”That is all for today.” The column has come to an end.

■ ”That is all for today.” The column has come to an end.

The Digital Agency has been established. Physical name stamps and faxes have been done away with. Digitization of government. Digitization of education. Digitization of medicine. Promoting cashless payments.

Digital-first is the government's number one challenge. It is now about priorities more than anything.

I was even more deeply impressed.

After all, that is what I had been lobbying for all this time.

I ended the "That is all for today" column on Yahoo!, which I had run for 8 years.

The date was September 2012 when I started. I began serializing this column around the time the administration shifted from DPJ control to Abe's LDP.

I broadly proposed digital policies to the Abe administration, and the column ended as that administration did.

"I'm a policy maker!" September 2012

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/blog-post.html

This is what I was saying at the beginning.

February 2013 "7 Digital Plans I'd like Abe Administration to Implement"

Digital textbooks, open data, digital copyrights, digital IP, digital infrastructure, smart cities.

Huh, it’s just like what I'm still saying now.

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2020/11/blog-post_4.html

Since then, I have been continuously making appeals about raising the priority of digital policy.

I do it every year. For instance...

2013: "IP vision: three trajectories"

"Improving our priorities. It is important to raise the position that content policy and intellectual property strategy occupy in Japan's policy."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/blog-post_5.html

2014 "Miscellaneous thoughts on copyright issues, part 2"

"We need to establish priorities for intellectual property. However, for the sake of the future, we should avoid situations where intellectual property is sold for agricultural purposes. Considering the circumstances, appeals from the IP rights holder side have been minimal."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2020/11/2.html

2015 "Points of concern while evaluating the TPP agreement."

"My concern comes down to what is a priority in terms of the national interest."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2020/11/tpp.html

2016 Digital Textbook Promotion Q&A

"What is the cause of the disparity in dissemination? It's the motivation of municipal heads. The education digitization budget has been secured, but has instead been allocated to roads and other public works at the discretion of local governments. The problem is what priority digitization of education is given relative to other administrative projects."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/q.html

2017 "Sharing Economy Interim Report"

"I hope that this report gives the government leverage to increase the importance of these policies."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/blog-post_95.html

2018 "Intellectual Property Plan 2018, Full Discussion."

"I have always insisted on two points: the first thing to do is to raise the priority of intellectual property policy within Japan."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/2018.html

2019 "The Education Digitization Promotion Act was enacted."

"I want to further raise the priority of digital education policies."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/blog-post_61.html

2020 "Miscellaneous thoughts on COVID-19, Part 1: An Opportunity to Overturn Japan’s Failure Over the Last 30 Years."

"We will overcome the COVID-19 predicament. At the same time, we should leverage it to achieve a digital-first approach, which was not possible in the thirty-year Heisei period, and make it a future legacy."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/30.html

This was followed by the "5 DX articles we hope to see from the Suga administration."

"The work cut out for the new cabinet is clear: DX. This and this alone."

https://ichiyanakamura-thatisallfortoday.blogspot.com/2021/01/dx.html

I said the same thing insistently, and the long-term administration came to an end.

Digital policy has secured the highest importance and a new cabinet was inaugurated.

As a column written by a single citizen, I hope it made a dent, maybe 1/100 millionth, in the conversation.

It's now time for me to step down.

That is all for today. Shop’s all closed up and empty now.

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These are educational manga, too!

■These are educational manga, too!

50 selected works from the "These are educational manga, too!" project.

The selections include Machiko Satonaka, Takafumi Horie, and Yohei Sadoshima.

bit.ly/3qNYFOe

Hakozume

Keep your hands off Eizouken!

Dance Dance Danseur

Blue Period

I wrote some comments about For Immortal Children in the Galaxy, so I'll share them here.

○Keep your hands off Eizouken!

bit.ly/3n6xXOV

This is a chronicle of some high school girls’ club activities, an anime creation diary, and a mecha science fiction plot that combines fantasy + delusions. The blend of three characters’ aesthetics is quite attractive.

The first is a girl who excels in creativity and drawing, but has some difficulty communicating. Another is concerned because she has drawing ability, but she is also a celebrity in her own right, being an attractive fashion model. One has a producer's temperament and is only interested in business. In this way, the story boldly weaves the otaku world over the stories of the backgrounds of these three girls.

