125TH YEAR | NO. 43,497

ISSN 0289-1956 © THE JAPAN TIMES, LTD., 2021

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Sustainability challenges
reflected in art’s mirror

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PHOTOS: KOUTAROU WASHIZAKI

Enoura Observatory’s Kasekkutsu (Fossil Cave) is a collection of fossils Sugimoto
assembled in New York. Here they are housed in a converted farm shed.

FeatureHIROSHI SUGIMOTOART

PEOPLEIn a grove, Hiroshi Sugimoto
creates a place out of time

Hiroshi Sugimoto was born in Tokyo in 1948. After graduatingfrom Rikkyo University, he moved to the United States, where hegraduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles
before starting to work as an artist in New York City in 1974. As
a contemporary artist, he has held solo exhibitions at museums
around the world. In 2009, he launched his architectural design
office, the New Material Research Laboratory, in Tokyo. In thesame year, he received the 21st Praemium Imperiale. In 2010 hereceived the Medal with Purple Ribbon. In 2009, he established
the Odawara Art Foundation.

By YOSHIO SUZUKI

HThe glass stage with amphitheater seating. The auditorium is a full-size re-creation of a ruined
Roman amphitheater in Ferento in the Lazio region of Italy.

ear the name Enoura Observatory
and you probably imagine a facility for astronomy. But in truth thisplace in the Kanagawa Prefecture city ofOdawara is a little different.
Just over a decade ago, the land where
it now stands was a mikan citrus grove
overlooking the Pacific, not unlike manyothers in the area.
Since then, several buildings and a nohstage have been constructed, a garden
has been established and it has been reborn as a reservation-only destination for
the appreciation of art and architecture.
Enoura Observatory was designed bycontemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto.
He named it “observatory” because invarious ways it lets visitors observe andexperience the winter and summer solstices and spring and autumn equinoxes
as humans have for millennia.
Once a year, for example, on the wintersolstice the sun’s rays will shine straight
into a specially designed 70-meter-longtunnel. The winter solstice has long beenrecognized in various religions and cultures throughout the world as a day symbolizing death and rebirth.
Every day, the sun rises and sets. The
Earth moves around the sun little by little
and returns to its original place in thecourse of one year. Seasons change.
Through observation, human beings
come to realize that they too are a part ofnature, and thereby their consciousness
grows and they are awakened to the dailyor annual tasks that they should perform.
This practice has long stood humans ingood stead when hunting or farming.
There was one other question that inspired Sugimoto’s design for Enoura Observatory: “Sooner or later, civilization
will come to an end. When it does, what
beauty will this place retain as it transforms into an archaeological site?”At the point of creation, Sugimoto
looked ahead to the building’s ruin. Whatother architect would do that?
Sugimoto’s approach to architecture
clearly differs from others’. Buildings are

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The “Seascapes” series, in which Sugimoto attempted to capture sceneryas it may have been witnessed in ancient times, is one of his masterpieces.
Viewing the photos is like traveling back in time.

usually at their most beautiful upon completion, before gradually aging and deteriorating. But he wanted to make something whose presence would be enhanced
over time.
Sugimoto, who works in this way on
his own architectural projects and occasionally directs traditional Japanese performing arts such as ningyō jōruri puppet
theater and noh, made his debut as an
artist in the late 1970s working in photography. He went on to leave his mark in art
history as one of the artists who madephotography a form of art.
One of his masterpieces is his “Seascapes” series, which he shot at locations
around the world and which consist ofphotographs divided in half by the horizon, with the sky in the upper half andthe sea in the lower half.
Sugimoto says the catalyst for the work
was the question, “How might it be possible for us today to gaze on the same
scenery that ancient people once saw?”
In a way, the task he set for himself wasto capture eternity in a single image.
“Usually we think about things based
Yosai Isozaki, the representative of the
agricultural corporation Shokubutsu to Ningen.
As an architect, he was also in charge ofdesigning Enoura Observatory.

Summary
杉本博司の、人類の原点に立ち返るアートサイトへ。

The gallery is 100 meters in length and points in the direction of thesummer solstice sunrise.

COVER PHOTO

on time frames that are familiar in ourown lifetimes, so generally in 10- or 20year blocks,” he said. “But it is importantto think about other time scales, some being much, much longer. From the point ofview of our planet, it is only a moment
between the appearance of human beings and the present. Or, considering thecycle of the ice ages since the appearanceof human beings, disease spread when it
was hot, and when it became cool people
thrived. When we think about sustainability, we should be incorporating theselong time scales and perspectives.”
It is usually difficult for a person tocomprehend periods of time that far exceed their own life, like hundreds ofyears, or thousands, or more. However,when Sugimoto captures them in art orarchitecture, he makes us feel we havesomething in common with ancient people, and he gives us a sense of mankind’s
eternal toil following the rhythm of thecelestial bodies. This is one of the fundamental joys in his work.
So how did Sugimoto start this journeyof changing the scale of time?
“When I was a boy, I was given a telescope, so I used to look at the stars atnight, and the planets. Back in the late
1950s you could see stars in Tokyo. Also,
there was a time when I was absorbed inmodel railroads. I made dioramas withmodel trains, and that was like my way ofunderstanding the real world. In contrast, when dealing with reality I would
often feel I was suffering visual hallucinations.”
By immersing himself in dioramas andcomparing them with the real world,
Sugimoto was able to grasp his place,and the kind of environment he was in.
The Enoura Observatory is perhaps a
new embodiment of that process.
Sugimoto named this hilly area on Sagami Bay, including the Enoura Observatory, Kankitsu-zan (Mount Citrus) and in2011 he established the agricultural corporation Shokubutsu to Ningen (Arts andAgriculture) to maintain the surrounding

