The Future of the Metaverse

■ The Future of the Metaverse At the Kyoto Smart City Expo 2022, we discussed "The Future of the Metaverse" with Naoto Kato, CEO of Cluster.Cluster is Japan's largest metaverse platform and holds the global record for hosting virtual events.　It has hosted various events, including Virtual Shibuya’s Halloween, the M1 Grand Prix in Virtual Osaka, and events for Disney and Pokémon. Moreover, users are rapidly creating their own spaces, starting businesses, and opening shops within this virtual landscape.Physical digitization begins with gaming,...

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Oshi Economy

■ Oshi Economy"Oshi Economy" by Juno Nakayama explores how the act of supporting one's favorite idols, artists, and characters—known as "Oshi activities"—has created a dynamic economic sphere.Fans purchase multiple items of merchandise and works related to their beloved personalities or characters. They attend performances and concerts. They dance. They cheer. Spending their last dime and their time, this consumption and expression becomes their passion and purpose."Oshi activities" have transcended gender and age, even being nominated for the...

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The Future Predicted by Technology

■ The Future Predicted by TechnologyJoichi Ito's book, "The Future Predicted by Technology."Born in Kyoto, Joi has held positions at the MIT Media Lab and earned a doctorate from Keio University; he is now president of Chiba Institute of Technology. Despite being younger, Joi has many similarities with me and is far ahead, discussing web3 with respect.Here are some key points from his book that I found noteworthy:・Lower Layer FocusIn web1-2, the application layer attracted financial investment. In web3, the focus shifts to the protocol layer.The...

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How to Handle Digital Trust

 ■ How to Handle Digital TrustI participated as a speaker at the "World Digital Conference" organized by Nikkei.Theme: Why is Digital Trust Necessary?I first spoke at the World Digital Summit in 1999, during my time at the MIT Media Lab, after leaving Kasumigaseki. Although the digital climate was energized then, by the following year, the eJapan initiative presented by the government was still grappling with the two major challenges of education and informatization of administration—challenges that persisted even twenty years later in the...

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Maybe Lose the Fax Machines before Talking about DX??

■ Maybe Lose the Fax Machines before Talking about DX??At the Digital Nation Japan Forum, I took the stage in a segment on the development of regional DX talent.  The shortage of IT talent has gone unresolved for 20 years, with 40% of user companies facing shortages. At the same time, transitions from IT company to user company are only increasing. A sense of crisis is emerging in industry, which I view as a positive movement.iU opened its doors to nurture DX talent. As conventional classroom learning would be ineffective, it is being...

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Start of the CiP Metaverse

■ Start of the CiP MetaverseThe opening greetings from the Metaverse Project launch event are as follows.  The metaverse and Web3.0 have garnered attention as new policy issues.The transformation of virtual spaces into parallel worlds has been anticipated since the dawn of the Internet.Now, 25 years since Ultima Online and 15 years since Second Life, significant movement has accumulated.Facebook's announcement of its rebranding as Meta in 2021 flipped a switch.The metaverse has become a field drawing in new technologies such as VR, AR,...

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What the Broadcasting Report Indicates

■ What the Broadcasting Report IndicatesI would like to comment on the report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.Shared use of physical assets: Joint investment by NHK and commercial broadcasters　In 2006, commercial broadcasters were openly opposed to separation of physical and non-physical aspects. However, Michisada Hirose, chair of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association at the time, quietly called me aside and expressed a correct understanding that the change would mean the possibility of joint ownership of regional...

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Homework in Broadcasting, 15 Years Overdue

■ Homework in Broadcasting, 15 Years OverdueThe Study Group on the Ideal Broadcasting System in the Digital Age of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) released a draft report.The report recommends a revision of regulatory structures to expand options for management, as well as enhancement of flexibility in physical, content-related, and management aspects.I concur with this. The report was put together well.1. Study the shared use of physical assets, including joint investment by NHK and commercial broadcasters.2. Allow IP...

