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Mail: info@japancivilization.org
http://www.japancivilization.org/

Newsletter Vol. 14 Winter 2019

On 5th December 2018, the 14th
Symposium of the Japanese Civilization
Institute took place. Mr. Yoichi
Ochiai—Media artist and Associate
Professor at University of Tsukuba—gave a special lecture under the theme,“Thinking about Japan after 2021.” Hetalked in depth about his research,about his vision toward the new era after2020 in which the Tokyo Olympics andthe Paralympics take place and about
the social trends that should be solved
with technology. As always, Naoki
In o s e , d i re c t o r o f t h e Ja p a n e s e
Civilization Institute moderated thelecture. Here is an extract from theevent.
(Reprinted from “Shukan Dokushojin,”
1st February 2019, No. 3275 & Web
Dokushojin)

A Report on Our 14th Symposium

Thinking about Japan after 2021
Yoichi Ochiai

Seek new groundswith technology
Ochiai: Firstly, let me briefly introduce myself. I have been calling myself a Media Artist since I graduateduniversity. But since I earned a
Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo in
2015, I have taken 3 positions, oneof which is the head of Digital Nature Laboratory at University ofTsukuba. I also serve as CEO of Pix-

About the groupJapanese Civilization InstituteEstablished in August 2015

vs.

Naoki Inoseie Dust Technologies Inc., which I
founded, and am also the Associate
Professor and Advisor to the President at University of Tsukuba from2017. Lastly, I am the representativeof the JST CREST×Diversity Cross,a university project put forth by the
Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science, and Technology.
As a researcher, I was featured on
the front cover of “Nature Index
2017 Japan,” a database that assembles articles published in sciencejournals worldwide by country andinstitution categories. The title of thearticle was, “National reforms seek
new routes to innovative success.”
Most Japanese researchers are hiredby the government, but unless wecreate another route, I don’t think Japan will succeed, which is why I’m
trying to find a different route.
So what kind of research do I do?
Let’s have a look from a different angle. If we look at Nihon-no Kenkyu.
com (research-er.jp), it’s done auto-

Address: 24-5 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031
Tel :03-5456-8082 Fax:03-5456-8388
Website: http://www.japancivilization.org/

Designed by artisancompany

Yoichi Ochiai

matically so there are mistakes fromtime to time…expertise are automatically estimated too…engineering/human engineering, science/information science, engineering/generalengineering, social sciences/sociology, engineering/ materials engineering…I guess they’re more or less correct. Estimated keywords that are
related are, artificial arm and leg, visual and tactile function, haptics,
tactile sense display, interaction,
computer-generated hologram,acoustic levitation, hardware, texture
expression…aging.....more or lessright.
Amongst the “Research Projects
that are Underway,” are “Cultivatingproduction techniques for developing a creative, collaborative relationship between human intelligenceand machine intelligence.” Others
include, “Specification development
and problem solving of mass producing Ultrasonic focal point speakers,”“Social implementation of spaceviewing tactile technology based on
ultra AI foundation for a society
with diversity using calculators,” and“Cultivating viewing tactile presentation foundation of multifield.” A
lot of people tell me they don’t understand a word I’m saying when I
explain what these are, but I think
you can see that research is being
done (laugh).
A few billion yen is funded by thecountry for projects appointed by
the government. As people involved

2

in the project, I regard it our responsibility to raise our voices and let
people know what we do and keep
producing while actively stressing
the importance of committing to society.
So, let me introduce what we actually do, not just for research. Let’s
begin with my job as a Media Artist.
One example is something I did
in early 2018, when I was asked tocreate an art piece by TDK for promotion. To being with, I don’t regard
art to be a device for promotion.
Therefore, after stressing that I won’t
be creating an art piece for PR andadvertisement, I made an art piececalled “Silver Floats.” A collaboration
piece with TDK’s technology, I asked
them to film the making process anduse that for advertisement.
What I had in mind was to makea “floating sculpture.” I wanted tomake an object in a shape of wave
sources using mirror surfaces andfloat it while turning it round andround. The sculpture will distort thesurrounding landscape, alter it towaves and blend into the atmosphere. At the same time, we hadthem shoot sequences of us holding
workshops at Silicon Valley and exchanging new ideas about floatingwith Japanese students. I had them
use that process for promotion.
It’s a fun art piece just looking at
it, but that’s not all. Things don’t
float in the air easily. Objects fall to
the ground by gravity unlesssomething stops them. This art piece
was accomplished by blending
control technology and 3D print
technology. This is something that I
do as an artist. Next, I’ll talk a little
bit about my research.
My laboratory does research on
3D image recording photographic
technology. For example, we regularly do an optimized calculation to
float microscopic particles in the air
with a specific acoustic and magnetic field. This art piece was createdfrom the technology acquired during
these kinds of research.