Though set in 2050, there were 20th century style lines like the "Atto Odoroku Tamegoro" gag (popularized by Hajime Hana of the Crazy Cats) showing up in the barracks or public bath. Appearing in the delusions and animes are steampunk items like propellers, chainsaws, treaded vehicles, and robots. They are ever-present and everywhere.

It's not like there are bad guys or annoying adults. It's not like some shocking events take place. Nevertheless, while fighting with their parents and school, they struggle along to turn their dreams into anime.

The anime version directed by Masaaki Yuasa, which brilliantly visualizes the unique style of a combination of detailed mechanical items and grand delusions into in real life, is also excellent.

○Hakozume

bit.ly/3m2S2UZ

A tale of the brave battle of a young female police officer living in an unruly male society. This is not an action, suspense, or mystery piece that follows major incidents or great evils, such as the potboiler and police plots seen on TV or movies, but rather the daily life of a regular police officer who expends energy in dealing with pickpockets, molesters, and lovers' quarrels, all faithfully depicted.

The protagonists are also good-for-nothing, annoying types: they want to fall in love and have fun, all the while complaining about petty grievances like working overtime and handling dangerous duties. However, the bosses and senior colleagues, who sport fearsome scowls, are actually all kind-hearted, and their attentiveness to others is first-class. There is a certain beauty in putting effort into a job where you risk your life and where your efforts are unseen and unappreciated by the world.

It's also an elegant gag manga depicting subtle facial expressions and dialogue, carefully interwoven together. Each frame is rich in detail, so it takes time to read. It may not have the unbelievable characters of Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae, but police are still a treasure trove of stories. The author was a police officer for ten years before becoming a manga artist, so the work is the perfect crystallization of affection for, and awareness of the realities of, the police force.

○Dance Dance Danseur

bit.ly/3n6y5Op

A junior high school student who was concerned about his masculinity and bottled up his interest in ballet awakens to the world of dance and delves into a primarily female world. He goes wild, has fun, suffers, and bursts with vitality. His dynamic energy is a joy to see.

He just lets himself go with the music, rhythm, physical expression, and emotions. He works hard with his partners and rivals to refine his own expressive ability, body, and skills. Nonetheless, he is in a sacred place of traditional art where history and theory have been built up over time. The highest peak in the world is ridiculously high. He learns with his coaches and teachers, gets in altercations, and moves forward. By the time he realizes, he is at the peak.

However, this work is not just a gutsy coming-of-age story. Its true value lies in the fact that it shows that manga can even depict dance in such detail. When it comes to dance scenes, the movement of the body, rhythm, angles and frames, and all of the expressions shine brightly, and you get a sense of immersion and ecstasy that you've never experienced before.

The protagonist is still growing. I'm interested to see where the plot develops.

○Blue Period

bit.ly/3n8fEc5

This is a story of a boy on a straight shot to Tokyo University of the Arts who is fascinated with drawing.

He has excellent grades, is flashy, and is a popular, handsome guy who drinks alcohol and cigarettes even though he is a high school student. But the truth is that he is empty inside. One day, he becomes captivated by a picture and drawn into the world of fine art. He embarks on a different career path than the one he had envisioned.

Of course, it's fun. Everything is new to him, and he learns. He gradually becomes able to depict things he couldn't. He suffers. And he struggles. Painting is a solitary affair. Yet you get to look all around you and notice new things. There are also things to be learned from interacting with one's friends, rivals, and teachers.

The duality of the self-portrait shown in the first exam clearly is faithful to the protagonist. Bad students and honors students, strivers and cowards, romantics and realists. But the main character is by no means special. Everyone is multifaceted, and our route is never a single track. Be it art, study, or sports, we think about ourselves, decide our own path, and continue on while carrying our own concerns. It's a path everyone goes through. This is a text that lets you think about your own life and growth.

○For Immortal Children in the Galaxy

bit.ly/378lODA

Children live through an endless eternity in a future where the rest of humanity has perished. A simple-minded older sister who loves rap and an introverted younger brother who loves reading. And also an immortal mother. The older sister seems to represent nature, the younger brother represents civilization, and the mother represents God.

