HONDA-MAJA

Ecotechnological Workshop“Social Innovation in Asia”

本田財団・ミャンマー元日本留学生協会（MAJA）共催

エコテクノロジー・ワークショップ2012「アジアにおける社会イノベーション」

A Report of
Honda Foundation ― Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni(MAJA) Ecotechnological Workshop 2012

For Publication
The present report is an account of all the remarks, lectures and discussions from theecotechnological workshop entitled “Social Innovation in Asia” held in Yangon, Myanmar on June
14th 2012. The workshop was co-organized by Honda Foundation and Myanmar Association ofJapan Alumni (MAJA), which has more than 1,300 members and is fulfilling its leading role in theremarkable activities related to bilateral relationship between Japan and Myanmar.
The business people, policymakers, researchers and scholars from both Japan and
Myanmar invited to this meeting, were enliven by the lively presentations and exchangesof opinion. The ecotechnology concept for Myanmar was revisited in discussions and casestudies such as “Japan’s ‘Scitech’ Diplomacy” and “University Globalization and Women
Resources Empowerment in Japan and Asia.” We would like to thank all the participants fortheir cooperation, without which it would not have been possible to exchange such fruitful
discussions throughout the meeting.
It is our great hope that the discussions and friendships cultivated through this meeting
will be effective in the mutual edification of Japan and Myanmar, and accelerating theinternational understanding of ecotechnology and development of society in harmony with
the natural environment.

Satoshi Matsuzawa
Managing Director, Honda Foundation

HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop
Social Innovation in Asia
At The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (UMFCCI), Yangon, June 14th, 2012

Contents
Opening Remarks
Myint Wai

Chairman, Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA) ....................................................................................................................... 4

Hiroto Ishida
President, Honda Foundation (HOF),
Former Administrative Vice-Minister (Science and Technology Agency),
Former Japanese Ambassador to the Czech Republic................................................................................................................................. 6

Japan’s ‘Scitech’ Diplomacy (Presentation, Q&A)
Taizo Yakushiji
Former Executive Member, the Council for Science and Technology Policy of the Cabinet Office,Research Counselor and Board Member, the Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS)
and HOF Director ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

University Globalization and Women Resources Empowerment in Japan and Asia
(Presentation, Q&A)
Kazuko Matsumoto
Senior Director, R&D Research and Development, Vision Development Co., Ltd.
Former Executive Member, the Council for Science and Technology Policy of the Cabinet Officeand HOF Director ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Small Remark
Hiroyuki Yoshino

Former President & CEO, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. ........................................................................................................................................ 30

Closing Remarks
Si Si Shein

Vice President, MAJA ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 32

Kunio Nakajima

Vice President, HOF ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

MC: Daw Mu Mu

Opening Remarks

HONDA-MAJA
Ecotechnological Workshop
Social Innovation in Asia

HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop

Social Innovation in Asia

Opening Remarks
MC: Daw Mu Mu
Good morning, Excellencies, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to our very first Honda Foundation Yangon Workshop.
First of all, may I call upon U Myint Wai, President of MAJA, theMyanmar Association of Japan Alumni, to give an opening speech.

Myint Wai
Chairman, Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA)

Good morning, His Excellency U Thet Tun, former ambassador,
historian and the first President of MAJA: the representatives from
Honda Foundation: representatives of the women’s organization
in Myanmar: the group who are working on advancing women in
Myanmar and the empowerment of women resources in Myanmar.
I am Myint Wai, the president of Myanmar Association ofJapan Alumni, or MAJA.
Thirty years ago, after graduating from Yangon University, I
resumed my studies in Japan: one year Japanese language course
at Osaka Foreign Studies University and four years at Tokyo Instituteof Technology, or Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku, finishing the industrial
engineering course.
Our country has emerged as a democratized country forthe second time. The first time was in the period of 1948 to 1962,
where the country had participated in the practice of democracy
significantly and joyfully.
Not only I, Myint Wai, the President of the MAJA, but also
the whole people of Myanmar and the whole of the executive
committee members of MAJA welcome the delegations from
Honda Foundation.
MAJA is an association federated among MEXT, Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology in Japan.
MAJA includes students, scholars, AOTS (Association for Overseas

4Opening Remarks

Technical Scholarships) trainees, JICA’s trainees and private students
who go to Japan on their own expenses. MAJA, not JAMA, is anassociation with a purpose and objectives to build solidarity among
the Japan alumni. We now have over 1,200 members and havebeen making efforts to support students who would like to study
Japanese language, to support students who would like to study
Japanese business manners and culture and to support those who
would like to pass through their studies in Japan, especially thestudents who are outstanding in the field of science and technology.
In the collaboration with the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar,
we take the responsibility of conducting JLPT exams, Japanese
Language Proficiency Test. There are about 2,500 examinees
every year. We also oversee the EJU exams, Entrance to Japanese
University exams for the students. We also hold a Japanese culture
show every year in order to present Japanese culture to the
Myanmar people.
Today, we will not only have an ordinary workshop
discussion, but also I believe we are going to have brainstorming
discussions among the experts from both Honda Foundation and
the Myanmar side.
Today, we invited students as spectators. Places are limited
so only 50 selected students and their parents are taking theopportunity to attend today. The second group of guests we
invited today are the experts from the women organization and
the MAJA members who are going to participate in the discussions,like former ambassador His Excellency, U Thet Tun, former lecturer,
and we have others from JICA like Mr. Masahiko Tanaka, Chief
Representative of JICA Myanmar Office. And of course, our MAJA
members and executive members are also likely to be participatingin the discussions if they have enough time.
Today, we will discuss two topics. We put our utmost effort
into satisfying the audience and the guests, but it is a pity that wecannot publicize in the newspapers or journals. Also, not everyone
who is interested in this workshop could come because we have
limited budget and space. We have also arranged a room at theback where people can meet and talk.
Now, I would like to call upon our audience to give, as a
gesture, a huge round of applause in welcoming the delegation of
Honda. Welcome Honda Foundation!
In conclusion, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr.
Harada and Dr. Sunami for making this workshop a success. I would
also like to thank my staff and executive committee members who
have supported the success of this workshop. And, I would also liketo extend my heartfelt thanks to the authorities of UMFCCI.
Thank you very much.

