20 years after 9/11 (September 11th), optimistic expectations.

■20 years after 9/11 (September 11th), optimistic expectations.

I had optimistic slides that I was going to present back in Japan right after 9/11.

September 11th, 20 years ago was the strongest season for the Internet in the United States, even though the Internet bubble had burst.

I had an appointment with president of MaMaMedia, Inc., Idit Harel, a female entrepreneur and graduate of MIT. It was when I was approaching Manhattan after driving from Boston in the early morning, that I came across the terrorist attack.

I have written about this several times.　

While returning to Boston from New York, there was just screaming and confusion coming from the car radio, and I learned of the situation from the images from the TV at a roadside restaurant.

On the East Coast people were commuting to work and school, and on the West Coast, which was three hours behind, people were sleeping.

However, everyone I knew in Japan saw it happening on the news.

The degree of it being in real-time was higher in Asia.

The "Advanced information society," in which the media connects the world through images, had been completed.

With that, the "Optimistic expectations" that mutual understanding would advance, and world peace would come, was showed to be downright lie.

Mutual understanding breeds extinction, hatred, terrorism, and revenge.

The United States brandished nationalism, which soon led to the war in Afghanistan, and then the war in Iraq.

Ten years later, Japan was shaken by March 11th, and the tremors were shared and spread on TV and smartphone social networking sites.

Since September 11th, I have once again recognized the power of images.

However, it was not the images that made me flinch when I entered the area immediately after the quake, but rather a sharply intense "Odor".

That odor was not perceived through the digital images.

My expectations for digital technology were still optimistic.

At that time, smartphones and social networking sites became widespread, and helped democratize the world.

The Arab Spring has arrived.

Democracy and capitalism covered the globe along with the wave of digitization.

We are moving in one direction.

I had such "Optimistic expectations".

Then another 10 years passed.

The United States was in decline, and after 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan, it was defeated and withdrew from the country.

The United Kingdom left the European Union.

The Arabs have reverted to civil wars and iron-fist regimes after the Arab Spring.

China has become too confident and uncompromising, and it is clamping down domestically.

Democracy and capitalism are both without life.

"Optimistic expectations" remained only optimistic once again.

And COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief the shape of the country.

China is suppressing with an iron-fist..

France is also ruling with a heavy hand, but only against protests.

The United States is divided among its states.

The United Kingdom shows the strength of its logistic management.

India makes its people do push-ups.

Japan makes demands, has no presence, and hypothesizes. 

The world is in pieces.

Meanwhile, Japan has been falling. 

Its international competitiveness, which was once 1st, has fallen to 34th.

What we have gained during COVID-19 is a recognition of the digital defeat.

The eJapan strategy of 20 years ago and the last solid policy were both led by introducing IT into administration and education.

For 20 years, we stopped.

Launching the Digital Agency will help us recover from this defeat.

At this moment, digital technology is at the stage of transition from the Internet and smartphones to AI data.

It is the last chance.

After bringing an end to the "Kishotenketsu" (introduction, development, turn and conclusion) of the modern eras that were Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei, Reiwa will move us on to the post-modern era.

I wonder if that is the mood for the "Optimistic expectations".

The Olympics that were forced through did not glorify nationalism.

Especially the new city-based competitions where teenagers were the main participants. They were cooler, showing smiles rather than a hungry spirit, and what they shouldered was not the nation, but love and friendship.

The nationalistic, modern Olympics, where people competed for medals, was turned around, and became a super-modern, leisurely, and fun festival.

It is a great legacy.

10 years after September 11th was March 11th, and 10 years after that was COVID-19.

With each decade, "Optimistic expectations" have withered away.

What awaits us 10 years from now?

I hope to see the light.