Unlock: The Real Japan #5

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THE REAL JAPAN A SPECIAL MAGAZINE BY Nikkei Asia

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Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai and the future of Japan

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A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

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CONTENTS

A SPECIAL MAGAZINE BY Nikkei Asia

Welcome to issue five of Unlock the Real Japan, a special collaboration between Nikkei Inc. and Time Out Tokyo created to help business leaders gain new insight into one of the most exciting countries on Earth.

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An exclusive interview with the Governor of Osaka

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EXPO 2025

Our special 17-page celebration of the 2025 World Expo

24 AREA GUIDE

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The very best things to see and do in Greater Osaka

The other half is more focused on the here and now. After two years of Covid-enforced hiatus, Japan is ready to rise again. We’ve looked at the areas—economics, energy, hospitality, regeneration and education—that are key to ensuring that the country’s future is bright. We hope you enjoy the issue.

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The politician on her plans for Japan’s economic growth

30 RENEWABLE ENERGY

Masashi Okada on Tokyu Land’s move into green power

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Akihiko Hoshi on the future of travel in Japan

34 REGENERATION

©︎SKYDRIVE | TAKASHI MUSO | SHUTTERSTOCK | KEISUKE TANIGAWA | FOOD HUB PROJECT

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HOSPITALITY

Planned, produced and distributed by Nikkei Inc. Global Business Edited by Matthew Lee (Time Out Tokyo) Rob Orchard (Time Out Tokyo) Marcus Webb (Time Out Tokyo)

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Designed by James Ladbury

Could Kamiyama herald the future of rural communities?

Coordinated by Karolina Höglind (Time Out Tokyo/ORIGINAL Inc.) Ili Saarinen (Time Out Tokyo/ORIGINAL Inc.)

36 EDUCATION

Directed by Akiko Toya (Time Out Tokyo/ORIGINAL Inc.)

A look at two projects aiming to change the way we learn

38 ETIQUETTE GUIDE

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How to get ready for the return of face-to-face meetings While every effort has been made to provide correct opening times hours do vary, we always recommend checking with venues in advance.

All rights reserved. Using the content for commercial purpose, citing, reproducing, editing, summarizing or translating the contents without prior permission of Nikkei Inc. is strictly prohibited.

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A SPECIAL MAGAZINE BY Nikkei Asia

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This issue comes in two parts. The first half of the magazine looks to the future. In just three years Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan will see the world’s innovators come to the country for the 36th world exposition.

In anticipation we’ve spoken with those tasked with bringing the celebration to life and looked back at previous Expos.

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HIROFUMI

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In Unlock you’ll find Nikkei Asia’s renowned insight into the business world combined with Time Out Tokyo’s knowledge of city living, ensuring that visiting executives can experience all sides of life in Japan.

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EXPO 2025

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TAKASHI MUSO

l Hirofumi Yoshimura, Governor of Osaka

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Hirofumi Yoshimura is a man with Osaka in his blood.

A former attorney, he has represented Osaka as a city councilor, as a member of the national Diet, as mayor and, since 2019, as governor. He talks to Koichi Sakai about his plans for Osaka and how he is relishing the world’s attention in the run-up to the 2025 World Expo

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Osaka

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TAKASHI MUSO

Following the Glasgow Declaration at the COP26 conference last year, decarbonization is of growing concern.

How will the Expo deal with this issue?

The Osaka-Kansai Expo is being positioned as a “People’s Living Lab,” i.e. a testing ground for various innovations, so it will be an opportunity to accelerate

efforts aimed at achieving a carbon-neutral society by 2050. The Osaka prefectural government is aiming to achieve zero emissions both inside and outside the Expo site by utilizing cutting-edge technologies such as power generation using hydrogen and ammonia, which emit no CO2, and CO2 separation and capture from the atmosphere and conversion into concrete. In the interest of reducing emissions, access to the Expo site will be mainly by train, and the Osaka Metro Chuo Line is currently being extended to Yumeshima Island. In order to encourage visitors to come by train instead of car, we are working with Osaka Metro to increase the frequency of trains during peak hours.

We are promoting the introduction of electric and fuel cell buses. The new buses won’t only be used during the Expo, but also before and after it, which will contribute to decarbonizing the entire prefecture. Osaka is known as a city of water, so I hope to have transportation by electric-powered boat play a role too.

What do you hope the legacy of the Osaka-Kansai Expo will be?

As hosts, Osaka and the rest of Kansai must not only ensure the success of the Expo, but also use it as a catalyst for the growth and development of the

How does the Expo fit into your wider plans for Osaka?

Up to now I have overseen a variety of initiatives aimed at achieving an Osaka that is dynamic and continues to grow on the world stage. We have hosted a G20 summit, had the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, worked toward Osaka hosting an integrated resort in the future, and promoted the development of a startup ecosystem. However, having had to direct much of my efforts to responding to the pandemic, I believe that my most important mission is to overcome this unprecedented crisis, all while firmly establishing Osaka as the “second capital” that will lead Japan’s growth as the western counterpart to Tokyo, putting Osaka back on the growth track while looking ahead to the post-pandemic era. To this end, first of all, I hope to lead the 2025 OsakaKansai Expo to success by mobilizing the power of Japan and the wider world.

You can experience Virtual Osaka online at virtualosaka.jp

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Virtual Osaka is an interactive site that aims to bring the Expo to life. How is development coming along?

The site has been open to the public since February 28, and its strength is that visitors can interact and experience things regardless of distance or language.

We would like Virtual Osaka to function as a platform for exciting and surprising content that showcases Osaka’s charms, attracting the participation of people around the world. We hope as many people as possible will take an interest in Osaka and the Expo, and are working toward having those who form connections through Virtual Osaka visit the Expo in real life, too. For example, avatars will be able to play games with each other and enjoy content linked with real-world events. We’ll be adding more content as we go, so please, everyone, create an avatar and experience Virtual Osaka.

We will allow visitors to experience the city of the future

region. The Osaka prefectural and city governments, the national government, and the private sector must work together to bring about new technologies, services, and other innovations, and showcase them both inside and outside the Expo site to attract visitors. The entire region will work to embody the Expo’s concept of being a “People’s Living Lab” by taking advantage of the region’s strengths in fields such as the life sciences, thereby promoting Osaka/ Kansai to the world as a region brimming with innovation. Lastly, I would like the Expo to be a place where young people can feel inspired.

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How are the plans for the Osaka Pavilion shaping up?

Our goal is to present an exhibit that will allow visitors to experience the city of the future, where they can take a step toward tomorrow in line with “Reborn,” the theme of the exhibit. We hope to present a story about urban life around 2050, with visitors taking on the roles of residents of the city of the future.

l Koichi Sakai and Hirofumi Yoshimura

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Now that the Tokyo Games are over, people’s attention is turning to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. What’s your view of the Expo and its significance?

To be held under the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, the Expo will symbolize the start of a new, postpandemic age. It is being held five years before 2030, the target year for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), making it an ideal opportunity to review the progress made so far toward achieving the SDGs and to build a future together with the rest of the world. I would like this Expo to be a powerful source of inspiration for imagining the future of Japan and the world 50 years from now.

That’s what we are preparing for.

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JAPAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 2025 WORLD EXPOSITION

The practice Showcasing cutting-edge technology has always been a major part of the Expo brief, and the Osaka-Kansai edition is expected to display the latest innovations in fields from health care and accessibility to mobility and entertainment. Don’t be surprised if flying cars will be an option for transportation to and from the venue, and best look out for the legion of robots set to handle everything from customer

The essential information you need to know ahead of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

l An artist’s impression of the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan site on Yumeshima

service to cleaning within and around the pavilions.

Also of note is the Expo’s focus on health and wellbeing, which means that visitors can expect to be introduced to a wide range of groundbreaking solutions in medical and nursing care. Many of these will have been developed in Japan to meet the needs of the country’s rapidly aging population, and are likely to attract global interest as caring for the elderly becomes an ever more pressing concern in societies around the world.

The site Though the Expo is officially being hosted by both Osaka and the wider Kansai region, the spotlight will be squarely on Yumeshima (“Dream Island”), an artificial

island in Osaka Bay, less than half an hour by train from the city center. The largely unoccupied expanse of land will be transformed into a futuristic minicity arranged around a number of plazas and divided into three “worlds.” These are Pavilion World, where participating countries will be setting up their respective exhibitions; Green World, a site for open-air events, strolls among the urban greenery, and hands-on experiences; and Water World, Yumeshima’s after-dark hub, where various shows will be lighting up the night sky throughout the event period.

The venue is expected to embody the Expo’s message of sustainability and inclusion through features such as carbon neutrality and fully accessible facilities.

Access to Yumeshima will be mainly by train, with emission-free buses and electric boats also being explored as possible means of transportation. Meanwhile, a network of self-driving electric vehicles is being developed to shuttle visitors around the site.

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The theme of Expo 2025 is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”—a pledge that encompasses improving the lives of people around the world by focusing on three subthemes: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives.

Through these key topics, the organizers seek to “co-create” society along more sustainable lines, pointing the way toward a greener, happier, and more secure future.

Another significant feature of the Expo will be its function as a testing ground for new ideas and initiatives aimed at building a better world. Dubbed “People’s Living Lab,” this undertaking is already underway, with a variety of online and real-world events being held in the lead-up to the Expo to discuss pressing issues and produce fresh ideas to be presented and debated in 2025.

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The philosophy

EXPO

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he World Expo is returning to Japan for a third time and promises to be spectacular.

Building on the legacy of Expo ’70 in Osaka, an event considered symbolic of Japan’s postwar economic miracle, and Expo 2005 in Aichi, noted for its focus on environmental and sustainability concerns, Expo 2025 is aiming to present a bold vision of a post-materialist society rooted in diversity. Hosted by the city of Osaka and the surrounding Kansai region, the Expo will take place from 13th April to 13th October 2025, with most of the action centering on the island of Yumeshima. Here’s the lowdown on what to expect.

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EXPO 2025

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PARTNER CONTENT

UNLOCK JAPAN

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JOIN SYNC ACT 2025

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Japan’s new ideas are set to be on full display at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan—a global gathering aimed not at national prestige, but inclusive dialogue, re-orienting mindsets, mutual tolerance, and achieving positive change.