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HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop

Social Innovation in Asia

Opening Remarks

Hiroto Ishida
President, Honda Foundation (HOF),
Former Administrative Vice-Minister (Science and Technology Agency),
Former Japanese Ambassador to the Czech Republic

Thank you very much for your very kind words. My name is Hiroto
Ishida, the President of Honda Foundation. Your Excellencies, ladies
and gentlemen, it is my great honor to welcome you to the firstworkshop in Yangon jointly organized by Honda Foundation and
MAJA under the theme of social innovation in Asia.
On this occasion, I would like to express my sincere
congratulations for the pleasant reunion of the alumni of MAJA
in this glamorous building, and I hope this unparalleled alumni
association will extend further and further.
Before speaking more, I want to thank all the distinguishedspeakers and participants here for taking the opportunity, especiallyYour Excellency, Dr. U Thet Tun, Dr. Myint Wai and other MAJA
representatives.
Honda Foundation, HOF, was established in 1977 by thefather of Honda Motor, Mr. Soichiro Honda, and his younger brother,Mr. Benjiro Honda. As you know, Soichiro Honda was one of themost famous entrepreneurs in Japan. Since its inception, HOF haspermeated ecotechnology as a guidepost to pursue a more humancivilization and hosted quite a few symposiums and workshops indifferent countries as forums to freely exchange and inspire ideas
among intellectuals and experts from all over the world.
HOF’s attempts have provoked public interest everywhereas the importance of ecotechnology increases throughout theworld and there is more care about environmental friendliness.
Our ultimate goal is clear; it is to assure people of human life bothmentally and physically. We should consider providing as goodeducation and training as possible to support and encourage
people to become entrepreneurs, and in turn, expedite economic
growth by innovation.
Likewise, to build a rich society in both material and spiritual
terms, we must create a stable livelihood in which we can enjoy asteady income and lead a healthy, secure life in untroubled living
conditions free from grievous disasters. This is exactly what theconcept of Honda ecotechnology aims to achieve.
I truly hope this Yangon workshop will be a good opportunity

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Opening Remarks

to consider the social innovation system in Myanmar and open up a
new page of Asian development here in Myanmar, in Japan and inother countries in Asia.
Thank you very much.

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Japan’s ‘Scitech’ Diplomacy(Presentation, Q&A)

HONDA-MAJA
Ecotechnological Workshop
Social Innovation in Asia

HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop

Social Innovation in Asia

Japan’s ‘Scitech’ Diplomacy
Taizo Yakushiji
Former Executive Member, the Council for Science andTechnology Policy of the Cabinet Office,Research Counselor and Board Member, the Institute forInternational Policy Studies (IIPS) and HOF Director

I’m Taizo Yakushiji and am going to talk about the science andtechnology diplomacy of the Japanese government.
As I was introduced, I was, for 6 years, a full time memberof the Council for Science and Technology Policy of the Japanese
Government. This science and technology diplomacy is the last one
that I created before I left the government.
This morning I am going to tell you why with the help of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Science and Technology Policy
Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology, Japan tried to get the post of full member of the United
Nations Security Council. Japan has been struggling to get the postwith the support of developed countries.
The idea behind the policy I created was this: To see thedata of Japan’s science and technology cooperation with othercountries. We heavily depend on developed countries as are parents
and brothers, i.e., United States, Germany and UK. Although Japan
reached a strong position within science and technology, still weare thinking we have to get ideas from advanced countries, eventhough we had become an advanced country ourselves.
This slide shows agreements with developing countries forscience and technology (See No. 2). Japan is only 17%, US is morethan 48%, Germany surpasses Japan with 38%, and even France has
48%. At the time, I created the policy. The data showed that we hadreally forgot to help developing countries like Myanmar, other Asian
countries, African countries and Latin-American countries. So, maybe
Japan has been very strong within Asian countries, but science andtechnology cooperation doesn’t support those kinds of things.
Japan’s science and technology agreements with Asian
countries is only 12%. For the United States, it’s more than theJapanese figure at 24%, Germany is still higher in helping Asian
countries at more than 20%, and France is still more than Japan.
Science and technology agreements by the Japanese
government with African countries is miserable. Look at this. Japan
has only over 2%, the United States, 13%, Germany has morethan Japan at 3.4%, and France is 11.1%, but they did have a lot ofcolonies in Africa.
Japan is very strong in science and technology today, so
this is the strongest property we have gained since the end of
WWII, but we are not using this science and technology capability
for diplomatic purposes. Diplomacy needs resources, human

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resources, like diplomats, economic resources and economic
help. With those, diplomatic activity will move further. Why notscience and technology? That’s the strongest property of Japan.
So, this is the unique idea that science and technology should bea resource for the diplomatic activity of Japan. This is the idea, but
the concept is rather more important: how we create science andtechnology policy.
There are so many players like the Japanese science andtechnology organizations, JICA using the ODA, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA) and Japanese universities where there are a lot ofcapable scientists and technical people (See No. 3). Japan’s nationallabs are very famous for making top-notch scientific achievements.
Then, we have the host state. So the host state, like Myanmar,
you have a strong area at the technical university level and also inthe medical sciences, so the host country’s government will support
the collaboration with Japan in the area of science and technology.
We called these SATREPS, Science and Technology ResearchPartnerships for Global Solution.
So, the system is this (See No. 4). Japanese research people,
university people and industry people have to communicate
with counterparts like Myanmar’s scientists, industrial people
and university people. Communication is very important. If
communication is important, then “imitate” is not a bad word.
For a hundred years, we have been imitating British technology,
German technology and American technology. Through that, wehave attained our own innovative strengths. So, imitation is not
so bad. The host state imitates the Japanese way of research, notthe output, the way of doing research, then the host state starts
resolving their own unique way of research. Social implementationof science and technology, like in Myanmar, is very important.
Unless you have applied to an area of science and technology, we
are not going to get support from the government and the people
for scientific activity. This is the differentiate stage.
Security means a lot of things: medical security, natural
disaster security, but the host state might be doing their own
way and solving their own country’s problems, so this is the area
where you can attain unique applications. And by getting uniqueapplications, you attain a kind of your own innovation. So, the social
implementation of science and technology is very important, andyou have to apply it to your own area and get unique applications
and attain your own innovation. Then, Japan can learn from
Myanmar’s unique application. This is the heart of the concept.
We are not always teaching you, telling you, but after we startteaching you, you are learning, quickly learning and applying what
you are learning to your own country and society. Then, you can
get your own innovation. Without application to your own area,
innovation cannot happen. That is my strong philosophy of policy
implementation to attain innovation.
We have to redefine “innovation (See No. 5).” Competitive
imitation by your own will be of the Japanese. Just take theJapanese science and technology way of innovation. We attained

