The Japan Textile Federation
announces the Proposal on the Ideal
Textile Industry in 2030
At its general meeting on January
17, the Japan Textile Federation approved the Proposal on the Ideal Textile Industry in 2030. As the global
textile market expands, there are increasing opportunities for Japan's
textile industry right before our eyes,
and the proposal summarizes industry-wide issues that need to be resolved in order to achieve the ideal
situation to take advantage of theseopportunities, looking ahead to thesituation expected to surround
Japan's textile industry in 2030.
In addition to communicating withthe textile industry, etc., the Japan
Textile Federation is presenting
countermeasures for the time being
to resolve the above issues.

Proposal on the Ideal
Textile Industry in2030- Plan Leading from
Traditions to theFuture (New Design2030) On January 17, 2020
By the Japan Textile
Federation
Proposal
As the population and GDP per
capita increase, the global textile
market—which is positioned at thecore of food, clothing, and shelter—
is expanding as well. This means thatthe expansion of the global market
offers major potential opportunities
for Japan's textile industry, whichcontracted greatly after peaking in
1991, and these opportunities are in-creasing right before our eyes.
In order for Japan's textile industry
to take advantage of these opportunities, the Japan Textile Federation
has looked ahead to the situation expected to surround Japan's textile industry in 2030. Based on this, thefederation has organized informationon textile-industry-wide issues to beresolved and the direction to take inorder to achieve the ideal situation for
the industry, and—in addition tocommunicating with the textile industry, —the federation has compiled
a proposal in order to present its
countermeasures for the time being
to resolve the above issues.
1. The direction the textile
industry should take
The world is undergoing advanced,
high-speed changes through the digital revolution, AI revolution, etc., andhas plunged headlong into the Fourth
Industrial Revolution. The global textile industry is following this trend
as well. In other words, networking
through the IoT has resulted in theblending of production, distribution,and sales, leading to increased linkage between production processes—
which could also be called cross-industry exchange—and triggering unprecedented structural changes.
In the midst of this, instead of striving for the glories of the past, Japan's
textile industry must aim to create
new industries as 2030 approaches.
It is therefore necessary to share plansto rebuild the value chain, implement
decisive structural reforms based on
New Standards of Value*1 during thefirst ten years of the Reiwa era, andtransition into the Great Age of Fiber & Textiles expected to occur
around the arrival of the so-called“singularity” in around 2045.
Goals related to the above include
increasing the scale of Japan's clothing market (including Asian markets)
to 14 trillion yen (current scale: approximately 10 trillion yen) and thedomestic-clothing shipping amountto 2 trillion yen (current amount: approximately 1 trillion yen) by 2030.
In addition, regarding the labor shortage of approximately 30,000 employees expected in spite of labor savingby the digital revolution, etc., we will
promote further diversity based on
the utilization of women, elderly persons, and foreigners.
The next ten years are the momentof truth, so—regarding the directionthat should be taken to ensure thesustainable development of Japan's
textile industry—we hereby propose
the measures below and declare theintention to take the lead in executing them.
(1) Create new value throughinnovation• Build production, distribution, andsales systems to handle the digital
revolution• Build a fashion industry to increase
brand value• Create a value chain through creative improvements to the supplychain• Promote sound terms and conditions that assume legal and generalcompliance• Develop new applications for textiles as fabric(2) Develop human resources
to handle the creation ofnew value• Develop human resources toJ. S. N. International, March 20209(6) Enhance industry- government academia cooperation• Promote R&D aimed at technological innovation• Support small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) aiming at thecreation of new value• Develop highly skilled human resources to serve as the core of industry• Promote innovation aimed atachieving Society 5.0

Next, in order to resolve the common issues faced by the many companies in the textile industry, industrial associations should play suitableroles in terms of industry development. The textile industry is divided
into many upstream, midstream, anddownstream*2 processes, and there
are different common issues for eachprocess. Industrial associations ineach process should aim to resolve
the common issues related to theirown processes.
In addition, public institutions (central government, local governments,etc.) have various support systems—
including subsidies, tax systems,policy finance, and support services—and we would like to requestthat these systems are utilized as appropriate to facilitate efforts by textile companies and industrial associations to resolve issues.
The roles of universities, vocational
schools, public testing/research laboratories, and other education/research
institutes are also important. Suchorganizations have played crucial
roles up until now, including the development and supply of a wide variety of human resources involved in
production, sales, design, and otherjobs in the textile industry, the development and provision of technology
seeds, and the handling of technicalconsultation. However, the importance of human resources and technology is increasing due to the needto rebuild the value chain, so wewould like them to promote education/research programs, etc. that consider the needs of the textile industry.
We would also like to emphasize
the fact that legal and general compliance are assumed for any actions
aimed at achieving the proposal.

