More and More Dynamic Actions to Expand Links to the World

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East Japan Disaster and the actions of Japan to respond to this is a huge challenge which will determine the future of this nation.  The 'strength' and 'weakness' of Japan have been clearly seen not only in Japan but by the people of the world.  I don’t know how well Japanese people understand the background and the basis for those ‘strength’ and ‘weakness’ of Japan, but I do suspect that everyone thinks that ‘something is wrong’.  It goes without saying that ‘transparency’ is the basis of trust in this flattening, interconnected global world.  However, it seems that ‘Japan Inc’ is not disclosing the first hand information nor original data to the public and the stakeholders at press briefings or press conferences.  Subsequently the reactions of the stakeholders will be late, which will trigger damaging their trust to the government, eventually leading to a vicious circle.

For democracy to function, it is indispensable that broad range of information be distributed widely to the citizens, so that they have options to choose from in making decisions.

In this context, I would like to share with you my experience at two unique gatherings.

One is a dinner meeting with Mr. Robert Thompson, the Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Mr. Jacob Schlesinger, the Japan Editor in Chief, their co-workers, and 7 or so of the ‘global minded leaders’ invited from Japanese government, businesses, or academics.  The discussion was heated from the beginning.  Naturally so, because they have been, for a long time, concerned and working to solve the problem of Japan’s so-to-say ‘mal adaptation syndrome’ to the globalization.  Since all discussions are ‘off-the ?record’, I have to have their names remain undisclosed.

By the way, participants from WSJ other than the Editor in Chief and Japan Editor in Chief, were several core staffs who all happened to be females.  These staffs had a very nice impression on us.  ‘This’, again, shows what we need to revitalize Japan.

Another one.  Foreigners working in Japan organized a joint networking event with CCJ- Chamber of Commerce of Japan (I serve this year as the ambassador of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan …) in support of several NGOs of disaster relief.  The gathering was named ‘Giving Back to Japan’ and many Chambers of Commerce in Japan of the world participated.

I was given the honor of being invited to deliver a Keynote speech, and so chose the title of ‘Re-inventing Japan’.  This disaster is a ‘crisis’, and we must make it an ‘opportunity’ for not only putting into action many ideas to ‘reform’ Japan that were raised but remained undone, but also for ‘opening up Japan’ to the world.  This is the best way to honor the diseased.  It is crucial that we focus on nurturing ‘Global citizens’  (Ref.1,2)in the process of helping youths build their future career.  I introduced the activities of ‘Impact Japan’ which we founded for such goals.  I was, in return, introduced to people working for the children in disaster hit areas such as KnK Children Without Boarders or PA International .

The reception was very successful.  Another such gathering is scheduled to be held 6 months from now.

Let us cooperate with the people of the world and expand the links of networks – for ourselves and for the sake of youths, who will build the future of Japan.

 

A Speech in Expectation of Empowering Women

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I arrived at Haneda from San Diego early in the morning.  This day, I ended up corresponding all day for the Project Hope.

Supporting system for disaster relief in Tohoku seems to be gradually getting into order, and more aids, although far from enough, are coming in to the stricken areas.  Needs for medical care is changing rapidly.  Now, there are more needs for handling of chronic disorder rather than acute illnesses.  Equally becoming important are mental supports for the children and elderly.

Project Hope decided in the end to go to the stricken areas as well as the Fukushima area.  Everyone is working very hard to contact relevant sections and offices in order to arrange the trip.

Dr. Shimabukuro decided to come back to Japan from UCLA again, and is busy getting into touch with people.  In between, she even wrote an article to USA Today.  Dr Shiabukuro is such a hard worker!

As for myself, I had to give a lecture next day at the luncheon hosted by the ‘Women’s Committee’ of the Tokyo American Club (TAC) on ‘Women Empowerment in Japan’, so to my regret missed the opportunity to go the disaster hit area with our Project Hope team. 

At the TAC luncheon, I was seated next to Mrs Roos, wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.  I had the privilege of talking much about the quake and Fukushima issues with her.  The activities of the Ambassador can be followed via twitter and you will easily see how much he is dedicated.  By the way, all of the participants at this luncheon were women except for myself and Mr Lee, the President of TAC.

I opened my lecture by saying “Thank you for inviting me to TAC luncheon seminar to discuss ‘Gender Empowerment here in Japan.’ But, I must say that I am disappointed because today my audience consists of only women except for me and TAC president and what I speak to you today must be addressed rather mainly to men and you women know well many issues I will be talking about”.  I also distributed a list of references.

I said that the challenge is how to shift from ‘society of men’ to ‘society of gender equality’ and ‘gender empowerment.’.  In fact, Kathy Matsui of Goldman Sachs have written how her analysis show that if the Japanese society succeeded in encouraging women to take good part in workforce, the Japanese economy is expected to grow by 15%.  For details, please refer to ‘Womenomics’ which I included in the reference list.
 
As you may notice, I am raising this issue again and again in this website.

TED-2: The Birth of a Word

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One of the most inspiring stories that I heard at TED2011 was 'The Birth of a Word' by Deb Roy of MIT.

I was so impressed with the outstanding uniqueness of the idea, the tremendous size of its scale, the originality of analysis, and the breadth of possible development.  These are truly the characteristics of a scientist on the frontier, opening up a new field in science.

It is still only 3 weeks after the quakes, tsunami, and the nuclear power plant breakdown and we are all having a hard time.

I know you are busy, but would it be too much to ask you for 20 minutes?

 

TED2011

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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.

