have been working together since her arrival to Japan some five years ago as you may see some of my earlier reports(Ref.1, 2).

She very much fell in love with Japan and Hiroshima, and also shares my concern on various issues of Japan. Recently, she wrote a stunningly beautiful Op-Ed on Japan in New York Times with a quote on my thoughts on reform in education.

I wish to share her Op-Ed with you. Enjoy it.

Cambodia, and coordinating new relationships

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Mr. Miki Watanabe is the Chairman and CEO of Watami Co., Ltd. whom I have introduced once in my past column.

He is trying to disseminate his message, "Let’s make dreams come true," to broad public, and practices it as a wonderful entrepreneur.  Mr. Watanabe is very passionate about education, and besides managing a school in Japan he is helping foundation of a school in Cambodia.  He has also published several books to encourage young people.

Mr. Heang Chhor, President of McKinsey Japan is also my friend.  He evacuated to France from Cambodia in that painful years of massacre, pursued education in spite of continuing hardships, and now is the President of McKinsey Japan. Mr. Chhor is a very earnest wonderful person.

I introduced these two people to one another.  Since I was abroad, I could not join them at the luncheon.  But I heared that they had a nice time together sharing same views and aspirations in many ways (Japanese site).

They have a common theme, Cambodia, so we can expect their co-operations.  I am looking forward to seeing it.

And "enmusubi (coordinating new relationships)" of wonderful people like them is very exciting as well.

India, California, and Tokyo

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A cheerful meeting titled "Japan-India-U.S. Relationship Fiesta" have been held in Tokyo, co-organaized by Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), University of California at Los Angeles(UCLA), and University of California at Berkeley(UCB) Japan Alumni Association.

Former Ambassador of Japan to India His Excellency Enoki and former Ambassador of India to Japan His Excellency Seth participated also.  There was a panel and have a nice Networking time.  See the animoto slideshow for the views.

It is good to see this kind of gatherings being held here and there.

Stanford University and Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship

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A collaborative research with Stanford titled Stanford Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship (STAJE)  is going on since last year.  We set this up jointly with people from Stanford including Dr. William Miller, a former Vice President well known for "MOT" and we had an open symposium at the University of Tokyo on May 29.

Dr. Miller and I gave greeting speeches.  Dr. Miller is just over 80, but he is still very active and said that he started another new business lately.  Professor Shigeo Kagami of Todai and Professor Robert Eberhart are the organizers.

As for my part, my message to the audience was that "eco-platform", the "Kurofune (U.S. battleship that arrived in Uraga in 1853 to negotiate opening of Japan for trade)", pressing for the opening of the country and innovation has come; last week TEDxTOkyo and next week the opening of TiE Tokyo Office.

It was a rainy day, but I was told later that approximately 250 people gathered and joined in very lively discussions (I had to leave the place for a while and miss some of the programs).  Forbes reports on this symposium.

We talked about the advantages that Japan and Silicon Valley have respectively, but I will leave the details to the report that is coming soon.  Japan has countless possibilities.  What we need is action.  It’s "Think Locally, Act Globally" (the article is in Japanese only).  I intend to think of some ideas for fermentation with several partners.

Education and human resource development for promoting ‘Multilayered International Exchange’

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Over these 20 years and more, I have been pointing out the importance of having young people involved in competition away from home ground (Taryu-jiai) in the world.  Professional sports opened up their doors to the world too; Nomo in 1995 in Major League, FIFA World Cup and J League.  These sports earn high television viewerships in Japan just like in any other countries ? the goals and values of young people are changing to the same direction as the young people in the rest of the world.

Even Sumo, the 'National sport' of Japan, have internationalized totally and the last two matches in the last two days of latest summer tournament were done by non-Japanese only.  The rates of number of foreign rikishis (sumo wrestlers) were in grand total 7%, Makuuchi 30%, Sanyaku 40%, and Yokozuna 100%.  Nevertheless, I don't think Japanese are being especially furious or anything about this.  Japanese also cheer for their good plays, and at the same time this in effect spreads the value of Japanese cultures to the world.  People liking Japan will increase through such experiences.

Yes, the basis of a nation is human resource development and this is the most important task for the future of Japan.  For the coming global age nothing is more needed than to urge young people to see the world outside ? in order to recognize the differences or variety of people of the world, the value of oneself and to build up global networks of friends and colleagues for their future.  This is the recommendation I have been proposing repeatedly in my website.

In this year's January/February issue of 'Foreign Affairs,' Dr. Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, wrote a wonderful paper.  When I compare this with the universities in Japan, I feel very uneasy and worried about the future of Japan.  Dr. Slaughter was appointed to the Director of Policy Planning of the U.S. Department of State starting from the end of January.  A nice selection!