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We believe Japan, where people have valued nature and spirituality while drawing upon cultural influences from elsewhere, can make a positive contribution to this new world, bridging gaps and bringing the world together to solve global issues.

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As the world moves further into the 21st century, there’s change in the air. The age of materialism and the information revolution are behind us, and we are entering a new age—one in which new ideas rule and people pursue ideals beyond economic growth.

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PARTNER CONTENT l Dubai 2020 > Osaka, Kansai 2025

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elayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dubai 2020 Expo, the world’s biggest cultural gathering, kicked off in style on 1st October 2021 with a ceremony streamed by millions across the world. Our experts assess what Osaka and Kansai can learn from Dubai ahead of hosting the Expo in 2025.

Live and learn Expo 2025 Osaka offers an incredible opportunity to set a path for the future – but what can it learn from the past?

INTERVIEWS: ILI SAARINEN

In what ways does the Japan Pavilion at the Dubai Expo stand out?

Seiichi Saito (SS): While past pavilions have focused on promoting Japan, this time we’ve drawn attention to the challenges Japan is currently facing, which may also confront the rest of

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the world in years to come.

We’ve shown how information comes together in Japan, and how that information can be used to solve social issues.

Presenting these problems, rather than ignoring them, encourages a search for solutions.

Toshiyuki Konishi (TK): We focused on the Expo as a “knowledge fair.” You could say that Japan leads the world in finding solutions to a number of issues that need solving, whether it’s natural disasters, disease, or aging societies. So we focused on bringing ideas together to tackle these issues.

What can Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan learn from previous Expos?

SS: The Expo framework has historically been understood as a way for host countries to exhibit their national power, but Japan has altered that concept. The Aichi Expo in 2005 had a strong focus on social issues, and that spirit has endured right up to the Dubai Expo’s Japan Pavilion and hopefully will continue on to the Osaka, Kansai Expo in 2025. The spirit of Expo 2025 will contrast dramatically with that of Expo ’70 [the last time the Expo was held in Osaka].

Then the focus was on rapid economic growth and the

“strengthening” of the nation.

I see Expo 2025 being a catalyst for the transition from pursuing economic growth to pursuing a better society.

TK: Sustainability is the overarching concern of our time, but the way the Expos have worked in the past hasn’t been sustainable at all. Holding an Expo used to involve building all these temporary structures in one place every five years, then tearing them all down and throwing the materials away.

With the Japanese Pavilion in Dubai we’re trying to reuse the construction materials.

JAPAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 2025 WORLD EXPOSITION

Toshiyuki Konishi is a creative director, copywriter and the founder of advertising agency Pool Inc. In addition to his work for the likes of Suntory and Sony/PlayStation, he serves as creative advisor for the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

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Seiichi Saito is a creative director and a co-founder of the arts and technology company Rhizomatiks. A graduate of the Master of Advanced Architectural Design program at Columbia University, Saito now directs Panoramatiks, the company that replaced Rhizomatiks’s architecture division, and serves as creative advisor for the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

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The experts

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How can co-creation, a major theme of Expo 2025, be achieved in an inclusive manner in the lead-up to the event?

TK: It’s about getting everyone onboard and inspiring people to work together. There cannot be any co-creation or inclusivity without that. The “Join, Sync, Act” slogan is a symbol of that. It’s about joining in, thinking about these things together, whether it’s in

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he 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, held in the summer of 2021, were an incredible achievement—a celebration of life during the darkness of the pandemic that will resonate for generations. But what can Osaka, Kansai learn from that sporting spectacle as it prepares for Expo 2025?

The experts Kenji Kohashi is a former actor and film director turned event planner, producer, and creative director. He planned and produced the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and serves as an event planning producer for Expo 2025.

Kota Iguchi is a motion designer and creative director who heads Cekai, a loose association of creatives based in Yoyogi, Tokyo.

He specializes in motion graphics and is best known internationally for creating the “kinetic pictograms” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. He is a member of the committee tasked with selecting a mascot for Expo 2025.

Why is it important for Japan to host Expo 2025?

Kenji Kohashi (KK): Big global events like the Expo and the Olympics and

vision, I wanted to show how the world is wonderful and beautiful already, and how seeing that is just a matter of perspective. Changing people’s mindsets and expectations is a goal that would also be valuable for the Expo to take up.

Kota Iguchi (KI): The 2020 Olympics and Paralympics revealed a lot about where Japan stands right now, for better or worse. [The Games] drove home how we need to keep our heads up and work together to make this country better. I think 2025 offers an opportunity to put that “new Japan” on display. Today’s society isn’t monolithic, so it’s fine not to convey some great unified message, but we still need some sort of goal. I hope the Expo can provide that.

How can co-creation, a major theme of Expo 2025, be achieved in an inclusive manner in the lead-up to the event?

KI: Co-creation is essentially about tolerance—the extent to which you can accept others for who they are while working together toward a shared goal. Collaboration allows you to discover new aspects of yourself and your work through other people.

That inclusive spirit is at the heart of co-creation.

At the Expo, what should Japan seek to create for or with the world?

KK: Expo 2025 will be a superb opportunity to once again soak up influences from all over the world and start interpreting and reconstituting them in our own way.

KI: One important lesson is to be ready to adapt to any circumstances. I also think Japan’s strength isn’t necessarily in creating something amazing to show off to the rest of the world, but rather in coming up with minimal solutions that connect people. In creating something like that, it’s OK to show humanity and weakness, rather than aim for something perfect.

KK: It’s crucial that the preparatory events and other processes leading up to the Expo are designed and presented in a way that makes sense for both a local and a global audience—that people not directly involved with the Expo can get excited and perhaps be inspired to participate themselves.

What lessons do the Tokyo 2020 Games hold for the Expo?

KK: As producer for the Paralympics’ closing ceremony, rather than presenting some utopian PARTNER CONTENT

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At the Expo, what should Japan seek to create for or with the world?

SS: The Expo takes place in Osaka, but it should involve engagement with the entire nation. Once you’ve seen something at the event venue, you should be encouraged to visit places elsewhere in Japan where that solution has been adopted, perhaps already hundreds of years ago, whether it’s historic sites in Nara or a [modern] town in Hokkaido.

l Tokyo 2020 > Osaka, Kansai 2025

Paralympics have the power to bring the world together and to reroute people’s ways of thinking. If the 20th century was first the age of materialism—the pursuit of material wealth—and then the age of information, I think the 21st century will become the century of the soul, in which abundance will increasingly become understood as something mental, rather than material.

Though it may seem unlikely given the transition period we’re in, I think Japan can become a leader in such an age, because the people of this country have always held nature and spirituality in high regard, all while incorporating cultural influences from around the world.

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SS: I hope the Expo will provide an opportunity for countries to make decisions together, and turn a variety of developments into a force for positive change.

schools or workplaces, getting everyone involved to create the Expo together.

That’s what we need to work on in the lead-up to the Expo.

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Why do you think it’s important for Japan to host Expo 2025?

TK: Japan faces several challenges—environmental issues, the pandemic, population issues, gender issues, waste—and it wants to show leadership in coming up with new ways of living.

In an increasingly divided world, Japan is perfectly placed to bridge global gaps and address pressing issues.

The country is famous for bringing together influences and ideas from elsewhere and molding them into something new and innovative, and the Expo offers an opportunity to showcase that ability.

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TECHNOLOGY l Tomohiro Fukuzawa pictured with SkyDrive’s SD-03 prototype

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Could flying cars be the future of travel? Ex-Toyota man Tomohiro Fukuzawa, founder of new start-up SkyDrive, certainly thinks so. With his airborne cab service set to debut at Expo 2025, Fukuzawa talks to Io Kawauchi about his plans to revolutionize the way we move

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thinking

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ow we travel has never been more important. With the world increasingly looking to safer, faster and greener ways of getting from A to B, mobility is set to become one of the key topics at the Osaka Expo in 2025 and, as with most of the plans for the World Fair, organizers are keen to lead by example. That’s why in September 2021 Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka signed a deal with SkyDrive—a startup which has been developing “flying cars” since its founding in July 2018— to provide airborne taxi services at the Expo. The flying cars ferrying visitors will be eVTOLs, or electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts, capable of covering distances that would take 20 to 40 minutes by public transportation in five to 10 minutes, all while traveling in total comfort and enjoying the scenery of Osaka from above.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, the man in charge of SkyDrive, is a former employee of Toyota Motor Corporation. He joined

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Toyota in 2010 after graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Engineering and worked on the global procurement of automotive parts.

While out drinking with a group of colleagues one time, the topic of building “innovative cars” came up. The sociable brainstorming session eventually led to the 2012 establishment of Cartivator, an organization of like-minded individuals dedicated to automotive innovation.

The sky’s the limit

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l SkyDrive’s SD-03 prototype made its world debut on 25th August 2020

involves the MLIT examining whether the aircraft being developed meets the safety and environmental standards required by Japan’s Civil Aeronautics Act. To date, SkyDrive is the only eVTOL manufacturer to have had its application accepted for review.

Taking flight Fukuzawa’s company is currently developing a new model, the SD-05, which is set for completion in 2025. In favorable weather conditions, the SD-05 will be able to fly around 10 kilometers in 10 to 20 minutes. The investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates that the eVTOL market will exceed ¥900 trillion by 2050, and new eVTOL manufacturers are emerging, mainly in Europe, the United States, and China. With the competition set to heat up rapidly, what are the SD05’s strengths? “The SD-05 is as compact and light as a regular car, so it’ll be easy to land almost anywhere,” says Fukuzawa.

“Our eventual goal is to become like the Japanese auto manufacturers who dominated the global market with their high fuel efficiency and ease of use.”

Fukuzawa believes that flying cars will change not only transportation but society as a whole. When asked where he’d like to fly in his new aircraft once it’s completed, the innovator’s reply was emphatic: “I’d just like to be in it all the time. I have no need to travel on the ground. What could be better than covering the shortest distance in the fastest, most scenic, and most comfortable way possible?”

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test with their second model, the SD-02.

Then, in August 2020—which had been the team’s target all along—the flying car’s third version, the SD-03, was used to conduct a four-minute manned test flight in public.