神奈川県小田原市。相模湾を望む丘に建つ〈江之浦測候所〉
は、現代美術作家で建築家の杉本博司による設計である。もともとはみかん畑だった土地に、古代の天体観測装置のように機能する建築物や能舞台、茶室、ギャラリーなどを配している。
杉本の生み出す美術作品も建築も悠久の時を思考することでlands. With declining population meaning many properties lacked successors tocare for them, abandoned land was becoming widespread. This in an area that
the German architect and town planner
Bruno Taut had once visited and dubbed
the “Oriental Riviera.” Sugimoto could
not bear the thought of letting such a location go to waste.
Here too, his free sense of time has
been useful. Shokubutsu to Ningen has
the mission to reaffirm the relationshipbetween agriculture and human culture
from the birth of the human race till thepresent day, and to maintain a sustainable coexistence between them in the future. Over the last 20 to 30 years, the landhas been abandoned, and mikans havegrown and fallen. The volunteers who
took care of the trees have aged.
And so it became necessary to establish the agricultural corporation. Its activities include pesticide-free cultivationof some 20 varieties of citrus fruit, holding experiential events featuring encounters with nature and agriculture, research
into agricultural land utilization and land
maintenance, development of human resources, and agricultural education projects. There is also a plan to open a cafeon the Kankitsu-zan site that will offer
drinks and food using pesticide-free citrus fruits. It will be used as a place forexperimentation to address food wastage.
Also, if you experienced the food shortages at the end of the war in 1945, or if
you are even just conscious of how natural disasters can result in crop failures or
supply chain problems, then it is naturalthat you might worry you will need tomake your own food at some point. Sugimoto sees these projects as a way to prepare for such a time.
Knowing the season from the positionof the sun, looking out to the sea in the
distance, seeing the various crops growing at your feet. Enter this place and you
are sure to feel that you are alive within,and together with, nature.

成り立っている。画面上半分が空、下半分が海という同じ構図
で世界中の海を捉えた「海景」は、古代の人々と現代の我々が同じものを見ることが可能か、という自問自答が元になっている。
〈江之浦測候所〉を含む山を杉本は「柑橘山」と名付け、隣地に農業法人「植物と人間」も設立。耕作放棄された農地を活性

Enoura Observatory wascreated by world-renowned
contemporary artist Hiroshi
Sugimoto in Odawara,
Kanagawa Prefecture. Whenthe sun rises over the sea on thewinter solstice, its rays shine
directly down the observatory’s
70-meter-long tunnel.
PHOTO: ODAWARA ART FOUNDATION

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化させ、農薬不使用の農作物を作り、農業の今後に対して様々な取り組みが行われている。測候所では太陽の位置が暦や季節を示し、地面には作物が成る。人間はその天と地の間で生かされている。人間は自然と共にあることを再確認し、体感する。
ここではそのように持続可能な世界を考えることができる。

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T

Seiichi Saito (director of
Panoramatiks and executive
director of Abstract Engine)
produces these two art festivals,
held in Nara Prefecture andon the island of Sarushima.
Together with people in therespective communities andparticipating artists, Saito seeks
new formats for art festivals.

Featurehis autumn, two art festivals produced by creative director Seiichi
Saito will offer ideal opportunities
to take a close look at the natural environment and its sustainability.
The first is Sense Island. Launched in
2019, this art festival is held on Sarushima, an uninhabited island located off theport of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture. After taking the night ferry to theisland, visitors turn off their mobile
phones to sharpen their senses and attune them to the sounds of Sarushima as
they make their way around the island.
“Through the senses of sound, vision andtouch, I’d like people to gain a new awareness of the fact that humans are part of aART

TRAVELTwo art festivals bring viewers
to their senses in nature

great ecosystem, like other living creatures,” said Saito. “My hope is that, on
this island located at a remove from thecity, they will relearn the importance oftrusting their human senses rather thanjust relying on technology.”
The second event is Okuyamato Mind
Trail: Museum in Your Mind, an art festival held deep in the mountains of Nara
Prefecture. Following its launch in 2020,
the festival’s second edition will takeplace this year. Here too, visitors will walkthrough three areas (including a World
Heritage Site) for up to five hours per
area. With a principal focus on the appreciation of magnificent nature, rather thanon famous artists or flashy spectacle-style

By CHIE SUMIYOSHI

Sarushima (meaning Monkey Island) is an uninhabitedisland so small that it takes just 40 minutes or so towalk around its perimeter. According to legend, a whitemonkey guided the priest Nichiren to the island. At
one time Sarushima was also called Perry Island, as
Commodore Matthew Perry’s fleet passed close bywhen it came to Japan.
COURTESY: SENSE ISLAND SARUSHIMA DARK MUSEUM 2021
COURTESY: SENSE ISLAND SARUSHIMA DARK MUSEUM 2021

Sense Island:

Sarushima Dark Museum 2021
Sarushima is a small uninhabited island
located 10 minutes by ferry from Yokosuka
and only about 90 minutes from Tokyo.
A circuit around the island takes about 40
minutes on foot. Set on Sarushima, thisfestival takes place in the dark of night,
starting at sunset on weekends. Festival
visitors are required to turn off their mobile
phones before arriving on the island.
Sarushima is known for its war ruins,
including the remains of gun batteries from
the Meiji Era, and members of the public
were not allowed on the island until after theend of World War II. As a result, the island’snatural plant and animal habitats haveremained untouched and unchanged. The
only sounds on the island are comfortablesounds not heard in the city — waves, plants
swaying in the wind, the scurrying of small
animals. The artists featured in the festival— including Kazuto Imura, Shun Onozawa,
Koichiro Kutsuna, Yasuaki Kakeh, Seiichi
Sarushima is also known for its war ruins, including Meiji Era gun batteries. Because the island was offlimits to the public until the end of World War II, its ecosystems have remained unchanged.

Summary
自然と哲学が共鳴し合う
この秋の２つの芸術祭。

クリエイティブディレクターの齋藤精一がプロデュースする
2つの芸術祭は環境問題に向き合う絶好の機会となる。
神奈川県横須賀市の無人島・猿島を舞台とする芸術祭「Sense
Island 感覚の島 暗闇の美術島」では、週末の夜フェリーで島に渡り、携帯をオフにして、島で聴こえる自然や作品の「音」だ

けに感覚を研ぎ澄ませる。「MIND TRAIL 奥大和 心のなかの美術館」は世界遺産を含む奈良県の広大なエリアを徒歩で巡る
芸術祭。主役は、雄大な自然そのものだ。奥大和の自然とアー
ティストの哲学が共生し、アートが気づきのレンズとして機能することを目指すこの試みは、人との距離を十分にとったウィ

Saito, Tohru Nakazaki, Miyu Hosoi, Mamoru
and Yuko Mori — will show works thatincorporate the environment and darkness
of Sarushima.
Festival period: mid-January, 2022
(Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays/public holidays)
Festival sites open at sunset.
Locations: around Sarushima
https://senseisland.com
PHOTO: NAOMI CIRCUS

From an exhibit at the festival in 2019.
The work is by artist Yasuhiro Suzuki.

