J A PA N

Fourth Industrial Revolution, challenge accepted
A guide to understanding
why Japan is set to re-own
international leadership inthe ‘era of acceleration’
As the dominant force in global
manufacturing in the 1970s and early
1980s, particularly in the consumer
electronics industry, Japan became
an economic juggernaut and a poster
boy for technological innovation.
However, what followed hassince become commonly known
as the “Lost Decades”: a period of
economic decline characterized bya loss of ground to manufacturing
rivals in the Asian region and further
exasperated by the global financial
crisis in 2008.
The pendulum though has swung
once again, and this period in the run
up to 2020 – the year Japan will hostthe Olympics – is being marked as
the country’s great comeback to
manufacturing competition, while
the nation itself is tipped to becomea new leader in the so-called Fourth
Industrial Revolution.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution,
or 4IR, is best described as a rangeof new technologies – artificial intelligence, robotics and nanotechnology, for instance – that are fusing
the physical, digital and biologicalworlds, and impacting all disciplines, economies and industries.
If there is one sector that will betransformed more than any other,
it is manufacturing, especially as
demand for better products at abetter cost in a market defined byconstant innovation exponentially
increases.

Like any revolution, there will
be winners and losers, so Japan, it
seems, couldn’t have timed its manufacturing comeback much better. On
the back of Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe’s eponymous ‘Abenomics’ strategy and Japanese industry’s great globalization push, the country shipped$645.2 billion worth of goods internationally last year, up by 11.1% since2009 when the economic recession
kicked in, and up 3.2% from 2015.
Yuji Kaneko, President of oneof the world’s leaders in electrical discharge machinery, Sodick,believes that such figures showthat international appreciation forJapan’s renowned innovative spirit
is finally returning.
“China has been winning in termsof cost efficiency, but Japan has beenregaining its strength as the technological leader,” he says. “For Japan,
optimization of products makes ourstrength, and it is the reason behind
our latest sales increase.”
There are certain sub-sectors directly linked to the 4IR where Japanis particularly in prime position toprosper. The global industrial robotics
market for example – in which Japanis already a pioneer – is expected to
grow at an annual rate of 12% toreach $79.5bn by 2022.
Yoshiharu Inaba, Chairman and
CEO of FANUC – Japan’s leading
robotics company – believes thesignificance of such growth will behistorically monumental.
“With the invention of steam engines, Britain’s industrial revolution
boosted the efficiency of manufacturing processes,” he says. “In today’s revolution, the steam engine
has been replaced with Internet ofThings and robotics, but the outcome will be the same: greater efficiency and greater speed.”
Shozo Kawanishi, President andCEO of Yamato Scale, a pioneer inmultihead weighing technology, puts
the new technological revolution into
greater historical perspective, comparing the changes afoot to the monumental economic transformation the
country went through in 1940s.
“After World War II, the Japanese economy and industry developed incredibly rapidly,” he recalls.
“The reason for this soaring growth
was due to the reputation of the‘Made in Japan’ products. Our prod-“Japan’s forte is increating high-quality
authentic products”
Kazuhiro Kashio,
President, CASIO
ucts were synonymous with quality
and reliability, and the world knew
them as such.”
If Japan is indeed to undergo asimilar transformation during 4IR,
cementing its status as a manufacturing and economic giant once
again, then the focus now must be
on how to carry its recent progress
firmly into the future. That means education, stresses Takashi Matsuoka,
President at Doshisha University.
“AI will have a tremendous role insociety in the future,” he says. “Therefore, it is important that universities
diversify and create courses fromthe perspective of humanities while
involving AI technology. I do believe
Japanese universities are ready to
educate students who can lead thefourth industrial revolution in the
coming years.”Japan Inc. leverages monozukuri philosophy
The art of excellence
still drives JapanesecompetitivenessJapan’s acclaimed monozokuri philosophy – that trademark creativity
and craftsmanship responsible for thecountry becoming synonymous with
innovation – has been put on trial overthe past few years as its manufacturing industry faltered.
Some Western observers in particular suggest that Japan’s supposedly extreme conservative corporate
culture is to blame for hampering its
innovative output and claim the country has lost its crown as the king ofelectronics. More specifically, critics
say, the Japanese have focused too
much on developing products and lesson adapting to customer needs.
However, with manufacturingexports from the archipelago having bounced back strongly recently,
Japan is proving its critics wrong.
While this is happening on one
hand through switching to moreof a business-to-business (B2B)
approach to manufacturing (see“Our competitors makegeneric products, andthen let their clientschoose which one suits
them best. Our company
adapts its products to theneeds of its customers”“Because we operate
globally, our sales structure extends all aroundthe world, and we have amaterial presence in almost all of the countries
in which we operate”

Koichi Ogata, President, Nitta
Gelatin Inc.