The story is a depiction of eternal time, and starts with the premise: "10,000 years ago, I saw this future" and "I will surely see the same starry sky 10,000 years from now." Having an infinite amount of time means you can explore anything and everything, and still come back, no matter where you go. You are also free of the ultimate fear of dying.

Precisely for that reason, the only crisis that befalls is when the lives of those around them are lost. From their standpoint, a pet's life is but an instant, with its death representing a loss of love and a wound that remains forever. They raise a human child who comes from the sky, and eventually die. They reject immortality and die. Triggered by that, the elder sister sets off with excitement on a journey to become a human being, that is, in search of death.

What is life, what is death? What is eternity, what is a moment? Because the characters have a gentle touch, they are easy to relate to, making you think deeply.

 

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The CiP Manifest has been released.

 ■The CiP Manifest has been released.

The CIP Council, which forms the Pop & Tech Special Zone, has released the CIP Manifesto.

Following the opening of an industry-academia collaboration center in a smart building in Takeshiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, it summarizes the activities of the past 5 years and seeks to launch priority projects going forward.

Initially, CiP set up a 10-article CiP Vision, and pursued various activities based around those tenets.

These included items such as "a fusion of the Japanese version of Silicon Valley and Hollywood," "a base where cosplayers congregate and robots fly around," "Dejima for the 21st century," and "a platform for industry, academia, and government."

http://takeshiba.org/vision/

The key theme for 2015-2017 was a "Hop," and 2018-19 was a "Step," with projects being carried out in the four quadrants of research and development, business support, hubs, and human resource development.

Starting in 2020, the theme is "Jump." That is the crux of this new manifesto.

Drawing on our activities so far, we will organize the four quadrants into content, business support, human resource development, and technology, and champion a new movement towards dramatic change.

The content and technology on the right, that is, the part corresponding to pop and tech, will proceed using Takeshiba as a base of operations.

Business support and human resource development, shown on the left side, would be laterally rolled out, so to speak. This is a group of projects focusing on activities nationwide and overseas, including at the incubation facility Station Ai in Nagoya.

The manifest items are as follows.

1. Content: Change Tommorrow

Together with communities around the world, Change Tommorrow, a festival of cutting-edge technology that seeks to change and put a new spin on the rapidly emerging pop cultures and lifestyles, from e-sports to anime, comedy, live music, and more will be held.

〇SYNC NETWORK JAPAN

In order to promote the global expansion of content, we will consolidate networks with overseas events, media, and promoters, and expand Japanese content globally.

〇Cool Japan core organization

We will form a core organization for the Cool Japan initiative that creates networks around diverse content with the aim of global expansion, and develop inbound and outbound measures that transcend industry frameworks and cross over into other verticals.

〇Artist commons

Widely promote the abilities and appeal of artists, and create a system of artist IDs for distribution geared at maximizing their added value, with various organic content integrations and tie-ins around telecommunications and broadcasting, regardless of industry.

〇World Otaku Institute

We will create a place for researchers, creators, and the content industries in Japan and abroad to share research results and information about content that is intended for otaku and enthusiasts, or relating to the content industries supporting those demographics. By establishing an international research institute for otaku culture and connecting enthusiasts and communities around the world, we will bring new developments to otaku culture.

〇Superhuman Sports

Acquire powers that exceed human physical abilities to "surpass human ability," or "transcend barriers between people" which may occur due to physical differences like age or disability. We will create a new sport of "human-machine integration" where these superhumans can freely utilize technology and compete against each other.

2. Business support: super entrepreneurship

Through collaboration with stakeholders such as venture capital firms and mentors, we promote activities like the creation of joint curricula and hold pitch events, forming a school community that is keen on entrepreneurship education, and promoting the development of entrepreneurs.

〇CiP fund

Through venture capital, we aim to build up digital and content industries around human resource development and entrepreneurship support.

〇Station AI

　In order to promote the digital transformation of the economy and society, we will create and nurture startups together with Station Ai, and proceed with the development of a base to attract leading startups from around the world.

