What is Going on at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant Breakdown? Commentary by Kenichi Ohmae

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

The quake and tsunami which hit eastern Japan on March 11th killed tens of thousands of people in a matter of seconds, and destroyed whole towns in an instant.  Images show the evidence of the huge destructive power of tsunamis, and the great power of nature.  None would need any further explanation to understand this.

However, it is moving to see people there helping each other, doing whatever they can, without complaining, without crying.
 
On the other hand, however, the manner the authorities are dealing with the nuclear plant crash is hard to understand, not to mention there seems to be missing information missing.  Most of us had no choice but to try to gather up bits of information from Mr. Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), television, or newspapers.

It seems to me that there are many flaws and blunders in the side of risk management.  Many problems are due to human factors.  On top of that, comments by specialists are obscure as far as what I’ve seen on television.

In this context I would like to introduce to you three U-tube broadcasts below by Kenichi Ohmae.  He sent out straightforward and clear comments on this video at  very early stages after the quake.  Dr. Ohmae is qualified to comment on nuclear power because he is originally a nuclear scientist and had participated in nuclear power plant projects in Japan in the past.

1. March 13th (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
2. March 19th
3. March 27th          (all are in Japanese)

Dr. Ohmae earned his Ph.D. degree at MIT, had worked for Hitachi nuclear power plants participating both in research and on-site jobs, and later was active at McKinsey.  Clearly, Dr. Ohmae has superb knowledge of nuclear power, both scientifically and technically.  Another impressive thing is that he keeps a very straightforward and frank style when he speaks, and do not worry about hurting the feelings of the authorities.  I recommend watching this video to you since this is a reliable, wonderful information source.  This is truly a good project. 
 
The huge number of access to this site indicates high attention from the public.  In this context it is clear that this hazard is comparable to the tragic situation Japan experienced 65 years ago, after the defeat in the World War II.  So, now is the time for us to join together in search for wisdom to overcome this national crisis, and take whatever actions necessary.

It is our duty, for the sake of the diseased victims, to turn this natural disaster into a chance for creating a new Japan.  For these 20 years, we have been repeatedly deploring the incapability of Japan to make changes.  Creating a new Japan for the new era is the most important task we should undertake for the loved ones we lost.

Thank you, Dr. Ohmae, for your work.  Please visit his blog (in Japanese) for more information.

 

TED2011

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

I have been supporting TEDxTokyo (Ref.1,2,3) for two years. 

Now, I am here to participate in TED2011, the home program of the TEDxTokyo.  I flew Los Angeles, where I lived for almost 13 years, and drove for Long Beach.  The weather in late February is fine, but rather cold, and the temperature going down as far as below 50F at night. 

The day 2 is over now, and so far, I would say the program is quite full and nicely organized. It is my overall impression that I will enjoy most of them pretty much.

As I went on attending the various sessions, I must say that a good speech must have a good, moving story.  Furthermore, the host Curators were supporting the speakers in their good hands, and this contributed much in making the presentations so wonderful.  I admit wholeheartedly that there are so many fantastic, talented, powerful people in the world. 

My friends Partick Newell and William Saito whom I work with for TEDxTokyo are here with me.  Mario Tokoro and Kenichiro Mogi of Sony, Ken Okuyama, and about 10 other people from Japan are in the audience.

You can follow the events via Twitter（#TED、#TED2011）. Photos are uploaded at this link.

We are now at the end of the day 2.

 

Health Summit: The Annual Event of the HGPI

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Following the Congressional Briefing with the members of the Diet of Japan which took place on February 25nd, we opened the Global Health Forum 2011on 26th.

We focused on Global Health, in collaboration with  UNITAID and Department of Global Health Policy of The University of Tokyo.

As you can see from the program, the host of this forum was Ms. Doden of NHK, an expert in this field, and the key note was delivered by Mr. Douste-Blazy, Board of UNITAID, UN Special Advisor on Innovative Financing for Development, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France.  The panelists were; Professor Shibuya, University of Tokyo, Mr. Tistdall, GAVI (Japan is one of the major nations supporting the bond issuance for immunization), Mr. Eun Joo Lee, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea, Ms. Cristina Parsons Perez, American Cancer Society,  Mr. Mugitani, Senior Vice Minister of Ministry of Health of Japan, Dr. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President of CSIS and Director of Global Health Policy Center, and Dr. Yonekura, Chairman of the Sumitomo Chemical and Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).  I am grateful for their participation, knowing their tight schedule.