 

Vabel Conference; A Follow-up

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I posted a report about the Vabel Conference that we held in January. The video of the conference is now on the web.  You can listen to the speeches by the lecturers.  Professor Ishikura introduces the video in her blog, too.

The majority of the participants were Japanese and the speakers were all Japanese, but the language we used was English (actually, a broken English, except for Drs. Ishikura and Saito who speak English very well….).  This may sound odd to you, but we really had a good time.  I think the key to success is to make a good atmosphere and also to getting people acclimated to the situation.

Mr. Kim, the ‘pari pari’ worker organized and hosted this conference. He had been staying in Japan for a while after taking a leave of absence from a University in England. He is again planning to go abroad.

I think having such energy and aggressiveness as Mr. Kim is good for any young professional.

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

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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.

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

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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.

From Davos -4

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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?

From Davos -3

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What’s happening in Davos is reported on its web site   (for videos, see here).  Take a look and enjoy!

Today, the Prime Minister Kan will deliver a speech at 11am.  I imagine staff are busy in preparation.

I started the day with the ‘IdeasLab’ of Harvard University. The speakers were Dr David Ellwood of the Kennedy School, Dr Mohsen Mostafavi of the Graduate School of Design, two Deans　(the Business School Dean, Dr Nohria was unable to make it), Dr David Bloom, GAC’s Ageing Council Chair, and it was hosted by Annie Koh of Singapore Management University.  The theme was ‘Breaking Education’s Boundaries’.  It was a very exciting session.  I enjoyed making comments, too.

The speech of the PM Kan started at 11:30.  However, much of the audience left the venue before the speech since the panel before was ‘The Global Economic Outlook’ hosted by Martin Wolf  of the Financial Times. But who can complain?

I thought that the prime minister’s speech was quite good. Starting with the recent disturbance of Egypt, he spoke well, and the way he handled the Q&As was also good.  You can view this On-line (both in English and Japanese ). Now, the question is, when, how, and to what extent can the Kan administration carry out their plans as described in the speech.  It’s time that the strategies and decisions of the government be tested.

On the other hand, I see quite a few problems on how PM Kan’s speech was reported in Japanese media.  I urge you to read and compare how the newspapers reported it.  Today, unlike the old days, you are able to see and listen directly to the original speech.  This is the power of the internet.  How do you evaluate the speech of Mr. Kan or the quality of the reports by the Japanese media?

Immediately after the speech, a lunch meeting was held with Mr. Kan, and hosted by Mr. Carlos Ghosn.  I think Mr. Ghosn managed the Q&A’s well, too.

After lunch, there was a panel titled ‘Re-inventing Japan’ (everybody knows that there have been many panels with similar titles and yet nothing has changed…).  The Prime Minister opened the event with his message, followed by Minister Kaieda, Dr. Sadako Ogata, Mr. Kojima, Chairman of the Mitsubishi Corporation, Mr. Charles Lake of Aflac.  The host was Mr. Kristof, former head of the NY Times Japan office.  Since Mr. Kristof was well aware of the problems in Japanese media (such as the one about ‘Kisha club’, the reporters’ club), it seemed there was incompatibility amongst some of the comments in the beginning.  Of course we know Mr. Kristof is not responsible for this…..

I enjoyed participating in several sessions, listening to many new ideas, meeting wonderful people, having lively conversation, and making new friends in new fields.  You never know what happens in the future.  I saw many interesting new developments in the fields such as Design, Arts and technology, the Scientific frontier, etc. in the effort to address global issues.

The evening soiree, ‘Inclusive India!’, presented a show full of actions. The venue was packed with people, so I left rather early.

At any rate, in this Davos meeting, I noticed gaps existing between the roles played by government and industry in their handling of international finance and other issues.  Things appear to be calming down at this moment, but in reality, there is a high possibility that some big change could actually occur within several years’ time.  The notion of this was not spoken openly, but at a level of very private conversation.  I had this sort of conversation with a very famous economic journalist who told me there was a concern that EU may be like Japan, like it was for these 20 years.

Today, there exists a number of situations that could trigger crisis on global scale.  Tunisia and Egypt may be just the beginnings.

 

Speech on Healthcare Policy

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My reports are somewhat delayed than usual, but I have returned home on October14th from a slightly long travel which started on 5th.

Next day in the morning, at the Denmark Embassy in Tokyo, I gave speech on ‘Healthcare Policy for the Aging Society’ to the audience of about 30 or so of legislators and other members of Denmark’s delegate visiting Japan.  I was told that  Ambassador Melbin  (Ref.1) and the audience enjoyed my speech.  (by the way, around April or so, I went to see the Ambassador to talk about the World Cup; and, of course, the Japan-Denmark match….)  The discussions in Seattle turned out to be very helpful in preparing my speech.

After leaving the Denmark Embassy, I headed to Haneda airport to fly to Matsuyama.  The Panasonic Shikoku in Matsuyama is focusing on healthcare and they asked me to speak on topics on ‘Healthcare Policy for the Aging Society’.

I was being so focused on this theme for these days, so I was able to learn much from these events, and also was able to develop new ideas.
 
Developed countries share common challenges; ‘1. Continuing growth of the aging society, 2. Chronic diseases as a major disease burden, and 3. Public funding for healthcare being hard to increase’.  I have written about the framework of my ideas in many occasions, and my view remains essentially the same as of today.  What I think is uploaded in recent On-line article of Nikkei (in Japanese), so please have a look.

These are without doubt one of the top priorities of political issues today.