There is the academic conference
SIGGRAPH Asia 2018 held from
December 4th to 7th and our laboratory will announce the highlightsof this year’s research project. About
50 researchers constitute our team.
In 2018, we presented 10 research
projects at academic conferences in
Vancouver in the Summer, and 4
research projects in Tokyo in theWinter.
Inose: What kind of members
constitute your laboratory?
Ochiai: Out of the 50 members wehave, 45 members are students,
among which only one has a Ph.D.
There are 18 members who have an
MA and the rest are undergraduates.
I serve as an associate professor,
while another person serves as an assistant professor. Also, there are two
postdoctoral researchers and one
CTO from my company. Only
those with a Ph. D can present a paper at top conferences, so we’ll be
needing another 3 to 4 years until
the students can present papers.
Meanwhile, I need to make effort.
When I established the laboratory
at the university, I made a promise as
an educational organization to raise
50 students. I kept that promise, sofrom here onwards I’m thinking of
reducing the number of students andp ut more strength in ra isin genergetic researchers with more of an
intimate father-to-son type education.
Inose: You have turned various
research development into practice,
haven’t you?
Ochiai: If I find a social problem
that could be solved with technology, I tackle it whatever the genre
may be. When I’m outside the realmof technology, I see myself as an“eternal amateur.” In that way, I’m
able to create a non-conventional
technology. Besides, I think the person who is faced with the problem

understands the problem the most.
For example, when we look at thesituation of Japanese society today,
we can foresee an increase in people
with bad eyesight in the future,when we consider the accelerating
aging population. In order to deal
with that, one of the things we aredeveloping is a retinal projection
technology. In a recent academic
conference, we exhibited a system toproject direct images to the retinal
without using lenses.
Inose: No lens results in downsizing
too, right? How does it work?
Ochiai: We developed a way to use
an optical system that doesn’t use
the lens, that replaces the role of aregular lens, adjusts the focal pointand forms an image. We use a “Retina Projection System” that hardly
has any physical components. It
projects an image directly on the retina. It is a laser projection methodthat calculates hologram patterns according to the depth of field in order to optimize light without a lens.
The image projected onto the retina
is converted to 3 dimensional andby changing the depth of focus witha hologram, an image with depth isreproduced inside the eye.
We have 60 to 70 projects such asthese a year, which sometimes produce good results.
Also, we do research on digital
fabrication. We solve structure deformation and control using simulations done by calculators. Specifically, it’s about trying to build thestructure that constitutes the rangeof motion of a robot by using moves
expressed by a 3DCG animation,
but it’s quite difficult to shapedeforming 3D structures using
optimizing calculation. For example,
it’s easy to express a rabbit bending
its ears with CG moves of a computer. But, if you print this model on a
3D printer, it won’t move the same.
You need to solve the structure
calculation with AI, to understandwhat kind of shape it will becomewith how much pressure from theoutside, and what kind of limits andstructures there are.
A konjac can change its form
whichever way you bend it, but arabbit’s ear should only bend in acertain direction. At the same time,
human joints only bend in certain
directions too, right? We have tothoroughly discuss how we’re goingto make the materials—in this case,the bones or the muscles—before
solving the optimizing calculation.
In the case of a robot picking an
object with its hand, we have todesign the structure required for thatmovement using a software, makehardware based on the material witha 3D printer, and check how it
moves when we maneuver it with anapplication. Only then, are we able
to create something that works.
A laboratory normally only handles the simulation of the softwareand that’s it. Or if it specializes in
hardware, it only designs and builds
prototypes. Our laboratory handles
both software and hardware and finalizes it until it is functional, which
is what’s so hard but fun about ourlaboratory.
Other projects include the development of flexible rigid bodies. A
flexible structure that uses parts cut
by laser cutters and formed by combining patterns designed by computational geometry, can stretch up to
5 times its size. It is a sturdy material
that has many needs such as natural
disasters and outer space missions.
For example, it may come in handy
when you need to cross a riverduring a natural disaster. These aresome of the things that we made andproduced to the world during thesefew months. It’s the kind of things I
do. Also, this is something I did in
2017, but I did research on optimizing sound from ultrasonic speakers.
I’m now trying to find a way to use
these audiovisual devices in different
ways in society.
For example, in 2018 we held a