While developing his machine, Fukuzawa also worked hard to raise funds, and by August 2020 he had accumulated a total of ¥5.1 billion. On top of that, he was busy recruiting top talent—SkyDrive’s workforce currently stands at 110, including Nobuo Kishi, a former vice president and chief engineer at Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, as CTO. The company’s application for type certification of a flying car was accepted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in October 2021. This process

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l SkyDrive’s SD-02 completed the first manned flight of a car in Japan in December 2019

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Fukuzawa became the group’s co-chairman and talk soon turned to developing a flying car. The members of the group initially worked on the project in their private time, but it soon became clear that that wouldn’t be enough if they were to meet their target of a demonstration flight by 2020. To speed things up, Fukuzawa, who had left Toyota Motor in 2017 to start his own manufacturing consultancy, launched SkyDrive.

When asked whether he was positive that he could complete a flying car at that time, Fukuzawa laughs. “Neither I nor any of my colleagues had such confidence,” he says. “If we’d really thought we could do it, I think the others would have quit Toyota, too.” Still he persevered. “In practical terms, [building a flying car] is possible,” he says. “So I thought we should give it a try.”

Development began in earnest in 2017, the year before SkyDrive was established, and by September 2018 the company was conducting driving and indoor flight tests with their first model, the SD-01. By December of the following year, they had pulled off a manned flight

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The first of the nine experiments to launch on Yumeshima tested the properties and potential of Spacecool, a film-like material Osaka Gas Co.

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Robot boats, flying cars, and laser-shooting drones— the future is already being tested on Osaka’s Yumeshima, site of the 2025 Expo. Ili Saarinen reports that uses radiative cooling technology to mitigate heat without the use of electricity. Results from the test show that the interiors of buildings, containers, and vehicles coated with Spacecool can be expected to stay comfortably crisp even at the height of summer, with the material achieving a cooling effect of up to six degrees Celsius. Even better, the infrared wavelengths emitted by Spacecool release heat directly into space, rather than having it remain in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

Nippon Steel Corp.

Green Infrastructure

Ground Reinforcement

Sumitomo Forestry Co.

Nippon Steel Corp.

Not all of the solutions being tested on When heavy structures like high-rises are Yumeshima feature futuristic equipment. built on reclaimed land, they must be The Green Infrastructure experiment supported by piles long enough to reach centers on planting 14 species of hard ground. This experiment tests trees and other plants in the the suitability of Nippon Steel’s windswept environment of Sumitomo Forestry Co. cutting-edge Eco-Piles in Osaka Bay and examining unreinforced soil. Some which of them prove the of the piles will be left most resistant against in the ground for the elements. The an extended period results are expected to of time, and once influence the design removed will be studied of green spaces on to assess the viability of the waterfront as well pile reuse and recycling. as elsewhere in Osaka, Nippon Steel is also hopefully helping the city testing calcia-modified soil, a deal with salt damage to plants mixture of steelmaking slag and and reduce the number of trees toppled dredged soil, to see whether it could be during the annual typhoon season. helpful in reinforcing the ground further.

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FUTURE

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riginally developed as a waste disposal site, Yumeshima–a 390-hectare artificial island in Osaka Bay–is being reimagined as the futuristic home of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai. The organizers plan to start constructing the Expo venues in the summer of 2022, but in the meantime, the expanse of vacant land is being put to good use testing experimental technology from eco-friendly cooling materials to robots and flying cars.

The experiments are being conducted by nine companies and consortiums selected through an open proposal process. They’re being supported by the Osaka city and prefectural governments, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition. By turning Yumeshima and its surroundings into a testing ground for cutting-edge tech, the organizers are hoping to spark innovation, build momentum in the lead-up to Expo 2025, and provide a sneak peek into the exciting future that will be on full display at the big event three years down the road.

Six of the nine experiments are already underway, and the entire enterprise is set to be completed by the end of 2022.

While the organizers are not getting ahead of themselves, telling Unlock there are no guarantees the technology being tested will actually be used at the Expo, chances are visitors will be able to spot at least some of the following inventions in action on Yumeshima in 2025.

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TECHNOLOGY

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Umidoko Robot Takenaka Corp.

The Umidoko Robot is a small, square ferryboat that travels on its own using location data from the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System aka Michibiki, a nextgeneration satellite navigation system developed by Japan. The vessel’s designers are aiming for it to become a new form of leisurely transportation for Osaka’s many waterways, while larger versions of the Umidoko Robot could be used for gigs and other types of entertainment in which performers move across the water during the show.

Kansai Electric’s next-generation utility poles are much more than just wire hangers. In fact, the power lines they’re connected to are all underground, while the actual posts can be mounted with equipment such as solar panels, surveillance cameras, drone ports, and wireless chargers for mobile devices. While there isn’t yet much on Yumeshima for the test poles to surveil, the manufacturer hopes that, when installed in crowded places such as the Expo venue, a network of “smart poles” with cameras could prove helpful in doing things like locating lost children.

Next-Generation Urban Mobility Solutions Osaka Metro The most ambitious and probably the most complex of the nine experiments, this test of a system of self-driving buses involves everything from a ride-hailing app to underground coils for the remote charging of electric vehicles. Set to begin in March 2022 on a purpose-built circuit designed to simulate the Expo 2025 venue, though on a much smaller scale, NextGeneration Urban Mobility Solutions will feature level 4 autonomous driving, i.e.

Takenaka Corp.

fully self-driving vehicles within a limited area, perhaps providing a preview of the transportation experience Expo attendees will be able to enjoy.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony.

This experiment seeks to build on that success through test runs of intricate drone formations in the windy conditions of 7sense Inc. Yumeshima, perhaps with the hope of astonishing the world again Laser and Drone Signage in 2025.

System

Osaka University, Institute of Laser Engineering Guidance signs can be difficult to spot in crowded spaces, and even more so in stressful situations such as an emergency.

Like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, this system seeks to solve the problem with drones that spray water vapor into the air, producing a temporary “canvas” onto which laser patterns can then be projected to set up signage anywhere in seconds, guiding people to shelters or exits. We wouldn’t be surprised to see drone-drawn signs playing a role in advertising and entertainment before long either.

Drone Entertainment & Advertising Experiment

Experience the Sky Lift Aircraft Manufactured by American company Lift, the Hexa is a lightweight, single-passenger aircraft that looks something like a large drone. It’s just about the closest thing there is to a flying car right now, and it’s already being tested across the U.S., where anyone can try flying the Hexa after receiving the requisite training—no pilot’s license required. The Yumeshima test will be the Hexa’s first appearance in Japan, and a positive result would mark one step toward clearing the various legal and practical hurdles that still stand in the way of cars taking to the sky.

Lift Aircraft

7sense Inc. The jaw-dropping drone show, in which more than 1,800 synchronized miniaircraft formed shapes including the Olympic logo and planet Earth in the sky above the Japan National Stadium, was one of the most memorable parts of the A SPECIAL MAGAZINE BY Nikkei Asia

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Kansai Electric Power Co.

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INFOGRAPHIC

A HISTORY OF

E

ver since Britain’s Great Exhibition was held in 1851, Expos have been showcases of innovation, displaying advances in technology, architecture, and global cooperation. The Eiffel Tower (1889), the dishwasher (1893) and the ice cream cone (1904) are just some of the things to have debuted at Expos in the past and there are plenty more world-changing steps to be taken in the future. Here we dive into this proud history, illustrating the attendance and theme of every Expo to date, and highlighting the first one to take place on each continent.

The first Expo London 1851 6,039,195 visitors | 25 participants Theme: Industry of all nations

The first World Expo, known as the “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations,” was held in Hyde Park at the height of Britain’s industrial revolution.

Over six million people visited the exhibits, which included gold watches from Switzerland, vulcanized rubber from the USA and pearl-embroidered coats from India. Everything was housed in a custom-built exhibition hall which incorporated 10 million feet of glass and was dubbed the ‘Crystal Palace’. The spark of global innovation witnessed in 1851 would start an endless stream of fresh ideas at the Expos that were to follow.

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DESIGN: CHRISTIAN TATE

SOURCE: BUREAU INTERNATIONAL DES EXPOSITIONS

The first Expo in the Americas Philadelphia 1876 10,000,000 visitors | 35 participants Theme: Arts, Manufactures & Products of the Soil & Mine

The first Expo in the Americas was a chance for the USA to show off its emerging might. Known as the World’s Fair, its exhibitions were held across five halls, each with their own theme—the Main Hall, the Fine Arts Pavilion, the Machinery Hall, the Horticultural Palace, and the Agricultural Hall. The 1876 Expo introduced innovations that would go on to change the world, with the first public outings of the telegraph, the typewriter, and the telephone.

The first Expo in Oceania Melbourne 1880 1,330,000 visitors | 33 participants Theme: Arts, Manufactures and Agricultural and Industrial Products of all Nations

The first international exhibition in the southern hemisphere looked to broaden the horizons of its million-plus attendees.

Together with the now-customary display of incredible industrial advancements, visitors were also able to experience cultures and flavors from countries around the world with performances and cooking stations across the 25-hectare site.

The first Expo in Asia Osaka 1970 64,218,770 visitors | 77 participants Theme: Progress and Harmony for Mankind

Asia’s first Expo set a record for the number of visitors that would stand for 40 years. Expo ’70 was another milestone on Japan’s path from war-ravaged wreck to the world’s number two economy, and is remembered as much for its all-star cast of postwar artists as it is for its now-retro futurism. From video displays to Metabolist architecture, the fair transformed the Senri Hills in Osaka into a playground for luminaries like Taro Okamoto, Kenzo Tange, Tadanori Yokoo and Junko Koshino. The event also introduced the world to mobile phone technology and the “Washlet” toilet with bidet and heating functions.

The first Expo in MEASA Dubai 2020 25,000,000 visitors (predicted) | 200+ participants Theme: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future

Delayed by the pandemic, Dubai 2020 became the first Expo in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia) region when it opened last October.

Themed weeks held throughout the Expo aim to work toward collaborative solutions to global issues including climate change, health, and inequality.