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HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop

Social Innovation in Asia

our own technology we learned from advanced countries.
We applied it to Japan, and then we obtain strong innovative
capabilities. Why not Myanmar? Able manpower is very important.
Innovation is not the same as emulation, but it is similar. Emulation
is to competitively imitate, so you have to actively learn theJapanese way of doing science and technology.
This is the Copenhagen COP15 idea (See No. 6). You have tolook at the second sentence: Science and technology collaboration
between developed and developing countries based on common
interests and mutual benefits is essential because it leads toshared research results and fosters mutual capacity building.
So, South-South communication is very important. North-South
communication is rather important in the area of green innovation,
like reducing carbon dioxide and things like that.
This is the area where our programs are being operated, andall together we have 60 projects annually running and operating in
33 countries (See No. 7). We have just finished nine new projects innine different countries. This is the area we are successfully running
60-odd projects supported by the Japanese government from the
ODA through JICA. The new JICA President, Mr. Akihiko Tanaka, isa friend of mine, he is supporting four projects and partly we are
getting the government budget of science and technology area.
This is kind of two budgets we have to help Japan’s global activity
to solve global problems like natural disasters, infectious diseases
like avian flu, environmental problems and environmental resource
protection. These are the areas for the 60 projects in 33 countries.
So, you can find the website called SATREPS, then you can see how
many projects are running so far (See No. 8).
Finally, I sincerely hope next year Myanmar’s scientists,
university scientists and engineers can collaborate with a Japanesecounterpart and create new SATREPS projects.
Thank you very much.

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Question from Audience 1
At slide #4, I can find steps of the program: communicate, imitate, differentiate,security. What are the researchers applications of their results to their environment?

Taizo YakushijiFirst, there is communication between two scientists, a scientist in the host country
and a scientist in Japan. There are many scientists in Myanmar, for example, andif they have very active communication in their particular research area like green
innovation, bio-diesel or infectious diseases, then they start a project. So, Myanmar
would imitate the Japanese way of doing research in the area of infectious diseases,
medicine or technological areas like biodiversity or the lowering of Myanmar’s CO2
emissions, things like that.
Then, you have to differentiate on your own. Myanmar applies what it
imitated from the Japanese way of doing research. You might find that the Japanese
way does not help Myanmar solve the environmental problem or disease problem
or whatever it is, so you modify what you learned from the Japanese scientists indoing research. That’s “Differentiation.”
A hundred years ago, in the Meiji era, Henry Dyer came to Japan and stayed
for nearly ten years to open the Technological School at the University of Tokyo.
Then, he started seriously learning Japanese. He wrote a famous book on advancing
Japan through the British way of doing things. So, that is the idea.
Another example is that Japan taught at the Asian Technical University in
Bangkok in the area of environmental problems for 15 years. Now the university ismore advanced than what Japan thought, so Japan realized that the environmental
application of Asian Technical University is far more advanced than what Japan
had been doing in the environmental area. So, there are a lot of cases Japan lostits competitiveness even though we started teaching Asian or African countries
in areas in which Japan was very much competitive. The host country became
more competitive than Japan. I don’t know how long it will take to get that kindof realization, but this science and technology policy is not only for the Japanese
government and diplomacy, but Japan will be able to restart by learning from
Myanmar’s approach, so Japan gets a new innovation.
It’s rather difficult to explain for the case of Myanmar, but there are a lotof examples. For example, every country started as a developing country. We
learned from advanced countries their ways of doing things, the German way of
doing things, the American way of doing things, the British way of doing things,
but we became competitive to apply what we learned from Britain, Germany, theUS. We got competitiveness, as you are aware, but we are losing it now. We aretrying for the future. In maybe two decades, Myanmar will have competitiveness.
Even though we start teaching you, you attain by applying what you are taught
to your own area. As your own area is very foreign for us, we don’t know your own
area. We know our Japanese area of application, but we don’t know the Myanmar
application. Later we can get Myanmar’s application and apply that to Japanesesociety. So it’s a long cycle.

Question from Audience 1
At Number 3 in slide #6, it says “New mechanisms must be put in place to allow
developed countries…. Then, what is your new mechanism actually?

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Social Innovation in Asia

Taizo Yakushiji
This is specifically COP15’s argument, so I just pointed out point number 2. But, point
number 3 is about the area where we globally reduce carbon dioxide emissions andwhat kind of good framework we need. For example, China is emitting 20% of world
CO2 emission, as is the United States. Developing countries have a misconceptionthat in order to industrialize you have to emit more CO2. So, that’s why we needscience and technology diplomacy to help South-South cooperation. CO2 is aparticular problem on the agenda. This is exactly what fits with my own opinion.

Question from Audience 1
Can you introduce other programs Japanese government has implemented?