Naoki Inose

concert under the name, “Transformable Music Performance” todemonstrate what we achieved. We
attached a motion capture to the endof the conductor’s baton and added
tactile technology to the audiences’seats so that the composer’s orchestral world is enticed into the video
system. Through this, the audienceswere able to experience the musicwith their bodies through technology. We also have another version ofthis called, “Music Performance
without the use of ears.”
Inose: I attended the concert andsaw some audience holding a type ofwhite ball.
Ochiai: It’s a system for people withhearing difficulties to enjoy music.
There are few small speakers inside
the white ball that produce tactile
sensations and vibrations. It firststarted when I did a collaboration
with a band called ONE OK
ROCK. We made a jacket withwhich you could listen to the soundusing every aspect of your bodywhen you wear it. They used thisjacket for the band’s promotion,
which was eventually called
O RC H E S T R A J AC K E T. Fe w
dozens of very small speakers areattached to the jacket and when you
put it on, music plays all over you.
Amongst the people who came tolisten to the sound, people withhearing difficulties were the happi-

3est, which led to creating this concert.
Under the context, I’m right now
immersed in X DIVERSITY, agovernment project put forth by JST.
We’re doing research on how we can
support people who lack or havelittle human capabilities using AI
and robotics. Just recently, we hadnews that Hirotada Ototake walked
on his own with artificial legs. That
was something this project developed.
What’s interesting about thisproject is that the 4 people involved,
come from completely different
fields. The members are constantly
holding workshops while creating
something that can be put into
practice in society.
Inose: So you’re saying people fromdifferent fields have assembled forthis project?
Ochiai: It’s a project where people
both assemble in order to solve a
problem and work separately when4

they can.

Using technology
to deal with a nonadjustable modern
world
Ochiai: I have written 6 books
during 2018 alone. The reason why
I write these books is—like I said
before—to tell the world why we’retackling these government projects.
But more importantly, I think it’snecessary for the Japanese society’s
future to send the message to “usetechnology” to the aging populationof 60 and over, who are our main
target. No matter how much you
send these kinds of messages on
SNS, you can’t reach this particular
generation. But we can reach them
if we use books, newspapers, andtelevision. This is exactly what I
wanted to point out in the book I
co-wrote with Mr. Inose too.
Regarding the issue of the declining birthrate and accelerating aging

population, it won’t be such a problem if we are able to land softly, forthe optimization of infrastructure
will absorb the gap. However, if the
population declines drastically all ofa sudden, distortion will occur in thesociety. The global society is seeing arise in population and there aremany young people. Whereas theJapanese local society today is completely the opposite with declining
population and very few young people. When we look at the circumstances of our country today, which
contrasts to the outside world, I
think the fact that there are very few
younger generations younger thanourselves, is going to create a hugeproblem in the future.
First of all, innovations are going
to be scarce in a society where there
are very few young people. There’s
also the issue of lacking workforce.
We’re trying to discover ways to solvethese social problems brought uponby the declining population. The
answer lies in technology.
There have been projects in thepast that attempted to solve theaccelerating aging population issue
with technology, but none of themreally worked. The reason is because
it is very difficult to succeed in thearea because you have to have thefollowing 4 requirements: you needto take advantage of the trend in society and be fully aware of the issue
in question, have advanced abilities
for technological development, bebrilliant in business and have artistic
and entertainment qualities thatreach people’s emotions.
Inose: If you don’t have artistic
qualities, you won’t be able to sharethe image of a changing society if
you take a step.
Ochiai: Exactly. If you take part in amusic concert that incorporates
technology, you can directly feel andunderstand what it’s about. Similarly, if the design is good, you’ll acknowledge it as “cool!” just looking
at it. But the technology needs to bebrilliant and the idea has to be recognized by the society no matter
how cool and advanced the technology is, or else it will simply become
history and someone will look backand say, “hey, remember that guy
who did that...” When all 4 requirements are cleared simultaneously, an
inflection point will occur. I’m
thinking it’s my job to try and think
how to make that happen.
Recently, an essay written in 1930
entitled, “Economic Possibilities for
our Grandchildren” by the economist Keynes is center of attention in
my online salon. Hiroo Yamagata
who translated Thomas Piketty’s“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” is now translating the book. The
content goes like this: “Our situationof the economy is bad right now (inthe middle of the Great Depression
after WWI). But when we look at itin the long run, you can see that theeconomy has developed fast since theend of the 17th Century. This was
possible due to the rapid economic

