2023年12月31日日曜日

Celebrating Japan Digital Days.

■ Celebrating Japan Digital Days.


October 10th.

Digital Day.


The DIGITAL DAYS SUMMIT was held.

100,000 people viewed the event on Nico Live, Youtube, and other platforms.

Thank you very much.


In conjunction with the Digital Agency’s “Digital Days ONLINE EVENT,” the CiP Council, of which I am a representative, explored the future of “entertainment x digital.”

Kyary Pamyu, Hachioji P, Ichiro Yamaguchi of Sakanaction, and Magical Lovely sent their messages of support.


The opening session was a discussion of the Digital Agency, hosted by Karen Makishima, the second Digital Minister who took office a week ago, among others.

The Digital Agency staff introduced an analog case in which it took an agency employee 90 minutes to get a parking certificate.

Hiroyuki introduced administrative online procedures in France. I though France was the country of inconvenience, but I was pleasantly shocked. 


Now, then, the event we hosted.

Digital performances by VJs, DJs, and VFX artists in a virtual XR space from BLACKBOX, a state-of-the-art distribution studio with permanent 4-sided LEDs.

Live entertainment by DJ CARTOON and YELLOCK was a highlight.


The talks by SUGIZO of LUNA SEA/X JAPAN, Tatsuro and Miya, and Digihari President Tomoyuki Sugiyama were also thrilling.

Many people must have been taken aback by the video of SHAG, a jam band led by SUGIZO.


I was also a speaker at the “Superhuman Sports Session: Digital and the Body.”

Attended by the Superhuman Sports regulars Professor Masahiko Inami of the University of Tokyo, Professor Kota Minamizawa of Keio University, President Yoshiaki Sawabe of 1→10, and Shinji Neki, the Vice Mayor of Paralympic Village.

What is digital human extension? What is the jizai (autonomized) body? What is Tech & Pop sports?


Seven years ago, on October 10th, Physical Education Day, 50 years after the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, superhuman sports made their start.

Physical Education Day became Digital Day. Incorporating the digital into the physical body.

After the new Tokyo Olympics, the next stop is Paris. The year after that, the Osaka Expo.

Let’s connect them in an interesting way.


In preparation for the Digital Days ONLINE EVENT, a “Digital Day Exploratory Committee” was established at the Digital Agency.

Jun Murai was the chairperson and I was the acting chairperson.

Although discussed by a diverse group of members including Yoichi Ochiai and Hiroyuki, the DIGITAL DAYS SUMMIT was planned and implemented almost entirely by private volunteers, mainly from the music industry.


At the end of the event, we welcomed online Takuya Hirai, the first Minister of Digital Media, who was in Kagawa with producer Shogo Mizuno.

He has done a tremendous job in facing the longstanding challenge of public-private partner ship and breaking down stove-piping in the Kasumigaseki area, and successfully implemented this event in one year by allocating the necessary laws, budget, and personnel.

Thank you very much for your hard work.


2023年12月25日月曜日

Kyoto International Film and Art Festival

■ Kyoto International Film and Art Festival

Like a film festival, but not a film festival. It looks like an art exhibition, but it is not. 

When I asked what it was all about,

“It’s all about film, art, and everything else,” was what I got in return. This is the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival.

The festival was held without incident. As the chairman of the executive committee, I would like to express my gratitude.


For two consecutive years since the Pacific War, the Gion Festival had to cancel the Yamahoko Junko procession.

However, in order to keep the culture alive, Yamahoko floats were still constructed.

As in the previous year, there were only six lightings of the Daimonji (in which a Chinese character meaning “large” or “great” is lit on fire on a mountain).

But lit they were.

The Olympics and Paralympics were held under restrictions.

We thought we should follow these examples and do the best we can.


Last year, we followed through with the event online.

This year, we tried a hybrid solution, holding the event both on- and offline.

This year’s theme:

“Face forward.

Forward.”

We want to make shape of the Reiwa era post-COVID.

Let’s face forward.


Including those who visited the stage greetings and exhibitions, as well as online viewers, a total of 110,000 people attended the festival.

58 films and 90 artworks were screened.

Though, we haven’t yet regained the pre-COVID level of enthusiasm.

I hope that we were able to show a sense of forward moment toward a post-COVID period.


The “Toshiro Mifune” award given to actors went to Kenta Kiritani.

The “Shozo Makino Award” honoring filmmakers went to Masaharu for “The Naked Director” and other films.