ズコロナ時代ならではのアートイベントでもある。
環境について多様な文脈の議論が飛び交う昨今、自然のなかに身を置くことに特化した芸術祭は、普段あまり使わない感覚と思考を通して、環境と人類の関係性がもはや後戻りできない状況にあることを伝えるきっかけとなるだろう。

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COURTESY: OKUYAMATO MIND TRAIL — MUSEUM IN YOUR MIND 2021

creations, the aim is to hold an event
uniquely suited to this age of “social distancing.” Saito said, “I’d like to create an
art festival in which Okuyamato’s naturalfeatures and the artists’ philosophies coexist, and works of art function as a lensfor perception.” This is why he feels thatnature, which far surpasses human understanding and technology, should havethe starring role.
These art festivals, both of which place
people in the middle of natural settings,
will undoubtedly promote awareness ofthe fact that the relationship between theenvironment and human beings has already reached a point of no return. “Theworldwide COVID-19 crisis has become
an occasion for us to recognize that human beings are animals whose lives depend on the environment,” said Saito.
“Because of this virus, we’ve started
thinking about things in a philosophicalway even as we go on with our daily lives.
Art can serve as a medium connecting
two phenomena of different dimensions.
It can also be a lens through which to see
and consider things, or a telescope thatenables us to think about a vision for the
future.” In both festivals, sensing thepower of plant life and evidence of animallife encountered while looking for works
of art scattered through an outdoor spaceundoubtedly takes a great deal of energy
in itself; but by the time they have become
tired from walking, visitors may also havegained an awareness — through senses
and thought processes they rarely use —that nature is an irreplaceable creation,
just as a work of art is. Real, first-handexperiences that we throw ourselves into
and appreciate to the fullest will surely
help us on the way to action for a new era.

Okuyamato Mind Trail:
Museum in your mind

The majestic natural landscape of Nara
Prefecture’s Okuyamato region is the starof this art festival, which aims to provide
opportunities to experience the region’s
captivating beauty through the five senses. In
Yoshino, known as a World Heritage Site, aculture rooted in Japan’s ancient worship ofnature has been handed down through time.
Tenkawa is a district famed for its beautiful
waters. In Soni, a chain of mountains rises
above rock formations. A walking course
three to five hours long has been planned ineach of these three areas of Okuyamato, basedon the respective themes “forest” (Yoshino),“water” (Tenkawa) and “land” (Soni). We
have deployed artists with strong connections
to Nara and the Mind Trail project (which waslaunched last year) as curators for the threeareas, and visitors will have the chance toappreciate and experience works of art whilesurrounded by nature. This year’s festival will
also feature events spanning all three areas
and offer opportunities to get to know more of
the region’s attractions, for example by staying
for multiple days and visiting nearby sights.
Festival period: Oct. 9 to Nov. 28
Locations: Town of Yoshino and villages ofTenkawa and Soni, Nara Prefecture
https://mindtrail.okuyamato.jp

Jiku #006 Yoshino,” by Seiichi Saito, thefifth station.

Above: “Wildlife,” by Saki Chikaraishi, station No. 17 on the trail. Below: “Minamo,” bySenzo Ueno, the 13th stop. PHOTO : YUTA TOGO

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FeatureART

Shuji Yamamoto collecting sap while conducting
observations of maple forests in Towada.

“Seeds on Mr. Iwasaki’s Palm,” Yuna Yagi, 2017. Iwasakipreserves native and domesticated seed lines.

©️SHUJI YAMAMOTO©︎YUNA YAGIENVIRONMENTAL ART

Contemporary works show
visions of environmental future
By CHIE SUMIYOSHIPHOTO: SEITARO IKEDA / COURTESY: ART FOR SDGS: KITAKYUSHU ART FESTIVAL IMAGINING OUR FUTURE“Bio Sculpture,” 2021. Keio SFC Hiroya Tanaka Lab + Metacity (Ryuta AOKI)I

n recent years, the contemporary art
scene has become increasingly market-oriented, and some artists now
even deliberately make works with art
fairs or auctions in mind. And yet, at thesame time, others have set themselvesapart from the commercialism of the art“bubble” and pursue their lifework orsome kind of artistic social experimentation with an eye to the future well-beingof humankind. Here we introduce threeartists and artist groups who are putting
technology and fieldwork to use to confront the pressing environmental issuesof the day.
This spring, the “Art for SDGs: Kitakyushu Art Festival,” directed by former
Mori Art Museum Director Fumio Nanjo,
was held under the theme of sustainability. One of the more prominent works onshow was “Bio Sculpture,” by the Keio

Summary「目からウロコ」の発想で環境に向き合う作家たち。

University Shonan Fujisawa Campus’ Hiroya Tanaka Laboratory in collaboration
with Metacity (Ryuta Aoki). The work is a
device for re-creating forest soil components using a 3D printer and natural materials such as akadama (red ball) soil
and rice husks, and then transplanting
those to urban or barren locations. The
soil is eventually activated by seeds andmicroorganisms, and the group tries tovisualize its potential in these new environments.
Metacity is a research team that explores the form of a “possible city”
through thought experiments and prototyping. At this summer’s “Jack into the
Noosphere” exhibition curated by Metacity representative Ryuta Aoki and held at
a Japanese garden in the Chiba Prefecture city of Makuhari, artists, researchers,science fiction writers and architects pro-

現代美術の市場偏重主義が進み、マーケットを意識した作品
制作に走る作家が現れる一方、独自のライフワークの探求や人類の未来を見据えた社会実験に取り組むアーティストもいる。
METACITY（青木竜太）は、森から採取した土壌成分を3D
プリンターで再生し、森に宿る生態系を可視化する社会彫刻で

duced works confronting nature, technology, society and the environment that surrounds us. Their efforts to examine a
civilization that has reached a crossroads
and explore possibilities for a new paradigm encompassed urgency and earnestness, and were brilliantly stimulating.
Photographer Yuna Yagi focuses on theactivities of Masatoshi Iwasaki, who for
more than 30 years has been engaged inorganic farming and seed production in
the Nagasaki Prefecture city of Unzen
with the aim of preserving the seed linesof native and domesticated species of vegetables. Through her work, Yagi tries toshine some light on the problem of seed
diversity, which is becoming more acutedue to climate change and commercialization. At “Kyotographie International Photography Festival 2021,” which is now on,
this work is exhibited at Ryosokuin in the

注目されるリサーチチーム。袋小路に陥った文明社会を検証し、新たな変革の可能性を探る活動には、緊急性を帯びた切実な思いがある。写真家・八木夕菜は長崎県雲仙市で在来種・固定種の野菜の種を守る有機農家に着目。気候変動や市場原理に翻弄される種子の問題に一石を投じる。山本修路は熟練の庭師の見Kenninji temple, which is normally closed
to the public.
Shuji Yamamoto has been doing fieldwork in various places such as the Aomori
Prefecture city of Towada, making themost of his insights as a skilled gardener.
His many nature-related activities, including forest ecology for the sustainability offorests, sake brewing from the point ofcultivating the rice, and making maple
syrup while conducting observations of
the renewal of painted maples, are all “efforts to experience and see the relationship between nature and humans at different angles and distances,” he commented.
The eye-opening perspectives found inthese artists’ works might just serve toawaken people’s consciousness and encourage them to work toward a sustainable society. Sometimes art can provide aclear vision for an unclear future.