Yuji Kaneko,
President, Sodick

page 5), on the other hand, Japanese companies are also refocusing
on the unique strength that saw thenation become a creative powerhouse in the first place: monozokuri.
“People engaged in the manufacturing sector thrive to produce
high-quality products in order tomake their customers as happy
as possible,” says Jun Yamaguchi,
President of Tokuriki Honten.
Japan Inc.’s entrenched commitment to quality and precision has indeed led the country to be reputed for
its technical infallibility, and in the eraof increased technological complexity,
reliability is a golden attribute. Alongwith this reliability that Japanesemanufacturers provide, in responseto the criticism they have received,
corporations are now putting greater
emphasis on customization to caterfor the needs of clients’ demands.
“If the forte of Japanese companies is in making high quality products, their weakness is in launching
their products into the market,”admits Kazuhiro Kashio, Presidentof CASIO. “Our future objective is
to make new products, while alsoenhancing the user value, usability
and usefulness of existing devices.
“Today, the best-selling smart
watches are made by Apple. However, our focus is not on making thebest-selling smart watch, but insteadon making something that will offer
value and usefulness for the users.”
This is a way of thinking today
being shared across the board in Japan, from watchmaking to gelatin
production.
“Our competitors make genericproducts, and then let their clientschoose which one suits them best.
Our company adapts its products tothe needs of its customers,” explains
Koichi Ogata, President of Nitta
Gelatin Inc. -- a world leader in the
manufacture of food, pharmaceutical and technical gelatins.

“Manufacturing plays
an essential role for the
economy, and we want
to offer our manufacturing clients IT products
and services to boost
efficiency of production
procedures”
Fujio Tahara, President, CEC“We tailor-make our solutions tosatisfy our client’s demand,” adds Mr.
Ogata. “While this creates many difficulties, it allows us to create a bondwith our partners, making sure thatthey do not switch to the competition.”
Such an increased emphasis on
adapting to the differing preferences of customers is linked closely
to the globalization of commerce – aconcept welcomed more so now inJapan than ever before in its history.
Yuji Kaneko, President of Sodick,identifies this trend as especially significant in how Japanese companies
are now approaching doing business.
“Our philosophy of client care ispursued thanks to our internationalbases,” he says. “Because we operate globally, our sales structure extends all around the world, and wehave a material presence in almost
all of the countries in which we operate. This global presence allows us toactively solve our clients’ problems.”
As for smaller, independent
Japanese firms such as Computer
Engineering & Consulting Ltd.
(CEC) which hasn’t yet become fullyinternational, then embracing thisnew, more outward-looking andcustomer-driven strategy is quite
clearly the objective.
“My personal goal is for thiscompany to create ‘Made in Japan’software products that can be usedworldwide,” says CEC president, Fujio Tahara. “Manufacturing plays anessential role for the economy, andwe want to offer our manufacturing clients IT products and services
to boost efficiency of production
procedures.”Riken drives performance with its
cutting-edge and cultivated technology
The autoparts maker,
whose advanced pistonrings can be found incars around the world,
has developed a diverse
portfolio of groundbreaking
technologies thatwill promote further
development of global
industries
Technology moves fast in the automobile industry, with some of
the world’s brightest engineers
working in the R&D departmentsof the likes of BMW, Mercedes,
Toyota, Nissan and the Detroit
3. In turn car part suppliers tothese leading carmakers muststay ahead of the curve, by constantly adapting and developing
new technologies.
One such company that has
been doing this for decades isJapanese firm, Riken Corp. Riken’s
predecessor company was founded in 1927 by The Institute ofPhysical and Chemical Research(now known as RIKEN), which isJapan’s largest and most comprehensive research organization
for basic and applied science. Its
purpose is to commercialize its
advanced inventions, as exemplified by the innovative piston ring
manufacturing method it crafted
90 years ago.
Since its foundation, Riken’s
management has nurtured a culture of innovation amongst its

