Book Review: Human Rights and the State

■ Book Review: Human Rights and the State

Written 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, China was the most committed to human rights.

→ The cruelty towards civilians and the position from which state powers stood shows that neither the West nor the East has been consistent, and even today, there is no firm doctrine.

● After 9/11, the U.S. invasion of Iraq proceeded without a UN resolution.

● The U.S. justified the abuses at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons in Iraq.

→ My frustration stems from still not being able to digest this.

Twenty years ago, Japan, which supported America, now questions the legitimacy of condemning Russia.

Russia faces sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.

Iraq bore the brunt of America's invasion of Iraq.

Syria was blamed for Russia's intervention in the Syrian civil war.

Palestine bore the consequences of Israel's invasion.

Iraq was responsible for its 1991 invasion of Kuwait.

How can we properly explain the justice and legitimacy of each situation?

It's beyond my capacity.

Looking forward, if Japan were invaded, depending on its positions and power relations, it might also end up being blamed without being saved.

This makes me inclined to listen to the criticisms by the Middle Eastern that the West's attitude in this matter is a double standard.

● Russia has experience and know-how in top-down oppression, but the backlash against human rights and divisiveness from the grassroots in America are challenging to address.

→ What concerns me is grassroots oppression in Japan. A state prevails where intolerance hangs in the air, and oppression of others is seen as justice.

It was brought to my attention that in previous wars, there were citizens who wished for war and were enthusiastic about invasions, along with surveillance and oppression among the people.

To understand this current conflict, we must ask ourselves if we have improved at all?

What should we be learning from this situation?

Read More

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 Scope

The 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 Strategy

The societal digital transformation accelerated by COVID-19 presents both a significant opportunity and a substantial shift for content creation. It is important to recognize that we are now at a turning point rather than merely an extension of the past. Three key points are:

1) How to deal with investments from Chinese IT companies in Japan, alongside addressing the dominance of American platforms from Big Tech.

2) How to incorporate emerging technologies such as the metaverse and NFTs into policy discussions.

3) There are likely structural changes and regulatory shifts in the broadcasting industry, provided the ongoing discussions within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. It is crucial to consider how these changes affect the content creation side.

These issues require a peculiar strategic approach rather than traditional copyright handling or international expansion.

How we hand these within the ongoing discussions will be crucial.

Read More

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 to broadcast programs like local attractions or news that offer hints for revitalizing areas and solving regional issues.

Through the national broadcast network, this station will become one venture that aims to create channels with the goal of "one broadcast, one business started," where programs generate new businesses and employment opportunities. 

"We've emulated IU's 'everyone an entrepreneur,' motto" says Yoshimoto's chairman Osaki. 

This is a challenge to create a broadcasting station that generates business without depending on advertisers.

BS Yoshimoto is primarily owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo, but it is also a digital consortium with capital investment from UUUM, J-Stream, Transcosmos, and Mixi. 

It aims to go beyond broadcasting and communication convergence to offer data-driven services that blend virtual and real elements.

IU will utilize this facility to the fullest for education and research.

1.　To be leveraged for a creative educational approach.

Students will be involved in video production and distribution, and it will serve as a tool for entrepreneurship related to regional revitalization.

IU's research institute "B Lab" will also be integrated to use it as a platform for broadcasting joint research with industry-academia collaboration.

2. To create university-centered content.

Web, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok...

While IU is already promoting itself through various media, by having its own studio, broadcast station, and also setting up a physical base, it aims to demonstrate a model where "the university becomes the media."

Shōnen Knife became famous worldwide when they topped the charts for colleges on a U.S. college-based FM radio station. This goes to show that college broadcast stations have impact.

FM Tokyo was created by Tokai University. Radiko is a project started by my lab at Keio University. There aren't many other university-originated media in Japan yet.

3. To serve as a regional collaboration hub.

The studio is located on university grounds, adjacent to a vast vacant grass lot.