2. Actions to achieve the proposal
The first players to execute theabove proposal are companies involved in the textile industry. Industry development is the result of active efforts by individual companies,
so we hope textile companies will
vigorously work in the direction ofthe proposal.

3. Roles of the Japan Textile
Federation and its businessdevelopment for the time being
As an umbrella organization encompassing the entire textile industry—including whole processes fromupstream to downstream—the Japan
Textile Federation should cooperate

handle the digital revolution (managers, production human resources)• Develop human resources for thefashion industry(3) Handle the multicultural society(diversity)• Increase diversity employment• Utilize foreign human resources(technical intern training program,specified skilled worker system,and highly skilled foreign professionals)(4) Promote globalization• Overseas market (trade and investment-based expansion)• Systematic improvement necessary for overseas market expansion(promote free trade and foreign investment through the RCEP, etc.)(5) Handle sustainability• Global warming• Achieve a sustainable textile ind u s t r y ( a c h i eve a c i r c u l a reconomy)• Handle sustainability in the supply
chain (due diligence, chemicalsubstances, etc.)• Microplastics issues

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J. S. N. International, March 2020

with member associations to aim toresolve issues facing the entire textile industry. More specifically, wewill take steps regarding the following four especially important issues: (1) handling the digital revolution, (2) securing human resources, (3) supporting overseas
expansion, and (4) handlingsustainability. In addition, we willcontinue to play a role as a liaison
with the government and academia
due to our position, which gives us
a bird's-eye view of the overall textile industry. The countermeasures
to be taken in response to the above
four issues for the time being (thenext few years) are described below.
(1) Handling the digital revolution
As small and medium-sized enterprises lack knowledge and delay
introduction of specific digitization
countermeasures, we will holdseminars to work on the following:(a) providing examples of digitalization countermeasures that can beeasily introduced for SMEs, (b)matching with vendors that develop
simple, cheap systems for small andmedium-sized enterprises, and (c)matching with IoT-related consulting organizations.
(2) Securing human resources
To secure human resources andalleviate the shortage of them, wewill work on setting up environments where it is easy for women,elderly persons, and foreigners towork.
More specifically, we will cooperate with member associations (a)to continue optimizing the technical training system as quickly as
possible through the BusinessCouncil for Textile and ApparelIndustry Technical Intern Training
Programs, and (b) to start setting
up the environment necessary for
introducing the specific skilledworker system to the textile industry. In addition, we will (c) provide
information aimed at the acceptance of highly skilled foreign professionals.

(3) Supporting overseas expansion
We will work on building a support network for small and medium-sized enterprises. More specifically, we will work with member associations etc. to utilize theexisting support network (the Consortium for a New Export Nation,etc.) in order to set up an environment that makes it easy for thesmall and medium-sized enterprises, etc. to obtain support.
In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises need management-base consultation when
considering overseas expansion, we
will also promote the building of a
support network for consulting related to company management itself (through cooperation with theexisting one-stop service networks).
(4) Handling sustainability
Regarding transaction optimization—a major issue in terms of textile-industry sustainability—we willcontinue cooperating with the Fashion Industry SCM Promotion Association, etc. as well as member associations to ensure legal and generalcompliance and to promote optimization by following up on the voluntary action plan, etc.
In addition, regarding environmental problems related to sustainability
in a narrow sense (global warming,handling a recycling society, including the 3Rs, etc.), the textile industry faces a possibility to be eliminatedfrom the future supply chain if theproblems are not addressed. However, because different countermeasures are necessary for from upstream to downstream process, wewill start by collecting informationof both Japan and other countries (thecurrent situation, outlook of regulations, specific handling examples, thesituation of supply chain supervision,etc.) and then provide this information to the textile industry in order tofurther deepen everyone's understanding of the need for sustainability
and secure the cooperation of member groups to set up environments foreach company to achieve it.

Ways to provide information include holding environmental/safety
problem committee meetings andseminars. In addition, we will cooperate with member associations toconduct interviews and field surveys
as necessary.
*1) What are New Standards ofValue?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution(characterized by the rapid development of digital technology, including
AI, the IoT, and robots) is currently
occurring, and Society 5.0, so-called
the abundant world is upon us nearfuture. As AI and robots assist or replace people, people will be freed
from the need to do hard labor, which

will greatly increase their healthy life
expectancy, language barriers will
come down, and consumption areasthat span different races and countries will arise. New standards ofvalue are those that assume consumerawareness and consumption behavior resulting from the above sort ofmulticultural society. In terms of the
textile industry, applying such standards means building a supply chain= value chain that generates added
value by responding to changes inconsumer awareness and behavior.
*2) Upstream: raw cotton / raw
y a r n ,s p i n n i n g
Midstream: twisted yarn, weav-ing
k n i t t i n g ,d y e i n g
Downstream: apparel, sewing

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J. S. N. International, March 202011