development and accumulation ofassets/capital. The capital of GreatBritain is continuing to show an increase of 3.25%. If this continues,
the economy will no doubt become
abundant. As a result, a lot of people
will no longer have to work and they
will be able to enjoy their leisure.
Rich people and money lenders up
until now are there to accumulate
the capital. When this is all over,those who are able to live and enjoy
the moment are the ones who will be
respected.” What Keynes is saying
here, I think is quite true.
Other words, we’re busy becauseof the work we produce. For example, if we destroy every computer,put a stop to the film business, thetelevision industry and producing ofcars from tomorrow...If we could destroy everything that was invented
because of technology and start tolive in agriculture and work for justa small amount of food, clothes, andshelter, most people wouldn’t have towork. Our society has already created technology and established a capital required to maintain that, which
Keynes assumed was going to happen.
Furthermore, Keynes points outthat we’re now in a “temporal nonadjustable stage.” This point, I thinkis important. He is saying that we’re
now in a “non-adjustable” stage
which lies before the stage in whichpeople don’t need to work anymore.
From here onwards, we need to pre-pare a soft landing for declining population issues and declining birthrate
and aging population issues by fillingit up with technology. However,these are just preventions to compensate for a non-adjustable society.
I think unless we are aware that
we’re going to use technology to deal
and solve this non-adjustable stage,
we’re not going to be able to feel wehave a bright future ahead of us. We
feel hopeless when we think that thecountry is going to perish because of
the declining birthrate and aging
population, but if we know that it’sfor breaking down the non-adjustable stage, don’t we feel a lot better?
It’s like thinking “I have come downwith the flu, so I’m going to eat
ginger and tuck in and stay warm,”
instead of “I think I’m going todie...” If you think like the latterwithout an assurance that you’regoing to get better, you won’t be able
to heal, even if you can.
Our society has entered the
non-adjustable stage. To prove thispoint, look at some of the very basicsocial systems like Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act
and Waterworks Law, which need revising from scratch. It will be extremely hard for people to make anadjustment to all these malfunctioning factors that are affecting the society, so I think we need to change
everyone’s recognition to adopt technology as a way to deal with thesethings.

5

to attend one wheelchair and it isextremely inefficient. I developed atechnology to move autonomous
wheelchairs. Also, in hearing, “it’sbetter if 2 wheelchairs could move atonce,” I made something that does
exactly that. If you put a marker on
the pathway, it’s very easy to movewheelchairs automatically. If you
also add a marker to the wheelchair,
they can acknowledge each otherand link each other’s moves. For autonomous driving, you need technology to acknowledge surrounding
circumstances and detect and stop if
something gets in the way. We use
AI for this.
Inose: Like storehouses of Amazon?
Ochiai: The framework is similar.
But if you automate the movements,
the experience becomes richer, likeyou get to communicate more. This
society has many problems that canbe solved easily if you just start to
tackle them. Therefore, we need tosolve them one by one.
Inose: So, you’re saying we solvethese issues one by one and recover
the society.
Inose: They relied on the Bank ofJapan to solve the non-adjustableeconomy, but it didn’t work.
Ochiai: Just this morning, I had adiscussion with Mr. Takeshi Sasaki,
former president of the University ofTokyo, and we were talking about
how the Abe Administration is donewith taking measures on financial
and legislative policies. But we neednot be disappointed. From here
onwards, we just need to take anapproach that makes the most oftechnology and software. We needto spread social recognition andaccumulate the know-how not
through the media, but throughinfluencers and small-sized media. I
think that’s the situation we’re inright now.

6

2025—present asolution to the aging
population issue
Ochiai: When you look at thesociety from this kind of angle, you
can find many issues that we cansolve with technology. A good example is automation of wheelchairs.
Inose: Automation of wheelchairs?
Ochiai: Most elderly people aregoing to end up in wheelchairs andit is said that about 15% of work
done by people who look after theelderly are spent pushing theirwheelchairs. When you listen to
their voices, one or two nurses have