〇Craftsmanship x digital

We will form research and development sites that contribute to the creation of new mobility and robotics solutions, and create test bets that contribute to the implementation of XR.

3. Human resource development: super education

In order to take on initiatives around both catching up and leading the world, we will promote IT education infrastructure development and the creation of cutting-edge AI/IoT education, achieving a "super education" system, a place of learning that breaks down the boundaries of conventional schools.

〇KMD

In addition to nurturing "media innovators," who are creative leaders equipped to play an active role globally, we will develop various activities together with KMD to lead a creative society.

〇iU

Together with iU, we will partner with industry players to develop a new learning platform that fosters human resources poised to spark innovation around the world, allowing for the creation of services that solve social issues and businesses that anticipate the needs of the world.

〇CANVAS

Children from all over the world can connect, create new forms of expression, foster deeper communication, and build a new world. To that end, we aim to connect passionate adults to create a context in which all children in Japan can achieve their full potential.

〇Workshop collection

Disparate workshops for children will be brought together in one place, and expo events will be held all over Japan to introduce them to a wider audience.

〇Online workshop collection

Online workshops in various genres such as modeling and design, physical expression, science, digital, and more will be brought together under one place with the aim of developing and disseminating rich creative expression activities online as a form of future learning and play, creating a new site for children to create and express themselves.

〇 Super E-Sports School

We will form a community of universities, vocational schools, technical colleges, high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools interested in introducing these e-sports into education, with the aim of providing educational opportunities through e-sports, creating communities and collaborating to carry out various activities like creating and providing curricula, certification of program completion, etc.

4. Technology "City & Tech"

　We will implement advanced technologies such as robots, AI, IoT, 5G, and 8K, and create integrated smart cities and present them to the world. Implementation, not experimentation. Concentration, not diffusion. We will proceed with activities with a view to expanding that sort of urban model in Japan and overseas.

〇 Super City Hub

This will become a hub linking smart cities from various countries, such as Woven City, Barcelona, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and form smart city communities around the world.

〇IPDC

Together with the IPDC Forum, we will create a foundation for IoT broadcasting that utilizes the broadcast airwaves and simultaneously streams data using the IP protocol, and aim to make this system mainstream.

〇Digital signage

In order to solve the issues faced by the digital signage industry and create new markets, we work together with the Digital Signage Consortium with the goal of improving the value of signage experiences in everyday life contexts.

That sums up the manifest.

Moreover, CiP is seeking to remaster its original vision.

Specifically, item 10, "Window to the sea and sky," is being replaced with "Creation of a super-leisure society."

A wide range of technologies, typified by things like AI and robots, are rushing in. The super leisure society will be a dazzling entertainment-oriented one. Super pop, super sports, super education, and super cities to make use of them. CiP is creating a super-free, leisurely society.

That is our stated mission.

The real-world location is finished, with CiP 2.0 starting up. I hope you'll stay tuned for more.

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Learning of Tomorrow issues the Post-COVID Education Promotion Statement

■Learning of Tomorrow issues the Post-COVID Education Promotion Statement

Learning of Tomorrow, of which I am the managing director, issued the Post-COVID Education Promotion Statement.

Learning of Tomorrow has continued to make recommendations for education IT for 10 years, if we count the length of time the Association of Digital Textbook and Teaching, the body it absorbed, was in operation.

I was an early advocate for the institutionalization of digital textbooks and the creation of a "one person, one computer" system, and lobbied the government and stakeholders to take action.

The creation of a system for digital textbooks was realized through legal amendments, with the Education IT Promotion Act being enacted through the efforts of a bi-partisan league of parliamentarians, and this, along with school closures under COVID-19, has led to an outlook where the "one person, one computer" system is likely to be put into place this year.

First we need measures to get this system established and into place. Furthermore, we need to create a context where students can learn--not only at school, but also at home.

However, that amounts to a developing country in terms of education IT finally catching up to standard countries, so in order to really come to the forefront as a developed nation, we need to venture into AI and data-driven approaches.

Furthermore, we need to design post-COVID education that provides unbroken opportunities for learning as COVID-19 continues, or even in the event of another pandemic, large-scale disaster, or emergency.