employees, which has allowed for
global competitiveness and expansion. With piston rings as oneof its core businesses, Riken has
evolved into a leading manufacturer of high-performing automotive
and other functional components.
According to the company,
half of Japanese cars aroundthe globe are equipped with its
piston rings. Riken’s advanced
and custom-made piston rings
are also in high demand in theprofessional racing world, such asin NASCAR and in the race carsthat compete in the 24-hour raceof Le Mans.
In response to concerns forthe environment, engines havebeen dramatically improved interms of offering higher fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
Piston rings may not be much to
look at, but their important rolein overall engine performancecannot be understated.
“The general public may not
be fully aware of the incredible
impact our piston rings have on
fuel consumption,” says Chairman
and CEO Noritada Okano. “Thereis no end to improving fuel efficiency. We must therefore makeour best efforts to provide innovative solutions that help lead tomore efficient fuel consumption.”
Piston rings are a key component at the heart of the engine,
the power cylinder unit (PCU),
and they have evolved in tandemwith the advancements in overall engine performance. Riken iscurrently concentrating its R&D

efforts on the development ofhigh-performance PCU systems
technology. In 2015, it enteredinto a partnership with major
German piston maker, KS Kolbenschmidt GmbH, in order toenhance the PCU systems capabilities of both companies, and toprovide advanced PCU solutions
to their customers.
Thanks to its materials technologies, precision processing
and state-of-the-art heat management and various surface
treatment technologies, Riken
has developed a diverse range ofhigh-tech products that are used
in a variety of industries beyond
the automobile industry.
Riken’s superior metal sealing
products can be found in nuclear
power plant turbines and in rockets. The company also supplies
high-end heater modules to leading manufacturers of semiconductors, glass and industrial furnaces; while its advanced plastic
products are used for a variety
of applications, including in automatic transmissions for cars.
It also has a sophisticated EMC(Electromagnetic Compatibility)
engineering business group.
“All of these product developments were made possible thanks
our core technological competencies and the innovative spiritthat is inherited from our RIKEN
roots,” says Mr. Okano.
“I believe there should bemany diversification opportunities for us across a broad range ofindustries. Another focus is to ex-“We are constantly
looking abroad for
expansion opportunities
and we are enhancing
sales activities in the
U.S., Europe and otherforeign markets”
Noritada Okano, Chairman
and CEO, Riken Corp.

pand the application of our coretechnologies to non-automobile
areas.”
This year is Riken’s 90th
anniversary. Going forward inline with its new mid-term plan
through 2020, Riken is pursuing“Growth through Diversification” and “Pioneering Technologies”, and is accelerating its
activities to provide advanced
solutions and groundbreaking
products to address global challenge such as climate change,
and to promote further development of industries aroundthe world.

Innovation behind the scenes
Real innovation might bewhere you least expect it
Traditional technology pioneer
Japan has faced increasingly
stiff competition from the likes
of Korea, Taiwan and China inthe manufacturing stakes in recent years, and in many cases,
has been completely overtakenby its regional counterparts ininternational consumer markets
as some of the country’s mostwell-known technology brands
have experienced a dramatic fallfrom grace.
To the outsider looking in,
it would seem that Japan has
somewhat lost its characteristic innovative edge. Both theJapanese and industry experts
alike, however, argue that this isfar from the truth. While goods
made by once-leading Japaneseelectronics firms such as Sharp
and Toshiba may have beensteadily and undeniably replacedby gadgets from their Asian competitors on department store

shelves, the country’s manufacturers are indeed still aheadof the game in the technology
sphere, only in areas where it’s
not so obvious to customers.
Though innovation is most often discussed in a business-toclient (B2C) context, with B2C
companies (who brand, package and sell the final product)earning most of the credit, manybusiness-to-business (B2B) companies who operate in a more behind-the-scenes role – supplying
vital parts and research – havealso earned recognition for theirpioneering work. It is in this B2B
field where Japan continues tolead the way, just as it did in the
B2C market during the 80s.
Where once TVs and audio
equipment were the icons of Japanese innovation, it is now withthe likes of semiconductor devices,bullet train design, and robotics(in other words, products thatyour normal, everyday consumer
wouldn’t buy) in which the country
has an edge over its competitors.
Being a leader in this field,
B2B innovation in Japan is by nomeans a new thing. With Korea,