Ochiai: In the summer of 2018, Mr.
Shinjiro Koizumi (member of theHouse of Representative) and I
broadcasted an event called “Heisei’s
Final Summer Seminar” on niconico
video. It featured document papers
presented by Kazuto Ataka (CSO of
Yahoo), which became center ofattention. Among them was a data
revealing “The Transition of GDP
by Country.” Japan today, in 2018,
is in third place after the U.S. andChina, more or less the same since1995. German may tie with Japanin the near future. I think this is dueto the “lost 30 years” of Heisei,
during which Japan dragged theirpost-war success story, without avision.
Nikkei News is often pointing outthat research levels of Japaneseuniversities are declining, but I
personally think that this is because
our GDP is not increasing. In Japan,
the GDP for each individual is not a
big problem. But, facilities andequipment used for research arecostly. Equipment worth a billion
yen is necessary to discover one
protein. That research achievement
could become a breakthrough or
could not. Moreover, even if you
submit papers to the “Nature”
magazine, you’re not going to get
paid just for that.
A cultural, affluent society is notmeasured by GDP, but a society witha structure which can move a hugeamount of money for investment.
Moreover, when achievements are
made, every individual should
benefit from it and be able to live an
affluent life. This difference in social
structure is apparent when you lookat research results. Until 2017, about
3,800 essays were submitted atconferences for machine learning,but in 2018, that number increased
to roughly 7,000. 50 % of them are
written by Chinese researchers. Over
60 % of first authors are Chinese
too. It’s become like this because,today, the Chinese economy issoaring like a rising dragon. My research field requires more than acomputer, but core areas of AI research can be done if you have acomputer. If a population of 1.2
billion earn a computer through thebursting economy, AI essays will be
written one after the other andChinese people will conquer famous
academic journals and international
conferences in no time.
Japan is lagging behind in research of digital technology and people say that there are very few essays
written and that corporations are notputting strength in research. But I
think at the bottom of it all is the
economic system that is malfunctioning. The social system is not ripeenough to invest in academic R&D.
There’s also the situation of not being able to combine research achieve-

ments to social issues. This is one
problem we need to think about inthe future.
Also, with the accelerating aging
population, it has been predictedthat in the future, investment for thesociety is going to lessen even more.
At exactly 2025, the people of the“dankai” generation (the generation
born during Japan’s post-war babyboom) are going to become “kokikorei-sha” (elderly people between
75-84). On that year, we’ll behosting the Osaka Expo under thetheme, “Designing Future Society
for our Lives,” but underneath that,
there may be big influences toward
future investments due to financial
reasons. The most populous
generation is going to reach the age
when they need the highest medical
cost. I think unless we come up
with some kind of countermeasureusing technology, we’re not going to
be able to find a way to maintainsustainable growth.
Inose: You’re saying as a developed
country facing challenges, we shouldsolve the medical issue of the elderly
and present it at the Expo?
Ochiai: If we don’t find some kindof solution by then, we’re dead. Perhaps, we won’t even have the power
to build pavilions and we’ll bestanding before abandoned ruins
saying, “they say Japan was devastat-ed land such as this, 80 years ago
too” and end up creating a total failure (laugh). We don’t want that tohappen, so we need to show someresults to make the society better by
2025.
Inose: And we have to connect it tobusiness too.
Ochiai: We only have 7 years toshow some results at the Expo.
That’s why I’m in quite a hurry.
Having said that, I think we canfind some hope in this societysystem. For example, look at thewireless environment that we have.
From 2020, the 5G network will beequipped, which will dramatically
improve our communication speed.
I’m sure those of you who frequently
travel abroad know, but there is noother country like Japan regarding
good reception and signal. I think
the communication environment isbetter here than in Silicon Valley.
China is improving, but when you
think of China as a whole, Japan’s
coverage is higher. Other words,
because Japan is already equippedwith a massive amount of wirelessenvironment, the base required to
excel in robotics and video
transmission—which will become
more important in the future—isalready there.
Inose: Thanks to the notorious tele-7phone poles! In Western countries,
they hid the wires underground tomaintain the view and in China,
there are still areas where they don’t
have electricity.
Ochiai: If you have electricity and a
tower that stands in the air, you canput antennas around it and you’ll
have radio waves transmitted. We
still have pillar-type concrete basestations, so the environment is fully
equipped. The environment isperfect for solving problems.
Inose: Japan is the closest country
to 5G.
Ochiai: And when we think of an
application that matches 5G, theaging population issue exactly fits.
When 5G is introduced andnetwork transmitting delays become
smaller, various social problems canbe solved with robotics, including
remote control of wheelchairs—
which I just talked about—remote
medicine and remote surgery. I
think this is a problem we can solve
if we just put it into practice.
To present some of these processes
and show our ambitions for solving
these issues at the Osaka Expo, weneed to be able to do some demonstrations before the Expo. Therefore,
these projects need to be well underway by now.
At Ginmokusei, a housing for theelderly with home care services
which I have acquaintance with, elderly people serve as shop clerks at asweet shop and kids nearby come tovisit. The mechanism that combines
elderly people to the local community, I think is interesting. An example
Ms. Oishi of Mediva introduced at“Heisei’s Final Summer Seminar”
featured British elderly people withdementia learning how to use iPads
to keep in contact with society. I
think it’s important that we always
incorporate ways to connect andcommunicate with society in ourlives.