Taizo Yakushiji
There are a lot of other Japanese government programs for developing countries
to get help to make a route to reduce CO2 by cooperating with Asian countries. So,
there are many government programs, particularly subsidies by the ODA, the JICA
program in the CO2 area, and so forth. So, there are many areas where the Japanese
government might send the Japan national labs of the environment to help Asian
countries reduce their CO2 emissions. There are many programs; I’m not referring toa particular one.

Question from Audience 2
As you were a member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy of the
Cabinet Office, in your experience, how does traditional technology support
modern technology?

Taizo Yakushiji
JICA has been implementing so-called technological cooperation and technological
helping for building hospitals and sending Japanese doctors to those hospitals.
That’s JICA’s technical assistance project. But, my project uses top-notch and very
advanced science and technology in areas like infectious diseases and how you cancure and prevent avian flu, SARS and special diseases in Africa where a lot of people
are dying. This is a very acute problem using a very advanced area of medical
science. We are cooperating with our counterparts and Japanese medical scientists
in those areas.
In English terms, not in British English, but in American English, it is called“top-notch science and technology,” not the advanced science and technology,
which JICA has been doing through the ODA technical assistance. So, we are getting
JICA’s money for our own science and technology and for our own diplomacy, but
in terms of JICA’s definition it is a kind of technical assistance money. It is a trick ofbudget differentiation, but the truth is we are using top-notch, high level scienceand technology cooperation with the host country.

Question from U Thet Tun
I’ve studied many subjects. I started as an economist, secondly I went into thefield of diplomacy and international relations, and now I will be 86 year’s old on
Hiroshima Day, then I will become a historian.
What I have observed and pondered is that there were any psychologists
on the board of Honda because Honda started with motorcycles. They knew great
demand for motorcycles on the part of teenagers, so after the war, there wasprosperity, especially in America and teenagers like adventure, therefore Honda
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went into the manufacturing of motorcycles. So, Honda was a famous motorcycle
manufacturer.
Secondly, I think there were also psychologists in the management of Honda.
They, I think, see problems. When the motorcar population increased in somecountries, for example, in Thailand, there were so many motorcars that there were
not enough roads, therefore motorcycle-taxis became popular, so I think Honda wasvery good and very successful in looking at the demand pattern and looking at thestress problem.
Thirdly, recently I was driven around Singapore in Honda which had directional
instructions, so if somebody wants to go to a hotel, a famous theater or to a famous
restaurant, you just tell the motorcar and the motorcar will tell you to turn left andthen later to turn right or go straight. It decreases the stress of driving motorcars.
I wonder if that kind of thing, as Singapore is a small city in a small country, will bepossible in a big metropolis like Tokyo or London, that’s probably easier than New
York and Los Angeles. So, I suspected that the board of directors of Honda always
convey brains to focus on future demand and meeting it at the right time.
Maybe this will be more concerned with the second speaker. I keep seeing theword “social” everywhere. Now you say, “Social innovation in Asia.” It is usually that
innovation is technical, now the word “social” seems to be very popular these days. I
wonder what the answers to these questions are.
Thank you.

Taizo Yakushiji
Thank you very much. Your comments from your own experience are very
educational for me. Psychology and social innovation are rather important for thesystem to reform and encourage university manpower policy. So, the psychologicalapproach might be more important. I only sketch science and technology
diplomacy, but it is based upon the kind of development of different efforts as you
pointed out like population change, psychological change of the university people
and the scientists to get the mood to study more. So, I think social innovationand psychological innovation are rather behind the advancement of science andtechnology as you pointed out.
Thank you very much.

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University Globalization and
Women Resources Empowerment
in Japan and Asia
(Presentation, Q&A)

HONDA-MAJA
Ecotechnological Workshop
Social Innovation in Asia

HONDA-MAJA Ecotechnological Workshop

Social Innovation in Asia

University Globalization and Women Resources
Empowerment in Japan and Asia
Kazuko Matsumoto
Senior Director, R&D Research and Development, Vision Development Co., Ltd.
Former Executive Member, the Council for Science andTechnology Policy of the Cabinet Office and HOF Director

My name is Kazuko Matsumoto, and I worked formally as an
executive member of the Council for Science and Technology Policyof the Cabinet Office. This is a Japanese government council. I was
not a specialist of women’s employment issues, but in that council,
there were a lot of arguments about how Japan must increase theemployment of women and enhance the activities of women. Even
now, it is a really big issue that Japan has to deal with.
I’d like to start my talk with a brief history of how Japandeveloped its women’s education system. As perhaps you know,
Japan, even today, is not a very women friendly society. It is still alittle bit male dominated. However, we have a rather old women’s
education system, especially higher education for women.
The first school founded for women’s education was in 1900
(See No. 2). In that year, three women’s schools were founded. One
was the Tokyo Women’s Normal School which was founded by thegovernment. Before 1900, there was no special school for women’shigher education. Of course before 1900, there were many small
schools where women could learn writing, reading and calculations.
But, this year was the start of women’s higher education. This school
was a governmental school, but now it has been upgraded to auniversity which is called Ochanomizu University. If you think thatthe first men’s university was founded in 1886 which is now the
University of Tokyo, 1900 is rather more recent in comparison. But atthat time, women were not allowed to enter that university because
it was only for men. So, there was a clear distinction between men’s
and women’s education.
The second school was founded privately by Ms. Umeko
Tsuda called Jyoshi Eigaku Juku. It is now called Tsuda College. Thiswoman, Ms. Umeko Tsuda, went to the US at the age of 7, a very
young girl, and stayed there for 14 years. She learned at a primaryschool, high school and university, then she majored in biology atuniversity. So, she learned a lot from the US education system. Aftershe returned to Japan, she founded the Jyoshi Eigaku Juku. She
used all of her private fortune to found this private school and asked
several other supporters to donate money towards the foundationof this school.
The third school was founded by Mr. Jinzo Naruse, a malefounder who founded a women’s school which is now called Japan
Women’s University.
At that time, all of these universities aimed to provide a very