Taiwan and China having assumed
the role of mass electronics producers, leaving the consumer
market no longer cost-effective
for Japan to focus on given thecompetition, it’s only recently
however that the B2B segment
has come more to the fore.
“These nations focus on replicability and mass-production, while
we focus on customization,” explains Yoshiharu Katsuta, President of consumer electronics
firm, Maxell, regarding the shift.
“Most technologies developed byneighboring Asian countries havealready been made by Western
firms, so their success resides inlessening the cost of operations.
However, when it comes to constructing electronic components
and structural part, the Japanesespirit of monozukuri has a greatcompetitive advantage.”
It’s this deep tradition for
creativity in Japan (think of thepainstaking effort that goes into
making sushi or origami) that has
allowed Japanese firms to prosper in the technically complicatedprocesses involved in making vital
components, affirms Mr. Katsuta.
“Manufacturing the pieces
that will enable the end productto be assembled requires technique, expertise and professionalism; and Japanese monozukuri
offers just that. So, while we cannot compete in terms of assembling ready-to-use devices, we
remain extremely competitivein technological manufacturing.”
This is a sentiment and experience shared by a whole host ofJapan’s B2B manufacturing firms,
the majority of whom cannot
count on internationally-famousbrand status among the generalpublic, but are no less respected
and recognized as important pioneers in the world of innovation.
And it’s not just in the hightech realm in which Japan
continues to blaze a trail. The
reasons given for the ongoing
success behind the country’s B2B
manufacturing industry remain
largely the same no matter who
you talk to, be it an electronics
firm or a gold-refining company,
such as Tokuriki Honten. They all
attribute Japan’s achievementsin the sector to the country’s long
tradition for invention.
“Our greatest competitive advantage is based on our Japanesestyle of manufacturing,” says
Tokuriki Honten’s president, Jun
Yamaguchi. “We have a long history of almost 300 years, andduring this time, we have always focused our business on
precious metals. We have built
a reputation of creditability by
selling high quality bullions andprecious metals to industries andjewelers.”“Japan has a foundation ofhigh-quality technology,” headds. “By focusing on capturing
what the market wants or needs,
we will remain strong.”

Jun Yamaguchi,
President, Tokuriki Honten

Hirokazu Nakajima,
Chairman, Kodenshi Corp.

Aside from the spirit of monozukuri, Mr. Yamaguchi also highlights another ancient Japanesephilosophy as a factor in the
country’s manufacturing successstory: omotenashi (roughly translated as hospitality, and the trait
responsible for Japan’s worldrenowned customer service).
“The major feature that composes Japanese manufacturingis the ability to tailor the manufacturing process to our users’
needs,” he says. “We want tomake customers happy. In Japan,
there is a famous phrase whichis ‘The Customer is God’.”
Semiconductor manufacturer
ROHM is another example of aJapanese company that embraces both philosophies.
“First, ROHM has always applied the strictest standards ofquality to all of its products andprocesses, and we strive to improve our activities every day,”says president Satoshi Sawamura.
“Second, we hold customer satisfaction as one of the key priorities
for business success. In addition,
one of our core characteristics isthat this philosophy is not sharedby our top management only, it isembraced by all employees.”

Though B2B companies by nature are not very customer facing,
Omotenashi certainly applies tobusiness clients as well. Combinedwith their well-established reputation for world-class innovationand technological expertise, thismakes Japanese B2B firms a
popular partnership choice forinternational
manufacturers.
And such partnerships are only
likely to multiply going forward
as collaboration between multinational innovators increases inorder to confront growing global

Proudly Sponsored By:

Satoshi Sawamura,President, ROHM
challenges, such as in health andenvironment issues.
“Our next step is to move towards
a smart society,” says Hirokazu Nakajima, Chairman of Kodenshi Corp,
on the common challenges that lies
ahead. “When talking about building a smart society, the elements
are first smart cities and smart
transportation, then smart life, forexample medical equipment andenvironmental care. These are elements which will make our lives
more comfortable, and which weare developing.”