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Celebrating over 170 years of World Expos RESEARCH: KAROLINA HÖGLIND

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AMERICAS 9 EXPOS ASIA 4 EXPOS EUROPE 21 EXPOS MEASA 1 EXPO OCEANIA 1 EXPO STRIPED BAR = PREDICTED ATTENDANCE

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CREATIVITY

POWER

player

Full STEAM ahead In the course of her work as an educator, Nakajima has come to feel that creativity can offer a relief from the pressures of modern life and she dreams of creating a “children’s museum for ages 0 to 120” after the Expo. “I hope we can all work together to bring about a revolution in the way we live,” she says.

Nakajima, who founded steAm Inc., a company dedicated to promoting STEAM education in 2017 and has been a STEM Girls Ambassador for the Cabinet Office since 2018, is clearly sincere in her belief that the Expo can change the world.

“One of the characteristics of the Expo is that it’s a festival of the people,” she says.

“I want people to know that they can change the world by being involved.

I hope visitors [to the Expo] will come away with the feeling that anyone can create a piece of the future.”

Anyone can create a piece of the future

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technology can bring out,” she says. An expert in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) education, Nakajima has long been calling for the democratization of creativity, highlighting how the trait is something we all have potential for, rather than being the exclusive domain of artists. “Everyone from small children to the elderly can be creative,” she says. “Life flourishes within each and every one of us, and we have the urge to express and communicate that in various ways. I think the key to success for the Expo is to draw out and realize the creativity of each individual.”

Nakajima, a successful jazz musician and the first Japanese woman to win a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad, is one of eight Thematic Project Producers charged with

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he 1970 Osaka Expo was a technology showcase which exhibited Japan’s cutting-edge products and solutions to the world. It was held in the midst of a period of rapid economic growth in the country and attracted more than 64 million visitors—a record number for attendance at an Expo at the time. Fiftyfive years later, a very different Japan— with an economy that has transitioned from growth to maturity—is set to again host the Expo. Sachiko Nakajima is one of the producers of the event and she believes Japan is ready to show another side of itself to the world.

“If [Expo ’70] presented the future of Japan through various technologies, I think the message this time should be to showcase the explosion of creativity that

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Jazz pianist, mathematician, and STEAM educator Sachiko Nakajima is one of the eight Thematic Project Producers of the upcoming Osaka Kansai Expo. She speaks to Kaoru Hori about her plans to make 2025 fun for all

creating a domain at Expo 2025. Her theme is “Invigorating Lives,” or, as she puts it, “creating a collaborative space through play, learning, sports, and the arts, where people can feel the joy and fun of being alive and ‘invigorate’ their life together.” After repeated discussions with architects and fellow mathematicians, she has decided to focus on “flowing play”, the concept that constructive fun can lead to change. “Creativity isn’t born without ‘flowing play’,” she says. “Purpose is considered an important part of learning, but there’s surprisingly little [attention given] to play. As you play, you create your own purpose. As kids get muddy in the sandbox, they may start thinking about building a castle, or digging a moat for water to flow through. I think the importance of such flowing play really needs to be emphasized now.”

This idea is at the center of Nakajima’s Expo attraction, “Jellyfish Pavilion: Playground of Life,” which combines her expertise in music and mathematics with technology and play into a space that nurtures creativity.

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TOWER

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KISA TOYOSHIMA

Chiba thought that was the end of the story, but Okamoto had indeed been listening and he liked what he heard.

A month later Chiba was recalled for another meeting. “[Okamoto] was like, ‘I’m very grateful for your work. I’ve taken on the role of producer [of the Theme Pavilion] and would like your cooperation’,” says Chiba. “I said, ‘If you want us to do it, we’ll do it.’”

Chiba became a key part of the team, helping to bring Okamoto’s ethereal ideas to life, including his lofty ambitions for the Tower of The Sun. “When Okamoto said stuff like ‘I’m going to make a three-dimensional representation of the evolution of life starting from the amoeba and make the audience walk through it’, those listening would be completely lost, right?” says Chiba, but thanks to to his previous experience he was able to turn such concepts into something tangible.

“All my career I’d been working on turning the abstract ideas of filmmakers into something concrete,” he says.

Wasn’t he nervous undertaking such a role for a figure as formidable as Taro

An early sketch of the Tower of the Sun

Okamoto? “I wasn’t really aware of how big an artist he was, so I couldn’t be scared of him,” laughs Chiba. “That’s why I was able to communicate with him on an equal footing. When you mention Okamoto today, people think of quotes like ‘Art is an explosion’, but in reality he was a really nice old fellow. He was sensitive and kind.

While we were building the Tower of the Sun, he was both a good friend and like a good father to me.”

Taro Okamoto was both a good friend and like a good father to me

Okamoto died in 1986 aged 84.

Chiba misses his friend, but is proud of what they built. “I feel that there are many incarnations of the Tower of the Sun,” he says. “There’s the artwork that symbolizes the peak of Okamoto’s career, the pride of the people behind the scenes, such as myself and the construction workers. And there’s also the Tower of the Sun that the 64 million people [who visited the Expo] took home with them in their hearts.”

Chiba hopes that the 2025 Expo will result in new artworks of equal power and longevity. “I think we should be addressing issues that are common to all of humanity, rather than have countries compete with each other to see who can produce the fanciest exhibits of science and technology,” he says. “I’d like to see [the Expo] focus on themes like health and disease, life and death, love and hate, and what makes us human.”

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Artistic interpretation

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Taro Okamoto’s artwork Tower of the Sun became the most prominent symbol of the ’70 Expo in Osaka. Kazuhiko Chiba, one of those responsible for its creation, talks to Hajime Oishi about the legacy of the iconic structure

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reated by artist Taro Okamoto for Expo ’70, the 70-meter-high Tower of the Sun is an iconic work that aimed to capture the soul of Japan during a period of unprecedented transformation. Kazuhiko Chiba, who had worked as an art director on films including Kei Kumai’s A Chain of Islands (1965), was Okamoto’s right-hand man on the project—although the collaboration didn’t get off to the most promising start.

In the run-up to Expo ’70, a mutual friend had invited a group of filmmakers including Chiba to present their ideas for an Expo pavilion to Okamoto—the problem was that nobody had thought to mention this to the artist. “We went to his atelier one evening, since we’d been told he’d have time [to listen to our presentation], but he was out drinking,” laughs Chiba. When he finally arrived he was like, ‘Who the hell are you people?’

Our presentation took almost an hour, and Okamoto looked like he was sleeping all that time! I couldn’t tell if he was listening. As soon as I finished, he opened his eyes and said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it looks like you’ve given me free help, so thank you for that. I’m going to bed,’ and off he went.”

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DESIGN

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EXPO ’70

BLAST FROM

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he first World Exposition in Japan, Expo ’70, took place over 183 days between March and September in 1970. In the Senri Hills area of Suita, Osaka Prefecture, 77 countries participated under the theme “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.” Along with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Expo ’70 is regarded as an epoch-making event.

In February 2020, as the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Osaka Expo approached, an exhibition commemorating the influential event was held in Tokyo. To coincide with that exhibition, Naohiro Ukawa, who curates the livestreaming channel Dommune, released “No Breath/Expo 70 Edition,” an

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audio artwork based on open-reel tapes that had been used to record the sounds of the Osaka Expo. Ukawa worked with the music critic Koichi Nishi to unearth more than 1,000 of these tapes, digging deep into the auditory memory of the Expo.

Ukawa describes how the Festival Plaza, the main venue of the Osaka Expo, where events such as the opening ceremony were held, was fitted with a huge number of speakers. “Many famous contemporary musicians pondered how to compose music for that space,” he says. Everything that came out of those speakers, as well as the ambient sounds of the plaza, were recorded, but the tapes were stowed away and never played—until Ukawa and Nishi came along. “I found musique concrète and electronic music by the likes of Toshi Ichiyanagi, Kuniharu Akiyama, Takehisa Kosugi, and Shinichi Matsushita,” recalls Ukawa. “For the 50th anniversary exhibition, I edited those historic sounds and installed them in a massage chair that ‘rubs your body with the sound of Expo ’70’.”

As Ukawa’s work makes clear, Expo ’70 featured an all-star cast of contemporary composers, from Japanese greats such as Ichiyanagi to international luminaries including Iannis Xenakis and Karlheinz Stockhausen. But why was such an artistically ambitious program adopted?

“The technology of mixing music really

The Festival Plaza during the Expo ’70 closing ceremony

Expo staff in front of the Tower of the Sun

evolved in the 1960s, and composing by editing magnetic tapes had only just become a thing,” says Ukawa. “The Expo being a showcase for [advances in] music fitted right in, and every country was pushing its own contemporary musicians.”

Meanwhile, an anti-Expo movement was gripping the Japanese cultural sphere. “People like [graphic designer] Tadanori Yokoo, who were darlings of the times, kept getting asked ‘Aren’t you against the Expo?’,” says Ukawa. “[Artist]

TOSHIO OHNO | IMAGES COURTESY: OSAKA PREFECTURAL GOVERNMENT

Crowds at Expo ’70

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Contemporary artist and filmmaker Naohiro Ukawa talks to Hajime Oishi about his project bringing the sounds of Expo ’70 back to life and reveals his expectations for Expo 2025

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Expo staff in uniform

IMAGES COURTESY: OSAKA PREFECTURAL GOVERNMENT

Some of the facilities built for Expo ’70 have been preserved in Osaka’s Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, where visitors can also learn about the Expo and its legacy at the Expo ’70 Pavilion museum. The interior of the Tower of the Sun, the Expo’s symbol, is open to the public (reservations recommended).

Address: Senri Banpaku Koen, Suita, Osaka Opening hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed on Wednesdays) Admission: ¥260 (additional fees apply for the museums and the Japanese garden)

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have felt thrilling at the time,” he says.

“That was also the era of mega-festivals like Woodstock, which took advantage of advances in speaker systems to bring the shared experience of music to the fore. People were experimenting with things like expanded cinema, and the Expo became a hub for such cultural experiments. I think that’s one of the most important parts of its legacy.”

Fifty-five years later, Expo is returning to Osaka, and Ukawa is excited. “In part due to the pandemic, we’re in a time when cyberspace has become the ultimate venue for the avant-garde,” he says. “The physical

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Taro Okamoto too, but he decided to participate and use the power of art to blow things up from the inside instead.”