8

In the Japanese working framework, people connect strongly withthe society until they reach the age of
60 to 65 years old, but once they retire they lose connection all of a sudden. That’s where the problem lies. I
think it’s a problem that people end
up becoming lonely after theirretirement, like the time when we
didn’t have Internets, despite having
all these different ways to transmit
information like SNS and video
posting sites. It’s not something thattakes up a lot of money, so we needto involve elderly people in our society’s trend of communication. Otherwise, we can’t solve the problem wehave of silver democracy.
The worst scenario is to be stuckat home with no one to talk to.
There are many cases in whichpeople become in need of care or
their dementia progresses when they
start avoiding communication. We
need to think about how we canincrease opportunities to connect
with society using IT.
Inose: A housing for the elderlywith home care services is a new approach. Next, we could turn public
housing to privately operated public
homes and create a share house
where various generations could live
together.
Also, regarding businessmen andtheir retirement issue, I think weneed to drastically change the seniority-wage system and lifetime employment system that we currently have.
It’s very difficult to suddenly startside jobs after retirement, so we needto change the system of just going toand fro work. We could do without
retirement if we could turn work
into something more professional including telework and telecommuting. I think we need to cultivate
something while working as businessmen.

As a developed
country withchallenges, let’s
tackle aging
population issues
Inose: There is a reason why wechose 2025 for the Osaka Expo. It’s
because we won’t take measures
unless we set a goal.
Ochiai: That’s true. If we don’t set a
goal we won’t take measures. We
can’t move without a vision. If we
can solve the problems we have insociety using technology, I thinkother countries will respect Japan.
That’s a good goal.
If young people think that theyshould travel overseas to solve global
issues, it’s half right and half wrong.
Our country is in a peculiar position
facing a unique and strange local
problem that is going to become
center of attention in other Asian
countries in the future too. China issaid to face social issues similar toours in the late 2040s to 2060, andother countries will follow suit andface issues of an aging populationsociety too. Being one of the mostadvanced regions in the area, thequestion is how we’re going to export
our technologies in the future.
I feel America hasn’t changed its
central values ever since Andy Warhol was around. Mickey Mouse ispopular, Coca Cola tastes good andiPhone is useful. But there is no
Coke sold at 1,000 yen and there isno iPhone worth a million yen.
There are of course no Hollywood
films with difficult, contextual
meaning either. America has invested
a large amount of capital in creating
cheap contents that everyone canenjoy. As a result, people around theworld use America’s contents. The
worldview of everybody eating
hamburgers with ketchup is rich inits own way.

Inose: It’s something the Americans
achieved.
Ochiai: Yes. Commodities like
Facebook and Apple emerged as anextension of that. Meanwhile, European countries have a completely
different stance compared to that,with brands like Louis Vuitton and
Don Perignon. European countries
ripen their culture. So, what has Japan produced during the 21st Century? It has converted values of safety, relief, and trust in hardware
products and produced them. Other
words, it made electronic goods that
don’t easily break down and safe cars
which you can entrust your life
upon.
Inose: It took the position of acraftsman, right?
Ochiai: Then Americans gave out
iPhones and smartphones and SNS
spread around the world. No matter

how hard the Japanese people try
and develop applications that are
useful on the Internet, there arelimitations. It’s probably impossible
to solve this non-adjustable society
with commoditized hardware.
It’s likely that rich people no longer want to use smartphones thathave now become mere commodities. They want to use sophisticatediPhones, but there are no high-class
iPhones available. So instead they
put their iPhones in Lois Vuitton
cases. Recently, Android madecommodities out of smartphones
and iPhones have lost its value as a
status symbol. Meanwhile, Chinese
smartphone maker Huawei started
selling smartphones with Leica lens.
European makers are bound tofollow suit and provide high brandsmartphones and smartwatches in
the future. Or maybe, licenses ofLeica, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel
will be inscribed on Chinese hardware.

