POLICY & DIPLOMACYVISION FOR A DIGITALGARDEN CITY NATIONACHIEVING RURAL-URBAN DIGITAL INTEGRATION AND TRANSFORMATIONDECEMBER 28, 2021

To maintain future prosperity in the outlying regions of Japan and to encourage many people around the world
to gain a deeper understanding of and connection with the country’s rural areas, Prime Minister Kishida has put
forward his Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation, which aims to achieve rural-urban digital integration andtransformation.
The vision focuses on four broad initiatives, as follows:Ⅰ

Building digital infrastructure

90%5G coverage

The first is the building of digital infrastructure that stretches to every corner of the country, comprising
the following four goals: 1. The completion, in roughly three years, of a digital superhighway using submarine
cables surrounding the islands of Japan; 2. The building of more than a dozen regional data centers in about fiveyears; 3. Making optical fiber a universal service by 2030, with 99.9% coverage of households, and; 4. Achieving
5G coverage for 90% of the Japanese population by the end of fiscal 2023 (March 31, 2024). With thoseobjectives completed, it will be possible to use high-speed, large-capacity digital services anywhere in Japan.

IIDeveloping and securing
human resources with digital skillsNEW

digital services

The third initiative builds on the first two initiatives to provide new digital services. For example, thefollowing goals will be being worked towards: 1. Realizing an agriculture sector by 2025 in which almost all
farmers in the country will practice “smart agriculture” with advanced technology—including AI, robots, andIoT—for improved efficiency and productivity in the face of labor shortages due to an aging population; 2.
Implementing new mobility service initiatives across about 40% of local governments nationwide, such as
setting up mobile clinics to eliminate medical disparities among regions; 3. Achieving digital transformation
at approximately 70% of all logistics companies, including the use of drones and automated delivery robots,by fiscal 2025 (ending March 31, 2026); 4. Providing an educational ICT environment that is fair andoptimized individually for each child, by distributing a digital device to each student attending school. The
aim is to let children from diverse backgrounds
further develop their qualities and abilities
without anyone being left behind; 5. Working
on revitalizing the country’s outlying regions
through digital technologies, by carrying out
such actions as promoting remote work atsome 60% of all local public organizations so
as to create a flow of people and work, and; 6.
Utilizing digital tools to connect local small
and medium-sized enterprises with overseas
businesses, so as to introduce the advantages ofJapanese products more widely and deeply.
Top: In November 2021, Prime Minister Kishidavisited Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi
High School to inspect a class making use of ICT.
Left: Digital technology is being introduced into
Japanese agriculture to improve the efficiency offarm work and the quality of products.
Right: The imminent use of drones to deliver
packages to depopulated areas is highly
anticipated.

2.3

millionhuman resources

The second initiative is the development and securing of tech-savvy human resources. Aiming at theacquisition of powerful digital skills on the part of university students and those receiving vocational training,etc., the initiative will establish a program to annually train 450,000 personnel to be responsible for thepromotion of digitalization in local regions, by the end of fiscal 2024 (March 31, 2025), reaching a total of 2.3
million by 2026.
The Tsuruoka Science Park, located among the beautiful rural
scenery surrounding Tsuruoka City in Yamagata Prefecture in
northern Honshu, is home to research institutes and venturecompanies that continue to create innovative technologies.

III Implementing digital services to solve rural issues

Ⅳ Initiatives to leave no one behind

10,000digitalization supporters

The fourth initiative will, in addition to the previous three initiatives, establish a human-resource support
system to promote and realize a digital society where no one is left behind and where everyone can enjoy
the benefits of digital technologies regardless of his or her age, gender, or geographical location, among othercharacteristics. The system will begin in fiscal 2022 (i.e., from April 2022), with more than 10,000 digitalization
supporters nationwide, and will be enlarged as time goes on.

The above four initiatives, using digital technology, will realize new rural environments nationwide that areboth convenient and attractive while maintaining their prosperity, and will revitalize Japan as a whole throughthe bottom-up growth emanating from such areas.