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BUSINESSHow Japanese businesses are preparing for a super-smart society. Page 04

HEALTHJapan’s plan to continue shattering longevity records. Page 08

EDUCATIONWhat is the role of Japanese higher education in the 21st century? Page 12

G20Japan’s G20 Summit and meetings to highlight regional strengths. Page 14

From facilitating trade and invest-ment to upholding democracy and

peace, Japanese and American coopera-tion has made their partnership one of the world’s most mutually beneficial.

Japan is the second-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S., having created over 840,000 American jobs, according to the Japa-nese government. In 2017, the amount of Japanese FDI in the U.S. reached $469 billion. The same year, according to U.S. statistics, American investors injected $129.1 billion into Japan.

“Japan and the U.S. share values and strategic interests, and attach impor-tance to freedom as well as the rule of law,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told U.S. business leaders on a recent visit to Washington D.C. “On this basis, the two countries would preserve what shouldn’t be changed, but deal with various issues dynamically and play a leading role in economic growth in the world.”

Dynamic Bilateral TiesJapan and the U.S., representing the world’s two largest democratic

economies, have formed deep economic and political bonds

Diplomacy

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first world leader to meet Donald Trump after he won the 2016 presidential elections. Those meetings have continued regularly over the years, and in February Trump even claimed Abe nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in North Korea – something that Abe has refused to deny.

Above: President Trump and PM Abe before a golf game in Kawagoe, Japan.

Trade

Although in 2017 the U.S. withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was set to be the world’s largest free trade deal, the trade relationship between the two nations is continually expanding. Currently, Japan is the United States’ fourth-largest trade partner and vice-versa. In September 2018, President Trump and Prime Minister Abe announced that the two nations would begin negotiations for a U.S.-Ja-pan Trade Agreement.

Japan-U.S. trade expanding

Security

Since the 1950s, Japan and the U.S. have been strengthening bilateral relations as well as working to uphold democracy and liberty on a global scale. Japan is also now getting involved in high-level talks with the U.S. and South Korea concerning the denuclearization of North Korea.

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Japan has long been a global economic power. Now, as the nation deals with

the combined factors of a shrinking pop-ulation and the increasingly isolationist stance of the U.S., Japan has become one of the world’s most outspoken advocates for globalization.

Within the last year alone, Japan has entered into and led negotiations for free trade agreements with the TPP-11 members Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, and also with the European Union.

“I call on all of us to rebuild trust to-ward the system for international trade. That should be a system that is fair, transparent and effective in protecting intellectual property and also in such areas as e-commerce and government procurement,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the 2019 World Eco-nomic Forum in Davos.

The country famed for its high-tech products and automobiles is thinking about exporting not only its goods, but also its expertise. Already rated number one in the world in the Economic Com-plexity Index (ECI), which measures the knowledge intensity of an economy, the Japanese government and its com-panies have set their sights on finding solutions to global problems, like aging and climate change.

“Hope matters more than anything when it comes to generating growth,”

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Japan Steps Up as Leading Voice for Global Cooperation

As countries across the world slide toward protectionism, Japan is unwavering in its com-mitment to fostering a free and healthy global community

Japan Welcomes the World

2019 49th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Kyoto) 2019 G20 Summit and Meetings (across Japan)2019 Rugby World Cup (across Japan) 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics (Tokyo)2025 World Expo (Osaka)

Japan is taking its quality infrastructure global to boost trade links, assist developing nations and present an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Soft power

Japan and the U.S. share values and strategic interests, and attach importance to freedom as well as the rule of law

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan

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JAPAN’S FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS: TPP-11 (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam), India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, ASEAN and the EU

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said Abe at Davos, pointing out that among other decarbonization initiatives, Japan is aiming to reduce the production cost of hydrogen by at least 90 percent – making it cheaper than natural gas – by the year 2050.

Japan is also pushing the international community to embrace data and hopes the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka will go down in history as the event that created world-wide data governance, which in-cludes removing borders for vital anon-ymous data related to sectors like health.

Additionally, Japan is prioritizing in-vestment in global infrastructure and trade links, both independently and in partnership with countries including the U.S. In December 2018, Japan also passed a new law that over the next five years will invite up to 340,000 foreign skilled work-ers to take part in the country’s tradition-ally restrictive labor market.

Above: U.S. President Donald Trump meets Prime Minister Abe at the 43rd G7 Summit. Below: Mount Fuji watches over the Tokyo skyline. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE/SHUTTERSTOCK

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OVERVIEW GEOPOLITICS

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Situated at one of the most tecton-ically active places on earth, Japan has built up its expertise to develop some of the world’s most advanced and durable infrastructure. Now, it has become a top priority for Japan to share the expertise and develop infrastructure abroad that adapts to local conditions, promotes sustain-able development and creates new markets for Japanese companies. In a move viewed by many as a way to counter growing Chinese influence in the region, the U.S., Japan and Australia committed to a partner-ship to develop infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region last November. The approach will “help to meet the region’s genuine needs while avoiding unsustainable debt burdens for the nations of the region,” according to the joint statement.Much of the criticism of China’s estimated $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative surrounds cases where it has financed unsustainable projects. However, seeing opportunity for Jap-anese companies and the benefits of improved global connectivity, Japan has agreed to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative with some caveats. “The One Belt One Road concept is not very clear, so it is important to pay attention to each project and neither overestimate nor underestimate the global approach,” said Shinichi Kitaoka, President of the Japan Inter-national Cooperation Agency (JICA). “Projects have to be economically, environmentally and socially sound. If they are, we can cooperate, but if not then we will work separately.”Independently, Japan is forging ahead with its own plans to develop high-quality infrastructure beyond its borders. Since 2015, Japan has announced plans to finance over $250 billion worth of infrastructure. Now, it is helping create India’s first high-speed rail corridor, expand a port in Mombasa, Kenya and bring environ-mentally-friendly electricity to rural areas of Tanzania.“When it comes to maintenance costs and life spans of the infrastructure, Japanese products are superior,” said Takuma Hatano, President and CEO of Japan Overseas Infrastructure Invest-ment Corporation (JOIN).

Japan’s Push for Global Infrastructure Development

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

How Japanese Businesses are Preparing for a Super-Smart SocietyJapanese businesses are called upon to completely rework their business models in order to remain relevant in Society 5.0

For Japan, Society 5.0 is the next stage in human civilization, a step beyond

the information world of today toward a super-smart society of highly integrated processes. Its backbone will be digital – based on the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and systems science – but human control will remain at the center. Not unambi-tiously, its goal is to improve all aspects of society.

“We are now witnessing the opening of the fifth chapter. We are now able to find solutions to problems that could not be solved before,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a 2017 speech in Ger-many. “This is the age in which all things are connected, all technologies fuse, and this is the advent of Society 5.0.”

Adopted in 2016 as a core concept of the Japanese government’s strategy, So-ciety 5.0 defines a target amid uncertain times. Instead of waiting to see what hap-

pens as new technological disruptions come about, the initiative consciously works toward goals that intend to make the world a better place. And, as an all-en-compassing strategy, the business world in Japan is both anticipating and leading the change.

“Japan today, through Society 5.0, is seeking a completely different way for-ward,” said Hiroaki Nakanishi, chair-man of Keidanren, Japan’s business fed-

eration. Former CEO and current chairman and executive officer of Japanese multinational Hitachi, in 2018 Nakan-ishi became the chair of Keidanren, which rep-resents more than 1,300 companies and 109 na-tional industry associ-ations, in order to lead the digitization of the Japanese economy.

“Japan has great po-tential from the view-point of information technologies, automa-

tion and machine communication ca-pabilities. Through our technological prowess, we have the potential to solve social issues including an aging society and a decreasing population,” he said, pointing to such challenges as opportu-nities to create new niches in the global economy. “We believe this would be-come a solution used by other countries or regions. It would not simply be a case of exporting products or technology; we see Japan as a consultant for other coun-

tries facing these same societal and de-mographic problems.”

