To London once again.

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After a meeting in Tokyo, I left Narita on November 4th, to London via Paris.  The travel was to attend the final meeting of Commission on Social Determinants of Health CSDH, WHO, where I served as one of the commissioners.  A report was neatly prepared by then.

Obama was elected for the next president at just about 5 am of November 5th local time, and I listened to his live speech on television at the lounge of Charles de Gaulle International Airport.  Wasn’t it a wonderful message?  Obviously the speech was a declaration of a strong will as the leader of America, perfectly aware of the attention that he attracted from the whole world.  "Google" the related sites, English sites, of course.

The fantastic thing about this meeting is that it is hosted by the Department of Health of Great Britain.  Approximately 500 people will gather from all over the world and not only the details will be broadcasted, but also the speeches and videos will be open to the public on internet.  Visit the web site in to get the idea of what has been discussed and feel the atmosphere.  My interview is uploaded, also.  I was a bit nervous, because it was <one to one> interview and I had no clue to what the overall program was like, or who came before and after me, or what the topics were, and also there was no rehearsal or editing, and lasted for 5-6 minutes.  It makes me sweat.

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Photo1:  Prime Minister Brown

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Photo2:  Minister Johnson

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Photo3:  Chairman Sir Marmot

The opening speech of 6th was delivered first by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and next was Minister of Department of Health, Alan Johnson.  Both speeches were impressive, as political leaders of Great Britain always are.  Responding to the report of this conference, the British government expressed their decision to develop specific policies and requested Professor Marmot, the Chair of WHO CSDH to organize a special committee for this objective.  They are very serious about what they are doing.  This is truly what I would call a government initiative.  Isn’t it admirable?   I envy it.

Japanese do not see the difference of the roles of bureaucrats, public officials, and politicians (I don’t know why but many of them are Niseis and Sanseis, i.e. successor of their fathers or grandfathers.  Even their electoral district is descendent, which is obviously not normal.  It might be that the candidates are unknown "outside their home district").  And also, English people perceive government as "Civil servants" while Japanese people see it as "Okami (people who reign)".  This difference is huge.  I feel embarrassed that without perceiving this basic difference in the societies of Britain and Japan, Japanese politicians, public officials, and specialists only quickly mock the system of Great Britain superficially, when problem arises and talk about "agency-nization," "privatization," "two major opposing political parties," "Thatcherism," and so on as if they are experts.  Actually, they don’t really know what they are talking about.

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Photo4:  Chair of the conference, BBC presenter and writer John Humphyrs, and Chair of CSDH

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Photo5:  A panel. On the left is chair, Editor of Lancet, Dr. Richard Horton

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Photo6:  At the reception. Asian network, mainly organized by Dr. Hashimoto of University of Tokyo. The 3rd person from the left is Dr. Kumaresan, president of WHO Kobe Center

By the way, the venue of the meeting was Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, and the accommodation was Royal Horsegurads.  They are located only a few minutes away from each other by foot.  In between stands Prime Minister’s official residence Downing 10, Westminster Abbey, The houses of Parliament and Big Ben, and so on.  I have been to this place early in September, too.  This time, I had an opportunity to stop by at the residence of minister Nishigahiro.

Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize, our story to tell

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Dr. Hideyo Noguchi is one of the most known medical doctor and heroe of modern time Japan. But he is not known in the rest of the world though you can see his bust in the library of Rockefeller University, where he worked from its establishment in 1904, and made this new research institution known to the world in early 20 century. You also see him printed in Japanese 1,000 Yen note.

This May, Japanese government inaugurated Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize and two laureates, Dr. Brian Greenwood of UK and Miriam Were of Kenya, were awarded the prize at the first evening, May 28th, 2008, of the 4th Tokyo International Conference of African Development as you may see I earlier columns of my blog.

Now our story appears in print. We hope you enjoy reading more or less a full story of the prize and share the spirit of Dr. Noguchi with your friends in and of Africa and throughout the world.

From Singapore, The opening ceremony of Fusionopolis

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After my visit at Seoul, I came to Singapore to participate in the opening ceremony of Fusionopolis.  Attended by many scientists in Singapore and around the world, Director Lim of A*STAR made a welcome speech.  Then, a powerful message from the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, followed by fascinating high tech holographic demonstration, musical performance by researcher group, and a reception.  I had the honor of being introduced to the Prime Minister Lee at the reception hall and talking with him.  He explained how his government is committed to making Fusionopolis a center full of energy that attracts scientists and youth around the world.  By the way, the architecture of Fusionopolis was designed by Dr. Kisho Kurokawa, a well known Japanese architect.

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photo  Prime Minister Lee at the Opening.