Recently, I participated in a meeting at the World Bank.  The content of my discussion is highlighted in its website.  I take this as a sign that people are supporting my view.  It is about the importance of 'Multilayered Brain Circulation.'

Now, can Japan change? Ozumo-nization of universities and industries are so tardy ? too many professors and CEOs are interested in domestics only, don't you think?

Please search within this website by various key words as the ones I have highlighted in Bold.

Seize the Opportunity, Time for Big Change. But Where are Leaders?

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Situation of Japan is not good at all.  Of course, same can be said for the rest of the world.  Everybody is trying to make changes and searching for future perspectives of politics, industry, economy, education, etc.

As for the national vision as I see it, I have been sending out messages again and again from the start of the New Year.  On the April 25 issue of Diamond Weekly Magazine(in Japanese only) an article based on interview with me was published under the title of "Let Japan go and sell clean energy technologies to China & India ! "(the article is in Japanese only).  Here, as always, people give countless reasons why they cannot change, why they cannot do.  In politics, industries, or whatever, I urge the leaders to straighten up.

Mr. Hatoyama was elected the President of the Democratic Party.  How will the politics move?

In Japan, people are talking mostly about the revised budget which is almost "dumping" of public resources, and this is greatly affecting the political situation.  It appears to be "scattering money" to vested interest groups, "lucky dips" by Ministries and Departments.  No one is drawing visions for the future nor seizing this rare chance for a drastic change.  I can even hear irresponsible big laughter of some people.

Same thing for science and technology policies.  A mega budget of 300 billion yen( 3.1 billion dollars) was appropriated like a bolt from the blue.  But for what and how?  Please watch carefully.  It is of a very different kind compared to the science and technology policies of President Obama.

A nation not investing to young generation has no future.  It is very important to let young people see and experience the broad world outside so to prepare them for the global age.  Young people are precisely "the" asset of the nation in the future.

From Toronto-2

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It’s Saturday, May 2nd and the "swine flu" news are all over the place.  In the afternoon, I went to the University of Toronto again, this time to the Massey College.  The College is located just on the opposite side of yesterday’s Munk Center.  I went to see my old friend, Dr. John Dirks  who is in charge of the Gairdner award.  It’s been 5 years since we met last time.  Dr. Arimoto joined us from Washington DC where he was participating in the AAAS meeting. We spent approximately 1 hour in an old fashioned, elegant, somewhat small library of the College.

As I have reported in this blog, in the year of the 50th anniversary of the award two Japanese scientists-Drs. Yamanaka and Mori-were awarded so I went to pay a courtesy visit.  I also heard about the awarding ceremony that will take place in October as well as various events being planned in celebration of the anniversary.

After this, I had an opportunity to see Prof. Jun Nogami.  Dr. Nogami is the leading scientist of Canada Nanotech, nano-materials and I met him at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo this February when he was visiting Japan with Nanotech research promotion inspection party of Canada.

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Photo1:  At the Massey College with Drs. Dirks and Arimoto.

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Photo2:  With Drs. Nogami and Sunami.

Then, discussion with Dr. Peter Singer (Ref. 1, 2)  on common topics including the agenda of next year’s G8 summit to be hosted by Canada.

In the evening, Prof. Ito Peng, her friend, Drs Arimoto, Sunami and I enjoyed nice dinner at "Sotto Sotto".  The dessert was of course "Ice Wine."  I was told that Japanese are the best customers.

Washington-3: From the World Bank

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I did a lecture at the World Bank in January 2008 (Ref. 1, 2 ) and right after that we co-organized a Global Health Summit in Tokyo in February 2008.  I believe that these activities were very helpful in building strong mutual trust and understanding.  During my visit to Washington DC, from the morning of April 30, schedule was arranged for me to discuss about science and technology policy with special focus on African development for 4 hours.

In Japan, through 2008 TICAD4 (Ref. 1, 2 ) and meetings related to G8 Summit, policies are made to reinforce African development and eventually develop "Science and Technology diplomacy" (I have been advocating this for many years・・・) the movement which is prominent also in academies of Japan, U.S., and other countries where they are together working to build a system of mutual cooperation

What role is the Science and Technology policy of the World Bank capable to play to address the global issues of today’s drastically changing world is a great challenge. It was a good opportunity to advertise Japan’s policies since Japanese delegates had just returned from their tour on Science and Technology in Africa and their findings were reported at a conference in Tokyo recently.  JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) also participated from Japan and contributed to making the discussion lively.  It was well received.

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Photo1: At the World Bank with Secretary Ueda of the Embassy of Japan.

Below are some of the scenes from the Science, Technology and Innovation Capacity Building Partnership Meeting at the World Bank .