In order for that to occur, Nakani-shi says, Japanese companies need to completely revolutionize their business models.

Traditionally, the strengths of Japanese industry have lied in its manufacturing of high-quality products and technology. With a large population in a small space and few natural resources, the country’s economy is extremely reliant on indus-trialization. But Japanese leaders such as Nakanishi believe the country mustn’t be stuck on this 20th-century model.

“We can only sell, survive or contrib-ute to society by changing from a physi-cal product-oriented approach to a more solution-oriented, science-oriented ap-proach. Therefore, we have to change the culture. Japanese companies must com-municate with potential customers to create value and provide solutions.”

Under Keidanren’s vision, companies must also enhance their cooperation with innovators throughout society, whether that be in academia, the public sector or even other businesses. Along the same lines, companies should carry out structural reform to increase effi-ciency and internal cooperation between departments, while giving employees more opportunities to exert their indi-vidual creativity.

As Society 5.0’s goals for a super-smart society become a reality, it is expect-ed that the role of humans will change drastically due to changes in the labor market. For this reason the business fed-eration also advocates for companies to create more flexible environments for its staff.

Likewise, the vast amounts of data which are pouring in thanks to new technologies, combined with a new solu-tion-focused approach, should also lead to a more decentralized business model for Japanese companies. For example, a Japanese company with a presence in the U.S. should not make all of its decisions from Japan, but instead give the subsidi-ary more autonomy and flexibility to make moves and choices with agility, says Na-kanishi. “Those are the real global opera-tions. This is internationalization.” 

Hiroaki Nakanishi, former CEO and cur-rent chairman and executive officer of Hi-tachi, was instrumental in turning around the Japanese multinational after the inter-national financial crisis. Hitachi had over 900 companies under its umbrella, which were separated by vertical barriers and silos throughout the organization, and in 2009, at the peak of the crisis, it saw around $7 billion in losses. As a response to the company’s troubles, Nakanishi took leadership and implemented a strategy of ‘concentration by selection’ of the parts of the business that worked, redefining the core business of Hitachi and dispos-ing of unprofitable areas. He also broke down the walls between companies, thereby unblocking the flow of talent throughout the organization and fostering horizontal conversations, as opposed to a hierarchical, top-down chain of command. This strategy resulted in decentralization, innovation, and a renewed focus on the customer that made Hitachi agile enough to navigate a changing business land-scape. Not only did this return the compa-ny to profitability, but it also impacted the company’s culture, which is still leading change in corporate Japan.Nakanishi’s success in Hitachi propelled him to the top of Japan’s corporate world and put him at the center of case studies in management schools. In 2018, he was appointed executive chairman of Keidan-ren, the Japan Business Federation – a role so prominent it is often called the prime minister of business in Japan. Now, he is looking to similarly transform Japan’s overall corporate culture by connecting stakeholders of Japanese society to the world, breaking down barriers between industries and leading the digital transfor-mation of the economy. His vision is turn-

ing Japan into a global economic leader whose main export commodities are its knowledge and solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Q&A

How can your experience of Hitachi be applied to the revitalization of the econo-my of Japan?The manufacturing industry of Japan is very much run on quality products and technology. These are the big items, but in order to compete, we cannot only sell our products. We need to recognize that we don’t have any natural resources, and so we need to make a new type of indus-try business model based on services and solutions. In the case of Hitachi, it used to be that all of the organizations within the company were single purpose. Meanwhile, the man-agement decisions were taken in Japan for all markets. It was a highly centralized model. Now, in a more solution-focused type of business, those kinds of separated units cannot work well. 

What are your focuses for Japanese com-panies in the U.S.?We believe that President Trump’s current trade policy will be destructive in certain areas of the economy. We see that the tariff schemes and some of the regulatory actions will affect the U.S. economy. So, we try to have conversations not only with Washington D.C. but also simultane-ously with some of the regional and state leaders. Our current conversations with state governors and economic leaders are very good.

“We need to make a new type of industry business model”

Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman of Keidanren & Chairman and Executive Officer of Hitachi

IN CONVERSATION WITH JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER OF BUSINESS

IMPLEMENTATION BY MACHINES AND ROBOTS

ANALYSIS BY AI, ETC.

DATA COLLECTION BY SENSORS AND DEVICES

ACCUMULATION OF BIG DATA

CYBER SPACE

PHYSICAL SPACE

Integration via VR and AR devices

Materialization by 3d printers

THE TECHNOLOGICAL BACKBONE OF SOCIETY 5.0.

VR: VIRTUAL REALITY | AR: AUGMENTED REALITY. SOURCE: KEIDANREN

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BUSINESS

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SPEARHEADING JAPAN’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

JETRO is on the front line of Japan’s drive to become a bigger global player, working to promote mutual trade and investment with the rest of the world. The government-affiliated agency’s main focuses are: assisting foreign compa-

nies entering Japan and attracting FDI; supporting Japanese exports and the overseas expansion of small and mid-sized companies; and enhancing Japan’s global economic partnerships through

policy studies and research.JETRO’s Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige is confident that, should recent increases continue, Japan’s target of doubling inward FDI stock to ¥35 trillion ($314 billion) by 2020 can be achieved. He also thinks the U.S. should join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. “The Japanese market is extremely important to the U.S. If it does not participate, other countries such as Australia and New Zealand are going to reap the benefit”

JICA’s mission is to boost human security and qual-ity economic growth around the world. Building on Japan’s own legacy of modernization and democ-ratization, JICA supports developing nations with programs ranging from infrastructure projects to youth education opportunities. It sponsors projects that can be verified as financially and environmen-tally sustainable.

According to JICA’s president Shinichi Kitaoka, the agency is acting upon Japan’s objective to “lead the world with trust” by investing in infrastructure in Southeast Asia, and as far away as India and Africa. But Japan’s commitment to international cooperation also stretches across the Pacific. Kitao-ka notes the strong connection between Japan and the U.S., which, he said, has traditionally “been the champion of the global liberal system.”

As a trade insurance company, NEXI insures Japanese companies to work in the international market – critical for bol-stering Japanese business overseas.

How do you help Japanese businesses go abroad?Our task is to help create a Japan that can profit overseas. We help tiny companies who have never worked outside of Japan to break that barrier with insurance in place. Breaking into a market can be challenging because a company may not know whether their foreign partner is legitimate or doing well financially. NEXI mitigates the risk for them.

What gives Japanese proj-ects a competitive edge in the U.S.?In the U.S. Japan can sell its products, which are the world’s best in several sectors, as they are. For example, if plans continue for high-speed rail projects in Texas or between Washington and Baltimore, Japan can bring expertise having created the high-speed rail concept.

Chugai is one of Japan’s biggest phar-maceutical compa-nies. Its 2002 merger with Nippon Roche created a unique global business model across Japan, Switzerland and the U.S.

What led you to pursue a strategic alliance with Roche?Chugai was a leader in biotech research and development to manu-facturing, but marketing our products through a global network of our own was not feasible given our size. In order to meet the coming challenges of the bio-tech environment, we merged our operations with Roche in such a way that each company remained independent-ly managed. Now Chugai can launch its innovative medica-tions into the biggest markets like the U.S. through Roche’s sales network.