This time, the award was given to a young filmmaker.

Face forward, face forward.

The ambassador to present the prize was Kana Kurashina. A young woman.

Face forward, face forward.


Online screenings included the specially screened Chinese film “Beyond the Sky” and the physical screenings at Gion Kagetsu, Hulic Hall, and other venues.

There were also efforts such as the Kyoto International Indies-Cinema, as well as works by the Creator’s Factory for human resource development, among others. I was looking most forward to the silent/classic films.  

https://kiff.kyoto.jp/film/


The art was mainly found at the “Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art.”

https://kiff.kyoto.jp/art/

AU x Shozo Shimamoto “A”

Exhibition and performance by AU, a group of avant-garde artists represented by the late Shozo Shimamoto, a founding member of “Gutai.” The members of AU, Tamaya Shimada, Okakenta, and others worked to create a large “A” (hiragana character “あ”), while Shimamoto himself also created a beautiful “A.” 


This is a modified jukebox where you can watch videos of “A” in production.

It’s a huge PC with buttons as the keyboard, and you’re able type on it.

Analog + digital, super inconvenient! Stupid! Cool!

I want to borrow it and display it at my university. 


There’s also art distributed online.

From the Naoko Tosa Laboratory at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Ars Vivendi (Shishukan) Art Innovation Industry-Academia Joint Lecture, where I am a specially-appointed professor. 

https://kiff.kyoto.jp/art/cat6_artinnovation.html


Dr. Heinrich x Marine Nakamura

Collaboration talk project “Let’s make PoeJan bottles”

It was a real pleasure to invite Dr. Heinrich.

“K-Ko Project” at Gion Kagetsu.

New York artist KAORUKO (that’s formal idol Kaoruko Arai!).

Transmitting her signature K-Ko pose (face out from under the crotch) for good luck.

Ultra Boogies, Kuuki Kaidan, Gerrardon, Dansei Blanco, and Kaerutei posed before the King of Conte semi-finals.

https://kiff.kyoto.jp/art/cat5_kaoruko.html

Theme song of the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival “MEMORIES of FILM”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viu10JhwTeU

Everyone contributed a picture of their favorite movie, coupled with a message.

I was the last one, after Mr. Kukkii.

Thank you, everyone.

After much deliberation, I chose Fellini’s “8 1/2"

The sweet dream of my boyhood.

Fellini’s Rimini is my Kyoto.

Just what is cinema?

Holding hands, making a circle.

“Life is a festival.”

The Kyoto International Film Festival.

In closing, a greeting.

To Hulic Hall, KYOCERA Museum of Art, Tamanoyu, and everyone who provided the venue.

Thank you very much.

To the film art administration, media sponsors, and to the grandparents, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and children who participated on- and offline.

Ookini (Thank you very much).


Next year, we would like to make the entire city of Kyoto—east, west, north, south, and online as well—a much livelier hybrid event.

Yoroshuu otano moushimasu (Thank you very much for your cooperation).


2023年12月17日日曜日

COVID-19, decluttering, Kyoto.

■ COVID-19, decluttering, Kyoto.


A young acquaintance of mine has recently taken to decluttering.

She says she is going to get rid of things, become minimalist and live lightly. She will move to a smaller place where she can live within easy reach of things.

She says, “when you lose weight, you become healthy, and when you become light, you can travel. 

From objects to intangible things; eco-friendly and nomadic.

All I need exists digitally.”

That’s right.


She also “decluttered” people by cutting them off. 

She said, “My main customer service business was doomed because of COVID. During that time, I cut my social networking and phone contacts down to the bare minimum.

Even then, I can still contact the people I need to. The vast majority, however, were unnecessary.”

She seems comfortable.

“The digital community and communication can be overly self-limiting if too abundant.”

I wonder.


No work can be had during COVID. No chance to move your body during COVID.

An opportunity to be reborn.

Detox the things and people you have stored up.

Though I wouldn’t want to become the waste product after someone’s detoxing, but it may lead toward someone’s opportunity to detox and be reborn anew.


I have just delved into the service business area of new universities. Now is a time to strengthen communication with the digital community, so I don’t have time to think about decluttering. Yet, it would do me good to be careful not to let my aging leak out as waste.


But decluttering isn’t the goal, is it? What do we do with weight off our shoulders? While you downsize, COVID has put society at a standstill. What does my friend think about this? 

When I asked her, she replied back with, “Wait to be burned out.”

