New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society 7 - Super Free-Time Killing Strategies

 ■New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society 7 - Super Free-Time Killing Strategies

　Part of my recent work, "New Edition: Creating a Super Free Society After COVID-19 - The Age of Cats" is revealed below. 

　From Chapter 4, "Super Free-Time Killing Strategies".

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○Wanting to be Miku Hatsune

　A super free society is a super-entertainment society. The theme is to kill time, by also including sports and education. I want to create a place for that, and that is CiP. However, it doesn't have to be Takeshiba. It is important to create a super-free time killing town, and the first step is Smart City Takeshiba. It can be done all over the planet. We'll follow that concept.

　The first part of the vision that was presented at the CiP launch was "A Japanese-influenced fusion of Silicon Valley and Hollywood".

There are hubs where entrepreneurship is thriving in the United States in Silicon Valley on the West Coast, and Route 128 in the suburbs of Boston on the East Coast. In contrast to the open Silicon Valley, Route 128 is self-sufficient and enclosed. Different approaches continue to foster the tech industry. However, it also fuses technology with entertainment. I want it to be tightly bound together like the way Silicon Valley and Hollywood are.

　However, that does not mean that we will create a Hollywood or a Silicon Valley. The strength of Hollywood and Silicon Valley is the concentration of top artists, geeks, and business elites. In contrast, Japan's strength is its large number of precise and diligent craftsmen. In addition, Japan's identity is in its industrial and cultural power that is sordid and chaotic, where everyone participates, creates and is a consumer in the comic market, Nico Doga (Nico Nico Douga - Japanese video sharing service), karaoke, cosplay, Yuru-chara (mascot characters), and B-class gourmet food. Let’s make use of this to become a chamber for growth. [Identity] (Sheena Ringo)

There are research and education centers like the Seoul CKL (Contents Korea Lab). It holds money like the Frankfurt ECB (European Central Bank). It is chaotic like the Marche (central market) in Casablanca, water is splashed around like at the seaside in Barcelona, and there is always music and dancing like at the Buenos Aires Caminito. That kind of place.

 　A place where men and women lithely strut around like at Monte Napoleone in Milan; where the government is serious like it is in Singapore; where children run around like at the La Villette in Paris; where there is excellent food and sake like at Ponto-cho in Kyoto; and a place that is brimming with creativity like San Fransokyo in "Big Hero 6", where the West Coast and Tokyo blend together. That kind of place. 

　A town that everyone can build together. Akihabara is the model. Akihabara was originally a town for radio parts, then in the 70's it changed into a town for consumer electronics. In the 80's it became a town for PCs, and in the 90's it changed its character to become a town for nerds. CiP promised to continue for 70 years after opening, but people will say, "That place has been continuously changing for 70 years since opening, right?" In 70 years I will still only be 130 years old.

CiP wants to be Hatsune Miku. Hatsune Miku is composed of three elements. First, there is the Vocaloid technology. With this technology all you have to do is write the songs and she will sing for you as part of the software. Second, is the content; that is the design of the 16-year-old, 158 cm, 42 kg character.

　And third, is the community. Everyone participated in Nico Nico Doga and developed it. We tried writing lyrics, we tried singing, we tried performing, and we tried dancing. Everyone brought their own abilities and developed them. Japan's strength lies in its power to synthesize technology, design, and a participatory community. I want to make the most of this.

Takeshiba is just a starting point. There are many similar development plans in Tokyo, such as in Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Haneda, and Shinagawa. Between Takeshiba and Haneda, a major development around JR Shinagawa awaits. It will move northward, reaching Akihabara and the University of Tokyo. Sumida has the iU. Toyosu and Harumi will also be connected, and we can envision a digital belt around the Bay Area. The redevelopment of Shibuya is also flourishing. A town where social games, J-Pop, and fashion converge. I have a vision of creating a digital hub that covers a wide area, linking Tokyo vertically and horizontally.

StationAi, a huge incubation facility, is operational in Nagoya. There is also a plan for Kyoto. A plan similar to CiP is in motion, in which the film industry, Kyoto University, Ritsumeikan University, and others, will create a center for human resource development and industrial support. Previously, the Stanford Japan Center was based in Kyoto, because it was focused on its features of the presence of technology and culture, and the thriving partnerships with the universities.

　Osaka, where Expo 2025 is coming, is also developing a large-scale entertainment center, and the same is true of Okinawa. Fukuoka is playing a leading role as a special zone for entrepreneurship. I would like cooperation with these centers to advance, and for the dots to be made into lines and then lines into surfaces. Let's create a pop-tech archipelago.

　South Korea has models. There is CKL, the "Contents Korea Lab" for human resources development, and CEL, the "Creative Economy Leader" for entrepreneurship support. The Korean government has a large budget for running them. There is also the "Digital Media City" (DMC), a media agglomeration created through a partnership between industry, the government, and the city of Seoul. The CiP Council entered into an agreement in Seoul to collaborate with the Korean government and the Korea Creative Content Agency.

In the "Iskandar" development region in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, adjacent to Singapore, the government is developing a media education and research center. The University of London is playing a central role, and CiP has entered into an agreement to collaborate there as well. It has already been stated that they have signed an agreement with Barcelona in Spain.

　The most important goal above all is Stanford University. The university functions as a platform for Silicon Valley, and CiP would like to bring in Stanford research institute to learn how to do the same. In this way, I hope it becomes a hub connecting Tokyo, the United States, Europe, and Asia.

　More than 100 years have passed since Japan embarked on a policy of national wealth and military power, and with its defeat in the war, it has dropped its banner of having a strong military. The country pushed forward to pursue a wealth policy of industrial development. The success of this was called the "Asian Miracle", but after the bubble that position was shaken.

However, Japan has begun to shine as a cultural superpower. Combined with the pacifism of 70 years since the end of the war, and the etiquette and order shown by Japanese society in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan as a whole has demonstrated what is known as "Soft power" in international political theory.

　Of course, this does not mean that Japan has lost its technological and manufacturing capabilities cultivated by its industries. They are the combination of Japan's strength in terms of hardware, and strength in terms of software with things like content, and they are the resources of Japan as it is today. Half a century ago, the Tokyo Olympics and the Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970 showed Japan's recovery and growth. What will Tokyo and Osaka show us next about Japan?