Many of those critical of the Expo questioned its aims. “‘Progress and Harmony’ sounds universal enough, but implicitly it was also a call for increased mass consumption,” says Ukawa. “The Expo led to an increase in foreign tourism and announced to the world that Japan was a developed country. It’s argued that our economy grew so rapidly in part because of the boost provided by the Expo and the Olympics, but there was also a great deal of opposition at the time to the idea of ‘harmony,’ which was taken to mean leaving our originality behind to integrate with the rest of the world.”

Ukawa visited the Osaka Expo with his parents when he was a toddler, and has few memories—“I just remember the crowds and being amazed at how many people there were in the world”—but he has experienced its cultural impact directly. “I think gathering all sorts of cutting-edge technology in one place and making it available to the public must

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and virtual worlds are being linked, new realities are being built, and I feel that Expo 2025 will be a groundbreaking step forward in this regard.” He also points to how some aspects of Expo ’70 maintain their relevance today. “I think the pursuit of ‘Progress and Harmony’ will be important this time as well, because new expressions of self-identity beyond the confines of the body are currently being explored in the metaverse.”

Apart from the physical venues— Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay—Expo 2025 will also take place in cyberspace, with a digital version of Yumeshima being developed for the world to explore. “I think that the metaverse is where the true avant-garde will be happening,” says Ukawa. “Art and music should once again be utilized to facilitate the cross-border communication that will be going on in the virtual space.” And just like Expo ’70 focused on achieving harmony in the real world, Ukawa thinks Expo 2025 could help establish structure in cyberspace. “As we’ve seen with social media, [the virtual world] is still a lawless zone,” he says. “I think we’ll see order emerge little by little, but the question is how to retain the creative chaos that will keep bursting through without strangling it with [too many] rules. I think that’ll be one of the key questions of Expo 2025.”

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AREA GUIDE

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GUIDE: KAILA IMADA

Enjoy silver screen thrills Universal Studios Japan, Osaka city Osaka is home to Japan’s only Universal Studios theme park, providing thrills fueled by silver-screen memories of movie franchises like Harry Potter and Jurassic Park. USJ has recently added new attractions including Super Nintendo World—complete with life-sized Goombas and a Mario Kart racing track— and a Demon Slayer rollercoaster. The Universal Studios Japan

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theme park is gearing up to welcome even more new attractions in 2022 with VR experiences and rides based on popular anime series Detective Conan, Attack on Titan and Sailor Moon.

Himeji Castle

Universal Studios Japan, 2-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture usj.co.jp/web/en/us +81 570 20 0606 Hours vary by season, check calendar on the website. One-day studio pass from ¥8,400 (children ¥5,400), depending on times

Take a tour of an ancient burial ground

Marvel at an emojiinspiring fortress

Mozu Kofungun Tombs, Osaka Prefecture

Michinoku Coastal Trail, Himeji Castle, Hyogo Prefecture

The massive Mozu Tombs in Sakai city, just south of Osaka, are Japan’s largest ancient tombs and were designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2019.

The site is made up of a cluster of several dozen tombs, the largest being the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, which is surrounded by a moat. To really appreciate the size of these sites–which resemble large, keyholeshaped mounds–it’s best to see them from an aerial vantage point like the free observation deck at Sakai City Hall.

So iconic that it was used as the basis for the castle emoji, Himeji is a giant, stark white structure that has miraculously survived wars and natural disasters. Also known as the White Heron, it dates back to the 17th century but was restored in 2015, allowing visitors to admire the refurbished architecture. Sitting royally on a hill and flanked by gorgeous cherry trees, it’s a popular spot for hanami. If you’re planning on visiting, check the official website for live queuing times.

Mozu Kofungun Tombs, 1079-1 Daisencho, Sakai-ku, Sakai-shi, Osaka Prefecture mozu-furuichi.jp/en +81 662 10 9742 Open 24 hours daily.

Free entry

Himeji Castle, 68 Honmachi, Himeji-shi, Hyogo Prefecture himejicastle.jp/en +81 792 85 1146. 9am-4pm daily ¥1,000 castle only, ¥1,050 combined ticket for castle and Kokoen Garden

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hile Osaka and Kyoto may rightly be the most famous draws to Keihanshin, as Greater Osaka is also known, there’s a lot more to the area than these historic cities. A diverse range of prefectures including Hyogo, Nara and Shiga are easily accessed from central Osaka, making them ideal destinations for a day trip or weekend excursion. If you’re looking to widen your horizons, here are our highlights…

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The best things to do in Keihanshin

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Greater Osaka

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neighborhood that’s famous for its lush bamboo groves. Aside from strolling through Kobe Kitano the towering groves, Ijinkan, take a boat ride down Hyogo Prefecture the Hozu River flanked Mozu Tombs At the foot of the Rokko with seasonal foliage, or stop mountain range, Kobe is a by sacred spots like Tenryuji prominent port city used for foreign Temple, one of Kyoto’s many Unesco trade and commerce since the Meiji World Heritage Sites. For a step back in era (1868-1912). The Kitano Ijinkan time, walk down Saga-Toriimoto, a welldistrict is where foreign merchants preserved street with buildings from the made themselves at home. The quaint Meiji era. neighborhood is filled with 30 or so Arashiyama, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Western-style houses from the 19th Kyoto Prefecture century of which about 20 are open to arashiyamahoshokai.com the public. Highlights include the Uroko +81 758 61 0012 House (or House of Scales), the YamateOpen 24 hours. Free 8-Bankan—a Tudor-style residence which Savor the views from contains artworks by Western masters a deck in the clouds including Renoir and Rodin—and the Former Thomas House which now acts as Biwako Terrace, a museum.

Kitano Ijinkan, Yamamoto-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture kobe-ijinkan.net/en +81 782 51 8360 Opening hours and admission vary depending on venues

Spend a day visiting Kyoto’s greatest hits Arashiyama, Kyoto Prefecture You can easily spend a whole day in Arashiyama, Kyoto’s laidback

Shiga Prefecture

Step away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and enjoy some fresh air at the sky-high Biwako Terrace.

The picturesque spot is a stunning five minute cable car ride up Mount Uchimi and boasts panoramic views of northern Lake Biwa. The main area boasts two stunning terraces and a café specializing in sandwiches and gelato.

For a more exclusive experience, you can reserve lounge seats at the Infinity Lounge.

Biwako Terrace, 1547-1 Kido, Otsu-shi, Shiga Prefecture biwako-valley.com/tips/biwako_terrace_en +81 775 92 1155 Hours vary by season, check website for details. ¥3,000 round trip (¥3,500 on Sat, Sun & hols)

Take in the colors at a Unesco World Heritage site Mt Yoshino, Nara Prefecture Part of the expansive Yoshino-Kumano National Park, Mt Yoshino is another of Greater Osaka’s Unesco World Heritage sites. In spring it’s one of the most famous spots for viewing cherry blossoms, as there are some 30,000 trees to stroll past. For a quieter experience, the mountain also boasts hydrangeas in summer and colorful autumn foliage in the fall.

Mt Yoshino, Yoshino-cho, Yoshino-gun, Nara Prefecture yoshinoyama-sakura.jp/english +81 74 632 1007 Open 24 hours. Free

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Stroll through historical streets

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Biwa Lake valley Mt Yoshino

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GROWTH IN JAPAN

VISIONS OF gr A SPECIAL MAGAZINE BY Nikkei Asia

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How can Japan bounce back after Covid-19? We’ve asked the country’s leading experts to share their visions for a bold new Japan for the post-pandemic world. The responses offer exciting ways forward: Yumi Yoshikawa, the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, shares her plans for a smile economy, Masashi Okada, CEO of Tokyu Land, talks about the power of renewables while the Japan Tourism Agency’s Akihiko Hoshi looks at the future of hospitality. But that’s not all. We also reveal the secrets of Kamiyama—aka “Miracle Town”—and report on two revolutions in education that aim to put Japan on the fast-track to growth. After two years of Covid-enforced hiatus, Japan is ready to soar again

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l Yumi Yoshikawa, photographed in her office February 2022

Build a smile economy “I believe the true aims of science and technology are [to advance happiness], so we will once again harness them in order to achieve the SDGs [the UN’s 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals, designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”] by 2030. The previous Osaka Expo in 1970 showcased the society of the future, and Expo 2005 in Aichi focused on the environment. There’s a grand philosophy for this Expo: It’s about our lifestyles and what happiness means to us, and what kind of society enables everyone to pursue their personal happiness, whatever that may be. It’s

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ALL SYSTEMS

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Yumi Yoshikawa is on a mission. The Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry is tasked with turning around Japan’s economic prospects.

She talks to Risa Shoji about how she plans to do it

KEISUKE TANIGAWA

“[The Expo] will be an opportunity to show the world that Japanese science and technology offers answers to the challenges societies [are facing]. It’s a chance for the world to see what we have been working on. We should seize the opportunity to let the world know that Japan has technology and knowhow that’s been cultivated throughout its long history.

Demonstrating that can lead people to want to invest in Japan, collaborate with Japan, and support Japanese technology.

The Expo is a place for demonstration, and a place to make new partnerships, initiate collaboration, and engage in cocreation with the rest of the world.”

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Make the most of the Expo opportunity

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irst elected to the House of Councillors in 2013, Yumi Yoshikawa is currently serving her second term in the upper house of the Japanese Diet.

Representing Mie Prefecture and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, she was appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in October 2021. Tasked with turning around an economy that was already slowing before the pandemic, Yoshikawa has plenty of work ahead. Central to her thinking is Expo 2025. Tasked with supporting Expo Minister Kenji Wakamiya as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office, another one of her many roles, Yoshikawa’s responsibilities include liaising with the private sector and promoting the Expo to an international audience. Here she unveils the steps she believes will get Japan’s economy back in the black.

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ECONOMICS

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about things like how we can provide services and opportunities customized for each individual, rather than putting out uniform solutions that lead to unequal outcomes. The sum of these efforts will then be the happiness of society, the happiness of a country, and the happiness of the world. It may sound grandiose, but I hope this can be achieved through science and technology, and I would like the people of the world to become aware of this.”

Rethink how we care for the elderly

I believe the true aims of science and technology are to advance happiness

be an opportunity for them to visit not only the Expo site but also other places in Japan. For example, my home prefecture of Mie is just a short distance from the Expo venue. We have Iga, the home of the ninja, Ise Shrine, and the Kumano Kodo, a World Heritage Site. Mie also has beautiful nature, with the clear water of the Miya River attracting canoeists from around the world, a wealth of traditional craftsmanship, and world-class cuisine such as lobster, abalone, Matsusaka beef, and Ise green tea.”