Tourism Becomes a Driver of GrowthJapan’s decision to give a financial push to tourism has made the sector

a pillar of economic growth. In 2018 the country rose to tenth in the world in earnings from international tourism, after registering almost

30 million international arrivals in a single year

1. The Fuji Five Lakes surround the famous mountain in south-eastern Japan. AKIRA OKADA/JNTO

2. Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya neighborhood. JEZAEL MELGOZA

3. Motonosumi-inari Shrine has 123 shrine gates facing the Sea of Japan. JNTO

4. Tanigawa Onsen is a hot spring offering mountain views from a quiet valley. JTA/JNTO

5. The savory pancake Okonomi-yaki is a traditional cuisine of the Kansai region. Y.SHIMIZU/JNTO

6. A woman practices zazen, a popular meditation practice throughout Japan. TOKOZENJI/JNTO

7. At 332.9 meters, the Tokyo Tower is Japan’s second-tallest structure. Y.SHIMIZU/JNTO

8.Niigata is considered one of Japan’s most prestigious areas for geisha. NIIGATA VISITORS & CONVENTION BUREAU/JNTO

Increased global focus on Japan has allowed it to wield its soft power through economic cooperation

Insuring Global Japan

Expanding Horizons for Japanese Infrastructure

Pharma with a Global Mentality

Bringing Japan to the World

Working for a World of Greater Trust

“In terms of both R&D and tourism, Japan can be considered a gateway to the region”

“Those who seek future growth have to shift towards internationalization”

Takuma Hatano, President and CEO, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN)

“Japan modernized without losing its traditions, and we can work as a bridge for other countries moving towards democracy”

Kohei Okada, Managing Executive Officer & Member of Board Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI)

Osamu Nagayama, Chairman & CEO, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co and Chairman of the Board, Sony Corporation

Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman & CEO, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

Shinichi Kitaoka, President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

JAPAN’S INTERNATIONAL TOURISM EARNINGS TOPPED 34 BILLION IN 2017, AFTER SIX STRAIGHT YEARS OF DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH

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VOICES TOURISM

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The Positive Side Effects of Japan’s Push for Generic DrugsJapan’s drive to boost generics could revolutionize how people around the world take their medicine

Traditionally, Japanese doctors and consumers relied on brand-name

drugs much more than other nations, but government targets to boost the use of generics have transformed Japan’s phar-maceutical market and inspired a wave of potentially lifesaving research. 

Japan is faced with an aging popu-lation, increasing life-span and a low birthrate. Reducing costs in its health-care sector is paramount. That’s why, in 2007, the Japanese government began setting targets for generic drugs. At that time, the aim was for 30 percent of all pharmaceuticals sold to be generic by 2013. After meeting that goal, the targets have been steadily ramping up, with the current target set at 80 percent by 2020.

The shift to generics, which are pro-duced using the same active ingredients as original drugs after their patents have expired, has already made a hugely pos-itive impact on the state’s coffers. Ac-cording to the Japanese health ministry, the country is estimated to have saved ¥1.3 trillion ($11.8 billion) in the 2017 fis-cal year because of the increasing use of generics. This is the biggest reduction on record and greatly exceeded the govern-ment’s predictions.

But generic drugs aren’t just about saving money. The success of generics in what is the world’s second-largest pharmaceuticals market, according to the Japanese government, has created new business opportunities for Japanese pharmaceutical companies. Now, inno-vative businesses are investing heavily in research that is changing how people around the world take their medication.

“Of course, to cure any sort of disease or illness, drugs must be properly taken and administered. That’s why it is so im-portant to make drugs that are easy to

As a specialized manufacturer of generic medication, Towa Pharmaceutical has dedicated itself to creating high quality and sophisticated products. Currently, it has over 700 drugs on the Japanese market.

How has Japan’s aging population impacted the country’s pharmaceutical industry? There’s obviously more need for medical care cost-cutting and medical support. Within that, drug treatment is important and something to which we can definitely contribute. Our generic products can help people live healthy lives, while also saving costs. We are devoted to developing medicinal products that are easy to take, so we have developed orally disintegrat-ing tablets that can be swallowed without having to drink water. We also have tech-nology that masks the bitterness of the medication itself.

What have been the key milestones for your company?I think our two biggest milestones have been spreading awareness about generic drugs and contributing to the economy in terms of medical care. Now, we are trying to perfect our products so that we can keep contributing. This activity is based on our policy of being ‘a company appreciat-ed by society all through the ages.’ I think that in order to deliver to any society, any community, not just Japan but anywhere in the world, we must make products that are needed. Regardless of the time or the place, what we want to do is to continue our research to see what is most desired by the people so that we can provide it.

How else is Towa innovating?At the moment, we’re trying to achieve innovations in formulation technology and manufacturing technology. An example is the introduction of continuous manufac-turing, which improves efficiency and is also good for the environment. In terms of the material that we’re using to make the medications, we’re doing research to create technology for an efficient synthesis – “asymmetric synthesis” – together with the University of Tokyo.

Q&A ITSURO YOSHIDA, PRESIDENT, TOWA PHARMACEUTICAL CO. LTD.

“Our generic products can help people live healthy lives, while also saving costs”

take,” said Itsuro Yoshida, president of Towa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Although Julie Andrews sang about a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down, for certain sectors of the pop-ulation, properly taking medication can be much more complicated and serious.

Towa Pharmaceutical has already de-veloped the exclusive and award-winning RACTAB (Rapid and Comfortable Tab-let) technology, which is used to manu-facture high-resistance tablets that dis-solve in the mouth without the need for water. For healthy individuals this may

be a welcome innovation, but for people who have problems swallowing or lack access to safe drinking water, access to these types of pills can be the difference between life and death.  

Towa Pharmaceutical is also in the process of developing a new technology that completely masks the bitterness of all of their medications, and is studying how to create more drugs that can be ab-sorbed through the skin.

Another potentially crucial innova-tion in generic drug research surrounds developing ways to make drugs that are longer-lasting and more durable. At the

moment, the typical lifespan of tablets is three years and they lose their prop-erties in heat, humidity or light, accord-ing to Yoshida.

“If we can create something that has a lifespan of five to 10 years and can survive in any sort of environment, we would be able to help many places, es-pecially countries in South East Asia or Africa,” he said, pointing out that in those regions neither adequate storage

TOWA PHARMACEUTICAL HAS DEVELOPED THE EXCLUSIVE AND AWARD-WINNING RACTAB (RAPID AND COMFORTABLE TABLET) TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS USED TO MANUFACTURE HIGH-RESISTANCE TABLETS THAT DISSOLVE IN THE MOUTH

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63.1% 65.1%MARKET SHARE OF GENERIC DRUGS IN JAPAN(Volume basis)

nor safe drinking water is always avail-able, and climates tend to be hotter or more humid.

So with Japanese talent more focused than ever on generic drugs, the world may be in store for some game-changing advances in the pharmaceutical industry that could not only help states and con-sumers save millions of dollars, but also make safe and effective drugs more uni-versally accessible.

SOURCE: SURVEY BY JAPAN’S MINISTRY OF HEALTH, LABOUR AND WELFARE

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HEALTH

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The story behind Tokai Medical Products (TMP), one of Japan’s most re-spected medical device manufacturers, demonstrates how love and dedication can lead to lifesaving innovations

The impetus for TMP’s creation came from the devastating news that Yoshimi, a nine-year-old girl, was suf-fering from inoperable heart disease. At first, her family consulted with best hospitals around the world to see if a surgery was possible, but they soon re-alized it was not. That’s when Yoshimi’s doctor made a bold suggestion to her parents: “Why not use the money you’ve saved for surgery into research-ing an artificial heart with me?” With that, Yoshimi’s family dove head first into the research, and in 1981 her father, Nobumasa Tsutsui, founded TMP. The company developed a model of an artificial heart and started testing it, but it became apparent that they didn’t have the billions of dollars nec-essary to take it to human trials. Yet, drawing on their research, TMP came up with a new intra-aortic balloon cath-eter that significantly improved on pre-vious models. It was launched in 1989, and although it couldn’t be used for Yoshimi, she was thrilled that it could save the lives of others. Unfortunate-ly Yoshimi passed away in 1991, but her parents’ passion was transferred towards saving the lives of others.“When I thought that this was going to be used for my child, I didn’t care about profit at all. That’s how we started and it’s still the way we operate today. Our company policy is always service first and profit second,” said Tsutsui. Today, TMP dominates the Japanese market with its high-quality, innovative

and technologically advanced cath-eters that can be used to treat heart problems, strokes, injuries and other conditions. It has also developed a micro-catheter that allows medication to be delivered directly into organs affected with cancer and another that can be used to treat babies. The company’s commitment to invent-ing what doctors and patients need is exemplified by its having opened an R&D Center named Mirai, which means ‘future’ in Japanese. “We innovate to make patients’ lives better by putting the patients first,” explained Tsutsui. Following its mission to save as many lives as possible, TMP has also begun to export its products. Having recently opened a large factory in the Philip-pines, it is primarily focusing on the Asian markets but aims to launch some of its lifesaving devices in the U.S. next summer.