The forum succeeded in coordinating a good, meaningful discussion thanks to the participation of many key persons in the field of Global Health.  I would also like to note here that Mr. David Bowen of the Gates Foundation kindly joined our Forum.

The discussion started by searching for the possible area and means where Japan could contribute.  We focused on the achievement of the MDG, discussing possible support by the developed countries, and the process to follow, taking into account the current financial difficulties which those developed countries have.  Although Japan is currently making contributions through immunization bond issuances in addition to ODA by the government, we tried to figure out new types of support that is independent from the tax money allocated from the government of Japan.

I hope that the Japanese economy as well as the mood in its society will improve soon.

 

Collaboration with CSIS and Congressional Briefing: A New Process

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Our HGPI (Health and Global Policy Institute) have been hosting Health Summit every February and for this year it was held on February 26th.

We launched this year a collaboration project on Health Policy with CSIS （Center for Strategic and International Studies）, a well known Think Tank based in Washington DC.  This collaboration has been our hope and issue since last year.

The background of this collaboration is that Dr Brian Biles of CSIS participated in our Health Summit last year, and HGPI co-hosted an international conference last June in London under the title of ‘Transition from G8 to G20: Health and Development’ with CSIS and Chatham House (an established British Think Tank).

We had a preliminary meeting at the Congressman Hall room on February 25th with influential Japanese legislators and the CSIS team Stephen Morrison , Brian Biles.  Also participating in the meeting were the specialists of the project – Professor Gerard Anderson of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Ikegami of Keio University for ‘hospital payments’, Professor John Hamelka of Harvard (he has a wonderful blog site) and Professor Akiyama (in Japanese) of the University of Tokyo for IT and health record and patient safety.

A number of legislators with good knowledge of healthcare policy shared their valuable time with us; Mr. Otsuji (in Japanese)(LDP, former Minister of Health and Welfare), Dr. Sakaguchi (in Japanese)(New Komeito, former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare), Mr. Seko (in Japanese) (LDP), Mr. Kan Suzuki (in Japanese)(DPJ, Senior Vice Minister of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan), Dr. Adachi (in Japanese)(DPJ, former Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Labour and Welfare), Dr. Umemura (in japanese)(DPJ), and Mr. Konishi (in Japanese)(DPJ).  I thank them all for their participation and good, productive discussion.

We also invited several people from business and mass media.  Dr. David Bowen of the Gates Foundation happened to be in Tokyo, so we asked him to come as well.  Dr. Bowen worked for many years as the policy staff for Senator Edward Kennedy so he has a good knowledge of how healthcare policies work or how legislators develop and manage the process of legislation.

I think that this is the very first case that policymaking process like this took place in Japan.  It is the first time that an independent think tank of Japan and the United States collaborated in policymaking, and in its process, set up a Congressional Briefing session with nonpartisan legislators at the Japanese congress auditorium.  Next meeting of this CSIS-HGPI project will be held in Washington DC on July 14th, at the timing where a large framework is worked out.

I hope that this event will eventually become one of the new steps of legislation process in Japan

‘Kaisya Ishin (Restoration of Companies)’ and ‘Zasetsu-ryoku (Capacity to Fail)’ by Kazuhiko Toyama

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Kazuhiko Toyama is known for his direct comments and actions.

His books "Company rots from its head (published in Japanese only)" or "Tenacity of one finger decided the contest (published in Japanese only)" might give you an impression that he is a radical, but I consider his works as clarifying the essence of the issues, and presenting to you views worth listening to.

He published a new book last year titled ‘Restoration of Companies ? A Guidebook to Capitalism in the Transition Period (published in Japanese only)’.  In this book, he makes his points very clear on what we must hold as the core values of capitalism and enterprise.  I found many parts where he clarifies things I did not understand well before.  Of course, since the book is on ‘cores’ and ‘essence’, he discusses not only about how a company should be organized, but also presents many keen observations about society as a whole.  Therefore, I strongly recommend reading this book not only to businesspeople, but also to those in the government sector or academia ? or anyone who is in positions responsible for running organizations in our society.

I said on twitter; ‘The book is a ‘must’ to all businesspeople.  But I also recommend it to officers, legislators, or anyone.  Don’t argue with me, just read the book because it concerns essential issues regarding the problems we have.’  I later found that someone read it right away and posted a comment on his blog . I was thrilled.  Thank you so much for your action.