Be inclusive “Team Expo 2025 is an initiative that anyone can participate in. We are inviting children, students, nonprofits and other organizations, everyone to submit their ideas for a co-creative society, the society of the future. As of the end of last year, we’ve already received more than 500 entries. [Collaboration] will allow for the pursuit of happiness for the world as a whole, or rather the pursuit of happiness for each and every person, no matter what country they are from. I hope that people everywhere will take an interest in Expo 2025 and join us in building a happier and more sustainable society.”

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“As the overarching concern of our time, sustainability and the SDGs will of course be at the center of the Expo. That is very significant, since in my opinion these ideas are highly compatible with the way things have been done in Japan for centuries. In the history of Japanese business, the principle of sanpo yoshi, or having transactions benefit not only the buyer and the seller but society as a whole, has always been prominent. ‘Society’ in this sense can be taken to mean the local community, the surrounding region, a country, employees and other stakeholders, and the environment. [The notion] that profits should be used to benefit the greater good is a time-honored but very topical idea.

Concepts such as ESG [environmental, social and governance] investment and the SDGs have only been around for a few decades, but the ideas behind them have been practiced in Japan

“The Expo will be a showcase for new technology, which could include ‘flying’ cars to handle transportation from airports to the venue or unmanned aircraft to transport food and materials. In terms of energy, the venue will be designed to be carbon-neutral, with electricity generated using hydrogen and ammonia— technologies that Japan is a leader in.

On the other hand, we are aiming for a fusion of the virtual and the physical, so hopefully people will be able to

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Embrace sanpo yoshi

Fuse real-world and virtual experiences

‘visit’ the Expo site from a distance, or participate virtually by utilizing metaverselike functions. This has never been done before, but it’s important from a diversity perspective, since it would allow people with disabilities or other physical limitations [who are unable to make it to the real-world venue] to experience the Expo. In addition, as we still don’t know what the situation will be like with the pandemic [in 2025], a virtual Expo would allow everyone to participate even if travel [from certain places] isn’t possible.

In any case, I hope that people from all over the world who come to visit the Expo in person will be able to experience Japan’s traditions, culture, nature, food, and history, and that it will

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“In the area of nursing care, advanced technologies such as nursing robots and regenerative treatments have been developed in Japan because we’re one of the countries with the longest life expectancy and a frontrunner in issues related to the declining birthrate and aging population. These pioneering technologies can make life brighter for many, relieving the burden on both caregivers and recipients. In addition to promoting Japan’s various medical and pharmaceutical innovations, it’s important to shine a light on issues such as those I mentioned earlier, i.e. how to allow each individual to pursue happiness, how to provide tailor-made information, and how science and technology can make these things possible.”

for a very long time. When we look at various indicators, some say that Japan has fallen behind the rest of the world on sustainability, but the mindset [of sustainability] is deeply ingrained in our culture and has provided the foundation for business and social progress for hundreds of years. It’s just a matter of communicating that to the world, while of course doing our best to catch up with some of the present standards.”

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

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Masashi Okada, CEO of Tokyu Land, talks to Ili Saarinen about why a company known for real estate moved into renewable energy—and why a focus on sustainability is good for both business and the planet

of transmission, and requires significant infrastructure investments. It is better to pursue a system of local production for local consumption, and I hope to be able to contribute to that. For example, we’ve signed an agreement with Matsumae, Hokkaido, where we have a 40-megawatt wind power plant. The local government is eager to use wind power as a way to revitalize the town’s economy, since the population is decreasing and fishing, traditionally the primary industry there, is in decline. The town’s strong winds can be turned into an economic resource.

What are your goals for the near future, with regard to both renewable energy and other areas of the business?

The renewable energy business is on its way to becoming a core part of our business. I hope to double our number of power plants over the next five years, investing at least ¥250 billion over that period. We are aiming to become an environmental leader, not only by growing the renewable energy business but also by incorporating environmental considerations throughout our business, be it in housing or office buildings.

The aim is to create environmentally forward-looking products, which will help us gain a competitive advantage.

KEISUKE TANIGAWA

What makes a city sustainable?

In a word, diversity. In the past, cities were evaluated based mainly on efficiency, with specific functions concentrated in specific parts to achieve maximum efficiency.

But that doesn’t further sustainability, which is about having all sorts of people living, working, and enjoying themselves in the same place. Diversity also encompasses diverse forms of energy production, not only fossil fuels. Without diversity, cities don’t evolve or change, nor do they give birth to new ideas.

Shibuya, where we are based and have a variety of projects, is a great example of a very diverse place. The same is true for companies, which need diversity to evolve and improve.

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What are your goals in green energy?

Until recently, rural areas were expected to provide energy to be consumed by cities, but the problems with that model surfaced after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. I hope to see a reorientation in the balance of power between rural and urban areas.

Transporting energy from the countryside to the cities is also inefficient in terms

change

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How are the energy business’s prospects?

I’m feeling positive. We currently have 79 power plants throughout the country with a total capacity of 1,300 megawatts, including plants still under construction.

Compared to other players in the field, that is a significant number and makes us one of the leaders. There is no shortage of companies entering the renewable energy business, but I’m confident we can retain our position. Solar and wind power are our staples at the moment. We have solar power plants from Hokkaido in the north to Kagoshima in the south, and wind power plants in Hokkaido and Shizuoka Prefecture. Solar is most effective in good weather, while the wind tends to be calmer on such days. In contrast, wind power shines on stormy days, when there’s little sunshine – so they complement each other. We are working on starting up our first biomass plant this spring in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, and we’re also looking into expanding into offshore wind power in the future.

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Tokyu Land’s main business is real estate. Why did you expand into renewable energy?

We launched our renewable energy business in 2014, working on the premise that we could help Japan become more self-sufficient in terms of energy and reduce CO2 emissions, thereby making a social contribution. It was also attractive to us in a business sense, which isn’t always the case with initiatives that contribute to the greater good. While the real estate business is susceptible to economic fluctuations, since land prices go up and down, the relative stability of the renewable energy business made it an attractive addition to our portfolio. The knowhow Tokyu Land has accumulated in real estate has proven useful in our move into renewable energy. For example, both fields involve procedures like negotiating with landowners, acquiring approval from local authorities, and bidding for public works projects.

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HOSPITALITY

A GOOD

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KISA TOYOSHIMA

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comfortable, and guests are embraced as part of the local community,” says Hoshi.

Another example of the new type of community-focused hospitality Hoshi advocates can be found at Yumori Onsen Hostel in the hot-spring town of Tsuchiyu Onsen in Fukushima Prefecture. Here the owners have turned a former spa hotel into a comfy guesthouse with a private hot-spring bath. Yumori’s communal room and cafe is open to non-guests too, encouraging “natural and active exchange among guests and local residents,” as Hoshi puts it. “They also offer a range of unique experiences, such as a workshop where you get to make slippers out of deer skin,” he says.

Trying new things and meeting new people, rather than hiding away in a

Hoshi believes that staying somewhere different opens your mind to a deeper understanding of society and the environment, and helps you realize your own potential. This can then have a positive impact on the community as a whole. “If [true hospitality] is practiced, tourism can be a mechanism that amplifies the happiness of both locals and visitors,” he says.

That dynamic may play a big part at Expo 2025, too. Until now, tourism to Japan has been centered on Tokyo, but as Hoshi points out, Osaka hosting the Expo offers an opportunity to show off the rest of the country. That would open up new avenues to promoting Japanese culture and traditions to a global audience. “We have history and ways of doing things that don’t exist anywhere else in the world, and a tradition of a cyclical economy and society that goes far beyond modern notions of sustainability,” he says. “Truly opening up to tourism means letting people know that there’s more to Japan than Mt. Fuji, ninjas, and Akihabara. In that sense, I believe the Osaka Expo can be the catalyst for a new era in tourism.”

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et up in 2008 and tasked with attracting more international tourists to the country, the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) had a stellar first decade with the number of overseas visitors rising by over threefold. But then the global pandemic struck. Borders closed, numbers dropped and questions are being asked about whether Japan can once again draw in curious globetrotters. Akihiko Hoshi, director of the Tourism Resources Division at the JTA believes it can—but that the key will be returning to the roots of hospitality. “In Japan, we tend to think that the ultimate hospitality or omotenashi is providing service that allows the customer to sit back and not lift a finger,” he says. “But hospitality is really a two-way street—it’s about the host and guest understanding each other, sharing an experience on a deep level, and feeling happy.”

Hoshi says that many hotel and guest house owners around Japan already understand this, and have secured loyal customer bases as a result. One of these businesses looking forward by looking back is Nagare, an inn housed in a traditional Japanese home in southern Nagano Prefecture. It’s run by a couple who, after traveling around the world for 500 days, took up renovating the centuryold house, restoring it to its original state.

“The service is attentive without being intrusive, the space is both retro and

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Akihiko Hoshi, director of the Japan Tourism Agency’s Tourism Resources Division, talks to Kaoru Hori about the future of hospitality and his hopes for the Osaka, Kansai, Japan Expo in 2025

cookie-cutter hotel room, is at the heart of Hoshi’s vision for tourism. “The true purpose of tourism is to provide a ‘third place’ that’s different from both the home and the workplace,” he says. “I’m talking about a place where you get to free yourself from your everyday roles such as parent or manager and ask yourself questions like ‘What kind of person am I?’ ‘What do I really enjoy?’ or ‘What am I capable of?’ It’s really useful to have a place that allows you to bring such thoughts to the surface.”

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A power of good WORDS: ILI SAARINEN

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in-a-100-years” redevelopment, has already transformed the face of the neighborhood. A patchwork of glistening high-rises, calming green spaces, and water—in the shape of the Shibuya River, flowing freely again after decades of confinement underneath layers of concrete–is emerging, with plenty of new pieces still set to be added by the expected completion date of 2027.