We're keeping the area open without fencing, accessible to everyone.

The Chiba University Department of Architectural Design is also adjacent for shared use.

We plan to use the entire area to launch events like festivals and markets.

Read More

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=pQlX3jgAbvc

Go 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, legitimacy, and common sense to build anew on what remains.

Once what's been overturned to create anew has then become stylized and fashionable, it's no longer punk; it turns into a target to make punk.

That's why punk is hard to sustain.

The punk music born after the start of punk is like enka (a traditional-style of Japanese popular ballads), and punk fashion is the traditional dress accompanying it.

The Raincoats were punk only up to their second album in 1981, as was PiL. Which is just enough.

The Raincoats. Drums, guitar, bass, violin, vocals.

Each part is independent in their own free spirited way, yet synchronizes.

Precariously delicate, suddenly fierce, and screaming.

One part rushes while another loosens up, playing with dissonance, achieving unity.

It miraculously works.

Dressed in plain everyday clothes, their sound is the true essence of being completely exposed.

Giving the soul a straightforward ride in a distorted, non-linear way.

Wild and minimal, opposite of pretentious artistry.

That’s why conventional rock fans and critics often harshly criticize it.

This is punk.

Oddly unique and standing apart.

Yet neither soaring at the pinnacle nor incomprehensible, but popular.

An irreplaceable presence gleaming in the rich nook of our world.

Perhaps it makes sense if I compare it to Henri Rousseau's paintings, Tsuge Tadao's manga, Ichiyo Higuchi's novels, or Pasolini's films.

Guitar (Ana da Silva) from Madeira, Portugal.

Bass (Gina Birch) from Andalusia, Spain.

Drums (Palmolive) from Nottingham, UK.

Violin (Vicky Aspinall) from South Africa.

Although I have no interest in the political aspect conducted by these girls from the countryside, the music they create is very much universal.

The all-girls lineup was only for the first album in 1979; from the second in 1981, a man joined on drums, changing the dynamic.

In the meantime, in 1980, John Lydon of PiL declared, “Rock’n’roll is shit … music has reached an all-time low – except for The Raincoats.”

PiL and The Raincoats were both making waves in London at the same time.

I, too, took in that atmosphere in London.

This book also serves as a mirror reflecting my youth.

In 1981, I raised my hand for an initiative by the Kyoto Yamashiro Lions Club, chaired by the president of Fukujuen’s Iemon, Mr. Fukui, and went on a short study abroad trip to the UK.

Amidst the light and shadow of London, turbulent due to the "British disease," yet energetic for the Royal Wedding, I walked the streets listening to PiL and The Raincoats on the first model Walkman.

That winter, upon my return, Shōnen Knife was formed.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana loved both Shōnen Knife and The Raincoats.

In 1992, Nirvana and Shōnen Knife toured the UK together.

That same year, The Raincoats were also scheduled to tour the UK with them.

Just a week before the tour began, Kurt Cobain committed suicide with a shotgun.

During the summer of 1981 in London, I eagerly bought up singles from Rough Trade Records discussed in this book.

Cabaret Voltaire, Peru Ubu, Kleenex, The Pop Group, Young Marble Giants, The Slits.

And Scritti Politti, treated much like The Raincoats’ group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4HC2Dfm_k

Scritti Politti became a popular, rhythmic pop band in the 1980s, but they were a punk band only with their 1979 singles.

Their 16mm films of that era still remain on YouTube.

I bought those two singles seen in the below footage; they are so precious to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4HC2Dfm_k

The reason I’m recounting my story from 40 years ago is that there hasn't been a musical impact that surpasses that era.

Alternative, grunge, hip-hop. J-POP, K-POP.

Even though rock has evolved since then, I remain frozen in the moment of 1979-1981.

Perhaps it was a blessing to have been showered in such profound influence during a sensitive period.

As punk, such as The Raincoats, is revisited on its 40th anniversary, one wonders why this book now.