Rise of the robots

Smart machines save employment, increase productivity and enhance reliability. Welcome to the future.

The fourth industrial revolution is
set to transform the way we work
but few sectors will feel the effectsof these changes more than global
manufacturing companies.
Japan is positioning itself at
the forefront of this change andwith its expertise in manufacturing, particularly in consumer electronics, the country is emerging
as a key player. It shipped $645.2
billion worth of goods last year
and is now in the midst of shifting its focus from being simply a
producer of consumer goods tohaving interests throughout the
manufacturing chain.
The country’s pioneering development and use of robotics
throughout the manufacturingindustry is providing notable results, and with the global industrial
robotics market expected to reach$79 billion by 2022, Japan is wellplaced to capitalize.

“We are the pioneers of automation and robotization for manufacturing sites,” explains Yoshiharu
Inaba, Chairman and CEO at FANUC, which provides automation
products and services such as
robotics and computer numericalcontrol systems.
The company, which had its
beginnings as part of Fujitsu, is
one of the largest makers of industrial robots in the world anddeveloped early numerical control
and servo systems, something Mr.
Inaba says now sets it apart fromits competitors.
“Throughout our years of operation, we have developed a unique
set of skills based on experience.
This accumulation of expertise allows us to advance and progressin a tough competitive environment, adds Mr. Inaba, who says
the company has catered for B2B
operations throughout its history.

ANNUAL SUPPLY OF INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS
CHINA

JAPAN

NORTH
AMERICACANADA / MEXICO
U.S.A.
thousands
160

TOTAL FORECAST ON AVERAGE PER YEARCHINA 2017-2019 + 20%
CHINA 2016-2019 + 5%
NORTH AMERICA 2016-2019 Between 5 - 10 %

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

FORECAST
Source: IFR World Robotics 20162019

“Our technical expertise is coupledwith the preciseness of Japanesemanufacturing.”
Indeed, producing productswith remarkably low deficit levels
has become a mainstay for Japanese manufacturers and companies such as FANUC see this, anddelivering greater efficiency, as
central to their business. Sony’s
automation activities, for example,
have reduced defect rates from2000 to 20 parts per million.
Mr. Inaba argues that robotics
will not only improve manufacturing processes but deliver a “society
where there would only be threework days of five hours for an evenbetter result and delivery. The decrease of manufacturing work will
also create an increase for serviceoriented jobs.
“Relying on automation processes and robots will be one of thesolutions to answer our decreasing
workforce and aging population,”he adds. “However, this solution
is clearly not limited to Japan for
it will be applicable to the entire
world. Our industry is focused on
developing robots that can help
human beings. The idea is to havemachines, robots and such, dothe heavy and monotonous labor,
while humans focus on precise andunique work.”
The motoring industry remains
the global leader in the use of robotics, but electronics and metalfirms are catching up fast withsales of industrial robots expected
to rise to 2.6 million in 2019, up
from 1.8 million today. Despite
such rapid growth, Mr. Inaba says
ensuring the safety of the robotics environment remains the mostimportant consideration for thisbooming industry.

“We are the pioneers ofautomation and robotization for manufacturing sites”
Yoshiharu Inaba, Chairman
and CEO, FANUC“To secure the safety of ourrobots, we have implemented ourunique Dual Check Safety (DCS, akind of dual circuit) function for allof our products, so that if one of
our robots does something wrong,
it immediately stops itself autonomously,” he explains.
“Alongside this DCS function,
we also apply optical sensors sothat if a human ever puts a handin the way of the robot, the latter isable to recognize it and stop. These
two examples are but a drop of themany activities that we conduct
to ensure the utmost security of
our robots.”
FANUC has also developed aunique open platform called the
FIELD system, which allows thestatus of every operation to bevisualized, resulting in smootheroperation and enhanced efficiency.
“One of the key characteristicsof this FIELD system is that it
enables robot-to-robot communication,
machine-to-machinecommunication, as well as communication amongst robots andmachines,” says Mr. Inaba, who
adds that AI technologies are also
being adopted. It is another indication of just how quickly FANUC,
and this forward-looking sector asa whole, is adapting to a rapidlychanging world.