Hm? What does that mean?


“Wait to be burned out. Do nothing. Stay still.

There is no work for me, but nobody else can either. Our community will be destroyed.

I will die out.

Once that happens, I can start over from zero.

And I look forward to that.”


The Kyoto people’s sense of time, looking ahead after the “Onin War” in the 15th century,  is to let COVID be an opportunity to burn oneself out.

Once they’re burnt down, the game is on.


The catchphrase for the 2015 Kyoto International Film and Art Festival was,

“Kyoto likes the weird and disorderly ♡”

“Kyoto creates. Creates, and then destroys.”

“Kyoto destroys. Destroys, and then creates.”

Those phrases must be true.

Hmm…

I am halfway to become a Kyotoite.


2023年12月10日日曜日

Introducing two punk films.

■ Introducing two punk films.

Here are two punk music films I watched during the COVID pandemic.

First is “AMERICAN UTOPIA,” a collaborative effort between David Byrne and Spike Lee.

Love it.

Love it.

Love it.

The Broadway production is 107 minutes long with 21 songs.

Most of that time I spent crying.

Am I a rare case because the live show I saw 40 years ago is ingrained in my mind and body?

Not at all. Young people who see it for the first time will be shaken it by it.

It was the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hB7Wl4BNSk


The stage and costumes are stripped of all decoration to create a thrilling, interesting, and dynamic space with primitive expression of the body, instruments, performance, and dance.

Political messages of diversity and inclusion are present throughout.

The production shows that music still carries such profound possibilities.

Even then, David Byrne is already 70 years old. Ugh.


I was right to see the play in a small and loud theater called “Demachi-za” in Kyoto.

Though, this is not something to be seen while sitting down silently with a mask on your face. It was something meant for the audience to participate in.

I can’t wait to get back to that sense of unity. 

Next time, I’ll watch it on the super big screen, shouting with everyone else!

Here’s the next film.


“THE PUBLIC iMAGE IS ROTTEN.”

A documentary by Public Image Ltd. and John Lydon. 

I dropped the needle on their first album, PUBLIC IMAGE. The first song, “theme,” with Wobble’s heavy bass and Walker’s drumming, was immediately followed by Levin’s guitar, a shock I will never forget. 


The evolution from Sex Pistols to PiL was tremendously unbelievable. I have decided to make punk my life’s path.

Though, this movie shows that punk isn’t just about the crazy madness of young people, but something much more profound as a musician and a person.


There are images of when PiL visited Japan in 1983.

Kyoto was very close to the movie theater where I saw their performance.

After the performance, I was having a drink with Bo Gambos and others not far from the theater when John Lydon came over and gave me a piggyback ride! It was a great time.


The year after, I became a bureaucrat, and the year after, I went to see PiL in Tokyo.

I went with Yasuhiko Taniwaki, who was my classmate at the time.

In suits and ties, we were getting wild at Shibuya Public Hall.

We were probably the two most conspicuous people in the area. 


When I’m in “university president” mode, I wear PiL and Sex Pistols badges instead of my family crest. I still haven’t been found out. 


David Byrne and John Lydon.

They were British men who were active in New York and London at the same time.

For me, they are the two great heroes of punk.

It is no coincidence that I met them twice in Kyoto—as a teenager, they gave me inspiration in deciding what I wanted to do with my life, and now, in my sixties.

My punk path still has a long way to go. 


2023年12月3日日曜日

Theory of JIZAI Body

■Theory of JIZAI Body

“Theory of JIZAI Body” written by Masahiko Inami et al.

The “Inami JIZAI Body Project” is led by Professor Inami, our boss at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Study and the co-chairman of the Superhuman Sports Society.

I was drawn in by the self-introductions by young scholars of brain, science, psychology, information engineering, mechanical engineering, information engineering, mechanical engineering, and media design, who gather under the umbrella of body informatics.

In the modern era, technologies of transportation, production, and information have developed. Dr. Inami calls it “de-embodiment” and “liberation” from drudgery.

Yes, and I believe that further development of technology will bring about a “super nothing-to-do society.”

Yet, Dr. Inami says the next step is realizing the “jizai (autonomized) body.”

He says that robots and avatars will be made self-reliant, and that the human body will be turned into a cyborg robot.

The term “autonomization” refers to “the ability of a person to freely handle the expanded capabilities of a machine.”

Those who have seen “MetaLimbs,” which attach a third or fourth arm to the body, will immediately get the idea.