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liberal education for women of all social classes. All social classes isvery important because at that time, of course only a very limited
number of women could enter these schools, but fundamentallythe founders considered that education should go to all social
classes. Also, there are limitations because of tuition problems andthe numbers of places as these universities are limited, so not a lotof women students existed then. But still, these three schools were
the start of Japanese women’s education.
Such a system continued until WWII. After WWII, when
Japan was totally defeated by the US, the US government sent a
US Education Mission to Japan to totally renovate the Japanese
education system. In 1947, there was a reformation of the education
system including primary schools, high schools and universities (SeeNo. 3). That renovation was carried out by US Education Mission
together with Prof. Shigeru Nanbara who was the president of the
University of Tokyo.
The basic idea of the reformation was equal education
opportunities for both genders of all social classes. Before WWII,
women could not enter universities. Although as I showed you,there were three major schools and several other women’s
schools, they were not universities. Women could only enter thosespecial women’s schools. But in 1947, two items were established:1) nine-year compulsory education for both genders between 6
and 15 years of age, 2) the first formal acceptance of women into
universities. So, this is a memorial year for women’s education,
especially for higher education.
Because of this modernized education system, in the
1970s and 1980s, Japan enjoyed a very high level of industry andeconomy. But recently, there has been a decline in those things.
We are now very much concerned about recent social changes
that urge globalization and women resources empowerment atuniversities in Japan (See No. 4).
One such social change is the decrease of the marriage rate
and birth rate, which are causing a population distribution of lesschildren and more elderly people. Our distribution curve is for
elderly people. The distribution for both men and women is large,
and for children, there is less population. That is quite blatant inJapanese society.
The second is the population decrease after 2005, whichis amazing because we always thought that the population wasincreasing dramatically or gradually in either case. We believed
that, but in 2005, the population started to decrease. For example,
in 2005, the population was 127,768 thousands, but in 2009, thepopulation slightly decreased to 127,510 thousands. This population
decrease means we need more women and foreigners in theindustry and economy of Japan.
Third, structural changes in industry and the economy
demands that university education be more globally compatible
and competitive.
I will show you the statistics of globalization and women’s
participation at the University of Tokyo (See No. 5). The University

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Social Innovation in Asiaof Tokyo, as I told you previously, is the oldest governmental
university in Japan. In this university, the women student ratio forundergraduates was 17.7% in 2002, but it increased slightly to 18.9%
in 2011. For graduate students, the ratio of women changed from
28.9% to 31.3%, so a slight but steady increase.
The foreign student ratio in 2011 was 21%, so it is pretty high.
The women faculty members’ ratio in 2011 was Prof., 4.7%, it is very
low, Associate Prof., 9.2%, Lecturer, 13.4%, and Research Associate,15.3%. So, you can see that the faculty ratio for women is relatively
low. And, that is a determined problem and a target of arguments.
The ratio of foreigners in faculties in 2011 was 2.5%, andunfortunately it is still very low.
If you look at the statistics of foreign students at the Universityof Tokyo for undergraduates, there was an increase in foreign
students in the years 2002 to 2011 (See No. 6). Foreign students
increased from 2,050 to 2,966. The majority of foreign students comefrom Asia, second from Europe, third from North America, Middle andSouth America, Middle East Asia, Africa and Oceania.
In the student numbers in 2011, the top was China, which
had more than 1,000 students; South Korea, second; Taiwan;
Indonesia; Malaysia; Bangladesh; India; Nepal; Mongolia; Philippines;
Singapore; Sri Lanka; and Myanmar comes here. So today, we don’t
have many students from Myanmar, unfortunately, but we do hopethat you send more of your students to Japanese universities.
This is an article that was recently shown in a Japanesenewspaper. The headline was, “Female Foreign Students Upheave
Number of PhD Recipients at Japanese Universities (See No. 7).”
These are average statistics of all Japanese universities, and they are
the ratio of foreign PhDs from 2002 to 2006.
The black bar is the ratio of foreign students. The grey bar
is company students. Most Japanese universities have a systemthat after you enter a private company, if you wish, you can reenter
university to study for a PhD. So, during that period, the company
student has a dual identity as both a worker and a student. The
white bar is normal Japanese students.
If you look at total female, the ratio of foreigners is more than
20%, which is pretty high. If you compare the total male statistics
at the bottom, it shows that foreigners are about 15% or so. So, inJapanese universities, it appears that females dominate the PhD
level. If you look at the engineering or agriculture faculties, theratios of foreigners are much higher. In the engineering faculty,
close to half of the students are foreigners. In the social sciences, thenumber of foreigners is less.
This is the number of employees by industry and sex (SeeNo. 8). The ordinate shows the years from 1955, 1965, 1975, etc.
up to 2009. These are the numbers of people employed in eachfield of industry for women on the left and for men on the right.
There are several categories of industry, for instance, this blue one
is agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; the orange one is mining; thegreen one is construction; the dotted red is manufacturing; thelight blue one is electricity, gas, heat supply and infrastructure; the