Tokyu Land, however, is already looking further into the future by going all in on what could be its most significant bet yet: the strengthening of its renewable energy business. Since outlining an environmental vision back in 1998, the company has taken tangible

steps to promote green energy, moving into solar and wind power development in 2014 and 2015 respectively. In 2019, Tokyu Land became the first real estate company in the world to join the RE100 initiative of businesses committed to using only electricity produced from renewable sources—a goal the company is seeking to achieve by 2025.

Under the ReENE brand, Tokyu Land operates a total of 67* solar, wind, and biomass power plants throughout Japan, with an annual capacity of up to 1,197 megawatts, or roughly enough electricity to power 370,000 homes. *Includes facilities that are still under construction.

PICTURE COURTESY OF TOKYU LAND CORPORATION

l The Suzugasawa PV Power Plant in Ichinoseki city, Iwate prefecture

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ne of Japan’s leading real estate developers, the Tokyu Land Corporation has never shied away from challenging industry conventions. The firm traces its history back to the Garden City Company, established in 1918 by Eiichi Shibusawa, “the father of Japanese capitalism,” to build Japan’s first British-style garden city in a suburb south of Tokyo. Named Denenchofu, that project proved a resounding success and formed the foundation for Tokyu Land’s subsequent business expansion, which has seen the company push forward with one innovative development after another.

Particularly noteworthy projects include the Asumigaoka New Town in Chiba, east of Tokyo, a 400-hectare site that Tokyu Land began developing in the 1980s. Asumigaoka broke new ground in the industry with its spacious plots, overturning the suburban Japanese tradition of cramped subdivisions and giving residents room to enjoy near-tonature living to the fullest. In nearby Kiminomori, the company combined luxury housing with a full-scale golf course—another Japan first—by leveraging its experience in developing vacation resorts in destinations including Hokkaido and Nagano.

But Tokyu Land is perhaps best known for its ongoing, group-wide efforts to revamp Shibuya, Tokyo’s ever-buzzing hub of street culture.

A diverse array of construction projects, together dubbed a “once-

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How a real estate company is channeling its history of innovation into developing the green energy needed to fuel Japan’s future

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Wind Tokyu Land’s 10 wind power plants include the Matsumae wind farm in southern Hokkaido, the first facility of its kind on Japan’s northernmost main island to include a battery storage system. This solution helps reduce fluctuation in electricity output, meaning that the plant keeps providing power even when the wind isn’t blowing. The plant’s 12 wind turbines are some of the

Tokyu Land’s commitment to renewable energy is also aimed at revitalizing rural areas

l Solar panels in Kiminomori (above left) and the Matsumae wind farm (above)

largest and most powerful in the country and are connected to a local micro-grid that ensures lights will stay on in the town of Matsumae even if a natural disaster were to disrupt the wider grid.

Tokyu Land is also examining future business opportunities in offshore wind power, which the Japanese government has designated a focus area in the country’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Biomass The first ReENE biomass plant is expected to go online in the city of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, in March 2022. It will run on wood pellets and palm kernel shells, and provide a stable source of baseload power unaffected by changes in the weather.

Greener offices In April 2021, Tokyu Land announced that it had finished converting 17 of its most advanced office and commercial buildings–including 12 in the Shibuya area—to run entirely on renewable energy. This amounts to a 9,400-ton reduction in CO2 emissions annually, which equals the emissions of 4,825

average households. The company is aiming to accomplish the same for all of its office buildings this year.

Renewables and regional development Besides caring for the global environment and helping Japan achieve its sustainability goals, Tokyu Land’s commitment to renewable energy is also aimed at revitalizing rural areas throughout the country. ReENE power plants have already created jobs and opportunities for new business in communities from Hokkaido in the north to Kagoshima in the south. Meanwhile, the company is stepping up its efforts to achieve a cycle of local production for local consumption in the future, helping lay the groundwork for major energy consumers to set up factories, data centers, and other facilities in the municipalities that host ReENE plants.

Note: Figures in the article, including the number of power plants and their capacity, reflect the situation as of December 2021.

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Solar power makes up the bulk of Tokyu Land’s current renewable energy portfolio. The company has 56 solar power plants across Japan, ranging from large-scale installations such as the Suzuran Kushiro plant in Hokkaido to site-specific facilities such as one at the Shibayama golf club in Chiba, where solar panels have been installed on the roof of the club’s parking lot.

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Solar

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REGENERATION Community hub for sustainable energy

1. Its “workation” environment While Kamiyama’s charms are timeless, its infrastructure is cutting edge. It boasts broadband speeds several times faster than central Tokyo—along with a mobile network available from high up on the hiking paths down to the riverside.

There are several Airbnb properties in the town suited to modern workations.

For example, B&B On y va & Experience, housed in a former sake brewery built in the latter years of the Edo period (16031867), is famed for its sustainabilityfocused experiences.

If you’re looking to enjoy the scenery while getting some work done, head up

to the Kamiyama Valley Satellite Office Complex (KVSOC), a co-working space run by Green Valley, the nonprofit organization that’s been instrumental in redeveloping the town. This former textile factory features a wood-burning stove and spacious wooden desks: next door is the Kamiyama Makerspace (KMS), run by local volunteers working on engineering and design, where 3D and laser printers are readily available.

In the town you’ll see the satellite offices of various companies. While the work being done here is no different from that taking place in a central Tokyo office, the location couldn’t feel further away from the city’s bustle

AKEMI ARI

l Kamiyama Valley Satellite Office Complex

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While many rural communities have experienced declining fortunes in recent times, Kamiyama has thrived, reinventing and reviving itself as a refuge for artists, entrepreneurs and businesspeople. Akemi Ari lays out how ‘Miracle Town’ has achieved this unlikely feat

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efore the 1990s Kamiyama, a picturesque town hidden away in the mountains of Shikoku, was primarily known as a place of pilgrimage for followers of Buddhism and Shinto. Since the turn of the millennium, however, the town has been attracting a new breed of devoted visitors who have revitalized the town and its economic fortunes.

Kamiyama is known as “miracle town” due to its success in getting people to come to the area, bucking the trend of people moving from the countryside to big cities. It credits its reinvention to its policy of courting an array of “temporary residents”—people from across Japan looking to find inspiration and revitalization amid the local deer-filled forests or beside the area’s crystal clear streams. Attracting such visitors, many of whom are so enamored with the place they opt to stay, is the foundation of the Kamiyama model of regional development.

The seeds of the open door policy were sown in 1999, when the town launched an artist-in-residence program that has gone on to attract participants from around the world. The Kamiyama Juku training program for job seekers followed in 2010, designed to help young people prepare for full-time employment and for life as an adult in a modern society. It has been welcoming and nurturing young people from all over Japan who come to live in the town for a limited time. The opening of the Kamiyama Marugoto College of Design, Technology, and Entrepreneurship next year is set to provide the biggest surge of temporary residents thus far. At least 40 15-year-olds will be hosted in the town each year, and the total number of visiting students from all grades in the town at any one time is expected to reach 200.

In a town that now has a population of about 5,000, such an increase is sure to shake things up, but this isn’t a town that’s afraid of change. Here are five things that make the place stand out.

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2. It’s a paradise for networking

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4. It embraces the future of food

As is the case in many parts of rural Japan, the number of farmers in Kamiyama is steadily decreasing. Hoping to turn 3. It’s a sustainable community the town’s prospects around, Kaoru Shiramomo, a former town employee In 2021, the Kamiyama government built whose parents are farmers, and Taichi 20 renewable energy-powered homes Manabe, an employee of Monosus, a out of 100% local wood. Designed to Tokyo-based IT company with a satellite appeal to families with children, these are office in Kamiyama, took the lead in now inhabited by more than 60 people planning the Food Hub Project. In 2016, including engineers, entrepreneurs, and the local government and Monosus artists. Residents consult and formalized the project in the cooperate with each other on form of an agricultural everything from gardening corporation. and composting to Hoping to connect childcare, with these small actors in the informal connections agricultural field helping to foster a new with each other, sustainable community. the company grows Social life is its own vegetables centered on the using no pesticides or Kamiyama-mate, a signature snack from Akuigawa Common, a chemical fertilizers, and building on the property the Food Hub Project also purchases from local built out of local cedar wood. farmers. The aim is to boost Open to everyone—from residents consumption of local produce within of the housing project to visitors from the community rather than try to sell it out of town—free of charge, it functions through a large-scale distribution network. as a playground, gathering place for the You can eat locally at Kamaya, the elderly, library, and co-working space.

Food Hub’s fantastic, down-to earth Pellets made from local wood are eatery, where every item on the menu has burned in the development’s high-tech a locality rating. The Project has also been boiler building to produce heat, reducing tasked with providing lunches for the the community’s electricity needs, while town’s elementary and junior high schools, the nearby Bionest converts weeds and as well as for the new technical college set branches into fertilizer. Sustainable to open next year.

5. Its vision for education In years past, the typical path for people from Kamiyama was to leave the town after graduating from junior high school, attend high school and later university elsewhere, usually followed by a job in one of the big cities. However, Kamiyama recently turned its education policy around, and in just a few years the town has seen impressive results.

When the only agricultural high school in the town set up a “farming village project” that focuses on having students solve problems facing the town’s fields and mountains, the number of applicants from outside the town shot through the roof.

There’s also been movement in the private sector. A small alternative school called Forest School Mikke will open in April 2022 to teach students about sustainable life in forested areas, while a kindergarten for “childcare in the great outdoors” is soon expected to open in an old house on the mountainside. The town is hoping that these schools will play a part in attracting new residents.

The biggest new arrival in the town’s education scene is set to come in 2023, when the Kamiyama Marugoto College of Design, Technology, and Entrepreneurship will open. Many of Japan’s leading entrepreneurs and companies have come together to donate more than ¥2 billion to establish the school, which is the brainchild of Chikahiro Terada, founder of the tech company Sansan Inc, which has a satellite office in Kamiyama. The school aims to nurture young people who can change the future of Japan through the power of design and technology.

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initiatives such as these mean that among municipalities in Japan with a population of less than 100,000, Kamiyama generates the least amount of waste.

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l As part of the Food Hub Project, farmers share the knowledge of agriculture with locals

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The appeal of Kamiyama is found in the close relationships that exists here among newcomers, local residents, and the people in charge of community development.

Everyone from the engineers and entrepreneurs at KVSOC to the staff at the local B&B talk of the “Kamiyama connection” and the benefits it brings.