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Because They Wanted to Introduce Akiko Fuji as a Giant

 2024/11/3■ Because They Wanted to Introduce Akiko Fuji as a GiantShin Ultraman, directed by Shinji Higuchi and supervised by Hideaki Anno, was a masterpiece.Mr. Anno and I are the same age. Last autumn, I caught up with his doings at an exhibit at The National Art Center Tokyo.I also once asked Mr. Higuchi, who is four years younger, about his hobbies at a Keio University event.My attachment to the Ultraman of the 60s is even stronger than to Godzilla of the 50s and Kamen Rider of the 70s. I wanted a Flash Beam. I wanted to wear the...

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Intellectual Property Content Strategy

■ Intellectual Property Content StrategyI served as the chair of the Content Working Group of the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters.  The pillars of its intellectual property plan are as follows,1) Content strategy for the Web3.0 era, etc.2) Reform of copyright regulatory structures and related policies in line with the digital era3) Realization of a digital archive-based society4) Strengthening of measures against counterfeit products and pirated material5) Support for video production through improvements to shooting location...

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How to Listen to Music

■ How to Listen to MusicIn How to Listen to Music, Naoki Tachikawa selects 100 albums from 1975 and 100 from 2021.These include many songs that I have never listened to or don't know, so I check these one by one.At the same time, I was excited to also see a lot of songs that I would definitely include if I were doing the selection.Cornering Mr. Tachikawa when he visited the Okinawa International Movie Festival, I ran my thoughts by him.Tachikawa's selection for 1975, when he was 26, starts with Syd Barrett.Why?"Because I liked him."The bass line...

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The Paraconsistent World

■ The Paraconsistent WorldThe Paraconsistent World is a book by Jun Sawada, President of NTT.I underestimated this amazing book.Amazingly profound ideology and management philosophy underlaid IOWN, the grand technology concept that followed INS, VIP, and NGN.Appearing amid the DX boom, this digital book connects the opposing sides of digital and analog, global and local, and centralization and decentralization. It accommodates contradictions and conflicts between the pairs as it addresses the shift from trade-offs to paraconsistency (i.e., simultaneous...

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Report of the Commercial Broadcasters Association: In the Midst of Two Wars

■ Report of the Commercial Broadcasters Association: In the Midst of Two WarsI contributed the foreword to the report from the Digital Network Study Group of the Commercial Broadcasters Association.　---------　Humanity today faces unprecedented trials in COVID-19 and Ukraine. We find ourselves in the midst of two wars.　Across the globe, COVID-19 pushed DX forward several years. Japan acknowledged its defeat in the digital arena and established the Digital Agency. Amid these landslide events, what roles did television and radio play?　The invasion...

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Where is NHK Heading?

■ Where is NHK Heading?We spoke at the "Where is NHK Heading?" forum. This involved a discussion centered around NHK's management plan.Japanese TV is weakening. It is 15 years behind in its digital compatibility, a classic case of digital defeat. The internet is dominated not only by Big Tech like Netflix and Disney, but also by Chinese companies like Tencent. While BBC operates 10 domestic TV channels and 3 international channels, and China's CCTV has 20 channels plus 5 in foreign languages, how does NHK fare? We need to consider...

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3D Urban Model × Urban DX

■3D Urban Model × Urban DXWe presented at the "3D Urban Model × Urban DX" event. The CiP Council, responsible for new urban developments at the intersection between the real and virtual world, initiated a plan in 2013 to create a digital agglomeration special zone spanning 20 hectares in Tokyo's Takeshiba area, which was officially opened in 2020. The plan involved fully implementing cutting-edge technologies. Numerous robots are put to work here, and telexistence jobs can also be done. Over 1000 sensors embedded about to collect...

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AI Creates Everyone's School Songs!