The idea is to extend, distribute, and share such capabilities in both real and virtual space.

Dr. Inami’s project has five research themes.

1. Enhancement of the senses (extrasensory)

2. Enhancement of the physical body (super-body)

3. Design via the separation of body and mind (astral projection/transformation)

4. Alter ego

5. Union of the body

Dr. Inami’s previous books are full of references to science fiction and pop culture, and this publication is a genealogy of his work.

The goal of his project is to establish the basic technology to realize a “digital cyborg,” i.e., “a person who freely manipulates superhuman abilities by freely traversing across physical space and cyberspace.”

The MIT Negroponte “bit and atom combination” will be reincorporated into the body. This is the birth of a “new mankind.”

For this purpose, design via the separation of body and mind (astral projection/transformation) will take place.

The hardware and software of a person are separated and deconstructed layer by layer. 

Then, the outer body will control a robot or avatar as if it was its own; one can wear a machine and feel it as oneself. 

Letting a distant robot avatar take over your actions with automation technology.

Manipulating real robots and virtual avatars back and forth with one’s own self, switching between automatic and manual control.

You will have N bodies in N real + virtual locations.

Dr. Inami explains the “ubiquity of consciousness,” likening it to the ubiquity of machines advocated by Mark Weiser of Xerox, or ubiquitous computing.

The ubiquity of consciousness and the body, or the ubiquity of the self. It stirs the human desire to conquer the earth.

On the other hand, it also scrutinizes the domination and sharing of the self by others.

The “union” of many people into a portable shrine-like structure is also a theme of Dr. Inami’s research.

The possibility of sharing one’s body with others or AI is also being discussed. Experiments are underway in which others can control a robotic arm attached to one’s body.

Extending one’s possessions or body through the process of sharing is also mentioned.

Actions are digitized. Distributed and shares as data. Globally.

The masses could be guided or even controlled and managed by themselves.

Immeasurable impact.

The academic fields appearing this book are mechanical engineering, information engineering, control engineering, brain science, neuroscience, psychology, physiology, and emergency medicine, as well as the aesthetics, ethics, and cultural anthropology of Daisuke Uryu from the University of Tokyo.

Research is the “middle ground,” but additional factors are required. This assumes that social implementation includes the dispersion and sharing of the self, philosophy (what is the self?), economics (output, employment, distribution), and law (freedom of expression and public regulation).

Quite exciting to think about.

It was 20 years ago that I published “Digital Toy Box” after two years of study, research, and interviews at the MIT Media Lab to understand MIT Negroponte’s coupling of bits and atoms.

Dr. Inami’s book is an impactful one. It is sure to motivate you that much more to dive into his theory of the autonomized body.


2023年11月26日日曜日

Introducing 2 books about AI and the body.

■ Introducing 2 books about AI and the body.


I will introduce two publications about AI and the human body.

“NEO HUMAN” by Peter Scott-Morgan.

The book follows the author, of a scientist diagnosed with motor neurone disease, who transformed himself into a cyborg by replacing his body with a machine while supplementing his brain with AI. He lives virtually through voice synthesis, gaze input, and his own avatar.

Rather than confronting his disease, he uses it as an opportunity to be born again, a challenge that paves the way toward the future of humanity. 

Even if limb or organ function is impaired, life can be maintained as long as the brain can operate.

Rather, the brains direct connection with AI and robots will expand the body and give it freedom of activity.

The author is said to be active even now that his limbs are immobile and he has lost his voice.

The book does not paint a linear picture of the bright future of a fusion between the physical and IT, but rather juxtaposes the author’s difficult life, speaking of the fault lines between him and establishment, the pressures against living as a gay man, and his struggles in business.

The main subject of the book, the execution of his project, is also a harrowing one. In the end, the Seven Samurai finally break through.

This is a book about the way of life.

What we have given up on in the past may be turned around and be used to bring about a new future by embracing technology.

This requires a commitment to fight against the orthodox, to gather comrades, obtain funding, and to communicate.

I wonder if I would have the energy to do so if I think about the author’s situation as my own. That is my impression after reading this book.


The other book.

“Genius Weapons: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Weaponry, and the Future of Warfare” by Louis Del Monte.

This book questions the development of AI weapons and their control and management by mankind.

Autonomous weapons, omnipotent weapons, autopiloting, AI-implanted soldiers, and the technological and political scenarios they conceive.

It is a looming reality and an endless thought experiment.

I thought about it vexingly.