The statement consists of the following three items.

1. Development of an online learning environment for schools and homes

2. Implementing hybrid education that combines online and face-to-face approaches

3. Making inroads towards future-oriented education

Specifically, the process is as follows.

-------

Under the supplementary budget and the COVID-19 emergency economic countermeasures budget, the outlook is that a context in which all elementary and junior high school students have one information device allocated to them will be put into place this year.

We must create a context enabling anyone to learn by connecting to the Internet from school or home.

Furthermore, we need to design post-COVID education that provides unbroken opportunities for learning as COVID-19 continues, or even in the event of another pandemic, large-scale disaster, or emergency.

I advocate the following measures.

1. Development of an online learning environment for schools and homes

1) Digital textbooks provided free of charge to all students at the compulsory education level. In addition, regulations that reduce the use of digital textbooks to less than one-half of the number of class hours for each subject will be abolished.

2) Implement policies to reduce cost burdens so that all students can learn through the Internet at home.

2. Implement hybrid education that combines online and face-to-face approaches

1) Relax requirements for distance education (the presence of a teacher on the receiving end, simultaneous interaction, etc.) and make it permanent.

2) Promptly carry out permanent relaxation of enforcement regulations for the School Education Act, University Establishment Standards, and related ministerial ordinances and notices, such as the abolition of the 60-credit limit for media classes at universities.

3. Making inroads towards future-oriented education

By introducing advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, big data, VR/AR, and blockchain into education, we aim to break away from the standardized class hour principle and shift to a learning-acquisition model. This allows for learning beyond one's academic grade, as well as individually-optimized learning where no child is left behind.

Post-Covid Education Promotion Statement

https://lot.or.jp/wp/report/2366/

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Commentary: Information and Telecommunications White Paper

■Commentary: Information and Telecommunications White Paper

The following is my commentary on the Information and Telecommunications White Paper.

This follows up on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Information and Telecommunications White Paper advisors meeting.

I made three comments on this year's white paper.

1. First, two positives.

It suggested a positive interpretation, namely that the social changes due to COVID-19 are creating new value.

- It emphasized Japan's need to promote employment and quality of life improvements through ICT utilization (with telecommunications policy shifting from telecommunications industry expansion policy to one around telecommunications use itself).

2. Two areas we have not fully delved into:

- Informatization of government processes. This falls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

- Informatization of education. Since policy issues are transitioning from school to household informatization, it becomes perforce an issue of concern to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

COVID-19 and the Digital Agency are major topics that will likely continue to be talked about for some time, and these are future issues. In both cases, they are things the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Information and Telecommunications White Paper will have to treat as things in which they have a vested interest.

3. Details on 5G.

5G is not yet realistic from a usage perspective, and is still at the stage of industry players sharing specific use cases.

So in that sense, the white paper's focus on that was good.

With 5G, IoT tends to be given pride of place, while businesses and lifestyles that make use of data are not talked about in a context that has the sense of reality people need. One issue is indicating to users the benefits of data utilization.

How will next year's Information and Telecommunications White Paper be formulated?

That's still a secret. I'll jot some notes down about it once it's out.

But the issue first on the table is COVID.

Moreover, how that has brought into sharper relief Japan's failure in the digital realm.

Just why did we fail to go digital? Did DX not go to plan?

I believe it's owed to the past successes of the Showa period.

Both education and the administration have lagged to take action since 2018.

Areas that experienced success in the past rested on their laurels and fell behind.

I hope the next white paper will provide a framework to debate that.

Will DX really go to plan post-COVID?

Recently, I saw some data stating that telecommuting dropped to 24% from 35% in April.

If we get through the pandemic successfully, I worry that we might feel a sense of security and go back to the days when we continued to be losers in the digital realm.

My thinking is that the next topics are going to be increasing digitalization and the hybrid approach taking root.

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Minister of Digital Affairs Hirai and others Gathered to Announce the CiP Manifesto.

 ■Minister of Digital Affairs Hirai and others Gathered to Announce the CiP Manifesto.

The CiP Council, based in the cutting-edge smart building "Tokyo Port City Takeshiba," held an opening event.