Some of you may remember my recent posting on ‘failure’ (in Japanese) in which I mentioned this new book by Toyama, ‘Capacity to Fail (published in Japanese only).

Again, this book is great.  Like in other books, he writes in a light but firm tone, how important it is for any individual to experience a failure.  He lists about 50 (actually, 52…) valuable lessons to be learned by failing in something especially in your early stage of life.  In short, he talks about having a ‘backbone’.

The importance of learning lessons by experiencing a failure is significant.  One learns a lot from the process of overcoming failure.  Manuals are no good for such learning.  Come to think of it, the proverbs that exist in all parts of the world reflect such wisdom.

I recommend this book, especially to young people.  Old people might find hints here on how to support youth, things they can do for the young people, by reflecting on the paths they, the old people, have gone through.

It doesn’t make sense to regard someone as ‘no-good’ just because the person failed to get a job in the year they graduated.  Only Japanese society has such an employment system.

Everyone, please support the youth so that we may create a society that has opportunities for the future.

 

From San Diego ? Delivering a Keynote Lecture at the First ‘Cell Society Clinical Annual Meeting’

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

On February 17th, I left Narita for San Diego via San Francisco.  I was to give a keynote lecture at the Cell Society Clinical Annual Meeting.  I checked in at the Estancia Hotel at La Jolla where the meeting was to take place.  It actually was quite a comfortable Hotel.

The weather, however, was not at all like South California; cold, dim, and we even had a rainfall.  This is a rare situation, but it’s no use complaining.  The weather recovered, however, during the afternoon of the second day. 

The objective of this gathering was quite clear; to discuss exclusively on the current status of adult Stem Cell usage in clinical settings.  We didn’t focus much on basic research; rather, on what was happening in each field ? including correspondences with the investigation authorities.  I enjoyed the presentations: many of the presenters are people with whom I rarely have opportunites to see in my regular academic activities. I felt as if I was being introduced to a new frontier

As we learned about various knowledge gained in various fields, we gradually came to see all kinds of possibilities that adult ‘Stem Cells’ have for clinical fields.  I think there is a great potential especially in the field related to orthopedics or cosmetic surgery.  Considering that we are in the aging society, there would be need other than authentic healthcare.

From such broader perspectives, I felt that my keynote lecture was adequate for the occasion.  I said a few words on Watson (Ref.1, 2), too.   (I noticed that Dr. Yoko Ishikura also commented on Watson in her blog).  Many of the participants congratulated me for the speech.  I was very happy to know that they liked it.

Moreover, I strongly felt that in the context of the progress of 20th Century medicine, this meeting, by itself, established a very unique standpoint.  It suggested us the possibility of a totally different perspective and framework of science.  I would like to talk more on this issue at some other occasion.

From 9:30pm.  I had some wine with a few Japanese students studying at UCSD and other universities, and also people from CONNECT, at the hotel until very late at night.  Photos are here.  I always enjoy exchanging views with young people from Japan. They are always full of energy.  I want them to become globally active, and am looking forward to seeing that happen.

So, again, I was exposed to more things to think about.

To the G1 Summit

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Two days after I returned from Okinawa, I went to the Hoshino Resort Risonare at Kobuchizawa located at the foot of the Yatsugatake and Kaikoma mountains. 　My plan was to participate in the G1 Summit  hosted by Mr. Yoshihito Hori and his colleagues.  I saw Mr. Hori on several occasions: in the Davos Meeting conferences; at India, Singapore, Dalian, Tianjin, etc.    He is a young colleague of mine.

It was cold, but the weather was so beautiful that the low temperature did not bother me.  The view was all white.  The participants consisted mainly of young people, and I felt a great energy of desire to move Japan forward.  To my regret, I had work to be done in Tokyo on the first day (in spite of the 11th being a national holiday), but thanks to Twitter, I was able to sense what was happening at the conference. The guests were fantastic; for instance, from the policy and economy sector were Mr. Yoshimi Watanabe, Dr. Heizo Takenaka, Mr. Tetsuro Fukuyama, Hironari, and Mr. Hiroshige Seko. The business sector included people such as President Hasegawa of Takeda Pharmaceutical, Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama, CEO of Industrial Growth Platform Inc., Mr. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Mr. Miki Watanabe, the founder of Watami Co., and Mr. Yoshikazu Tanaka, the founder of GREE Inc. 