At the Heart of Japan’s Medical Device Innovation

Our company policy is always service first and profit second

Nobumasa Tsutsui, Founder & Chairman, Tokai Medical Products

COMPANY FEATURE - TOKAI MEDICAL PRODUCTS

http://www.tokaimedpro.co.jp/en/

Save as many lives as possible

According to the World Health Orga-nization, Japan is the world leader

when it comes to longevity. In 2018, its average life expectancy was 84.2 years, compared to 78.5 in the U.S., and the country also tops the list when it comes to average healthy life expectancy – 74.8 years. However, Japan hasn’t always been at the top. Its life expectancy has shot up by more than 20 years since 1951, when the average lifespan in Japan was significantly below developed nations around the world – evidence that signifi-cant progress can be made.

Today, many scientists are focused on discovering what Japan has done right in recent history to increase longevity. A number of factors are suggested to have been influential, including lifestyle, diet, education, genetics and strong health-care and pension systems.

Yet the country, which also has one of the world’s oldest populations due to low birthrates, is throwing its efforts into new medical solutions to help its citizens live even longer, healthier lives, something especially necessary as the baby boomer generation begins to hit retirement age.

“At the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), we are looking to longevity,” said Dr. Tatsuya Kondo, chief executive of the Japanese med-ical regulatory body. “I can’t rule out the possibility of new medical products that would be able to sustain a culture of longevity.”

Much of Japan’s trailblazing work fo-cused on fighting diseases, and therefore boosting quality lifespans, is in research on stem cells. This has received almost

12 percent of the state’s $1.15 billion dis-cretionary medical research budget, ac-cording to the Financial Times.

There is particular excitement about induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These were first created by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who won the 2012 Nobel Prize in med-icine for his discovery. He found a way to chemically alter adult cells in order to create iPS cells. These plu-ripotent cells are like blank slates, able to give rise to any cell or tissue in the hu-man body. This is a prom-ising contrast to embryonic stem cells, which are both ethically challenging and lack the same DNA as the patient who is in need of re-generative therapy.

“My motivation for doing science is to contribute to patient health and longev-ity,” said Yamanaka in a Nobel lecture. “The history of iPS cell research has only just begun, and this tech-nology has a remarkable potential for use in cell therapy, drug screening and personalized medicine.”

Currently, Japan is undergoing sever-al ground-breaking clinical trials with stem cells, many of which have been made possible by Japan’s move to fast-track the approval system for regenera-tive medicines in 2014.

In June 2018, researchers announced they would begin transplanting repro-

grammed stem cells into human brains, seeking a breakthrough in treating Parkinson’s disease. This human trial has come after scientists successful-ly restored functioning brain cells in

monkeys using iPS cells. In May, Japanese regula-tors also gave scientists the green light to take wafer-thin sheets of tis-sue derived from iPS cells and graft them onto dis-eased human hearts with the hope of regenerating the muscle. Additionally, a team of researchers has been implanting iPS cells in retinas to cure degen-erative eye disease as part of a clinical trial that has been running since 2014. Likewise, in 2019 Japan approved the world’s first trial for iPS cells to treat spinal cord injuries.

“Today large Japanese companies dominate worldwide commercializa-tion of iPS cell technolo-gy,” Dusko Ilic, a stem cell scientist at King’s Col-

lege London, told the Financial Times. “There is no doubting Japanese dom-inance of the field. The cutting-edge science is there and so is the corporate activity. No one else is even close.”

Adding to the joy of potentially curing degenerative diseases is the fact that the global regenerative medicine market is predicted to reach $50.55 billion by 2025, according to a 2018 market analysis.

“There are actu-ally merits to an aging popula-tion. Those who are aged can really contrib-ute to society, adding value in ways that utilize the rich wisdom that they’ve accumulated”

Dr. Tatsuya Kondo, Chief Executive, PMDA

Japan’s Plan to Continue Shattering Longevity RecordsJapan wants its elderly population to remain healthy and productive for as long as possibleand benefit from gaining a slice of the lucrative global anti-aging market

Beyond promising Japanese stem cell technology, precision medicine – using big data and technology to find the best treatment options for individual pa-tients – is another medical field in which Japan has gained a head start. Likewise, Japan’s vision for a super smart society of the future – Society 5.0 – promises to have ramifications in health care, giving the elderly population improved access to more efficient health services.

“There are actually merits to an aging population. Those who are aged can re-ally contribute to society, adding value in ways that utilize the rich wisdom that they’ve accumulated,” said Dr. Kondo.

And while researchers have long de-bated whether there is an absolute lim-it to the human lifespan, a statistical analysis of centenarians published in Science in June 2018 suggests that there may be no natural limit, with the risk of mortality plateauing after age 105. This finding may come as good news to Kane Tanaka, 116, the Japanese woman who is currently the world’s oldest known living person.

The median age in Japan is 47.3, according to a 2017 CIA estimate. CC-BY 2.0

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MEIJI UNIVERSITY

Meiji University was founded in 1881 as the Meiji Law School, based on the principles of rights, liberty, independence and self-gov-ernment. Since then, the college in Tokyo has expanded into one of the prominent private universities of Japan, having graduated 550,000 students while still staying true to its founding ethos.

NAGOYA UNIVERSITY

Nagoya University is a research power-house that has produced six out of the 16 Nobel Prize winners to come out of Japan in the 21st century. Located in the country’s manufacturing heartland, it also maintains significant collaboration projects with in-dustry leaders such as Denso and Toyota.

TSUKUBA UNIVERSITY

One of the oldest, most comprehensive and selective research universities in Japan, Tsukuba University in Ibaraki Prefecture has long been at the cutting edge. A leader in internationalization and a pioneer in inter-disciplinary programs, the university boats alumni including several Nobel Prize winners and students from around the world.

RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY

The history of Ritsumeikan University dates back to 1869 when Prince Kinmochi Saionji created a private academy on the site of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Beginning with just one program and one site, guided by its founding spirit of freedom and innovation, today this highly respected institution now teaches around 33,000 students.

grade course subject until the skills are fully learned and understood.

“It’s in around fifth, sixth and sev-enth grade that basic skills are sup-posed to be perfected. These are the foundation for everything. If you don’t have the reading skills and if you try to learn history, physics or chemistry, you won’t understand definitions and you will get lost,” said Hayashi.

Removing the barriers between subjects and disciplines is the other adjustment that must be made for the next generation to be prepared for the super-smart future, according to the former minister.

Today in Japan, as in many coun-tries across the world, students taking university entrance exams are divided into two groups: those who study hu-manities and social sciences, and those who study hard sciences and math. The choice is one or the other. Yet in a world where technology is integrated into nearly every part of society, Ha-yashi said, that approach will no longer be practical.

In the future, Hayashi wants to see an education system in which sub-jects like math, data science and pro-gramming are basic requirements, as are subjects such as philosophy and languages.