Perhaps it’s because contemporaries like myself are aging and reaching our final years.

Punk emerged 30–40 years after rock's genesis, when expression had become saturated.

Now, 40 years later, have we reached another impasse? Is that why there’s a reassessment?

Read More

A new fusion of content and media

■A new fusion of content and media

Content 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, overseas IT media has become a threat, in the form of piracy for manga, overseas distribution such as Netflix for anime, cloud-based games such as Google, and moving to platforms such as Spotify for music.

Also, countermeasures differ depending on the genre, such as anti-piracy measures for manga, development of new areas such as e-sports for games, and copyright processing rules for music.

National policies are also individual and small, and no comprehensive policy can be found. Measures across genres that collaborate with other fields are important.

As discussed in the Cool Japan Strategy, cooperation with other industries such as food, fashion, and tourism will also become important.

That is, “fusion” is an important issue. 

On the other hand, media policy entered the digital age in the 80s after a clash between computer policy from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and communications policy from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and the development of the Internet was a topic of discussion in the 90s, as was the development of terrestrial digital broadcasting in the 2000s.

After the reform and deregulation of the communications and broadcasting legal system in the Koizumi administration, “fusion” became an important theme.

Simultaneous distribution of television has finally recently become a reality, over 10 years behind other countries, and the Copyright Act has also been amended.

It looks as if it has been settled.

However, in this respect as well, before we knew it, in addition to the Big Four, Netflix and Disney came to pin down the world in the media market.

The fusion of communications and broadcasting had ended.

We have shifted to a theme of all-IP and all-cloud, and data and AI play the main role in business.

The majority of advertisements will be targeted advertisements made using data and AI, game consoles will become unnecessary due to the cloud, and broadcasting will be done over 5G.

I see no strategy that considers these comprehensively.

Overseas players will develop roll out data businesses in a borderless way, both for content and for media.

Chinese capital looks poised to make serious moves.

This capital is also being invested in Japanese content.

How will Japanese players deal with this? Sink or swim?

Previously, content and media, software and hardware were one and the same.

Equipment manufacturers made music records, and game console companies produced content as platform holders.

However, there have recently been many cases where the hardware and software industries are opposed to each other, whether it be for audio recording royalties or anti-piracy measures.

Fusion of the two is an issue as well.

Examining genres separately and individual policies such as copyright will no longer yield the best solution.

I want a perspective across both content and media.

We will need to fuse IP policy and IT policy and propose cultural industrial policy.

Read More

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 measures are being taken by all three branches: administrative, legislative, and judiciary.

And content strategy.

I agree with the perspective of define future predictions as 1. virtual space, 2. UGC, and 3. changes in industrial structures.

It is timely to focus on these three as policy themes for content that has been affected in two waves, namely coronavirus and technological changes, and the three are interrelated.

1. The metaverse will be a battle on a new platform. How should we confront US IT companies such as the Big Four and Netflix as Chinese companies such as Tencent also invest capital in Japan?

2. Concerning UGC, rumor has it that YouTube will provide NFT functionality, but will a new revenue/rights model be established, and how will asset values of content be organized?

3. Concerning industrial structures, while consolidation and restructuring of US media progresses, a review of the NHK’s management structure and the licensing system for commercial broadcasters is now being discussed in Japan as well at meetings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. There is a high probability that not only will content change, but the media industry as well.

I think we should summarize the policies prior to the coronavirus and move forward.

Read More

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 local sites, what should be done about the number and scale of businesses?

Do domestic regulations aimed at eliminating the concentration of mass media from the era when Japan was thriving still mean something?

Things that I have always seen as problems are being discussed in public.

The NHK is also weighing the value of its existence against license fees.

A proposal to make its primary business simultaneous online distribution, as an entity responsible for basic information.

As talk of abolishing BBC license fees in the UK is coming up, it seems that the debate on NHK manner of existence will be taken seriously at last.

Joint ownership of infrastructure between the NHK and commercial broadcasters has also been proposed.