識を生かし、林業の持続可能化への森林生態学的考察など、自然と人間の関わりを角度や距離を変えて観測し続ける。
テクノロジーやフィールドワークを生かし環境問題に向き合う彼らの自発的な活動には、未来への明快なビジョンと、持続可能な社会への実践を喚起する「目ウロコ的」視点があった。

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Leaders & ReadersJ

enifer Rogers, president of theAmerican Chamber of Commerce inJapan (ACCJ), is a familiar faceamong the upper echelons of Japan’s corporate community. In 2015, she became
the first foreign female director of aJapanese trading company when she waselected as external director of Mitsui &Co. and has since served as a non-executive director at Kawasaki Heavy Industries
and Nissan.
When she is not running board meetings
at the ACCJ or attending board meetings
at some of Japan’s largest corporations,
Rogers serves as general counsel Asia at
Asurion, a global tech services company.
Commenting on how she balances the
responsibilities of her numerous positions, Rogers noted her ability to compartmentalize. “Because I have so many interests and everything sounds so fascinating,I have a hard time saying no,” she told The
Japan Times, speaking from the ACCJ
office in Tokyo’s Azabudai district. “I loveeverything I’m doing, so one of my biggest
challenges is just to compartmentalize
and focus on one thing at a time. I’mlearning to embrace that, and I’m having
a good time.”
Rogers’ recent activities in Japan started
in 2014, when she relocated from Hong
Kong to Tokyo in her current position at
Asurion. However, her relationship withJapan spans decades. In the 1980s, herfather was president of Dow Chemical
Japan, and it was this familial connectionthat led her to Japan for the first time in
1981.
Back then, Tokyo was not the international city it is today. Rogers noted how
difficult it was to get around as a nonJapanese speaker. There were no bilingual
signs, and if she got lost, her only option
was to ask for directions at the nearest
koban (neighborhood police station). “It
was a very different city,” she said. “I still
saw women in kimonos and there was still
a lot more of ‘traditional Japan.’ Don’t getme wrong, Tokyo was modernizing — youstill had the subways — but it was still aJapanese city.”
Rogers’ initial stay in Japan shaped herinterest in international relations. She hadplanned to go to nursing school after
returning to the U.S., but her experiences
studying at Sophia University, where sheinteracted with people of various nationalities and engaged with global issues,
inspired her to shift her focus: “I started
to think about how to make a differencein the world through cross-cultural understanding in the international arena.”
Propelled by her new passion, Rogers

Jenifer Rogers
President of the American
Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ)
URL: www.accj.or.jp
General Counsel Asia at Asurion
URL: www.asurion.com
Hometown: Midland, Michigan
Years in Japan: 16

returned to the U.S. to enter Georgetown
University’s School of Foreign Service,where she developed a foundation in economics and foreign policy. After graduating, she decided to enter the Georgetown
Law Center. “When you think about what
you can change and how you can engage
internationally, and look at the institutions, you realize everything relates tolaw,” she said. “Law school was a way forme to combine my interests and prepare
for a career abroad.”
Rogers has since led a prolific international career. For 18 years she worked at
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (now BofA
Securities), where she served in a variety
of senior legal roles in New York, Dublin,
Hong Kong, London, Tokyo and Mumbai.
She also worked as a legal consultant for
the World Bank, while obtaining her master’s degree in international public policy
during a self-described “sabbatical.”
Considering her expertise and fluent
Japanese abilities, it is no surprise thatJapan’s business community looks to
Rogers for her perspective on various topics, including risk management and corporate governance. It is also noteworthy
that she is one of only a few foreign
female directors in Japan. Japan ranked
120th among 156 countries in genderequality in 2021, a disparity reflected in
the mere 8% of board seats occupied by
women at listed companies in Japan. For
comparison, as of 2021, women occupied
45% of board seats at listed companies inFrance and 26% in the U.S.
Despite Japan’s comparatively slow
progress toward gender equality, Rogers
is optimistic about the future. “I think
you’re seeing an acceleration in the appreciation of diversity and inclusion,” shesaid, noting that when she arrived in 2014,
only about 2% of board seats were occupied by women, a quarter of the level now.
Japan’s aging demographics, compoundedby the effects of COVID-19, which havedispelled stigmas toward remote work,
have also contributed to this acceleration,
she said.
“Diversity is discomfort,” Rogers said.
“Japan is a harmony-based society thatemphasizes compromise, but you’re goingto have debates when talking to people
with different backgrounds. Turning thatconcept of constructive dissonance into
something positive that can encourage us
to reach consensus in a more dynamic
way is something that excites me.”As president of the ACCJ, Rogers taps
into this excitement toward dynamic consensus-building when advocating for thechamber’s interests, which are centeredon four areas: U.S.-Japan partnership,digital transformation, health care &retirement and sustainability. With regard
to sustainability, the chamber has offered
recommendations to the Japanese government on how to reach its target of carbon
neutrality by 2050 and is working with its
members to ensure responsible supply
chains and ESG (environmental, socialand governance) disclosure.
“We have a lot in the pipeline, and I
think sustainability is going to be one ofour most exciting areas,” she said. “Wehave so many ways we can contribute,and we’re focused on harnessing theenergy of our diverse members.”

Summary
違いがあるからこそ可能な、力強い合意形成で企業を、社会を動かす
米国企業のアジア担当総合弁護士を務めながら、

ACCJ（在日米国商工会議所）の会頭として多忙な日々を送るジェニファー・ロジャーズ氏が、父親の仕事で初めて来日したのは1981年。まだ発展と国際化の過程にあった日本に外国人として滞在し、国際色豊
かな上智大学で様々な国際問題を学んだ経験が、その後のキャリアを形作った。米国に帰国後も経済学、外交、法学を学び、世界の経済界へと羽ばたいたロジャーズ氏は、2014年に再び拠点を日本に移し、まだ上場企業役員における女性の割合が低い日本において、3社の有名企業の社外取締役を歴任。日本のように調和を大切にする社会においては「Diversity is
discomfort（多様性とは不快なものだ）」としながらも、多様性を達成していく中で意見を戦わせながら合意形成していくことに醍醐味を感じている。ACCJ としては、2050年カーボンニュートラルの実現に向けて日本政府への提言を行うなど、持続可能性を中心に据え、活動の幅を広げている。

| B7

This article was published on July 19
in The Japan Times

President aims to turn social dissonanceinto dynamic diversity in Japan

Rogers taps ACCJ’s energy
for a sustainable future
By JOE MUNTAL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTO: SHINSUKE KAMIOKA“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” This quote from Helen Keller is one Jenifer
Rogers has taken to heart.