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yellow one is wholesale and retail trade, eating and drinking places;
the blue one is finance and insurance, real estate and services; andthe red one is government.
So, if you compare the total ratio of women to men, the ratio
is 42% in 1955. Total employees, both women and men, increased
up to 2009, but the ratio of women is still 42%. So, this means thatthe ratio has not changed.
Perhaps you have the impression that a 42% ratio for womenin industry is not a bad figure. It’s close to half, so it’s not a very
bad figure. However, we have a problem, although it is not shown
here. If you look at each field of industry, for instance, this blue
one is finance and insurance, real estate and services; the numberof women increased very rapidly, more rapidly than the numberof men. This yellow one is wholesale and retail trade, eating anddrinking places. In these two fields of industry, the number ofwomen increased much more than that of men.
Although the data is not shown here, if you look moreclosely into one field of industry, for instance, in this finance andinsurance field the ratio of women who hold higher positions ofresponsibility is much less compared to lower positions. There isless responsibility among women in that field. So, that is a problem
for the Japanese government.
The red bar is the government. This is very small, of course,
and if you compare government, for instance in 1955, the ratioof women to men was 19/111, so the ratio of women was 10% orsomething like that. But, it increased in the year 2009 to 52/170;
the ratio is about one third. The government has made an effort
to increase the number of women employees, but in other fields
of industry, if you look only at responsible positions, the ratio of
women has not increased at all, or has even slightly decreased.
The government has made an effort to enhance theemployment of women in every field of society and made laws andtook actions to promote gender equality within Japanese society(See No. 9).
In 1985, there was a law established called the “Employment
Opportunity Law for Men and Women.” This was an epoch-making
law because it was established when there was no law to promoteand enhance women’s participation within society. In this law, there
is a clear statement that prohibits middle to major companies fromdiscriminating between men and women employees.
For instance, when I graduated a university in 1972, on thebulletin board there were many recruitment announcements frommany major companies. But, all of these announcements statedthat the positions were available only for men. In 1972, Japanesecompanies could do that. The law established in 1985 prohibited
this discrimination.
After that, women’s employment was increasing, but it wasvery gradually. So, the government took action in 1999 with the First
Basic Plan for Gender Equality. Under this plan, there was about 42
items that were to be carried out in the next five years.
In 2010, the Third Basic Plan for Gender Equality was

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published in which there is an item for the promotion of efforts
aimed at increasing the share of women in leadership positions toat least 30% by 2020 in all fields of society. This is a very remarkablestatement, so you can understand how the Japanese government
is making efforts to enhance and promote Japanese women’s
participation in society.
In the next few slides, I’d like to introduce to you aJapanese governmental center which is called the National
Women’s Education Center of Japan (NWEC) (See No. 10). Thisis an independent, administrative agency under the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Thiscenter was founded in 1977. If you are interested in this center, you
can refer to this website that is written in English (www.nwec.jp/en).
The aim of the center is the promotion of a gender equal
society by frameworking and networking of education for
women and women leaders. This center is aimed especially forthe promotion of women leaders, not only in Japan, but also in
Asia. The functions of the center are training, exchange, research,
information, study support with database of NWEC and internshipat NWEC for sponsored programs.
I will introduce several NWEC’s activities (See No. 11). In 2011, theAsia Women Eco-Science Forum was held, which was held between
the China, South Korea and Japan Science and Technology Leaders
Forum. This center also participated in the 56th Commission on the
Status of Women. This was a United Nations commission. Also, every
year we hold the Seminar for Gender Equality Officers and Women
Leaders in the Asia Pacific Region. This is an NWEC seminar. We also
have the NWEC International Symposium. Last year, its subtitle was“Disaster Restoration and Gender.” There is also the Exchange with
the Committee on Women Status Enhancement with the Vietnam
Ministry of Information and Communication. The Vietnamese
ministry visited this center last year.
This is a picture of the participants from the Asia Pacificregion on the occasion of the NWEC Seminar for Gender Equality
Officers and Women Leaders in the Asia Pacific Region (See No. 12).
This seminar has been held every year since 2006 at NWEC Japan,
and the participating countries are selected from the member andassociate member countries of UNESCAP. UNESCAP is a committeeof the Asia and Pacific region that are recipients of Japanese Official
Development Assistance (ODA). The women in the picture eachcome from a different country in Asia, and they are wearing theirvery beautiful traditional clothes. The participants are usually
government officials working on women’s issues, NGO members
working on the advancement of women and researchers working
on gender-related issues.
The participating countries in the past were, in 2011: India,
Indonesia, South Korea, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, China, Nepal,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh; and in 2010, Bangladesh, Cambodia,
China (2 people), India, Indonesia, Palau, South Korea (2), Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Philippines (2), and Vietnam (See No. 13). I tried to find theparticipating countries for 2009, 2008, etc., but I couldn’t find them.

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Myanmar is not on these lists, so I do hope that you can participate
in the seminar in the near future.
This is a map of the women leaders in Asia (See No. 14). You
can easily recognize that if you look at the whole area of Asia, wehave a lot of women leaders. It’s really an amazing number. All thesepeople are very famous leaders in their respective countries andalso throughout the world. Some of them are presidents or prime
ministers or directors of the central bank or central organizationof each country. Perhaps you know many of them. This is Ms.
Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines. There are several prime
ministers and many famous leaders in Asia. There are so many
people here, but above all, the most famous lady is Ms. Aung San
Suu Kyi who is an icon of democracy in Myanmar. All the Japanesewomen and many people throughout the world, I believe, expectthat she will show good leadership in Myanmar.
I would like to summarize my talk by emphasizing two
points (See No. 15). One is the opportunity for higher education
for anybody, regardless of race, social class, religion or personaleconomic situation. In order to realize such equal opportunities forhigher education, the government must always make a lot of effort,
financial support is especially important.
Second, a global network for leaders of women’s educationin Asian countries through NWEC and other organizations is verymuch expected in the future. You can visit this website to see how
this center is acting throughout the year.
This is my talk. Thank you for your very kind attention.

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Question from U Thet Tun
I suppose in Japan, there is no gender discrimination in entering kindergartens andschools. I understand that after 12 years of education, the universities are also there,
but unlike in the West, as you know, there is O-level at 16 years of age and A-levelexaminations at 18 years of age, then they go to university. Now, what happened in
Myanmar is that the government has set the university entrance examination at theage of 16. Whereas in the West, it is 18. Probably in Japan also, it is 17 or 18.
Now what happens is 16 is the age when young ladies are riding on cycles andspending more time at home making themselves beautiful, but at the same time also
studying more. Now, I don’t blame Honda directly, but many young men at the age of
16 get on their motorcycles which are mainly Hondas, and they go to karaoke clubs.
The result is that although the proportion at one time was 60% male candidates and
40% female candidates of the examination, the results were the other way aroundbecause the girls were studying at home while the boys were out on their Honda
motorcycles visiting karaoke clubs. So, as a result, today, if you go around the offices in
Myanmar, you will find that there are more women than men.
So naturally, you would ask what men do. Men, of course, go to sea as seamen
or join the army. But, in other spheres, I think there is more domination by womenthan men. So, I must partly blame Honda for the majority of successful candidates
being women. I wonder what the rate of success at the university entrance level inJapan is.