On the next day, I attended the board meeting of A*STAR.  Then, in the evening of the day after, had dinner with Professor Ito (ref. 1 ), a very active scientist at A*STAR as well as former director of Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, and Mr. Kakihara, the manager of Riken Singapore office.

Anyway, I would like all of you to know how sad I am not to see Japanese researchers, especially young generations, participating in such places to mix with other researchers for training and competition as Samurais did for fencing in their era.  Shouldn’t Riken stop making excuses and send more scientists to Fusionopolis?  I dare say that Riken is just wasting their money if they don’t.  As I always say, I do not want to hear excuses for not doing.  Remember the Japanese old sayings such as "Young ones head to wilderness (Wakamono wa koya wo mezasu)" or "If you love your child, let him/her travel (Kawaii ko niwa tabio saseyo)."  They have universality and implications.

I expect everyone to do better.

“Galapagosnization (Galapagos-ka)” of Japanese manufacturers

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The word "Galapagos ka (Galapagosnization)" (if you "Google" the word in Japanese, it will hit nearly 360 thousand sites) is now widely spreading.  I trust that you are aware of this word.

At last a book titled extactly it, "The Galapagosnizing Japanese manufacturers" (original title is "Galapagos-ka suru Nihon no Seizogyou") appeard from Toyo Keizai Shinpo-sya.

I urge you to read this book.  It is a helpful reference especially for the people in business.

It is often said that "Manufacturing items (Monotsukuri)" is the strength of Japan, but that only is not enough.  As I have mentioned many times in my blog.

"Story telling (Monogatari)" is very important to catch hold of people’s heart.  "Monotsukuri" is just a part of "Monogatari."  So set the goals, develop strategies and move on rapidly.  Do we find people like Morita of Sony or Soichiro Honda of Honda of the ’60s, today?  They did the "business."  Today, in this global era, speedy action is important.  Those with "domestic only" attitude had better get out of the business.  Young generation does not grow with such thinking.

People always say that "Japan is the number one country in technology" but, how much has it advanced so far in the world?  Next month the King of Spain is going to visit Japan with the rising solar panel industries of Spain.

This book has various hints as the author Dr. Tomohiko Miyazaki, Doctor of Theoretical Physics, Department of Science at Tokyo University, has provided the data based on the results of the research for Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.  After reading this book one should firmly think about ‘what he has to do’ without telling ‘excuses for not doing’ and go on carrying things out one by one.  Especially, I expect that the "leaders" and people holding responsible positions in the business enterprises take actions.  Please behave in such a way that you will be a role model for the youth.  Everyone in Japan and the world is looking at you.

This year is the 150th year of the publication of "On the Origin of Species" by Darwin.  It’s core message is "Not those who are the strongest or the wisest, but those who adapt to the environmental changes will survive." (Please refer to my speech on this site).  Speed to adapt will determine the winner.

Is Japan adapting enough to the changes of environment in today’s "globalization and flat world?"  This is a topic that also repeatedly appears in Dr. Yoko Ishikura’s blog.

“Taking Risks”: What do Young People Want to Do in the Coming Era?

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A radical symposium titled "Taking Risks" was organized by Professor Shuzo Fujimura of MOT, or the Graduate School of Innovation Management at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.  I thought that it would be difficult for young people to attend an event held during the day on a weekday, but was happy to see many graduate students there.

Speakers besides myself were Mr. Kazutaka Muraguchi, a venture capitalist at Nippon Technology Venture Partners, Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama who is former chief operating officer of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan and author of "Kaisha wa atama kara kusaru (Companies Rot from the Top)," and Mr. Yukio Sakamoto, President of Elpida Memory.  Each of us is considered a "dissenter" in our own field.  I guess our speeches were pretty extreme.  Some Japanese blogs are describing what the symposium was like.  It was quite radical, but I think that’s just fine.

Even at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, I heard that 70 percent of graduate students want to work for large companies.  It was a bit sad that I couldn’t feel their desire to explore the world while they are young.  Is it that inward-looking man and outward-looking woman dichotomy again?

American youth seem to have a strong interest in making contributions to the world and society through programs like the "Peace Corps" or "Teasch for America"(Wikipedia).  These organizations are on the top 10 list of "Ideal Undergraduate Employers," where US undergraduates dream of working.  They are recognized as career paths that nurture leadership skills. It would be good to think about this in Japan too.

Unfortunately, the number of Japanese students studying in the US is also on the decline.

Ferrari California Japan Premiere

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The Italian embassy in Tokyo hosted an event to introduce the new Ferrari California.