President, general counsel, director
Jenifer Rogers is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) andgeneral counsel Asia at Asurion.
Fluent in Japanese, Rogers first came to Japan with her parents in 1981, when her father was
appointed president of Dow Chemical Japan. This encounter with Japan sparked a lifelong
interest in international relations and cross-cultural understanding.
In addition to her duties at the ACCJ and Asurion, Rogers serves as an external director at
Mitsui & Co., Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Nissan Motor Co. Before joining Asurion, she
worked in senior legal roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various cities across theworld and worked as a legal consultant for the World Bank.
She is a commission member and treasurer of the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission(Fulbright Japan), governor of the board of the Georgetown University Alumni Association,member of the board of the U.S.-Japan Council (Japan), founding member of the Asia Society
Japan Center and a member of its Arts Committee, as well as a member of the Board of
Councilors of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University.

B8 |

|

1

©️NAO YOSHIGAI“Shari” (2021)
Director: Nao Yoshigai

This film was spawned when Nao Yoshigai was invited to Shiretoko toparticipate in “Shashin Zero Banchi Shiretoko” (“Zero Photography Shiretoko”),
a project launched by photographer Naoki Ishikawa with local photography
enthusiasts to highlight and promote the area’s appeal. With works such as“Grand Bouquet,” which was included in the Directors’ Fortnight program at
the Cannes Film Festival, Yoshigai is garnering attention for films in which
she pursues physical modes of expression that tap into her skills as a dancer.
Dressed as a “red thing” somewhere between human and beast, Yoshigai
roams the Shiretoko Peninsula town of Shari, where the balance enabling
people, wildlife and nature to coexist is being shifted by the effects of climatechange. The film is a collage of documentary and fiction, in which the sights
and sounds of nature are interlaced with the director’s own tales. Coming totheaters nationwide from Oct. 23.

©️NAO YOSHIGAI“Kanarta: Alive in Dreams” (2020)
Director: Akimi Ota
The “red thing” played by director anddancer Nao Yoshigai roams the margins
between nature and humans.

FeatureART

MOVIES
Films with a message:
Nature is 'capital'
we can't eat into
By CHIE SUMIYOSHI

F

ilms focused on sustainability have,
until now, tended to be documentaries showcasing environmental
activists. However, prominent among theyounger generation of up-and-coming
filmmakers are several whose questioning
minds have inevitably led them to spotlight the impending threat of climatechange and other environmental problems in their creative activities. They produce works confronting the relationshipbetween nature and humankind throughhighly individual viewpoints and embodied experiences.
One such example is set in the harshnatural environment of Shari, a town on
Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula. Directedby dancer Nao Yoshigai, who also stars in
the film, and shot by photographer Naoki
Ishikawa, “Shari” depicts a stark reality.
Changes wrought on the ecosystem byglobal warming have caused fish catches
to decline, inflicting a heavy blow on thelocal fishing industry. Too hungry to hibernate, bears come down into the town fromthe mountains in search of food. In thissettlement, whose construction robbed
wildlife of their habitats, the boundary ofcoexistence between humans and animals

Summary
身体性を通して語りかける
次世代の映像作家たち。

has been crossed, in some cases forcing
people to kill other creatures to survive.
One particular line, spoken by a local, lingers in the ears: “Nature is capital. We
should leave the principal untouched anduse the interest it generates to feed ourselves.” This sound argument encapsulates the kind of sustainable society weare trying to achieve.
Humans emerged as part of the naturalenvironment with which the Earth has
been endowed, living in harmony withother creatures and influencing eachother. But we sought to monopolize natureas though it were our property alone, consuming, destroying and discarding, andare only now waking up to the consequences. These young filmmakers are
driven by the deep disquiet that their own
generation and that of their children
might be the ones who suffer the full penalty.
Sometimes immersing themselvesbodily in the liminal domain between thenatural world and humankind, and atother times exploiting anthropomorphic
expressions of nature, they seek to sharewith the audience their persuasive andcompelling experiences.

未来の社会を担う次世代の映像作家の中で、自身が抱える問
題意識と地球環境問題が結びついたテーマのもとで新作を発表した３人の映画監督を紹介する。彼らの特徴は、きわめて個人的な視点と身体性を通した実体験によって、自然と人間の関係性に対峙する映像作品に取り組んでいることだ。

2

Visual anthropologist Akimi Ota spent more than a year living in a Shuar
village in the Amazon rain forest, following the everyday lives of thisindigenous people once feared as headhunters. Sharing a saliva-fermented
alcoholic drink, the families venture deep into the forest to obtain almost
all they need to live, from food to building materials. They face up to thechallenges of existence in the narrow margin between modern society
and the forest on which they depend for survival, with their discoveriesof medicinal herbs and visions induced by stimulant plants helping themto maintain a steadfast yet flexible outlook on the world. This cinematic
experience confronts the viewer with a way of life rooted in coexistencewith nature that still survives in the Amazon today despite deforestation andmyriad other drastic changes. Will be released nationwide from Oct. 2.

©️AKIMI OTA“Reframing” (2021)
Director: Chikako Yamashiro

3

Okinawan contemporary artist Chikako Yamashiro maintains her trackrecord of presenting works that leverage her perspective as a stakeholder to
put Okinawa’s problems under the microscope. Set in Nago’s Awa district,which is renowned for its karst limestone landscape, her latest work is afable weaving together the mountain and marine environments threatened by
the construction of a U.S. military base. The film superimposes on modern
scenery the identity of the Okinawan people, who have since ancient times
lived in harmony with coral and other flora and fauna. Yamashiro hascreated a completely novel visual experience, drawing the viewer into thegroove through embodiments of herself and others as part of nature, inwhich the starring role is played by the local landscape anthropomorphizedby dancers and actors. Screening until Oct. 10 at Tokyo Photographic Art
Museum, as part of the solo exhibition of the same name.