I arrived at the venue in the afternoon on the 2nd day to host the panel on science and technology policy(in Japanese) with Mr. Kan Suzuki, Senior Vice Minister of MEXT, Dr. Keiji Tachikawa, President of JAXA, and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of iPS cell.  I claimed that the science technology is dependent on human resource development – whether it is a basic research or a Big Science new sprouts must spring from the seeds.  After witnessing the examples of their seniors, many young talents will spring.  This is the challenge that we must address.  While I admit that it was a great achievement for Japan to produce 10 Nobel laureates in the 21st century, I think we must also think seriously about the fact that 3 of them were residing in the U.S…

The closing program was a dialogue between former Prime Minister Abe, and Ms. Ryoko Sakurai under the title of ‘As Proud Japanese, we ….’.  In the evening, we went to the Suntory Hakushu Distillery and the aroma of whiskey made me feel mildly intoxicated.  We also enjoyed the entertaining talk of Mr. Rome Kanda, a speaker of last year’s TEDxTokyo.

On the next day, I hosted a panel; ‘Is Heavy Social Welfare Compatible With Economic Growth?(in Japanes)’ with Prof. Yoshikazu Kenjyo, Mr. Motohisa Furukawa, and Dr. Yuji Yamamoto.  The discussion somewhat strayed away from the title, I thought.  I also feel a bit responsible for letting each panelist talk too much (they had difficulty keeping the requested time of 5 minutes……).

The closing was gracefully hosted by Mr. Yoshito Hori, with Dr. Ikujiro Nonaka, Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka, and Mr. Seigo Matsuoka. 

It was a nice gathering.  I congratulate and thank Mr. Hori, the organizer, and his staff, as well as all the participants.

 

ACCJ Person of the Year：　Speech at the Award Reception Celebration Luncheon

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Photos

Several days ago, I posted a column titled ‘ACCJ Person of the Year, Why Me?’ .  It reported on my being selected as the ACCJ Person of the Year.

To celebrate, ACCJ kindly held a luncheon at the newly renovated Tokyo American Club on February 8th.  I gave a 2 hours speech followed by a Q/A.  ACCJ’s official report is on its web site (Japanese, English).

Princess Takamado honored us with her presence. ACCJ also kindly invited prestigious members of the ACCJ as well as many of my friends and staff at the beautiful banquet hall. In total there were about 100 guests.  It was truly a great honor.

Because my selection was a surprise to me, I tried to think ‘why they chose me, and what I could do to honor my selection.  I organized the speech into 4 parts. They constituted of 1) Kurokawa as ACCJ Person of the Year- what does it mean ?  2) What is Kurokawa saying, anyway?, 3) What I learned in America, and 4) What we need from America.  The full speech is here for your reference.  A 20 minute Q/A followed.

When the Q/A ended and the session was over people stood to applause for a while.  The standing ovation surprised me, but I was genuinely happy and honored.  The guests seemed to truly welcome my speech.

My adventures and education started in 1969, when I went abroad to the U.S. as a young physician for ‘nternational study. I had intended to return to Japan in 2 or 3 years.  It turned out that I ended up staying in the U.S. for almost 15 years. During this time I went through countless important experiences, leading me to a life that I have not imagined or expected.

This year, as Ambassador of ACCJ, I intend to contribute in any way possible to the enhancement of the already well-established U.S.-Japan relationship.

Ten questions on Japanese from ‘a strange foreigner’

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

I have a scholar friend who travels around the world, studies and analyzes ‘innovation’ and its patterns in many countries of the world.  He knows Japan well through his study and work over 30 years and is a friend of Japan. 

We met in Davos and he sent me an email with ’List of 10 Questions’ on ‘Japanese behavior patters’. He thinks I am a ‘strange Japanese’.  I feel honored by his comment.

The list is shown below and I wonder what would be your thoughts and answers?

QUESTIONS / ISSUES
——————————
(1)  “Why is it that most Japanese go to conferences and always stay and sit together in a corner and talk to each other, without including any foreigner into their conversation?
… there are no other country citizens behaving that way !!!
 
(2)  “Why is it that the Japanese participants never dare to raise a question or give some comments in a workshop or at the Q&A session in a conference”?
… other Asians from China, Singapore, Taiwan, India, etc. are very different in this regard !!!
 