Why was I invited?  Well, I think it’s because I had a chance to speak at the "Auto Innovation" symposium the other day.  I talked about the strength of Japanese and Italian cars there.  I spoke not only about the importance of the manufacturing systems that pay attention to user satisfaction, but also about how the cars tell a story, by design, that grabs people’s hearts.  The symposium was organized by Mr. Ken Okuyama who is a well-known designer of Ferraris and other autos.  He mentioned then that he would invite me at the next opportunity.  That’s probably why I got an invitation.

The reception comes just in time for the Formula One race in Japan.  Drivers of the Ferrari team, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) and Felipe Massa (Brazil) were also at hand. What a great promotional event.

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Photo With Mr. Watanabe of METI

Crans Montana, Swiss

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Crans Montana is a beautiful small town in a valley two hours drive from Geneva.  Here, I came on September 10th, from London to participate World Knowledge Dialogue.  This was its second, the first was in 2006 in the same town as you see in my earlier (sorry, but only in Japanese, but many pictures), and indeed, my third time to Swiss this year, Davos in January, and St. Gallen in May.

The meeting was for four days and this time I was honored to meet with Prof. Edward O Wilson of Harvard University, one of the most respected scholars of our time, who wrote many epoch-making, sometime controversial books such as ‘Sociobiology’, ‘On Human Nature’, ‘The Ants’ with the latter two received the Pulitzer award.  He is a cheerful and admirable person and we share a good time together over his thoughts including ‘fairy fly’.  By the way, you could see his lectures at Harvard on the web, too.

It was very good that quite a number from Japan including Prof. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, participated and our contributions were thought significant.

The details of the program can be seen thru its websites for 2006 (I appear at a panel) and for 2008.  And you see many pictures and if you find me, let me know.

This year, I appeared in Day 1 at the Opening with Dame Julia Higgins (we know each other well since her days as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society), and as Chair of the entire Day 4, thus you could see my commentaries and interactions through the webcasts.  In particular, the Day 4 is tough, the number of participants are less, everyone getting tired, some have to leave before the end, etc, thus I tried to make the entire session more interesting but casual.  I thought it went well and stayed on time and in fact ended 9 minutes earlier than the schedule.  Enjoy the website and webcasts.

I really enjoyed the conference itself and meeting with many interesting people, old and new friends.  Nonetheless, the format required as we discussed, certain strategic goals, participatory processes, and some outreach deliverables and actions.

There is a great champion golf course here and the Omega European Masters was played one week earlier.  I managed to play a round of 18 holes starting 7am finishing 10am.  I enjoyed it very, very much.

In the afternoon of Day 4, we moved to Geneva, visited some historical sites.  One was University of Geneva campus where John Calvin founded in 1559; he was the one who converted the city to Catholic to Protestant community in mid-16th century, and we wondered in front of a large Reformation Wall of Calvin and other three (see at ‘Reformed Geneva’ at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin).

This visit gave me quite a moving feeling since in the Opening speech I mentioned on ‘Incunabula’ and commented Internet is the incunabula of today, that is to lead an unexpected consequence which may change the world. In fact, I said to the audience, because of incunabula of printed Bibles since Gutenberg of mid-15th century to year 1501, the religious revolution ensued almost 100 years later.  This message has been my recurring theme of some of my keynote speeches of ‘flattening and connected world’ as you may see in my blogs (refer 1 , 2 , 3 ) and elsewhere.

By a mere co-incidence, I was just standing there in front of such a consequence of major magnitude by John Calvin.

To London, for the GLOBE planning committee

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2 weeks ago, I received a FAX from Mr. Morley, the Minister of Environment of Mr. Blair’s regime, whom I have introduced before.  He wanted me to participate in the planning meeting of GLOBE, to be held in London on September 8.

I therefore reached London on the 8th morning via Paris, went to the hotel, changed in just 30 minutes and left for the meeting.  I was a bit late and joined the conference at 10:20.  The meeting was held in the Thatcher Room of Portcullis House, House of Commons which is a part of British parliament.  After the announcement of resignation by the Prime Minister, the representative of Japan and Member of the House, Mr. Yoshio Yatsu decided not to participate in the meeting.

Img_1333Photo 1  Photograph of participants, Mr. Morley, Member of the house in white shirt (in the center), to his right Mr. Gardiner, Member of the house. Some participants returned to their countries in the half way.

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Photo 2  The venue of meeting, a new building immediate right to Big Ben (It is not seen here)

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Photo 3  Mr. Tokumaru from the Ministry of the Environment

It is necessary to investigate the policies as well as approach to the "Land utilization, Forest conservation, Biodiversity, Ecosystem" which is actually very difficult.  As Mr. Barry Gardiner, a member of the House of Great Britain, was in-charge and delivered a speech in the beginning followed by a series of serious discussions by about 15 participants.  I think it will be a significant step if we find out the way to focus the policy from domestic to global. It may take a while, but it is very good if such discussions go ahead in a meaningful form in years to come. It is a global and very important subject but does not move forward easily.