©️CHIKAKO YAMASHIRO / COUTESY: YUMIKO CHIBA ASSOCIATES

写真家・石川直樹と共に『Shari』（2021）を監督・出演した
吉開菜央は、自然・獣・人間がせめぎ合う知床半島の町を彷徨う。
太田光海はアマゾン熱帯雨林の先住民族の村に住み込みながら『カナルタ 螺旋状の夢』（2020）を監督・撮影した。沖縄出身の山城知佳子は『リフレーミング』（2021）で米軍基地建設により脅かされる土地の風景を擬人化した寓話で紡ぐ。
彼らを突き動かすのは自身と、自分の子供たちの世代に、人類の愚行のツケが回ってくるであろうという危機感だ。監督自身が、自然と人間の境界に、身体ごと没入する表現を駆使したグルーヴ感溢れる映像体験を秋公開の新作で共有してほしい。

|

ESG Talk| B9This article was published on July 26
in The Japan Times

NTT Communications tech cuts load on environment
By TOMOKO KAICHI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he spread of the new coronavirus
created an opportunity to accelerate
digital transformation and rethink
workplaces and work styles. The Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group, better known as NTT, supports reform ofindustry, the economy, society and life
through information and communications
technology. It respects individuals’ diverse
options and supports efforts to realize asustainable society where business activity
and efforts to reduce environmental load
can be achieved at the same time. NTT
Executive Officer Hiroki Kuriyama, who
concurrently serves as senior executive
vice president of the subsidiary NTT
Communications Corp., says the “technology and infrastructure (to support ourendeavors) have developed to a viablelevel.”The NTT Communications group was
early to introduce telecommuting, with
about 80% of its 18,000 employees, including contract workers, currently working
either from home or satellite offices. A
recent internal survey asking about remote
work situations in the past year found that
employee satisfaction had improved innearly all of the aspects the survey’s questions covered. These included productivity,
freedom of work style and time available
for employees to use for themselves.
Company expenses decreased, from commuting allowances, business trip compensation and purchase of supplies and officeequipment to power bills, proving that
remote work also contributes to saving
resources and energy, helping protect theenvironment. In particular, remote work
resulted in a significant reduction in theamount of paper the company used.
Annual consumption dropped 57% yearon-year, or about 16 million sheets,
amounting to some 1,900 trees.
In promoting remote work, Kuriyama’s
priorities included not just taking measures to optimize the environment andenhance tools for work, including communications infrastructure. Beyond that, heprioritized what he calls a “human mindset
transformation.” That is, he attachedimportance to prompting employees,
including contract workers, to change theway they regard remote work while taking
each person’s situation and sentiments into
account. He prioritized the safety of
employees, identified types of work that
require commuting to the office and thosethat do not, and adjusted rules on how particular types of work should be conducted.
When the boss is the first to shift to remote
work, it makes it easier for his staff to do
the same.
While people who wish to continue the
new work style even after the COVID-19
pandemic ends are expected to increase,
NTT has corresponded with the increased
costs borne by employees’ households as
they shifted to remote work. At the sametime, the company has embraced the goalof realizing an energy-saving, decarbonized society and focused on the area ofenergy in addition to its core business oftelecommunication and information systems.
In May 2020, NTT formulated an“Environment and Energy Vision” to promote management that strongly minds
environmental, social and governance factors. It is one of the pillars of its mediumterm management strategy, dubbed “Your
Value Partner 2025.” Under the vision,
which aims to completely eliminate environmental load, NTT pledged to promoterenewable energy by, for example, increasing the proportion of renewable energy useby the NTT as a whole by 30% or more by
fiscal 2031 and developing innovative environment and energy technologies. The
company plans to launch a renewableenergy business and support a “total optimization-oriented energy supply that isconsumed where it is produced, low-costand convenient, to the maximum degree
possible,” according to Kuriyama.
Most recently, NTT announced in Junethat it had signed a deal with Seven & I
Holdings Co. under which it will supply
renewable energy to 40 of the latter’s
7-Eleven outlets in the Tokyo metropolitan
area. According to the company, the project is the first in Japan to use an off-site

power purchase agreement in which power
generated at a solar power station set up in
Chiba Prefecture by NTT Anode Energy
Corp. is supplied through existing power
grids.
NTT’s key strategy for saving power isthe use in information processing of opticaltechnology it developed over many years.
While advances in information and communications technology have supported
remote work and improved convenience indaily life, they also have brought increased
load on data centers and higher power consumption for processing and transmitting
data, resulting in large amounts of heatand emissions of carbon dioxide. NTT has
dealt with this problem by introducing
measures to improve operational efficiency, but the use of optical technology“has the potential (to solve the issue) overnight,” Kuriyama said.
“Unlike electrons, photons have a characteristic of generating little heat,”
Kuriyama said. “If you switch electrons insemiconductor information-processing circuits to photons, heat emissions will
decrease to a revolutionary low degree.”This also would enable increased semiconductor integration, making it easier to deal
with the explosive growth in the amount of
information. Not only that, “It will reduce
the power consumption of air-conditioners
to cool servers, and enable the provision of
information processing and data transmission services at a radically low level ofenergy consumption,” Kuriyama said.
“Theoretically speaking, optical technology
can reduce heat (electricity) consumption
to one-hundredth (of the level of electronic
technology).”
In 2019, NTT announced an “Innovative
Optical and Wireless Network” initiative(IOWN), aiming to use optical technology
to reduce the power consumption of computers and communications networks. In
January 2020, NTT, along with Sony Group
Corp. and Intel Corp., formed the IOWN
Global Forum, which promotes the development of next-generation communications infrastructure. NTT also works withIntel, Microsoft Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and

NEC Corp. on the development of nextgeneration 6G high-speed mobile technology, which is expected to become commercially available in the 2030s.
It also is in partnership with Mitsubishi
Corp. on a project to promote industrial
digital transformation. This project aims tooptimize the value chain mainly in the areaof food logistics and minimize food loss
and plastic waste. NTT additionally is in atie-up with Toyota Motor Corp. on an initiative to realize a smart city that takes
advantage of robots and artificial intelligence. The ultra-high-speed, ultra-lowlatency 5G mobile technology expands thepotential of self-driving vehicles, and 6G
will further take self-driving to reality
through its real-time performance. In otherareas, the fruits of research over many
years are beginning to take shape.
“Technology, our wishes and expectations for the ‘smartification’ of society havenow synchronized, and we have entered
the phase of realization,” Kuriyama said.
Hiroki Kuriyama, senior executive vicepresident, representative director and executive
officer of NTT Communications, served in key
posts at NTT.