“If you are studying physics as a major, you should also study human-ities so that when you are faced with a philosophical or ethical issue in your future career, such as the concept of designer babies, you can combine your scientific knowledge with eth-ics,” he said.

Q&AYOSHIMASA HAYASHI, JAPAN’S FORMER MINISTER OF EDUCATION, CULTURE, SPORTS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Society 5.0 is Japan’s vision for the future. It is a super-smart society

where technologies such as big data, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial in-telligence (AI), and robots fuse into every industry and across all social segments. The hope is that this infor-mation revolution will be able to solve currently impossible problems, mak-ing everyday life more comfortable and sustainable. 

“The essence of Society 5.0 is that it will become possible to quickly elic-it the suitable solution that meets the needs of the most individuals,” said Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the International Conference of the Future of Asia in 2017.

If imagination is the first step to-ward possibility, then Japan is already leading society’s next big evolution. Now, the country’s education sector is tasked with preparing a generation of students to make it a reality to lead the nation into an unknown but excit-ing future. As Japan is already one of the most advanced societies on earth, the rest of the world is paying close attention.

“We have to give students the skills to both survive that changing society and for them to lead that change,” said

Japan’s former education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, whose post ended late 2018.

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Cul-ture, Sports, Science and Technology is now carefully considering how to ad-just the education system to meet the needs and values of Society 5.0, from primary school to university level. In 2017, the ministry set up a committee on the issue, which included specialists in cutting-edge areas like AI.

After much discussion and debate, the committee reached an overall con-clusion: to prepare students for the rapid technological change, the key is to focus on human strengths.

“In the era of Google, people no longer need to memorize every sin-gle  fact. Many tasks today are best carried out by computers,” explained Hayashi. “Therefore, the emphasis must be on human skills such as com-munication, leadership and endur-ance, as well as curiosity, comprehen-sion and reading skills.”

A more flexible approachTo make this happen, Japan is consid-ering two radical changes that that could be critical. If successful, the shifts would be relevant to traditional education systems worldwide and po-sition Japan as a role model for teach-ing in the age of high technology.

The first idea is to make grade pro-gression more flexible. This would mean that instead of either totally fail-ing or totally passing each year, more support classes would be provided to ensure there are no gaps in under-standing. For example, if a student passes fifth grade but didn’t do well in math, he or she could retake the fifth-

How Japan is Getting Students Ready for Society 5.0 Japanese students may soon be saying goodbye to traditional divisions between grades and subjects in a new focus on human skills to get the most out of technology

What makes Japan an attractive des-tination for foreign students?Content is very important, in terms of very high-quality education, research and a productive curriculum. For overseas students, Japan also has the advantage of being safe. You don’t have to worry about walking on the street at night. Another attractive aspect is that a student who comes to Japan can travel around the country and visit places like Kyoto, as well as all the natural attractions including vol-canoes and lakes. Japanese industrial companies are already hiring those foreign students graduating from Japanese universities. I think that’s one of the reasons that more and more students, not only from Asia but also from the United States and other English-speaking countries, find it attractive to study in Japan.We are trying to increase the number of courses in Japanese universities where students can learn in English, so they don’t need to learn kanji in order to study here. We are looking at partnership agreements with overseas universities, especially in the United States, to provide shorter programs of around six months. 

The essence of Society 5.0 is that it will become possible to quickly elicit the suitable solution that meets the needs of the most individuals

Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister

UNIVERSITY VOICES

“I want our students to step out of that boundary they have within themselves that identifies who they are”

Keiichiro Tsuchiya, President

“Imagination is fundamental for creating something new. We can create the future and we must think about it”

Kyosuke Nagata, President

“We want to encour-age courageous intellectuals. Educa-tion must serve to advance justice, free-dom and happiness”

Seiichi Matsuo, President

“It’s no longer enough to gain knowledge, we have to create it ourselves”

Mikio Yoshida, President

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

SHUTTERSTOCK

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Boasting Japan’s largest startup accelerator and a strategic zone for new businesses, Fukuoka is considered Japan’s most startup-friendly city. Innovation is also surging in the financial sector, and this meeting is set to be of great significance.

In Tsukuba, known as Japan’s leading science city, a high-tech culture has been deeply engrained through the use of innovative digital technologies to solve social issues. In this meeting, Tsukuba hopes to act as a global role model for cities in the digital era.

Already globally famous as a place for retreat and reconnection with nature, the resort town of Karuizawa hopes this ministerial meeting will constitute a turning point in terms of how the world approaches environmental issues.

KARUIZAWA, NAGANO PREF.

MINISTERIAL MEETING ON ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTHJUNE 15-16, 2019

Kutchan’s scenic mountain land-scape and powder-soft snow have turned it into one of Japan’s top re-sorts. With tourist numbers having boomed over the last 20 years, the town hopes to share and learn best tourism practices.

KUTCHAN, HOKKAIDO PREF.

TOURISM MINISTERS’ MEETINGOCTOBER 25-26, 2019

Home to highly productive agriculture and fishing industries, Niigata is glob-ally recognized for its premium rice and sake. At the ministerial meeting, Niigata will highlight its cutting-edge agricultural practices and efforts to create a new food culture.

NIIGATA, NIIGATA PREF.

AGRICULTURAL MINISTERS’ MEETINGMAY 11-12, 2019

Aichi is one of the world’s leading in-dustrial regions. Home to corporations like Toyota, it has a long tradition of fusing technology with tradition. As host of this meeting, it hopes to showcase its strengths and give rise to improved global cooperation.

NAGOYA, AICHI PREF.

FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETINGNOVEMBER 22-23, 2019

“Health is the foundation for building a sustainable city,” says Okayama’s mayor. Putting that philosophy into action, Okayama has become a hub for advanced medicine and boasts some of Japan’s top ratings for quality and availability of healthcare.

OKAYAMA, OKAYAMA PREF.

HEALTH MINISTERS’ MEETINGOCTOBER 19-20, 2019

The warm seaside city of Matsuyama is well known as a pleasant place to visit and live in. Now the city’s government is pioneering initiatives to improve the work environment in Matsuyama by instituting flexible schedules and using technology to improve efficiency.

MATSUYAMA, EHIME PREF.

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT MINISTERS’ MEETINGSEPTEMBER 1-2, 2019

FUKUOKA, FUKUOKA PREF.

FINANCE MINISTERS AND CENTRAL BANK GOVERNORS’ MEETINGJUNE 8-9, 2019

TSUKUBA, IBARAKI PREF.

MINISTERIAL MEETING ON TRADE AND DIGITAL ECONOMYJUNE 8-9, 2019

OSAKA, OSAKA PREF.

G20 SUMMITJUNE 28-29, 2019

Japan’s bustling metropolis of Osaka will host the main G20 Summit Meeting, which expects to gather around 30,000 people including many of the world’s top leaders. No stranger to welcoming guests, this is both a commercial hub of Japan and one that receives around 10 million foreign visitors per year. With its strong infrastructure and a commitment to playing a serious role on the global stage, Osaka has also been chosen to host Expo 2025.

G20 MEETINGS TO HIGHLIGHT REGIONAL STRENGTHS

Beginning in May 2019, Japan will host the G20 Summit and ministerial meetings for the first time. Global leaders, representing countries that hold around 80 percent of the world’s GDP, will converge in Japan to discuss the most pressing issues of our time. Striving not only to provide a backdrop to productive meetings, Japan also aims to advance discussions and showcase its own innovative development models.

We will take this as an opportunity to exhibit Japan’s Omotenashi spirit (hospitality) and introduce to the world the unique aspects and attractiveness of Japan and its host cities

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

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G20 SUMMIT MEETING

Osaka Hosts G20 Leaders’ Meeting In June, Japan’s commercial center will welcome the G20 leaders who represent two-thirds of the global population

One of Japan’s two ‘urban prefectures,’ Osaka is home

to the country’s third-largest city and its commercial center, having played a vital role in Ja-pan’s economy for over 1,700 years. This summer, it expects to gather around 30,000 people for the G20 Summit, the center-piece of 2019’s G20 meetings. When world leaders meet for two intensive days of talks, Osa-ka’s authorities hope that the city will show itself to be every bit Tokyo’s equal in representing Japan’s global, outward-looking and people-focused philosophy.