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Photo 4  At  the reception, Mr. Gardiner, Member of the House, Mr. Nishigahiro, Minister to Great Britain.

The reception was organized at "The Goring Hotel", a small but sophisticated hotel which is common in London.

After staying for 24 hours in London, next morning, I am leaving for Swiss.  I will send next column from there.

Executive personnel management- simple questions from an outsider?

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I was interviewed by Nihon Keizai Shinbun for a column called "Airspace violation".  It is an interview report and aims to have a person present open questions about things other than his/her profession.   Although I had several themes in my mind, I decided to talk about personnel management of enterprises.  The article appeared in the morning edition page 5 on Aug. 4th, 2008, under the heading of " ‘Tenures’ are not appropriate for executives.  Decide according to their performance and actual results." The article is as follows. Gist of my remarks are in the quotation marks.

■ We understand that you have doubts about "Tenure" of business executives?
"I hear that there are many enterprises which have customs or byelaws that set presidents’ tenure as 2 terms of 4 years or 3 terms of 6 years.  But does it make any sense?  I hardly think that the governance of Japanese enterprises so far was good enough just because they have a tenure system. "

■Current trend is to shorten the tenure of top managements of large industries. Along the trend, many enterprises are shortening the term of office of CEO from 2 conventional years to 1 year.
"If manager’s term of office is set short, he/she won’t consider the business on long term scales.  Suppose some problem occurs during the tenure.  I suspect that it will not be solved by he/her but will be transferred to their successor."  "Same things happen in governments as well as universities, the field where I come from.  As government officials are replaced one after another the problems go on passing to the successors.  Since tenure of deans and president of university is short, talent training cannot be planned from long term perspectives."

■On the other hand, there are adverse effects if the tenure is prolonged and also criticisms about "problems caused by aged people".
"For ‘problems caused by aged people’, you can simply set young presidents in their 40s.  Then even after serving for 10 years, his/her age will still be below 60.  There are some cases, like Sharp or Hotel Okura, which had presidents in their 40s.  However, in large industries in Japan, the number of young managers is still very small.  What is required of a leader is; vision, ability of conveying the vision to the other people, intellectual and physical strength, and strong faith.  Age is irrelevant.  Younger talents should be selected."  "Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that ‘long term control’ is always no good.  There are many founders of corporations in Japan, like Mr. Akio Morita of Sony, who demonstrated wonderful management skills for a long period of time.  There may be many employed managers who can achieve excellent results in their long term tenure."

■Problem is not the short or long length of tenure?
"The point is not to set tenure but to build a mechanism so that the ability and achievement of a manager is evaluated objectively and in case any problem arises, the mechanism must work to have him removed immediately.  But how many Japanese enterprises actually have such structure functioning? If a company can not have a person to retire till completion of his customary tenure we must say that governance does not exist."

■One more word, please.
Once you become a professor, you will be safe till retirement.  This is also strange.

■A word from the interviewer.
How should we select and evaluate the heads of management?  It is a very important issue connecting to the base of enterprise governance.  There are cases where external reporters or external directors participate in selection of the succeeding director but such advanced examples are yet very few.  How do Japanese managers answer to those simple questions about executives raised by Dr. Kurokawa? (Editing committee, Yoshiyuki Miyata）

I expect there will be various opinions, points regarding the contents of this article.  Although I spoke for a long time they had to summarize it in a little space.  Anyway, pushing theory of your own is useless in this era of global economy, especially if it is the world’s second great economic nation.  It is a matter of credibility of a business, a nation.  In this information age, governance with transparency is the basis of company’s worth. Not limited to enterprise, everything is transparent from the world even if you tried to hide.  And here lies the challenges of "Flat age".

Some of the arguments about this article have appeared at Nikkei Net PLUS.  You are able to read them by registration (free).  What do you think?

MBA students in pharma-business from Philadelphia

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Philadelphia is my American home-town where I started my professional career in US at the University of Pennsylvania.

The University of Science in Philadelphia is unique and it offers various programs focusing on pharmaceutical and pharmacy sciences and businesses: it also offers courses for MBA program in this area.  The MBA program offers students a summer course to visit Japan and this year it includes a visit to GRIPS where I am a member of faculty.  I hosted a seminar taking an interactive dialogue style posing a wide range of subjects relevant to these future professionals in healthcare and global health issues.

Photos  Group photo and the session at GRIPS

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As I did for Harvard students of School of Public Health, I began asking them how many know and watched on the web of the commencement speeches of Steve Jobs at Stanford in 2005 and of Bill Gates at Harvard in 2006.  The background of about 10 students was quite diverse, which made the session a very interesting and rich.  I enjoyed very much the exchange.