PHOTO: HIROMICHI MATONO

Summary
事業と環境負荷低減を両立、
グローバルに新技術を推進。

新型コロナウイルス禍で NTT コミュニケーションズグループ 改善や省資源、省エネなど環境保全面で歓迎される効果もあっ 省電力化の切り札は光技術の情報処理への応用。理論上、電力はリモートワークに大きく舵を切った。副社長の栗山浩樹氏が たという。
消費量を従来の100分の１に減らせるという。次世代の光通信基重視したのが「ヒューマンマインドセットのトランスフォーメー
NTT は2020年５月に「環境エネルギービジョン」を策定し、 盤や高速通信規格「6G」の開発、スマートシティ実現などでグローション（HX）「技術と我々の希望、社会のスマート化への期」、個々の事情や感情に配慮したうえで働き方の変 「環境負荷ゼロ」を掲げる。再生可能エネルギー事業にも進出し、 バルに提携する。
（栗山氏）。
化を促すことだった。結果的に社員の満足度は高く、生産性の 低廉で使い勝手の良い全体最適なエネルギー供給を支援する。 待がシンクロして、実現の段階に入ってきた」

www.ozucastle.com
operated by VMG

B10 ||

After working as a professional dancer in Japan and abroad, Makiko
Takashima went to England to explore the relationship between
the body and space. She collaborates with people from all over theworld, including designers, engineers, scientists, architects andresearchers. Based in Tokyo since 2019.
PHOTO: KOUTAROU WASHIZAKI

FeatureART

PLASTIC WASTE
How to see the world
in a grain of microplastic

Pieces of plastic waste attached to a canvas
PHOTO: KOUTAROU WASHIZAKI

By ARINA TSUKADA

R

ecently the problem of plastic waste
in the ocean is receiving attention
all over the world. According to theAnnual Report on the Environment, theSound Material-Cycle Society andBiodiversity in Japan released by the
Ministry of the Environment in 2019,about 8 million tons of plastic waste aredischarged into the ocean every year. And
it is estimated that in 2050 the weight of
NYK Line is collecting samples of microplastics
in the ocean to help create a map of global
marine plastic garbage.

COURTESY: NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA

Summary
海洋プラスチックごみをアートで可視化する試み。

all plastic waste in the ocean will exceedthat of sea life. Once in the ocean, plastic
waste remains there semipermanently,
breaking down only into microplastics,
with a diameter of 5 millimeters or less,that stay there, raising concerns about
their long-term impact on the marine ecosystem. The fact is that little is known
about the kinds and volume of microplastics already in the sea, and the long-term
effects they will have.
These kinds of environmental issues
can seem remote from our everyday lives,
but there are visual artists trying to raiseawarenessthroughart.
MakikoTakashima, who studied “information
experience design” at the Royal College of
Art in London, is currently working on a
project involving plastic waste collectedfrom the sea.
“Since I started diving, I have become
more aware of environmental issues,” shesaid. “When you dive, you realize howmuch plastic trash is scattered near the

2019年の環境省の発表によれば、毎年約800万トンのプラスチッ
クごみが海に流出するという。海中のプラスチックは半永久的に分解されず、直径5mm 以下の「マイクロプラスチック」として海中にとどまる。しかしどんな種類や量のマイクロプラスチッ
クがあり、それがどう影響を及ぼすかはまだ解明されていない。

bottom of the sea. Even in the most beautiful of seas, there are serious problems.”
While looking for a way in which she
could address the problem as an artist,
Takashima met Rie Tai, an environmental
conservation consultant, and associate
professor Yutaka Kameda of the Chiba
Institute of Technology, who conducts
research on microplastics. In this way she
could get advice and support in producing
her works. She learned that Kameda’s
research laboratory is collaborating withthe shipping company NYK Line to conduct a large-scale oceanographic surveyof microplastic distribution around theworld. Currently, NYK is collecting microplastic samples using its network of about
750 vessels. Kameda’s research laboratory
will investigate the size and concentrationof microplastics after collection, and plansto create a map of global marine plastic
garbage. With Kameda’s cooperation,
Takashima is now creating paintings thathighlight “the existence of plastic frag-

その問題をアートを媒介として社会に発信する作家が高島マキコさんだ。海から回収したプラごみを使い作品制作を進めている。環境保全コンサルタントである田井梨絵氏や千葉工業大学・亀田豊准教授から、さらに亀田研究室と日本郵船との連携から大規模な海洋調査を行っていることを知った。現在、日本

ments that are otherwise difficult for people to visualize” by attaching plastic fragments to her canvases and then painting
over them.
“We’re told that even from our dailylaundry, microplastics that can’t be caught
by filters are actually leaching into thesea. It is not yet clear what kind of impact
they will have, but by the time we noticea problem it will be too late, so being able
to make people be aware of it now, at thisearly stage, is part of the power of art,”
she said. “But I’m still trying to work out
the best method of expressing this, so am
still experimenting. If in future we cancreate a distribution map of plastic waste,then I will update the work based on that.
Personally, I like to focus on creating
works that will appeal directly to the fivesenses, such as sight and hearing. Even
where straight numerical data might notseem real to people, the work will enable
the viewer to intuitively and physicallygrasp the nature of the problem.”

郵船では約750隻におよぶ自社の運行船ネットワークを活かし航海中にマイクロプラスチックを採取している。そこで高島さんは、その協力のもと、採取されたプラスチック片をキャンバ
スに貼り付け、上から絵具を重ね塗ることで「可視化されにくいプラスチック破片の存在」を訴える絵画作品を制作している。

|Times Capsule Special| B11

This article was published on Aug. 9
in The Japan Times

Ads are a mirror reflecting Japan's history and evolution

BRAND
HISTORY& ARCHIVE

By TOSHIYUKI KITAHARA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

n the 1980s, the cultural context of ads
was often discussed. It was a time
when ads were frequently the starting
point for fashion trends. The phrase “Adsare a mirror reflecting the current era”
was in frequent use. But this only scratches the surface of the complex phenomenon of fashion. Ads also changed as Japan’s industrial structure and consumer
behavior evolved. For example, ads forcars and home electronics, which ran frequently during the period of high economic growth, have decreased as thoserelated to mobile phones and internet
services have increased. These have become the ads we see daily. Japanese electronics makers, which used to produce afull range of home products, have shiftedto specializing in products and services
that best take advantage of their respective strengths. Automakers now focus
more on overseas markets than the domestic market. The greater use of information and communications technology
has driven a significant growth of thatindustry, and this is reflected in advertising.
Historically, The Japan Times played anews agency-like role, providing information in English to embassies and consulates in Japan. It is not difficult to imagine
that expectations were placed on it to
showcase the appeal of Japanese companies and products and help report on conditions in Japanese society. Japan opened
its doors to the rest of the world following
the Meiji Restoration. In an effort to boost
Japan’s position in the global community,
the government worked to help industry
and the military under the slogan “fukoku
kyōhei” (enrich the nation, strengthen the
military). Standards of living improved.
After the nation experienced defeat in
World War II, there was a phase of recovery from the devastation, followed by aperiod of high economic growth. Japan
eventually achieved the world’s secondlargest gross domestic product. Ads carried in The Japan Times reflect all this history, and are witness to it.