Amendments to the Broadcasting Act that permit NHK simultaneous distribution created an obligation of cooperation between the NHK and commercial broadcasters relating to online deployment, but the foundation for rolling out data business can be created using NHK license fees.

Copyright is also a topic of discussion. A discussion about facilitating rights processing by treating both IP multicast (broadcasting) and unicast (communications), which are handled separately, as broadcasting. The past decision to separate systems based on distribution technology was fundamentally flawed. It took us 20 years to realize.

Read More

Wavering digital utilization and a business law framework.

■Wavering digital utilization and a business law framework.

Amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act are unstable.

1. Institutional development process

The procedure being hasty was presented as problematic by a portion of the industry.

As the state of the world changes rapidly and drastically in this field, it is a matter of the speed and coordination required for preparation of the requisite legal system.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has now held 16 meetings in 10 months, and vigorous discussions continue. It is not hasty in the slightest.

Despite that, a limited gathering of 10 selected experts met once or twice per month to deliberate, but submitted proposals were met with opposition from the business world, leading to readjustments.

This begs the question of whether that process will continue to be valid.

The same is true for coordination outside the conference room.

The lobbying power of the industry is demonstrated, but how will the voices of users, who are supposed to play the main role, be ensured and reflected?

Is the black box coordination in Kasumigaseki that occurs appropriate, not only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, but also the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Digital Agency, etc.?

I feel that it is being asked what form of policymaking is suitable for the digital and open era.

The reason for creating the “Digital Policy Forum,” too, is that we believed that a place where experts, stakeholders, policy makers, and others could openly participate and have discussions “constantly” is necessary.

2. Business laws and usage laws

It has been 37 years since the enactment of the Telecommunications Business Act. Now it has been proposed to make businesses that were previously exempt subject to regulatory rules. This is a major shift in legal framework, or policy.

The former Public Telecommunications Act (Public Act) was a law on how usage of NTT equipment of the Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation.

The Telecommunications Business Act (Business Act) was enacted to promote and manage, as a business, the development and sophistication of communications equipment.

It is a framework that 1. regulates and manages telecommunications carriers that have line equipment, yet 2. encourages telecommunications companies, or providers, that do not have them to participate with minimal regulations, and 3. excludes: businesses that do not act as media for telecommunications: exempts databases, the web, commerce, etc.

In the 80s and 90s, competition policies for telecommunications carriers were so effective that they served as a model overseas. We became an infrastructure superpower.

In the latter half of the 90s, due to the spread of the Internet, the main role shifted from 1. the infrastructure layer to 2. the service layer. Significant deregulation was performed.

Then, in the 2010s, the center of gravity shifted to 3. the application layer, that is, the exempt region.

With deployment of the application layer and recognition of user protections as an important issue, two “Consumer” Policy Divisions have been established at the Telecommunications “Business” Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Measures for Internet use safety and the like have increased in depth.

So now, user protections are the goal, and action will be taken for the application layer, which was previously exempt.

Protect users with the Business Act. As the focus shifts from the initial regulation of infrastructure equipment to services and then applications and we trend toward user-based policy and the focus shifts toward user administration, the question arises whether the Business Act is fine as is.

A large legal framework theory in the form of a shift to usage laws, or a return to the Public Act, may also be in question.

Read More

A digital policy forum starting 20 years after reorganization of the central government

■A digital policy forum starting 20 years after reorganization of the central government

It has been 20 years since the reorganization of the central government. It also marks 20 years of digitalization. The “Digital” Agency finally being born as a result of such speaks to the slowness of Japan’s progress, but the fact that funds, laws, and personnel were gather in such a short period of time to launch it is a remarkable feat that is a testament to the horsepower remaining in this country.

In 1997, Hashimoto’s administrative reforms dissolved the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and issued an interim report that communications and broadcasting would be handled by an independent regulatory commission. Movements aiming to merge with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry or unify with the Ministry of Transport arose within the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. The former was a movement viewing communications policy as industrial policy, and the latter was a movement viewing such as infrastructure policy.