Osaka’s reputation has long been as a city of merchants. In modern times, that is reflected in its vast number of small and me-dium-sized enterprises. Indeed,

its subsidies, innovation hubs and support programs attract businesses from all over. Yet Osaka’s capital city is far more

than Japan’s commercial hub. Its medical expertise is also second to none, thanks to a burgeon-ing life sciences industry. With lower overall investment costs than Tokyo and plans to create an international hub for medi-cal innovation, Osaka is ripe to

continue incubating innovation across sectors. This is a city that lives by the motto: ‘there is noth-ing we cannot make.’

The culture that Osaka first bred as an ancient commercial hub was of a city that bridges cultures and social divides. It will seek to cement this repu-tation when it hosts the world’s largest cultural exposition in 2025 – the World Expo. Under the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives,’ the Osa-ka-Kansai Japan Expo will focus on how the world can overcome its shared social issues to help improve quality of life. Named the world’s third most livable city in 2018 by The Economist, Osaka is the perfect host for such a discussion.

The city will show itself to be every bit Tokyo’s equal in representing Japan’s global, outward-looking and people-focused philosophy

Osaka won its bid to host the 2025 edition of the World Expo, prevailing over other candidates Yekaterinburg, Russia and Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2018. The decision by the expo governing body, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), brings the event back to the city 55 years after the 1970 Osaka Expo.The 2025 showcase will be called the Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo in an effort to ensure that it represents the entire Kansai region, which includes the neighboring cities of Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. Osaka’s bid won over the BIE with its chosen theme, ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives,’ which is expected to deal with the inter-linked social issues of aging populations, education and employment in an era of technological advances.“The expo project, based around the co-creation of a future society to address global challenges, has a strong resonance with the international community,” said BIE’s Secretary General Vicente G. Loscertales.Twenty-eight million visitors are project-ed to attend Expo 2025, which will be centered on the Yumeshima artificial island in Osaka Bay and run for 185 days from May to November. Investment in infrastruc-ture development on the island, including construction of new transportation links, is predicted to cost around $1.1 billion.

WORLD EXPO 2015

Osaka Wins World Expo 2025 Bid

By the numbers:

$313 billion nominal GDP

440,000businesses based in Osaka

8.84 million Osaka prefecture’s population

#3in the Economist’s Global Livability Index 2018

SOURCES: THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN, WORLD POPULATION RE-VIEW, THE ECONOMIST GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT, JETRO

Tourism is booming in Osaka. The prefecture received 11.1 million foreign visitors in 2017, seven times more than in 2011, making the prefecture one of Japan’s most visited. Osaka Temple, reconstructed after the 16th-cen-tury original, and the photogenic Dōtombori district are highlights on Osaka’s tourist trail. Yet it is the overall mixture of heritage, food, hospitality and entertain-

ment that is proving irresistible for more tourists every year and contributing to Osaka city’s rise to third on the Global Liveability In-dex for 2018. The city’s world-class entertainment reflects its culture. Colorful, rich in traditions and with a reputation for charm and safety despite its status as a ‘me-ga-city,’ Osaka is a pillar of Japan’s tourism sector, which has become a key national growth driver.

Osaka Attracts 11 Million Visitors

Nakanoshima park. OSAKA GOVERNMENT TOURISM BUREAU/JNTO

Osaka last held a World Expo in 1970, under the theme of ‘Progress and Harmony for Mankind’. TAKATO MARUI CC-BY 2.0

Left: OAP Port is one of Osaka’s four main water bus transit ports. Right: Dontobori’s gastronomy, lights and stereoscopic signs make it one of Osaka’s most popular areas. PIXABAY/ OSAKA CONVENTION & TOURISM BUREAU

1. Osaka Castle is the city’s premier tourist attraction and an important part of its heritage.2. Shitennoji is Japan’s oldest state-built temple, built in the year 593.3-4. Tenjin Matsuri is one of Japan’s biggest festivals, with both land and river processions honoring the deity of scholarship. OSAKA CONVENTION & TOURISM BUREAU

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G20 SUMMIT MEETING JUNE 28-29, 2019OSAKA, OSAKA PREF.

Monozukuri is a Japanese word that literally translates to “the making of things” in English. However, a more complete definition would be “the art of making things in the spirit of research and creativity.” Greater Nagoya, the area within a 100km radius of Aichi’s capital Nagoya, is the monozukuri capital of the world.

Responsible for generat-ing more than one percent of global GDP, Greater Nagoya encompasses some of the world’s top clusters of cutting-edge industry, IT and other advanced sectors including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Now, it has its doors wide open to

international businesses or investors who want to infuse their operations with the unique spirit and oppor-tunities that this powerful area presents.

With a highly interna-tionalized economy, leading companies operating in the region like Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi are always on the lookout for new interna-tional partners to help them develop business offerings.

The Greater Nagoya Initia-tive Center (GNIC) was es-tablished in 2006 to globally showcase the opportunities that the area has to offer and to further attract FDI. The GNIC also facilitates invest-ment, acting as a one-stop

shop for foreign companies and offering business sup-port to its members.

The Nagoya government has also introduced subsi-dies, incubation facilities

equipped with product research and development tools, and a variety of business support programs designed to assist businesses entering the market.

TOKIO

Situated in the middle of the Japanese archipelago, Greater Nagoya is a region within a 100 kilometer radius of Nagoya, the third largest city in Japan after Tokyo and Osaka.

What is GNI?

The Greater Nagoya Initiative (GNI) is a cross-border industrial revitalization and promotion project. With joint participation from local municipalities, businesses and academia, it aims to attract excellent global companies, technologies, information and people to invest in the region.

Greater Nagoya Initiative Center (GNIC)C/O Public Foundation of Chubu Science and Technology Center

Ikko Osu Building 7F, Osu 1-35-18, Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-0011 | TEL: +81 52-218-4020

WWW.GREATERNAGOYA.ORG

GNI one-stop supportThe GNI acts as a one-stop business support center for foreign

companies considering doing business in central Japan by helping them gather local information, arranging networking and

business meetings, and aiding their operations in the region.

GREATER NAGOYA

Nagoya’s business district. GNIC

Sakae, Nagoya’s lively downtown retail and entertainment district. GNIC

Every single year since 1977, Aic-hi - the Japanese prefecture with a

population of over seven million - has led the nation in terms of exports. Last year, its industrial output reached near-ly $400 billion.

Most of the exports are fueled by Ai-

Greater Nagoya Encourages Foreign Investors

Governor since 2011, Hideaki Ohmura has set the goal of making Aichi Japan’s most dynamic prefecture

How do Aichi’s industrial strengths con-tribute to its global reputation? Aichi has been home to manufacturing since ancient times, leading Japan in ev-erything from ceramics and textiles to au-tomobiles and aerospace. Companies with cutting-edge technologies, such as Toyota Motor Corporation, are modern symbols of Aichi’s industrial and technological capa-bilities. It goes without saying that these companies have become essential for the global dissemination of Aichi’s reputation and thus contribute to our brand power. As a government, we actively support these companies. For example, the Aichi Prefec-tural Government is developing a site for Toyota at their request and will sell it to the company. In addition, the final assembly factory for the MRJ regional jet aircraft, which will be manufactured by Mitsubishi

Aircraft Corporation, was built on the site prepared and sold to the company by the Aichi Prefectural Government.