The future of productivity and growth in thesemiconductor industry passes by automation
By implementing the rightautomatic systems, manufacturers can improve theirfactories’ productivity bymore than 20 percent
They may be small but the global
semi-conductor business has growninto a seriously big industry. Worldwide sales reached $335 billion in2015, up 15 percent on 2012’s figures, according to statistics fromthe World Semi-Conductor Trade
Statistics (WSTS), and this competitive market looks likely only to growfurther over the coming years.
U.S. manufacturers remain the largest player in the sector, accounting forabout half of worldwide semi-conductor sales over recent years, but in sucha tough environment, keeping one stepahead of the competition has become
an obligatory survival technique.
Automation is one area in whichsemi-conductor companies are look-ing to improve their productivity
when it comes to manufacturing,
avoiding manual handling as muchas possible to ensure fewer errors.
Companies such as RORZE Corp.
have grown in importance as theindustry has matured and are now
offering a variety of solutions thathave become critical to the successof the semi-conductor manufacturing industry.
“Our goal is to bring the next majorinnovation in the automation of thesemiconductor industry,” explains Yoshiyuki Fujishiro, President and CEO
of Japan-based RORZE. “Our founders invented the clean robot which
was a significant achievement in thesemiconductor industry. Our team is
the generation that will create thenext innovation in this industry.”
RORZE was founded in 1985 andnow has manufacturing centers located throughout Asia, including inJapan, South Korea, Taiwan and
Vietnam, as well as in the U.S. The

GLOBAL MARKET SHARE OF
SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTION, 2015

JAPAN 11%EU 9%
CHINA 4%OTHER 3%

KOREA 17%TAIWAN 6%
U.S.A. 50%
Source: SIA/World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS)/IHS/PwC/IC Insights
Share based on headquarters of seller: Foundry output not included, fabless included

company was founded by Mr. Sakiya,
who came up with the idea of beltfree robots, and it is now focused on
further inventions in the field withmore than 40 patents related to automation and clean substrate handling of wafers, LCD substrates andmitigation of particles to its name.
It is this focus, says Mr. Fujishiro,
and delivering ever greater levels of
reliability that is enabling RORZE
to maintain and grow its market
position and client base.
“Semiconductor device manufacturers make large investments forthe best manufacturing equipment,that must operate 24 hours a day,seven days a week. Therefore reliability is the most important factor
to maintain high productivity and highperformance. RORZE offers just that.”
RORZE is also focused on delivering new innovations to the market toensure its position within this growing
sector. Semi-conductors are present
in an array of products that look likely
to emerge as everyday items – fromdriverless cars to computing devices
and so-called smart city infrastructure – meaning endless avenues ofopportunity for the Japanese firm.
The company has already started working on a three-way projectwith Intel and Sony by providingthem with semi-conductor technology. The new technology allows
robots to recognize the problem
in advance. And the smart robot
can signal the need for preventive
maintenance because of the IoT(Internet of Things) technology
we developed,” says Mr. Fujishiro.
The RORZE president adds that innovation within the company occurs
in a methodical manner, ensuring all