So what can we do in a societythat is evolving in this way? As I havebeen saying, the answer lies increating assistive devices andequipment for nursing the elderly
using technology. If safety and relief
are brought about in hardware thatsuits our lives, the technology will
spread in fields of medicine andchild rearing and everyone will
benefit from it. I think it’s important
to try and take measures in that
direction. We should try and use
what leading companies of Japan like
Toyota, Panasonic, and Sony havebuilt over the years, to these kinds ofthings.
We can do it if we set a direction.
I have hope that these 7 years aregoing to be a time for accumulatingknowledge.
Inose: So, for 2025 we should set
our goals on elderly people and put
every Japanese technology in it.
Ochiai: We need to seriously think

9

about how we’re going to land the
difficult conditions Japan produced
during the Heisei Era. When we dothat, we need to be aware of bothmarginal costs and marginal utility
that is required for individualizations using the software. Simply put,
marginal cost is the cost needed toreproduce a product that has alreadybeen developed and marginal utility
is the merit acquired through that.
There is always the question of earning marginal utility that balances
well with marginal cost. But when
we deal with hardware, this marginal
cost becomes close to zero. Cost isrequired for initial development, but
labor expenses are not required formass production, so the cost is kept
low. However, it won’t work if you
just select cheap marginal costs,
without taking into consideration
the craftsmanship behind it. Strategies of software only work when you
are able to create a situation inwhich everything fits in.
Issues that couldn’t be solved in a
mass-produced society which we hadup until now, can often be solved byan individually produced society,which we are in today. While thinking carefully about cost, we need toconsider everything with our own
hands one by one without dependingon fate. In fact, a social condition
where there are issues to be solved, adirection to move toward and a10

technology to be developed are fullof hope. We first need to try andsolve the software problem withtechnology, then we need to move
our hands and sweat in areas where
only people can solve the problem. A
society like this, in which results arerecognized, has the potential ofbeing fun and worth working for. If
you realize this, you need to act fast.
There are very few people who are
actually moving their hands andsearching for a way to change thesociety in an appropriate way, so it’svery important that you move by
yourself. I hope to share this kind ofvision with as many people as I can.
Inose: 7 years seems short, but a lotof things can change in 7 years.
Since 2013, when Tokyo was chosen
to host the Olympics, look at how
many tourist have entered Japan
toward the Olympics in 2020. Like
Mr. Ochiai says, technology is goingto advance even more by 2025 andwith it, we’re going to see a further
increase in the aging population, so
our issues are going to become more
real. That we chose 2025 is because
there is a solution there. Up until
now, we have come this far without
setting any goals.
Ochiai: I belong to a generationthat has neither experienced the1964 Tokyo Olympics nor the 1970

Osaka Expo, but we’re still using
Tokyo’s city structure that was
designed for the Tokyo Olympics.
Also, the Osaka Expo—which washeld under the theme, “Progress andHarmony for Mankind”—not only
exhibited the famous “Moon Rock”
but also demonstrated the technological basics for Omnidirectional
cameras and the Internet (LAN).
Science Fiction potentials that humans had in mind for the future,
was already present at the Expo. If
so, in the upcoming Expo, we needto breathe life into human imagination with technology and demonstrate to the world how we’re going
to incorporate that into our lives.
Of course, we need a vision for
the future. But, that vision will
become stronger if it’s somethingthat’s taken for granted. The futuresociety, which humans imagined, is
not mere fantasy. It’s important how
we’re going to show that.
The city structure built at the Tokyo Olympics was based on industrial development, increasing population and standardization. In a way,
we need to change that to a decentralized structure based on diverse
values and declining population.
That turning point is going to comein 2020. It’s clear why New York andSilicone Valley are so eager to take inautonomous driving. It’s because
their city population is increasing
and they’re suffering from traffic
jams upon entering highways andbridges. There are many people who
think they could take a break for abrief moment if they could betransported by autonomous driving.
There are many rich people whowant to purchase that technology, so
the needs are extremely high forautonomous driving. However, when
we look at Japanese cities, taxis arealways available and the metro is
spread across underground. Moreover, above ground, the Yamanote
Line serves as a circular belt conveyor and the roads including shutoko(Metropolitan Expressway) reachevery corner of the city, forming
perfect layers for transportation.
That’s why there are very small needs
for autonomous driving in Japan. I
think our social structure is peculiar.
The theme for 2020 and there
onwards I think is how we’re goingto remake the social structure built
on inflation to cope with the sudden
increase in population, to somethingthat is suitable for a declining population we have today.
Inose: Both the shutoku and shinkansen (bullet train) was created in

1964. The Soviet Union film “Solaris” was screened in 1972, which featured shots of driving around the
shutoku tunnels to express a societyof the future. Other words, from theoutside world, the future was in Tokyo. The “future” was also found at
the 1970 Osaka Expo. Nearly 50
years have passed since then.
We will hold our second Olympic
Games in 2020. The 1964 Tokyo
Olympic, 1988 Seoul Olympic and2008 Beijing Olympic were all
Olympics which every country
experienced for the first time. Other

words, it was an “Olympic held by adeveloping country.” For the 2020
Olympics, my goals are to create a“sophisticated Olympic held by adeveloped country.” One important
theme is to reduce medical costs andextend lives. As individuals, we must
make effort and do sports too. I
hope the issues we had in 1964 and1970 will be solved in 2020 and
2025.
(Reprinted from “Shukan Dokushojin,”
1th February, 2019, No. 3275 & Web
Doku­shojin)