How do you envision the future of manu-facturing, and how can Aichi shape it?We want to emphasize our strengths and continue to develop them. Building on our success in the automotive industry, we are now also focusing on the aerospace and robotics industries. I can confidently say that innovation is already happening in these fields in Aichi. The progress of IT technology such as AI and big data is about to fundamentally change industry, and manufacturing is no exception. Many large companies are investing in start-ups and working on business alliances, and in Aichi there is great potential for fusing start-ups and manufacturers.

What are the advantages of Aichi for foreign investors? Aichi has some of the world’s largest industrial clusters for the automobile, aero-space and robotics industries. Investment in the prefecture holds the promise of great business opportunities within a wide range of manufacturing industries.

Q&A HIDEAKI OHMURA, GOVERNOR OF AICHI PREFECTURE

“The progress of IT technology such as AI and big data is about to fundamentally change industry”

The Heartland of Advanced Manufacturing Home to manufacturers like Toyota, Aichi Prefecture is a global hub for cutting-edge industry

chi’s world-class manufacturing, which excels in automotive products but is also quickly gaining importance in the aero-space, robotics and medical industries. The region’s central location and strong human resources are often credited as factors underpinning its success.

Yet these manufacturing strengths are also a 21st-century expression of Aichi’s deeply engrained cultural tra-ditions, which promote precision, dis-cipline and beauty. Aichi is notable for having produced many of the samurai leaders who laid the foundation for modern Japan and as an important con-tributor to the Japanese tea ceremony tradition. Its rich cultural monuments, such as the Atsuta Shrine and Nagoya Castle, also stand testament to the driv-en cultural attitude.

As host of the G20 Foreign Min-isters’ Meetings and home to major global companies, the prefecture has taken initiative to foster positive inter-national relations. For example, in 2017 Aichi signed an MOU with Kentucky to further enhance their partnership. At the time, 59 manufacturing companies from Aichi were operating a total of 94 facilities in Kentucky.

As a further boost to Aichi’s interna-tional connections the Aichi Sky Expo, a 646,000-square-feet exhibition center, will open in September 2019. It will be the only convention and exhibition cen-ter in Japan to have direct access to an international airport.

What makes the Greater Na-goya region an ideal base for international businesses?In manufacturing you need a good labor force, and we are blessed with just that. Any industry needs water, and we happen to have three rivers in the area, so we are blessed with abundant resources. We also have a great port, and having worked at port facilities myself I know how vital they are for distribution. All these elements are necessary condi-tions to establish any industrial site. And there is one more thing to consider: the region should have good schools

and universities because that is a good incentive to set up a business. There should be partnerships between busi-ness and academia, and we can do those because we have a very good higher education center, Nagoya University, with excellent science and engineering departments. Historically, we have been able to adapt our industries in order to make anything required by society. Now, we are in an ag-ing society, in Japan and other nations, and this means that medical equipment, robotics and caregiving will become very important industries.

Q&A FUMIO KAWAGUCHI, CHAIRMAN, GREATER NAGOYA INITIATIVE CENTER (GNIC)

“Historically, we have been able to adapt our industries in order to make anything required by society”

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NOVEMBER 22-23, 2019G20 FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING NAGOYA, AICHI PREF.

One of the first companies to introduce sake to the U.S., Niigata’s Asahi-Shuzo Sake Brewing Company blends the finest ingredients with innova-tive techniques

What differentiates your sake? We researched how people live, their working patterns and their food preferences and concluded that we should pro-duce sake that is dry and clear, not sweet or thick. That’s how KUBOTA, our main product, was born. As a truly local sake brewer, our first focus is on

the rice. We cultivate a special top-quality sake rice called Gohyakumangoku. To help us produce the best rice for sake, we began contract farming and conducted rice quality research and strict quality con-trol. The sake’s second main ingredient is water. In our area, the water is extremely soft, flowing down to a small town called Koshiji, which gets a lot of snow in the winter. We also make full use of our master brewers’ experience, integrat-ed data, new techniques and our in-house yeast.

Q&A YASUSHI HOSODA, PRESIDENT, ASAHI-SHUZO SAKE BREWING CO., LTDJapan’s Culinary Hotspot Pioneers

Next-Generation AgricultureRenowned for its innovative farming techniques and premium food, Niigata will give international leaders a taste of what’s to come in the agricultural industry at the G20 Agricultural Ministers’ Meeting

is also facing a depopulation problem. With a low birthrate and elderly popu-lation, combined with the lure of bigger metropolises for its youth, the region is hoping to use food to fuel economic revitalization. Through increased in-vestment in innovative techniques and the promotion of value-added food pro-cessing, its aim is to empower farmers financially. Likewise, new policy hopes to include more women and youth in the agricultural sector. Promoting restau-rants that offer farm-to-table meals is another pillar of the region’s plan to help it thrive long into the future.

Understandably, Niigata is also hop-ing to capitalize on its gastronomic prowess to attract more tourists from all over the world. In just a 100-minute bullet train ride from Tokyo, foodies can explore one of the most authen-tic Japanese destinations. Still off the beaten bath, Niigata is the 28th most popular tourist destination out of the country’s 47 prefectures, but with more national parks than any other and a rich culture, tourism in Niigata has im-mense growth potential.

“Niigata is the next destination tour-ists should seek out. Tourists want to see beautiful nature, enjoy delicious food and experience great art and au-thentic traditional cultures – I believe Niigata has all of this,” said Hanazumi.

As the host of the G7 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in 2016, the region has been pivotal for placing food secu-rity and sustainability at the core of the global agenda. Its opportunity to host the G20 meeting in 2019 will further solidify its role as one of the epicenters of new ideas for agriculture.

“Just a little sip of KUBOTA evokes beautiful images of Japan”

Even within a country renowned for its excellent gastronomy, Niigata’s cui-

sine stands out for its quality. The prefec-ture, commonly known as the land of rice and sake, is treasured for what is some of Japan’s most delicious produce.

Niigata is Japan’s top rice producer and home to the premium ‘Koshihikari’ brand, which reaches the highest quali-ty due to the unique climate conditions of a region nestled between the sea and mountains. Although mostly sold domes-tically, it is becoming increasingly popu-lar in the international marketplace for its unmatched taste and appearance.

Sake, Japanese rice wine, has also be-come renowned in the region due to the subtle effects of freshwater springs, cool winters and outstanding rice for sake pro-duction. Local companies like Asahi-Shu-zo Sake Brewing are now popularizing Niigata’s sake far beyond Japan’s border.

“The U.S. is a great country that em-

braces different cultures from around the world and is good at making them even better. We have found that our sake sur-prisingly has compatibility with other cuisines in the U.S.,” said Yasushi Ho-soda, Asahi-Shuzo Sake Brewing’s presi-dent, adding that the U.S. now accounts for 30 percent of their sales.

Local fish and seafood provide the oth-er ingredients for some of the coastal re-gion’s tastiest dishes including a variety of sushi, sashimi and wappameshi. Deli-cacies such as edible chrysanthemums, known as kakinomoto, as well as unique pears and tomatoes add world-class f la-vor to the region’s cuisine as well as sup-porting its agricultural industry, which is focused on growth and innovation.

“We very much welcome investment. Our agriculture sector is expanding to a global level, and we would like to increase the production of our vegetables, f lowers and rice. Our great strength is the quali-ty of our produce, but we want to explore ways to boost efficiency so we can com-pete in global markets,” said Governor of Niigata Prefecture Hideyo Hanazumi.

Although the region has a long tradi-tion of environmentally sustainable and efficient practices, in recent years Niigata has been pioneering innovative agricul-tural methods. Since 2014, when Niigata city, the capital of Niigata prefecture, was designated a National Strategic Special Zone for agriculture, the prefecture has focused on state-of-the-art and progres-sive methods to optimize profit and sus-tainability, while maintaining the char-acteristic quality of its produce. Today, driverless tractors may be seen working Niigata’s fields, and concepts such as pre-cision farming, ITC agriculture and plant factories are increasingly taking root.