Kazuko Matsumoto
I understand your explanation about men and women entering university in
Myanmar. Is there any particular point I should address?

U Thet Tun
For example, the teaching profession is 90% women. We can argue that young
children may be easily handled by women teachers, and of course, at the higher level
they are grown up. But, you can also say that teenage boys cannot be managed by
women teachers, therefore you need men. So, we give preference to men.
In medicine, also, of course men do better as surgeons because they are notafraid of seeing blood, but there are more women physicians than male surgeons.
Also in dental studies, female students do very well in their theory work, buthave they got enough strength to pull out teeth?
In the forest service, is it safe to have female foresters?
So, the authorities have to deduce many reasons for a better balance;otherwise, Myanmar bureaucracy would be 80%/20%.

Kazuko Matsumoto
Thank you, I understand your situation in Myanmar. Also you have a similar problem.
We can share the problem and maybe exchange opinions. That will help bothcountries. Thank you.

Question from Myint Wai
My name is Myint Wai. I would like to make a statement regarding women in
Myanmar. I think you know Mr. William Fielding, the person who wrote the bookabout the soul of Burma in which he mentioned the women in Myanmar. This wasin the colonial time, that was before 1889, when our country was colonized by the
British. In the book, he mentioned the ladies of Myanmar. He met some of the wives
24University Globalization and Women Resources Empowerment in Japan and Asiaof the heads of villages when he toured around.
One day he met a lady, the wife of the head of a village, making a judgment
on a thief, deciding on whether he should receive 50 lashes on his back. Why wasshe in that position? It was because her husband was away from home. So, she took
the place of her husband and made a very tough, bold decision to give punishment
to that thief.
There are about three separate incidents he mentioned, but he waswondering why the ladies of Myanmar do not take the name of the husband. He waswondering this and he jokingly mentioned that the ladies of Myanmar may be verystrong at heart, which is why they don’t bother to take the name of their husbands.
So, you talked about education, and if I have to talk about education, MAJA is
sending some students with the cooperation of the Japanese embassy as scholars
to Japan. So far I remember, 9 out of 10 people happened to be girls going for thescholarship. So, the question I would like to raise is when Japanese ladies started
taking the names of their husbands. And why not? Physiologically, or anotherconcept? Why our ladies not taking name? Why take the names of their husbands
when they get married? In Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Japan,
everywhere, they take the names of their husbands, but why not in Myanmar? I wantto know your thinking about why we don’t do it.

Kazuko Matsumoto
Well, that is a difficult question. I’d like to ask one of the delegates from Japan who
knows the answer.
You don’t know when and why women take their husband’s name? (to thedelegation of Honda Foundation)
Sorry, we don’t know.

Comment from Audience 1
Thank you so much for your presentation. We didn’t know so much about yourcountry. Actually it’s not a question, but I would like to explain about Myanmar’s
Women’s Affairs Federation. Before 1995, there was no organization for womenin Myanmar. But, after attending Fourth World Conference on Women held in
Beijing, the government took concerted action for the advancement of women.
So, the National Committee for Women’s Affairs, NCWA, was established in July
1996, so this day, July 3rd is our Women’s Day. I want to let you know that our
Women’s Day is July 3rd.
So, we have implemented activities for the advancement of women andhave achieved tremendous progress over the last few years. However, a committee
being composed only of members, the scope of activities was confined only tomembers. So to widen the scope and area of activities for the advancement andsecurity of women, the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation was formed on
December 20th 2003.
Subsequently, women’s affairs organizations from the state and regional
level to the grassroots village and ward level carried out all the activities. Now wehave carried out the activities, the critical areas of concern which were laid down by
the Beijing Platform for Action, such as health, culture, economy, violence against
women, female child trafficking, rehabilitation, environment and national affairs.
Apart from these activities, currently we emphasize joining the micro-credit scheme
to alleviate poverty. Besides protecting women against violence and trafficking, we
also rehabilitate and reintegrate traffic victims and elderly homeless people. These
are the activities we are taking.

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Apart from that, our women are now at the forefront and are active inall industrial sectors. Under the Constitution of the Union of Myanmar 2008,
women enjoy equal rights as men. To increase the participation of women in thepolitical sector is significant. It can be seen that women have achieved the right toparticipate in all three organs of power: legislative, executive and judicial. So, I hopethat you will understand that we are now taking these steps.
According to 2006/2007 statistics, the percentage of women serving in
high-level posts at various government departments was about 33%. According to
2009/2010 statistics, women serving in various posts at the education department,
like lecturers, assistants and directors, was about 75%. Education officers, about
77%. In various ministries, you will learn that women are serving as managing
directors, director generals, university rectors and medical superintendents withequal status as men.
In the judiciary, a number of women are serving as judges and advocates.
The participating of women in various sectors plays a vital role in thedevelopment of the nation. Through education, experience and exposure, Myanmar
women have established themselves in leadership and decision-making positions inthe socioeconomic life of Myanmar.
In international affairs, women from government departments and NGO
participants are active in international conferences, seminars and workshops.
I hope that you remember that we attended the Beijing Platform for Action
held in China. We have also attended ASEAN+3 workshops.
So, director generals, councilors, deputy head of missions in Myanmar
embassies went abroad.
In the business sector also, women are actively engaged in an equal footing as men.
Internationally and in ASEAN, on the April 7th 2010 the ASEAN commission
on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children, ACWC, wasformed and from Myanmar, there are two representatives. One is for women’s rights,
she is from MWA, and one is from the department of social welfare.
Now, Myanmar’s women’s members are about 5.3836 million, so we are taking
part in the advancement and empowerment of women as well as the protection of
women’s lives.
In spite of the many challenges we have to face, Myanmar’s Women’s Affairs is
striving for the elevation of poverty and the advancement of women from all walksof life in various sectors.
Thank you.