The CiP Council has been working to establish a center for "Content x Digital" in the special national strategic zone of Takeshiba.

Since its founding in 2015, many projects have been carried out simultaneously. The CiP Council has been triggering innovation in the content industry and as a hub connecting media, IT, universities, public authorities, governments, and domestic, international communities.

First, the CiP Manifesto with the four quadrants: content, business, education, and technology, was announced.

Inheriting the CiP vision from the council's inauguration, it was determined to make further progress with the completion of the base as an opportunity.

There was also a report on the "Super e-Sports School," a community that provides education through e-Sports, the "Super Entrepreneurship School," a community of educational institutions, mentors, and VCs working on entrepreneurship education, and the "Super Human Sports," a project to develop a sport that unites people and machines by fusing body and technology.

In response to the series of presentations with the word "super," Representative Takuya Hirai said, "Super means Beyond Limits. It means beyond conventional ways of doing things and preconceived notions.”

Mr. Hirai then went directly to the LDP presidential election and became the Minister of State for Digital Affairs, the main focus of the new administration.

In addition, nine projects were announced, including those related to contents such as "SYNC NETWORK JAPAN" and "World Otaku Research Institute," agents for sending out music and other contents to the world, and those related to technology such as "City & Tech Committee," which will create an entire city that implements all advanced technologies such as robotics, AI, IoT, and 5G.

Also, Station Ai is a start-up-support-based project promoted by Aichi Prefecture to generate innovation, and the CiP Council supports it. Aichi Prefecture's governor Hideaki Omura made a remote announcement showing the diversity of CiP projects and the possibility for applications in other areas.

The CiP Council is planning a Pop&Tech real event, “some humor for tomorrow” (Change Tomorrow), known as Chomoro, where pop culture and technology are merged. It continues to plan Takeshiba to the rest of Japan and the world.

On Christmas Day, Minister Hirai held an event to announce the "Digital Day," and CiP Council will support the Digital Day. First, we cooperated in compiling video messages from celebrities in the field of sports and other content.

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A Cutting-Edge Smart Building in Takeshiba has Opened.

 ■A Cutting-Edge Smart Building in Takeshiba has Opened.

Tokyo Port City Takeshiba, a cutting-edge smart building full of robots, AI, and IoT, has opened.

The building was built by Tokyu Land Corporation and Kajima Corporation on 1.5 hectares of land owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on the shore of Tokyo Bay. The CiP Council (which I represent), a group of 50 companies and organizations, helped the Tech & Pop plan and design of the building.

Of the 40 floors, the lower floors have halls and exhibition halls, and CiP will be on the 8th floor, running industry-academia collaboration projects.

Above that, Softbank's headquarters will be established there, providing an environment for 5G and data distribution.

The first thing you'll see are the robots: the AI receptionist/guide robots and information signage robots that make humans appear.

Some robots carry your luggage and serve you drinks.

Some avatars connect to remote areas, and there are others running around giving something out to visitors.

At the Lawson convenience store on the first floor, Model-T, a robot developed by Telexistence　Inc. from the University of Tokyo-KMD, is placed in the backyard to remotely sort drinks and lunch boxes displays.

This is a remotely controlled convenience store where robots can work without the need for staff.

Digital signage has also evolved. The availability of stores and restrooms is monitored by sensors and displayed. Stores are cashless, of course.

Face recognition will be used to enter Softbank, and elevators will be assigned according to a person's designation.

The infrastructure that supports all of this is, of course, 5G. There are 1,300 sensors embedded, and data on human flow, attributes, congestion, weather, and so on is analyzed and collected for edge analysis.

Softbank intends to assemble these as an "urban OS" and expand it to other areas.

500-meters from Hamamatsucho Station, a pedestrian deck has been built 15 meters above the ground directly connected to the building.

Beyond the building is Tokyo Bay.

The 20-hectare Takeshiba area has been approved as a national strategic special zone, but it wasn’t a glamorous area lined with warehouses.

However, this building has triggered a rapid redevelopment of the area.

The idea for this Tech & Pop special zone started eight years ago.

It was planned and designed almost entirely during the Abe administration.

The opening ceremony was held on the same day that the Kan administration was elected as the LDP president.

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