The CiP Digital Special Zone “Creative Force and Digital Elements”

The CiP (Contents Innovation Program) is a plan to construct a digital and content zone in the bay area of Minato Ward, Tokyo.

Keio University is participating in Tokyo land project management along with Tokyu Land Corporation and Kajima Corporation.

The plan has been: establish our nucleus, the “CiP Association”; advance research and development; cultivate human resources; support business startups; enact business matching; and open the zone in 2020 just prior to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The launch announcements are divided into five parts: 1) creative force and digital elements, 2) digital and content, 3) a 4-function hub, 4) R&D and human resource cultivation, 5) a business base and government cooperation.

1) Creative Force and Digital Elements

Over 100 years after the introduction of the Meiji era slogan, “enrich the country, strengthen the military,” Japan lost the war and shut down its military fortification.  It then vigorously strived towards a national enrichment policy of industrial development. This achieved success as a marvel of Asia, and at the start of the 1990’s, Japan was considered the most internationally competitive country in the world.

However, in the following 10 years it fell to 20th place, and did not escape this tunnel in the 15 years thereafter. The vivacity of that national enrichment initiative faded. Still, the Japan after “enrich the country, strengthen the military” retains honor. It shines as a major cultural power.

Japanese pop culture can boast of high global popularity: the content digitally sent overseas verify Japan’s creative power. Pop culture bolsters traditional culture,  classical theater, etc. Also, Japan’s 70 years of postwar pacifism, the order and etiquette displayed in the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake disaster, etc., altogether exhibit what is known in international political theory as “soft power.”

Of course, the technological strength and craftsmanship cultivated by the business world did not vanish. Those tangible strengths and the intangible strength of content and the like are comprehensively the resources of modern Japan.

　”Which country is most creative?” Adobe Systems Inc. surveyed advanced major countries, giving Britain 9%, France 11%, and Germany 12%. The US received 26%, while Japan towered above all these with a leading 36%. Similarly, in their survey of the “most creative city,” Berlin received 7%, London 8% Paris 15%, NYC 21%, and Tokyo 30%. The world recognizes the creative might of Tokyo and Japan.

However, the survey also asked, “Is your own country creative?” Japan was overwhelmingly at the bottom. We do not realize our own creativity. Surely we are not fully demonstrating our power.

In the Tokyo Olympics fifty years ago, Japan displayed growth and revival. What kind of showing will Tokyo and Japan make in the next Olympics and Paralympics?

Digital will be the main indicator of advancement in the new age. The universe and oceans, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and virtual realms have emerged as humanity’s final frontiers. The digital sphere, which composes the virtual realm -- namely IT (information technology) and content (expression) -- also has much room to grow and develop. Further, Japan has already shown its strength on these technological and expressive fronts.

For about the past ten years, the government has been championing a content foundation and Cool Japan, anticipating the content industry’s growth. Japanese pop culture took hold overseas with comics, animation, and games. However, it has not achieved sufficient results as an industry. For several years the content marketplace has been stagnating with a foreign industrial sales percentage greatly inferior to that of the US.

We should make a concentrated investment in digital and content fields and put effort into overseas expansion.

The CiP composes plans to construct a digital and content industry accumulation zone in Takeshiba, Minato Ward, Tokyo. C - Contents, i - innovation, P - Program. We will reinvent society with content. Or perhaps C - Creative, i - innovative, P - Pop. We will gather domestic and foreign resources, make a concentrated investment, and become the place to produce and disseminate new industrial culture.

That said, we do not aim to be Hollywood or Silicon Valley. The strength of such places is their concentration of the foremost artists, geeks, and business elite. In contrast, in addition to advanced technological and expressive might, Japan possesses many punctual and industrious workers. Furthermore, it is an industrial cultural power of chaotic participation, production, and consumption, including the comic market, Niconico video, karaoke, cosplay, mascot characters, B-class gourmet, and more. We will leverage this to become a breeder reactor.