Yoshiyuki Fujishiro, President
and CEO, RORZE Corp.
new products are built to deliver longterm value, even if the research anddevelopment process is sometimes
costlier than that of its competitors.
“When we design a new productin our company, we do so in the
RORZE way,” says Mr. Fujishiro.
“For example, the engineer that designs a part will do so thinking aboutmaximum quality. That mindset has
an impact on the cost of operation,
however, we have the same kind ofunderstanding of what the Rorze way
is. So when we create new products,
we target a balanced approach thatmeets customer’s long-term satisfaction, and that is the Rorze way.”
The company has establisheditself as an industry leader in offering so-called “ultra-clean substrate
handling solutions” and it also offers both atmospheric and vacuum
robots to the industry. Mr. Fujishiro
is clear that innovation, something
RORZE is well versed in, is a vital
weapon to ensure survival in thisfiercely competitive industry.
“We have a motto created by our
founders, which translated means‘create what is not in the world’.
This is our company’s culture, whichis passed onto our employees. At
RORZE, we have embraced this philosophy and we believe that it is ourlegacy to create new innovations.”At the forefront of green manufacturing
International agreements to
reduce CO2 emissions due
to climate change, stringent
environmental regulation,and growing demand fromconsumers for energy efficient goods are amongst
the main factors that haveforced the world’s manufacturers to go green, be it in
the products they create orin the manufacturing processes behind themJapan has put itself at the forefrontof the green manufacturing revolution. Innovative Japanese companies
have made Japan a global leader inenvironmental-friendly
products,
from top selling green vehicles likethe Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf,
to energy-saving paint developed bycompanies like NCK.
Other green products made by
Japanese household names leading
the charge include Toshiba’s aerocyclone vacuum cleaner, Mitsubishi’s
FHT fluorescent lamp, Yamaha’s
Cygnus X scooter, Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion refrigerator, and Canon’s
range of Inkjet printers made fromrecycled plastic.
“Many companies, especially within
the manufacturing sector, have beenpromoting energy saving technology in Japan,” says Yasunori Tsujita,
President and CEO of Fuyo General
Lease, a company mainly engaged
in the leasing and installment sales
trading of equipment and fixtures, aswell as financial transactions. “As wehave come to this era of environmental
focus, a lot of these companies havebeen putting in efforts to facilitate

this movement. I believe we can really make a difference, and there has
been an increasing demand for thosetechnologies internationally.”
Aside from zero-energy vehicles,
Japan is also leading the way in theconstruction of zero-energy houses(ZEH), thanks to manufacturers like
Sekisui House, which has built over
25,000 ZEHs to date. The Japanese
government has set a target that halfof newly built houses will meet zeroenergy standards by 2020.
But it’s not just Japanese products
themselves that adhere to high environmental standards. The majorityof Japanese companies also ensure
their factories and manufacturing
processes comply with the highest
environmental, waste management
and energy efficiency standards.
Fujitsu, for example, uses ICT to improve the environmental performanceof products and minimize the energy
used to manufacture them.
Another example is Takasago
Thermal Engineering, a company
whose main activity is the manufacturing of eco-friendly heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The company leverages the mostadvanced technologies in every stage
from planning and design, installationand construction, and maintenancefor all types of buildings, plants, andother facilities, to achieve the highest
environmental standards.
“As we advance into the future,nations and companies alike are increasingly committed to environmental issues,” says the company’s chairman and CEO, Atsushi Ouchi. “Forexample, the former COP22 objective advocated for a lowering of the
carbon footprint, but today, they are
advocating full de-carbonization. It
is proof that the world’s mindset has

been changing a lot. Our core businessis air conditioning, and that directly
deals with energy consumption.
“Through our products, we try
to attain environmental friendlinessby lessening energy consumption.
Because we deal with our clients following a business-to-business model,
as long as we are able to manufactureand sell environmentally friendly products, we are directly contributing tosociety. Furthermore, we educate our
employees through green activities.
We made up our own word: “GreenAir-Activities”, and we have established the Takasago forest initiative.”
Takasago is also adopting fourthindustrial-revolution
technologies
such as the Internet of Things andartificial intelligence (AI) to improvegreen performance of its products
and at its production plants, which isa growing trend amongst innovative
Japanese manufacturers.
Takashi Matsuoka, President ofDoshisha University believes that AI
will play a “tremendous role” in addressing societal challenges such as
climate change, and that universities
like his will be responsible for churningout graduates with the relevant technical skills to address these challenges.
“We need to emphasize the importance for the students to have a globalized perspective. This is an important
step in terms of how we respond to
the fourth industrial revolution.
“To this end, it is important to havea strong collaboration between academia and industry. A more global
approach is needed to address futurechallenges.”
Like Takasago’s Mr. Ouchi, Hirokazu Nakajima, chairman of opticalsemiconductor device manufacturer
Kondenshi Corp., is also confident
that his company can contribute togreener future through its innovative
products: “There are many worldwide problems related to energy
consumption and consumption of
resources. At Kodenshi, we hope todigitalize many of these problems,and by doing so, we will become acompany that contributes to society
by producing a clean future.”“Japanese universities
are ready to educate students who can lead thefourth industrial revolution in the coming years”
Takashi Matsuoka,
President, Doshisha University#TheWorldfolio#JapanTheWorldfolio

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