(3)  “Why is it that many of my Japanese colleagues and friends have to take a vacation when participating in a conference or think-tank overseas”?
… the Western people consider this to be part of the business activities !!!
 
(4)  “Why is it that most Japanese go to international conferences without a specific objective and measurable results in mind”?
… Most other country participants have very clear targets to meet a certain number of suppliers, customers, etc., in order to end up with specific new business proposals !!!
 
(5)  “Why do most Japanese companies not like to see their employees writing and publishing industry articles or even books with other colleagues in their professional domain, even if they do it in their spare time over the weekend and the evenings”?
… in the Western world we consider this to benefit the company and the employee, as it demonstrates domain expertise vis-a-vis potential customers and peers in the industry !!!
 
(6) “Why do Japanese speakers in international events and conferences only present or ask in Japanese (there are always a few exceptions to the rule)”?
… it is common practice the government officials may speak their own language at an event in their own country, but most of the time, Japanese also do so in international conferences overseas !!!
 
(7)  “Why do all the conference participants or students keep their hands down and lower their heads when the professor or speaker asks a question that everybody is able to answer”?
… there are always a number of Europeans who have good answers or questions, while many Americans will raise their hands even before the question ends, whether or not they have a full or only a partial answer !!!
 
(8)  “Why is it that most Japanese executives only see the differences, risks and threats but never look at the  similarities or opportunities?”
… it always leaves a strong sense of pessimism and no optimism, hence, how can you advance personally or as a nation with such an attitude !!!
 
(9)  “Why is it that most Japanese people and senior executives are scared to call for serious changes in their organizations or even in the nation”?
… without constant changes, you cannot adapt to the ever rapidly changing world around us, hence, you are left behind !!!
 
(10)  “Why is it that Japan and its citizens will only be able to change or are willing to change when the country will either hit the wall, or will experience a total market crash, or is about to disintegrate completely”?
… a common answer by some of the highest ranked corporate officers, association or some government leaders, whom I spoke to during the “Japan Night” in Davos !!!
 

From Davos -4

Posted on by kiyoshi kurokawa

→Japanese

Today is the last day of this year’s Davos meeting.  Throughout the meeting I have been exposed to many thought provoking things/issues.

One of them is the power shift taking place in the internet age, as observed in the drastic political change in Tunisia and Egypt.  The effects of WikiLeaks is similar in nature to these shifts.

On the other hand, the world economy’s prospect is still unclear.  Mr. David Cameron delivered a wonderful speech as the leader of his nation.  Mr. Cameron and his administration are rapidly carrying out many bold policies in this difficult time.  I think their task is very difficult.  People will criticize them in many ways, naturally, but in today’s circumstances, true leadership is being sought more than ever before.
 
President Obama also delivered his State of the Union address in Washington DC.  A poll right after the speech showed that 55% of the people supported Obama.  This is a good rate.  There is no one policy that will satisfy all people.  It’s best to learn from history, see the trends, equip oneself with intelligence and courage to do what has to be done so that we may adapt to the change taking place in this totally new global world.  Leaders are expected to do all this and set clear priorities, to talk to people of the nation and of the world so that they can understand what to do ? a leaders’ ability to do all this is being tested.  Such is the world we are in today.

The panel of ‘WHAT IF: there is reunification on the Korean Peninsula? ’was also very thought provoking.

The last session of this year’s Davos meeting, ‘Inspired for a Lifetime’, is on-line in video and summary, too.
 
Overall, the Japanese media, I regret to say, seemed as if they did not exist at all.  The list of media coverage is uploaded on the front page of the Davos meeting, and even the Huffington Post is in the list! The Japanese media were not listed once.  Isn’t there any Japanese journalist or journalism that would speak/write not only to Japan but to the world?  Are we not the nation of the 3rd largest economy?  I did see several (but not many…) Japanese reporters in Davos. It  seemed to me however, that even there Japanese reporters were sometimes trapped in ‘traditions’ such as the ‘kisha-club (reporter’s club)’ which is so powerful back at home.  However, I saw some good signs in the phenomenon of participants being active in twitter.  I like it.

This year, luckily, I had the privilege of traveling with Ms. Junko Kawaguchi, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs to and from Zurich-Davos.  Thank you!

I will be back at home on the 31st.  I wonder how politics, the economy and everything else in Japan will look to my eyes after having been exposed to so much here?