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Photo2: Breakfast

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Photo3: Drs Nina Fedoroff （Ref. 1）and Peter McPherson

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Photo4: Dr. Alfred Watkins (Ref. 1） of the World Bank and Dr. Andrew Reynolds of UNAID

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Photo5: From left; Drs Victor Hwang （T2 Venture Capitaｌ）, Christian Delvoie, Phillip Griffiths

Expectations of the world is high for Japan and indeed Japan is capable in making large contributions in many different ways but it seems to me that current domestic climate is somewhat sadly introverted.  For current crisis, it is crucial for the political leaders to catch this opportunity of "once in 100 years" disaster to show national vision that shows strong determination to change reluctant Japan to meet today’s global needs.  If not, the cool-headed world would treat Japan accordingly; as a nation not-worth-taking-seriously, and no international negotiations or top diplomacy would make meaningful differences whatsoever (by Funabashi, Editor in Chief).  How much are we, although still economically the 2nd largest, communicating to the world our will, determination, and policies and how seriously does the world take them?  I regret to say that "Japan Missing" is the world’s feeling towards our nation.

Washington-2: Atlantic Council

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There are many think-tanks in Washington.  Among them CSIS, Brookings are well known in Japan also.  Some Japanese go to these think-tanks to study, but I think their number is too small for a nation of the 2nd largest economy in the world.  It is important to be in those think-tanks not only to gain knowledge but also to make connections in Washington, to understand how the politic works and how policies are made.  We should be more seriously involved in this.

Atlantic Council is another example of those think-tanks.  Its works are very closely related to politics.  Mr. Kempe, after a long and prominent career at Wall Street Journal, has become President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council and its activities are expanding ever since.

National Security Advisor is known to be the most important post in the White House and General James Jones, the former Chairman of Atlantic Council, was appointed to take this position.

As you may see from the website of Atlantic Council, the organization was established in recognition of the importance of relations of Atlantic community of both sides.  To meet the challenges of this global age, the Council is actively working and reporting on U.S.-China relations, new energy, etc. as well as on Asia.  Here again, I must say that Japan’s presence is extremely weak.

I attended 2009 Leadership Award Dinner by invitation from Mr. Kempe. About 900 people were there.  Please visit the website by all means.  Since this year was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, awards were given to the top of the United States and West Germany of the time; former President Bush (the father) and Prime Minister Kohl as well as IBM Chairman of the Board Mr. Palmisano, General Petraeus, and Thomas Hampson (a singer).

Former Secretary of State Mr. Colin Powell, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and many government high officials, legislators, Ambassadors from 46 countries, etc. were there at the party. It was truly a fantastic gathering.  My seat was next to Ambassador Fujisaki.

Speeches by the recipients were nice too – they all looked very comfortable in giving speeches. General Petraeus’ "joke" was fun. I invite you to listen to them on the web.

I also saw several friends from China.  They were all at one table inviting Chinese connections.

President Obama’s speech and science & technology policies

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I am now in Washington DC.  In the evening of 27th, the night before my departure, I saw and heard in Tokyo via internet the speech of President Obama on Science and Technology Policies given at the National Academy of Sciences annual meeting.  President Obama is the fourth president to address the National Academy and it has been 20 years since the last.  You are able to see, hear, and read the transcript of the speech at this website.  It is a strong message with clear vision for the future that has great content and wonderful structure.

President Obama set a goal of investing 3% of the nation’s GDP to R/D of Science and Technology.  Also, as the most important policy for the future, he showed a clear commitment to education in math and science through raise of budget with quite a concrete description on how this will be done.  These policies are based on recommendations from independent "think tanks" such as National Academy so their objectivity is trustworthy and evidence is clear.  Budgets were set to carry out these policies. Such process is important.

In today’s economic crises, a "clear message for the future," i.e., clear vision and commitment for the future, is very important.

For the large scale supplementary budget or new budget of Japan during this economic crisis, I would recommend 1) budget for the care of current bleeding 2) budget to create jobs for the next 2-3 years, and support social infrastructures such as social securities, health care, etc. (in short, provide a sense of being safe), and 3) more investments on new industries and their growth that can draw picture of the future society – i.e. basic research providing the "bud" for the possible new industries and education – (although I don’t think it pays to invest in current education system expecting it to provide good education for students of the global age.  In the first place, Japan’s budget for teachers is too small when compared to other OECD nations・・・) and so on.  Policies made by ministries and governmental offices are not enough to make changes.  Take a look at recommendations that were given by experts to the Prime Minister at the Kantei (residence of the prime minister).  See for yourself how much those recommendations (in Japanese only) have the viewpoint of "1, 2, and 3" as I have described above.  Apparently everybody is trying hard.  My recommendation is also uploaded in the section of "low carbon and environment."

The leadership and message of policy makers have power to encourage so many citizens, but・・・.