AI and nanotechnology are too advanced.

A treaty prohibiting the development of autonomous weapons would require both major powers (the United States and China to see the benefits.

This would be when the possibility of small nations, ethnic minorities, and terrorists using the new weapons increases.

This points to a situation in which the democratization of technology would need to be curbed.

What will Japan do to control tech democratization?

The military will become system-engineered.

Operational units will be replaced by AI, and the majority of personnel will be allocated to AI development and maintenance.

Like investment banks.

The unemployment problem among military personnel will be troublesome.

The military may become the strongest force against AI evolution.

This book discusses whether soldiers will control AI or AI will control soldiers, assuming the mass emergence of soldiers with AI implanted in their brains after technological singularity.

There would be no military incentive except for AI to have control over the soldiers. 

The question is, who would want that?

What AI-implanted people upload into the AI system is not knowledge, but experience and emotion.

This would bring about new life support and regeneration, so there would be incentives for this.

Post-singularity. Live to see what technology awaits.

That’s a good goal.

At the end of the book, there is a commentary by Keiji Ono of the Ministry of Defense.

The debate on security should not be kept to the experts.

Hanshin fans in the Kansai region comment on everything from professionals to aunties and children.  Mr. Ono explains the utility of public opinion, “the psychology of Hanshin fan support,” in maintaining governance.

This section of the book hit closest to home for me.


2023年11月19日日曜日

The Fight Against GAFA’s Expansion

■ The Fight Against GAFA’s Expansion


“The Fight Against GAFA’s Expansion,” written by Masako Wakae.

A business book on how telecommunications, manufacturers, and eC companies suffered defeat.

…which is what I misunderstood it to be, and was late in reading it.

Journalism, academia, and policy theory follows nationalists from industry, academia, and government, who confronted the struggle for data supremacy and questioned national strategy. 

A good book, and a must-read for IT professionals.

The secrecy of communications, freedom of expression, personal data protection, privacy, network neutrality, communications security, extraterritorial application, competition policy, and content policy.

IT Headquarters, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Consumer Affairs Agency, Fair Trade Commission, and the Personal Information Protection Commission.

I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of these organizations in tackling “cross-cutting problems that are difficult to solve in the traditional stove-piped matter.” 

Professor Tsunetoshi Shishido of the University of Tokyo, Attorney Ryoji Mori, President Kunihiro Tanaka of Sakura Internet, and bureaucrats from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.

Although I knew that many of the people who appeared in the book by their real names, I did not know many of their detailed backgrounds, which made my heart throb with excitement.

They’re distinguished citizens, I thought.

There were a few remarks about Yasuhiko Taniwaki, who left the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

“Taniwaki’s departure is a loss for Japan.”

“Taniwaki is a geek and a bit of an oddball, but he is an academic and plows through anything like a bulldozer, getting it done. I have seen him many a time in late-night discussions with young engineers and customer service representatives at an inexpensive izakaya bar, sharing wisdom about the realities of the industry.”

“At least in his dealings with NTT, Taniwaki did not appear to be corrupt in protecting his interests. Rather, he was feared by them for his willingness to argue about things on their merits.”

I was also thoroughly impressed that, as a reporter taking a hard look at Kasumigaseki, Ms. Wakae has commented on what I would like to testify to.

This book does not tell a narrow story of the Japanese industry’s defeat against American IT companies. Rather, it is a telling of the failure of the Japanese industry and government’s maintenance of monozukuri (production) and in addressing intellectual property and software strategy, as indicated by the 1983 Young Report. she further addressed the lack of sensitivity of society as a whole through data-driven technology.

The author, Ms. Wakae, has interviewed me several times three years ago in the fight against piracy. She was the journalist who most acutely delved into the crosscutting digital constitution issue of the secrecy of communications vs. protection of intellectual property. That, too, has yet to be resolved. 

In the digital field, “cross-cutting problems that are difficult to solve in the traditional stove-piped matter” will still arise.

We strongly hope that the Digital Agency will confront these cross-cutting issues, but if it is not done properly, a new stove-pipe may be created.

We want to create a zagumi (performer’s organization), a community, to confront these challenges.

That is why we created the Digital Policy Forum, a discussion platform consisting of key players in the digital policy industry, academia, and government.

I have asked Ms. Wakae, the author, and other people who appear in this book to join us.

Mr. Taniwaki will serve as the secretariat.

Ms. Wakae’s book has inspired me to take action.