Kazuko Matsumoto
Thank you very much for the very valuable information. All of us know that there
are many aspects of women’s issues. Today, I focused mainly on higher education,
but as you said just now, there are many problems and aspects that are related
to women’s issues. Women’s enhancement committees or commissions are held
everywhere in Asia and in other countries.
Thank you for your information.

Question from Audience 2
Thank you very much for your very informative talk. I am from Taunggyi, the capitalof Shan state.
In Myanmar, we still have some restrictions in rural areas. Most parents fromrural areas think that education is not an essential thing for their children. We also
have some limitations in religious matters. So, I’d like to ask you if Japan does or did

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have such limitations. If so, how did you try to overcome them? And if you didn’t
have any, what suggestions would you give to us to overcome such limitations inrural areas? Thank you.

Kazuko Matsumoto
As far as I know, perhaps Japan doesn’t have any such kind of restrictions for women
today. As long as a woman has a strong will, a determined mind, and she wants
to do something or be in a certain position, she can. Basically, all women haveopportunities. But still, the fact is there is less advantage for women.

Question from Audience 3
Thank you very much for your nice presentation. I want to know that according
to your slide “Recent Social Changes Urging Globalization and Women Resources
Empowerment at Universities in Japan,” there is a decrease in the marriage rate andbirth rate causing a population distribution of less children. Does it influence theJapanese students attending universities?

Kazuko Matsumoto
It is only for older people, not only for university students. But, these are statistics
for all people in the younger generation, both men and women. Marriage rateis decreasing, and birth rate is also decreasing. Birth rate is only for women, butmarriage rate is decreasing for both genders.

Question from Audience 3
According to the slide “Globalization at the University of Tokyo,” you compared justthe foreign students distribution, but you did not compare the foreign students
with the Japanese students at that university. I just want to know if the increase in
the foreign students does not decrease the Japanese students.

Kazuko Matsumoto
Foreign students, I’m sure are increasing in major universities in Japan.
The number of Japanese students is slightly decreasing recently because thestudent number is decreasing.

Question from Audience 3
Thank you. This is just a personal question. I want to know your opinions aboutmarriage and childbirth because you are a Japanese woman too. I think they havedecreased because of the materialism in highly developed countries. I want to know
other women’s opinions, especially Japanese women’s opinions.

Kazuko Matsumoto
Marriage shouldn’t disturb any family life. She should be able to work as far as she wants
to. Marriage means it is a usual matter, so I don’t have any special opinion about that.

Comment from Audience 3
The last one is just my comment. I had the chance to meet Japanese women who
are volunteering in the rehabilitation process of last year’s disaster, and I was very
impressed about their mind and their strength to take part in that process. I’m alsointerested in the NWEC seminar and hope that Myanmar can join NWEC seminar in
the near future. Thank you very much.

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Hiroyuki Yoshino
Former President & CEO, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

I’m very pleased today, and I am enjoying my first visit to this country.
As somebody said, if my memory is correct, Honda has some 130
plants in 30 countries. And of course in the Asian region, we have bothmotorcycle and automobile plants in most of the countries except a
couple including Myanmar.
Before I left Japan on this trip, I discussed with my staff at
Honda Motor about what they think about Myanmar in the future,and the response was very promising. They recognize that the peopleof Myanmar are very diligent and high quality and high ability. So
according to them, they are now vigorously studying how and when
they will get into this country to contribute to the industrialization andmobility of the people.
Today, I also got the impression that Myanmar people are very
positive about the future, so I promise to bring that information and
my impression back to Japan to our current management, and you can
expect it will be not so long before Honda will be in this country.
Thank you very much.

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Closing Remarks

Si Si Shein
Vice President, MAJA

His Excellencies, representatives of Honda Foundation: President
and executive members of MAJA: invited guests: and participants.
On behalf of the joint organization of Honda Foundation and MAJA,
I would like to thank you all for your kind participation to make thisworkshop successful.
My special thanks go to Dr. Taizo Yakushiji and Dr. Kazuko
Matsumoto for their interesting talks on “Japan’s Scitech
Diplomacy” and “University Globalization and Women’s Resources
Empowerment in Japan and Asia.”
I’m sure that all who are present here today have gained
invaluable and fruitful knowledge through the discussions. I’m alsoof the opinion that the discussions and ideas emerging out of thisworkshop will pave the way for improving Myanmar’s participationin the global process. Finally, I wish to reiterate my sincere thanks
to all the participants and everyone who has contributed in various
capacities in making this workshop a success.
Thank you.

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Closing Remarks

Kunio Nakajima
Vice President, HOF

Thank you for your kind introduction. I am Kunio Nakajima, Vice
President of Honda Foundation.
Through the presentations and discussions, I believe that thisworkshop became very fruitful and valuable for all of us here today.
We have seen presentations by experts of “Japan’s Scitech diplomacy”
and “University Globalization and Women Resources Empowerment
in Japan and Asia.” Today, we heard prestigious representatives all
together from academics, industry and various areas. I suppose that’s
a section free society.
By the way, this is the first time for almost all of the Japanese
members to come to Myanmar, but in my opinion, we all feel that wehave already met four or five times.
This is a very important relationship between Myanmar andJapan. Taking this workshop as the beginning, Honda Foundation
would like to maintain close relationships with MAJA for further
development of both of us.
I thank you very much for attending this workshop. Thank you.

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Published by: Satoshi Matsuzawa
Honda Foundation 6-20, Yaesu 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0028, Japan
TEL: +81-3-3274-5125 FAX: +81-3-3274-5103 http://www.hondafoundation.jp©2013 Honda Foundation
Published April 2013

HONDA-MAJA

Ecotechnological Workshop“Social Innovation in Asia”