Mitsuru Sato, founder of the Osakabased IT company Dream Jack, set up a satellite office in Kamiyama in 2021.

“People here are so welcoming and happy to connect people with each other,” he says. “It’s been four months since we opened the office, and I feel like I’ve gained much more inspiration during that time than I would have in the city.” Sato says that in Osaka he wouldn’t even visit other businesses in the same building, but in Kamiyama he’s collaborated with people from a range of fields. “It’s really fun just talking to [our neighbors],” says Sato. “I would definitely recommend other business owners to set up an office in Kamiyama, too. Even if you’re only doing it temporarily, I think it’ll have a positive effect on your business.”

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EDUCATION

uita, a city of some 385,000 people in northern Osaka Prefecture and famous for hosting the 1970 World’s Fair, is undertaking an educational revolution. The city is half-way through a five year plan to comprehensively and systematically rethink how best to teach pupils at its 36 elementary and 18 junior high schools, including making teachers more IT savvy. And it is betting big on technology. As part of its GIGA (Global and Innovation Gateway for All) program, the city has invested in a colossal 29,612 devices—including 22,105 tablets for elementary school pupils and 7,507 for those in junior high. The result is that teaching in the city’s schools now draws heavily on digital resources.

“With the introduction of this The city of Suita has armed each one of its pupils one-device-per-student concept, we with a digital device. Ili Saarinen meets those behind have entered a year of major changes in the ambitious plan. education,” says Atsuko Kusaba, director of the Suita City Education Center.

“Teachers and staff need to be thoroughly familiar with the devices in order for children to use them effectively in the classroom, and the sense of mission and spirit they bring to the table will help Suita become a leader in digital education.”

Before the devices were rolled out, the local board of education organized a study group for teachers, inviting them to practice using the technology on their own and identify potential issues beforehand. “Teachers [in the study group] also worked on preparing class materials and shared their work with all schools,” says Akira Sonoda, teaching supervisor at the Suita City Education Students at Kitayamada Elementary School in Suita learning about digital citizenship Center. “This was a major step in order for pupils to be able to use the devices to their full potential.” But change does not come a graph and present it to the class and will enable children to make their own easily, especially when all the devices need interact with others,” says Kusaba. decisions as good digital users.” to be connected to one secure network.

For all the benefits of the online According to Masato Fukui, deputy The rollout was entrusted to educational world, there are pitfalls such as trolling director of the Suita City Education infrastructure experts Uchida Yoko, who, and online abuse. Part of Suita city’s Center, selling the program to the older tasked with everything from networkefforts is to teach students how to navigate generations hasn’t always been easy. building to tech support, went above and this new world. “Digital citizenship is the “We’ve had mixed responses to the move beyond to ensure the project’s success. idea of being aware of your actions within away from traditional ‘blackboard-led’ The GIGA program aims to arm the the digital world, just like you would teaching,” he says. “We think it’s very next generation with the digital skills be in the real world—being responsible important to continue working on they will need in later life. It is hoped the for what you say and what you do,” says shifting the mindset of the parents.” new devices will break with the tradition Sonoda. “Digital citizenship education Sonoda believes a change is inevitable. of pupils simply copying facts off a “In the future, digital devices will become blackboard and usher in a new age when something like pencil and paper, regular they interact with the subject matter, stationery,” he says. “Regardless of the creating a deeper understanding. “For situation, Suita City has always placed the example children can take questionnaires needs of the children first. And that belief about a theme they are interested in, has been consistent in all aspects of what Masato Fukui Atsuko Kusaba Akira Sonoda summarize the learned results in we have been working on.”

THE NEW

PICTURE COURTESY OF SUITA CITY

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PICTURE COURTESY OF SEIJIN HOSPITAL

We’re trying to figure out a way to discover gifted people and really make them shine

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individuals who exhibit high potential in terms of intelligence, creativity, leadership, or proficiency in a specific academic field, but for one reason or other have not been able to fully develop their abilities.

The goal is to bring together such diamonds in the rough to examine their cognitive and psychosocial characteristics, develop ways to support them, and contribute to creating an environment that will help them cultivate their strengths.

“In Japan, there are many people with extraordinary talents who are unable to flourish because of the all-four principle,”

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believe there are two reasons for Japan’s decline over the past 30 years,” says Dr. Shigemasa Katayama, chairman of the psychiatry-focused Seijin Hospital in Adachi, Tokyo and promoter of the Endowed Institute for Empowering Gifted Minds. “One is the ‘all-four’ principle, and the other is a lack of investment [in entrepreneurship].”

The “all-four” principle refers to an educational policy that aims for all students to achieve straight fours on the five-point scale used in Japanese schools by addressing children’s weaknesses rather than developing their strengths. As for the lack of investment, the numbers in “International Comparison of Venture Capital Investment”—a document released jointly by the Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in March 2021—make for sobering reading. It revealed that the ratio of venture capital investment to GDP in the United States is 0.4 percent, while in Japan it’s 0.03 percent.

Katayama, who spent his childhood in the US and received an education in which talent was identified and nurtured, has sought to stir up what he sees as a stagnant situation. Together with a group of like-minded people, he established the Endowed Institute for Empowering Gifted Minds at the University of Tokyo, the nation’s premier institution for higher education. Launched in April 2020 at the university’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the institute’s focus is on gifted

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Dr. Shigemasa Katayama talks to Io Kawauchi about how the Endowed Institute for Empowering Gifted Minds is set to unlock the potential of gifted students

says Katayama. “That’s such a shame, so we’re trying to figure out a way to discover these gifted people and really make them shine.”

Katayama argues that if Japan is serious about getting its economy back on a growth track, it’s essential to discover and nurture one or two children or youths with specific talents in every class of 40.

For that to happen, he believes a change in focus is needed. Katayama says that while the IT industry has begun adopting a targeted system for hiring and evaluating engineers based on identifying exceptional talent in one field, the practice is yet to be widely recognized by the public, and improvements are urgently needed.

Katayama also points out that the dominance of traditional career paths in Japanese society means that elite achievers who get “all-five” grades are being underutilized. He cites students at the University of Tokyo, a school that’s notoriously difficult to get into, as an example. The majority of graduates leverage their abilities into careers in government or one of Japan’s leading companies, but Katayama believes that more should be done to encourage them to strike out on their own instead.

“What entrepreneurs need is the ability to persuade investors, employees, and customers of their vision and what they want to create,” he says. “That’s exactly what Todai (University of Tokyo) students are good at. Moreover, they’re serious and will work hard to realize their vision.

I’d estimate that one out of every five companies started by Todai students will go public.”

Relatively few University of Tokyo graduates over the years have chosen to start their own businesses. This has a significant impact on current students, because they have few role models to look up to. To address that, Katayama plans to establish an incubation center at the university to bring together students who aspire to entrepreneurship, give them practical guidance, and invite investors to support them. His hope is that if more of Japan’s brightest minds were to dedicate themselves to the startup scene, that would have a revitalizing effect on the economy as a whole. “Whether they’ll found the next Google or Sony, I don’t know,” he says. “But I do know that if we invest in students with outstanding talents, and they then go on to set up all kinds of businesses, we’ll be getting a more exciting society in return.”

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ANY OTHER BUSINESS

ETIQUETTE GUIDE:

THE RETURN OF IN-PERSON MEETINGS With Japan opening up again to foreign visitors after two years of Covid restrictions, here’s a reminder of the dos and don’ts of IRL meetings to help you avoid a red-faced face-to-face

DON’T: Forget to bow

Like a handshake in Western countries, but more Covidsecure, bowing is a normal part of a Japanese greeting, even among friends. For business meetings, a tidy 30-45-degree bow will suffice—turning yourself into a human right angle is reserved for apologies or meeting royalty.

There’s no need to keep eye contact, instead cast your gaze to the floor.

DON’T: Forget to say hello

While ‘konnichiwa’ is commonly used as a catch-all greeting by beginners, in more formal environments you should instead convey the social relationship and the expectations of the upcoming conversation. First-time meetings should be preceded with a round of

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‘hajimemashite’, an expression of gratefulness to have met. If you’re expecting to be working together in the future you should add ‘yoroshiku onegaishimasu’ (‘it is nice to work with you from now on’). If in doubt opt for ‘osewani narimasu’, a sort of catchall that means everything from “I look forward to doing business with you” to “Nice to meet you” to just “Hello”.

For those who already have a business relationship, go for ‘otsukaresamadesu’ (roughly ‘thank you for your hard work’).

DO: Remember the cards

Even in the age of Covid, physical business cards are still a big deal in Japan. You should be sure to have plenty available for every meeting and

DO: Look back

When leaving a meeting, you’ll be expected to do a short bow before leaving, but while you walk away, your work partners will likely wait outside the office or meeting room, standing at attention until you’re out of sight.

Acknowledge their efforts by turning around when you’re a short distance away, and repeating the bow. Your business partners—and probably your business—will appreciate it.

ILLUSTRATION JAMES LADBURY

DO: Think Covid

Things have adapted in the face of the pandemic. Meetings are briefer and any materials should be sent through in advance to allow people to print their own copies. While previously wearing a mask in a meeting was frowned upon, now it is expected and whereas preCovid you’d expect to sit opposite each other, now attendees sit diagonally to increase social distance.

DON’T: Say sayonara

‘Sayonara’ is one of those words that every visitor seems to know, but rather than ‘goodbye’, ‘sayonara’ is closer to ‘farewell’, and is so final and relatively unfriendly that it’s most often used to end romantic relationships. Best to instead opt for ‘shitsurei shimasu’ or ‘arigatou gozaimashita’ instead.

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store them in a dedicated card case rather than your wallet. Accept each card with both hands and a bow and be sure to examine it carefully, repeating the name printed on it. Card-giving also helps you understand who is the boss: senior figures will be the first to exchange, with subsequent exchangers working their way down in rank. Once you have collected all the cards, do not write on them or put them in your wallet or, worst of all, pocket.

This is a social snub, meaning the person is of no importance to you.

It’s best to place them on the table in front of you, placing them in your card case once the meeting is over.

The Japanese like to be punctual. It’s why trains runs like clockwork, but for business meetings being ‘on time’ means being 15 minutes early. Plan your journey time accordingly; your clients will appreciate it.

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DO: Be on time, meaning, early

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