The panelists
Yoichi Ochiai
Media Artist
Pixie Dust Technologies.inc CEO / Associate Professor and Advisor to the President at University of Tsukuba
B. 1987, 31-years-old. Ph.D. (the Applied Computer Science / University of Tokyo, Graduate School ofInterdisciplinary Information Studies in 2 years—the fastest record). After becoming a JSPS Research Fellow
DC1 and a Research Intern on Microsoft Research Redmond, Ochiai joined the University of Tsukuba, School of
Library Information and Media Studies as Assistant Professor from 2015. He is the head of Digital Nature
Laboratory. In 2015, he founded Pixie Dust Technologies.inc, which he serves as CEO. From 2017, he is Advisor
to the President of University of Tsukuba, Visiting Professor of Osaka University of Art, and Visiting Professorof Digital Hollywood University. He established the Strategic Research Platform toward Digital Nature throughPixie Dust Technologies.inc in December 2017 and became Director of Platform and Associate Professor of
University of Tsukuba.

Naoki Inose
Author. Born in 1946. In 1986, he received the Souichi Ooya Nonfiction Award for his book “Mikado no Shozo”(Portrait of the Emperor).” In 1996, he received the Bungeishunju Readers’ Award for his book “Nipponkoku no
Kenkyu” (A Report on Japan).” In June 2002, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed him to the Promotion
Committee for the Privatization of the Four Highway-Related Public Corporations. He served as Tokyo Governor
from December 2012 to December 2013. In December 2015, he became Special Advisor to Osaka City. His
books include “Show 16-nen no Haisen” (The Defeat in Showa 16), “Persona—Mishima Yukio Den” (Persona: The
Story of Mishima Yukio) and “Picaresque—Dazai Osamu Den.” (Picaresque: The Story of Dazai Osamu).
Upcoming books include “Kyushutsu” (Rescue), “Senso, Tenno, Kokka” (War, Emperor, State), “Seigi ni tsuite
Kangaeyo” (Let’s Think about Justice), “Minkei” (Posse Man), “Tokyo no Teki” (Tokyo’s Enemy) and incollaboration with Lully Miura, “Kokumin Kokka no Riarizumu” (Realism and the Nation-state).

Translation: Ayako Karino
11

Japanese Civilization Institute 2019 15th Symposium
The Emperor will abdicate on May 1 and a new era name will be announced on April 1.
What is “gengo” (era) for the Japanese people? How is it decided?
Naoki Inose will analyze gengo’s history from the past to the present, together with the process the country
will go through on the occasion using various examples.
Japan’s modernization and Emperor system will be thoroughly discussed.
▶ Panel discussion:

The Japanese era name isgoing to change!
Norihiko Sasaki

Satoru Ishido

Naoki Inose

NewsPicks COO and former editor in chief

Journalist

Author, director of the Japanese
Civilization InstituteDate: 5 th February (Tuesday), 2019, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. (doors
scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m.)
Venue: J apan University of Economics, Tokyo Shibuya Campus
Hall (the hall seats approximately 100 people)
Address: 25-17, Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0031

Traditional Crafts
Online Site

Admission: 2
 ,000 yen (please pay at the door on the day)How to attend: a pply through the site below:
http://www.japancivilization.org/
Contact: J apanese Civilization Institute03-5456-8082

Worldwide：https://shops.japancivilization.org
Japanese：http://japancivil.shop9.makeshop.jp

Messages from Director
Japanese Civilization Institute has been introducing and selling traditional crafts of Japan. Although
it is said that there is approximately 1,200 types of traditional crafts in Japan, its production is
declining. As part of our activities, we hope to discover valuable traditional crafts spread across thenation, enjoy Japanese craftsmanship and its beauty inherited over the centuries, and develop itwith you.

Tsumami Kanzashi（Crepe）

Folding Screen（half size）

Folding Screen（full size）

KYO-YAKI
Earthenware

Japanese Bamboo
Basket Tokyotrad

Odoshi Samurai Armor

Contact：Japanese Civilization Institute 24-5 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 Phone : 03-5456-8082 Mail : info@japancivilization.org