Niigata, like most of Japan and agri-cultural regions in much of the world,

TODAY, DRIVERLESS TRACTORS CAN BE SEEN WORKING NIIGATA’S FIELDS

Our great strength is the quality of our produce, but we want to explore ways to boost efficiency so we can compete in global markets

Hideyo Hanazumi, Governor of Niigata Prefecture

Terraced rice fields in Niigata Prefecture. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF NIIGATA

Below: A sake brewer once said, “the quality of sake can never exceed the quality of its ingredients.” Niigata’s Asa-hi-Shuzo Sake Brewing lives by this rule, working with local commu-nities to cultivate top-quality rice and preserve the pristine environ-ment that provides water. Pictured: Brewers preparing rice for KUBOTA sake.

ASAHI-SHUZO SAKE BREWING

20 GLOBAL JAPAN WWW.GLOBALJAPAN.WORLD

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MAY 11-12, 2019AGRICULTURAL MINISTERS’ MEETINGNIIGATA, NIIGATA PREF.

Japan’s chosen host prefec-ture for the G20 Ministerial

Meeting On Energy Transitions And Global Environment For Sustainable Growth is Nagano, a mountainous region known for its stunning natural beauty and cutting-edge industrial practic-es. According to its governor, Shuichi Abe, the meeting rep-resents an opportunity for the prefecture to double down on its goals for energy transition and environmental protection.

The prefecture is home to a thriving manufacturing indus-try. Precision and electronics manufacturing are particular strengths. Now, Abe plans to boost this economic motor fur-ther with new projects. “I’d like to shift the entire manufacturing

industry to cutting-edge areas that have great promise for the future. We are working on build-ing an Asian center for aircraft systems. We would like people in the aircraft industry to pay at-tention to what we are doing and invest here,” said the governor.

Nagano’s ‘Davos of the East’Nagano is also one of Japan’s most promising tourist desti-nations, with the resort town of Karuizawa the jewel in its crown. Karuizawa, host city for the G20 Ministerial Meeting, has been a tourism and retreat center for years, naming the

Japanese royal family among its guests. Now, the town is build-ing upon its assets by hosting major Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism events, includ-ing the G7 Transport Ministers’ Meeting in 2015.

Mayor Susumu Fujimaki sees the G20 meeting as a perfect stage for building this market segment up, as well as for posi-tioning the town as a role mod-el for sustainable growth. “I expect our existing hotels will improve their infrastructure to become high-class hotels with good conference facilities. I am confident that this will lead to growth and more investors will arrive,” Fujimaki said.

Leading Environmental and Energy Transition

“Some have called Karuizawa

‘the Davos of the East’ for its reputation as a MICE destination”

Susumu Fujimaki, Mayor of Karuizawa

Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture provides the ideal setting for the world’s environment and energy minds to meet

Home to the Hitachi Seaside Park, Mount Tsukuba and the city of

the same name, Ibaraki Prefecture will host the G20 ministers debating digitalization of the world economy and the future of trade. Ibaraki is no-table for its world-class research and education facilities and initiatives like the Tsukuba Science City. The city is a scientific research center, also housing Tsukuba University, which has helped the region become synonymous with forward-thinking digital innovation in the minds of domestic and foreign investors alike.

Ibaraki faces the same challenges as Japan’s other prefectures – an ag-ing population, declining birth rates, brain drain amongst young people and adapting to digitalization. However, it also hosts cutting-edge digital technol-ogy companies that attract investment and job creation.

One of these, cyborg-robot maker Cyberdyne, has created the HAL (Hy-brid Assistive Limb) exoskeleton that has revolutionized the medical and care sectors. Cyberdyne president and CEO Yoshiyuki Sankai sees HAL as an important contribution to business-

es’ adaptation to both local and global challenges. “By 2050, 40 percent of the Japanese population will be over 65 years old and other developed countries will face similar situations. We need to prepare solutions for this urgent situa-tion.” “The world has become smaller and smaller, and we need to consider a suitable future with new technology.”

HAL is controlled by the human brain and en-ables people with mobility problems to move. CYBERDYNE

Located an easy train ride from To-kyo, Ibaraki Prefecture is already well known for cultural attractions like the gardens of Kairaku-en, but it is also a major hub of innovation and industry in Japan. Governor Kazuhiko Oigawa explains how Ibaraki’s proximity to Japan’s capital, incentive programs and its wealth of resources make it appealing to investors

What makes Ibaraki an ideal invest-ment destination?We can attract factories because are we close to Tokyo and have reasonable investment costs. We have introduced a ¥5 billion ($44.3 million) incentive program to support companies that want to set up headquarters here, including foreign investors. We offer good FDI conditions, human resources, government subsidies, and networking with universities, research institutions and major corporations. Ibaraki has everything investors could need.

What are your priority areas for Ibaraki?My main goal is to create quality jobs that will encourage youths to stay in Ibaraki. This is an area blessed with rich nature and resources, tools to motivate our young people to stay. Other key priorities are improving innovation, healthcare and education. We will also create special events that will contribute to brand creation. We are trying to create a higher quality brand for Ibaraki while lowering costs for investors.

Q&A KAZUHIKO ŌIGAWA, GOVERNOR OF IBARAKI PREFECTURE

“We have introduced a $44.3 million incentive program to support companies that want to set up headquarters here”

The world has become smaller and smaller, and we need to consider a suitable future with new technology

Yoshiyuki Sankai, President and CEO, Cyberdyne

Nagano has adopted major goals to shift energy policy and help take care of the global environment

Shuichi Abe, Governor of Nagano Prefecture

Left: On a clear day, Happo Pond reflects the Hakuba Sanzan mountain range. Upper right: The 65-feet-high Snow Walls Corridor connects Nagano and Toyama prefectures. Lower right: Shirahone Onsen is a historical hot spring in Matsumoto city, Nagano. NAGANO PREFECTURE/JNTO/TOURISM COMMISSION OF HAKUBA VILLAGE

The Tsukuba Science City is home to many of Japan’s foremost research initiatives, such as the Tsukuba Space Center. JAXA/JNTO

New Digital Economic DirectionsTsukuba in Ibaraki prefecture gathers G20 ministers to chart the future of the world economy

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JUNE 15-16, 2019 JUNE 8-9, 2019

MINISTERIAL MEETING ON ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH MINISTERIAL MEETING ON TRADE AND DIGITAL ECONOMY

KARUIZAWA, NAGANO PREF. TSUKUBA, IBARAKI PREF.

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1. The Dogo Onsen bathhouse in Matsuyama. It was built in 1984 on one of Japan’s most famous hotsprings. DOGO ONSEN

2. Cherry blossoms in from of the Osaka Castle, which dates back to 1583. OSAKA CONVENTION & TOURISM BUREAU

3. Seafood (Okijiru) soup prepared with fresh ingredients from Japan’s emerging gastronomic capital, Niigata. JNTO

4. The 300-year-old Korakuen Garden in Okayama is one of the world’s most celebrated Japanese gardens. SHUTTERSTOCK

5. The Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival in Fukuoka involves racing one ton floats through the city streets. JNTO

6. The 38-story-high Ushiku Daibutsu statue in Ibaraki Prefecture is the world’s tallest Buddha statue. SHUTTERSTOCK

7. The Nagoya City Science Museum is home to one of the world’s largest planetariums. SHUTTERSTOCK

8. The gentle slopes of the Niseko Annupuri International Ski Area in Hokkaido. JNTO

9. The famed Japanese snow monkeys bathing in a hotspring near the resort town of Karuizawa. JNTO

Discover the Secrets of Japan

The diverse Japanese regions hosting the G20 meetings offer an alternative roadmap for visitors who want to explore the authentic side of Japan

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