■ AI Creates Everyone's School Songs!The “Super School Song” project, a joint research endeavor between BLab and RIKEN AIP, has launched. AI will develop models for school song, which can be adopted as official school anthems from the elementary to university levels or used to arrange existing school songs. https://lp.blaboratory.org/choukoukaSchool songs have successfully grown to be a unique aspect of Japanese school culture. Their origin is said to be part of the educational reforms of the Meiji government, introduced to unify values...

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Addressing the Theme of "Culture × Economy"

■ Addressing the Theme of "Culture × Economy"A new Cultural Economy Subcommittee has been established within the Agency for Cultural Affair’s Council for Cultural Affairs, aiming for a harmonious cycle between culture and the economy. The integration of economic principles into cultural policy introduces fresh perspectives into the cultural and artistic community.The globalization of museums and art galleries is a hot topic. While it is common for cities like Paris, London, and New York to feature museums as main tourist attractions, how many...

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Book Review: Human Rights and the State

■ Book Review: Human Rights and the StateWritten by Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Professor at the Stanford University Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), "Human Rights and the State" delves into the paradox of international politics that allowed the development of a human rights system constraining state power.● During World War II, out of the 50 to 80 million casualties, 40 to 50 million were civilians.● At that time, while the U.S. (Japanese internment), Britain (colonial response), and the USSR (Stalinist oppression) were involved,...

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Intellectual Property Plan, Deliberations in Final Stages.

■ Intellectual Property Plan, Deliberations in Final Stages.The Intellectual Property Headquarters Concept Committee has discussed the intellectual property plan.Three comments are made:1. Overall ScopeThe focus on data utilization rules and supports such as the metaverse/NFTs will be well-received.Particularly, the latter is not yet firmly established in policy, but it is important to recognize it as a key issue. We want to adopt a proactive approach in anticipation of these supports becoming a global theme.2. Content StrategyThe societal digital...

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BS Yoshimoto = Sumida Media Lab Open!

■ BS Yoshimoto = Sumida Media Lab Open!The IU Film Studio "Sumida Media Lab" has opened on the IU campus.It operates in collaboration with the broadcasting station "BS Yoshimoto." This studio produces and broadcasts/distributes programs and video content in a large-scale shooting and streaming studio, thus equipping the university for content creation."BS Yoshimoto" is based on the concept of "regional revitalization," featuring comedians living nationwide, YouTubers working in various regions, film directors, journalists, and local residents...

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Jen Perry "Raincoats".

 ■ Jen Perry "Raincoats".The Japanese translation for a four-year-old book, written about the 1979 debut in the UK of an all-girls band, was published at the end of 2021.This is what I consider and revere, alongside PiL, as punk.The full album is available to listen on YouTube, so please at least give the first track a chance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQlX3jgAbvcGo Punk. This is my topic.I define "punk" as "destroy to create."It's about overturning history, tradition, and lineage to create something new.It involves breaking style, fashion,...

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A new fusion of content and media

■A new fusion of content and mediaContent policy began in the 90s, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications handled it in a disorganized way, but an IP Division was established in 2003, leading to horizontal control.In the 2010s, transformation to digital became a major talking point.Our response was delayed compared to overseas, but in the past few years, the shift in the industry has become clear, and results are showing.However, before we even noticed,...

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A new round for content strategy.

 ■A new round for content strategy.A new round starts at the IP Division. A recent action is strategies for content utilization. The direction that I laid out as chairperson was given to the Cultural Affairs Council for deliberation, and was summarized as “Copyright systems and policies compatible with the DX era”There is also movement on anti-piracy measures.In addition to finding piracy sites guilty, advertising agencies have been ordered to pay compensation to writers.The Copyright Act has been revised in advance of this, and...

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Broadcasting systems have finally come an important point.

■Broadcasting systems have finally come an important point.Broadcasting has been treated as an isolated and special position, both in industry and in government, so it has fallen out of the economic value chain and is now in trouble.The meetings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ conference are treated as broadcasts in the diverse information space, including the Internet, and question the diversity, pluralism, and local properties of culture found there. This is the correct understanding.In consideration of the deficit of...

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