1905

PHOTO: HIROMICHI MATONOThe Japan Times was launched in 1897 during
the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Not unsurprisingly,
it carried ads for silk and pearl products,
and others from emerging industries began
to be seen. Beer, said to have been a favorite
beverage of the politician Enomoto Takeaki,
had begun to be imported in the final partof the feudal era, but domestic production
grew to exceed imports by 1887. By that time,companies with modern brewing technology,
including Nippon Beer, Sapporo Beer Brewery
and Osaka Beer, had been established. One
can see from ads in this period that Japanese
were increasingly taking up the habit ofdrinking beer, and domestic production began

in earnest. Domestic efforts to develop soapof a quality rivaling imported products started
around 1890, when entrepreneurs Nagase
Tomiro and Kobayashi Tomijiro launcheddomestic production. Soap was still a luxury
item, but its use began to grow among
ordinary citizens by the end of the Meiji Era,
contributing greatly to public health.
A prominent characteristic of the ads inthis era is the emergence of those placed byindividual business owners. Beer and soap
makers, the early adopters of newspaperads, have been developing their advertising
methods ever since, and today engage in wideranging advertising activities.

1913-1926

TaishoToothpaste, little luxuries and cars

1924

Sandwiched between the Meiji and Showa
eras, each of which saw major social changes,
the Taisho Era (1913‐1926) may at first appear
to lack special character. As the commotionof Meiji subsided, society turned inward— yet the germs of wide-ranging changes
began to emerge. Ads for department storesand specialty shops reflected how people’s
lives had improved, able to spend on little
luxuries rather than just scraping by. Ads also
reflected how the wealthy and educated — themain segment of The Japan Times’ readershipat the time — were increasingly taking up amodern lifestyle. Automobile ads began toappear. Toothpaste in tubes began to be soldtoward the end of Meiji, along with soap, andwon increasing popularity. The emergence of
toothpaste ads was an important milestone in
the history of advertisement in Japan because
they led businesses to realize the importanceof catchy copy and attractive artwork. Adsfrom those days still impress even moderneyes. The predecessor to Calpis Co., makerof the popular soft drink Calpis, was foundedin the Taisho Era as a health product.
The company was quick to recognize theimportance of advertisement. Today Calpis
is drunk around the world, and its original
slogan, “the taste of first love,” still pops up
in conversation in Japan.

1927-1945

Showa I
Prewar Showa: Cars and cultured pearls

1924

Senior consulting director,
Dentsu Media Lab
Toshiyuki Kitahara graduatedfrom the Tokyo Institute ofTechnology with a bachelor’s
degree in electrical andelectronic engineering, andreceived a master’s degree inphysical information engineeringfrom the same university. He
joined Dentsu Inc. in 1985,
working in the Information Systems Division and the
Corporate Planning Division before joining the Researchand Development Division.
He has been engaged in research on mass media andcommunications, consulting for media companies andon organizational and human resource systems, andresearch on advertising and related market and industry
trends.
He is the co-author of “Information Innovators: Leadersof a Co-Creative Society” (1999, Kodansha) and manyother publications. He has been a part-time lecturer tograduate students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology,
a concurrent lecturer to graduate students at Hosei
University and Rikkyo University, an expert memberof study groups at the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications and at the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry, and an expert member of the Intellectual
Property Research Institute.

1897-1912

Meiji
Silk and pearls, then beer and soap

The prewar part of the Showa Era, startingin 1926, saw Japan become a global power
rivaling the United States and major countries
in Europe. Ads for automobiles and motorbikes
increased, though most were still for foreign
products. Only a handful of people could
afford them initially, but ownership grew
along with the number of the wealthy. The
first symphony orchestra was established,
and Japan proved to the world that its culture

was no less sophisticated than those of its
Western counterparts. Japanese pearls madea major leap in quality thanks to domesticallydeveloped culturing technology and came tobe recognized as the world’s best. They had adevastating impact on the market for natural
pearls. Japanese cultured pearls, which received
an additional boost when Coco Chanel adopted
the pearl necklace as a key fashion item, would
come to dominate the global market.

Showa II
Postwar Showa: Cars and radios go global

1930

In the postwar Showa Era, from 1946 to about
1970, Japan rebuilt from the ravages of war
and achieved miraculous economic growth,flooding global markets with its products.
Applying technology originally developed formilitary equipment, Japan’s automakers grewsignificantly, eventually taking large shares in
the global market. Advertising, once dominatedby foreign vehicles, now prominently featured
domestic models. Though the transistor radio
was invented abroad, household electronic

1945-1970

products from Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K.,
which would become today’s Sony Group
Corp., won worldwide recognition for their highquality. Its ads featured technology that was the
pride of the nation and demonstrated a highdegree of advertising skill. Cosmetics began to
be marketed to women in the rest of the world.
Japanese companies’ strategy of establishinga brand image through many high-quality ads
was imitated by foreign rivals. Ad concepts
developed in this period are still in use today.

Summary
広告は時代を映す鏡である

1958

1980年代は広告が文化的な文脈で語られ、広告から流行が起きていた時代でもあった。「広告は時代を移す鏡である」は、このころによく使われた言葉である。しかしこの言葉は流行という表面的な事象だけを表しているのではなく、広告は日本の産業構造の変遷や消費者の消費行動の変化と密接に関係して変化していることも語っている。例えば高度成長期には多く出稿されていた自動車や家電製品の広告は今では影を潜め、代わりに携帯電話やインターネッ

ト関連の広告が増えている。電気産業では製品をフルラインナップで出すのではなく、製品・サービスの強みに特化する変遷があり、自動車産業では国内市場よりも海外市場での成長が重視されている。社会の ICT 化の進展により、情報通信産業の発展は著しい。その結果が広告に反映されているのだ。
この間の The Japan Times における広告の変遷は、その歴史の一端を忠実に物語っており、これらの広告は歴史の証人でもある。

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