As a result of political coordination, it ended up as an internal bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. This is because the understanding that communications policy is horizontal administration across all fields, rather than vertical administration for industry and infrastructure, won out.

However, horizontal administration by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications did not make progress. The IT division was placed in the Cabinet Secretariat in an attempt to demonstrate horizontal power, but the two major issues laid out in the eJapan strategy of 20 years ago, namely, administrative and educational computerization, are the same as the two major issues laid out in last year’s Basic Policy. There has been no progress.

The digital defeat laid bare by coronavirus. Both government and education are inferior to overseas. There are grave delays in the public sector, including medical care. Rather, management DX, including telework, is not progressing. Is this not the result of all the winners of the Showa era, the world-leading such and such, rejecting DX for the entire Heisei era because they were the winners?

It would be cruel to place the blame on the country. It is a defeat for “everyone.” However, what digital policymakers should regret is the lack of power during that time to raise the priority of digital policy to the top of national policy. What made us aware of our defeat and made digital king was coronavirus, not digital proponents.

What organization is responsible for digital policy? Ever since the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was established as a compromise, I have advocated for establishment of a “Ministry of Culture” as the next step. It is a vertically and horizontally integrated government office that governs administration of communications/broadcasting, computer/software, IT/intellectual property, and culture/copyright.

This is largely the same as the Ministry of Information, Economy and Society that the Japan Business Federation advocated for in 2018, but I am not claiming copyright. My sense for naming is better. Wouldn’t a government office with such a long name be second rate?

The Digital Agency, suddenly established in the wake of defeat, is the offspring of digital becoming top priority, and we should welcome it.

However, the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Information, Economy, and Society is the lowest common denominator of digital policy, but the Digital Agency, which concentrates on administrative computerization, is the greatest common divisor. The outcome of turning it into an organization was exactly the opposite.

Therefore, its mission is sharp. If the entire government goes through DX, the role of the Digital Agency will end. The mission of the Digital Agency is to work diligently and dissolve quickly.

Conversely, who should undertake the role of fostering a permanent digital social economy, which is entrusted to the concept of the Ministry of Culture. Defeated countries cannot afford to waste time reorganizing vertical government offices over and over.

The reason why we started the “Digital Policy Forum” made by collaboration between industry, academia, and government at the same time as the launch of the Digital Agency is to create, with “everyone,” players who embrace that idea. I pray that this attempt will serve as a step toward recovery.

Read More

I was appointed the President of the International Society of Public Economics

■I was appointed the President of the International Society of Public Economics

I was elected as the President of International Society of Public Economics.

The International Society of Public Economics was founded in 1986 as the Japanese branch of CIRIEC, which is headquartered in Liège, Belgium and has branches in 13 countries around the world.

http://ciriec.com/

It started in Europe, so much of their research has apparently been on traditional infrastructure sectors such as transportation and waterworks, but since I am involved, I would like to put effort into fields such as ICT and intellectual property.

I will work so that academic movements on economics relating to digital technology and data become the focus of this society.

I commented as follows during the election for President.

I have been involved in fields closely related to international public economics, but I did not have a very deep relationship with the society.

Electing me as President despite that is likely due to a determination that this organization cannot survive simply by continuing past actions.

As the state of the world changes due to the coronavirus, it has become clear that we are losing the digital battle, and every genre requires new actions. This society is no exception.

I understand that what is expected of me is to bring a breath of fresh air. This means revitalization of the society through responses in new fields such as digital technology and participation of younger generations.

The younger generations should undertake management, so my understanding is that my role is to act as a bridge to them.

I would like to take action based on three pillars: new responses in the digital field, inviting the younger generations to participate, and strengthening international response; however, I am very much a greenhorn so I want to proceed by listening carefully to everyone’s opinions.

Read More

What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World

■What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World

I spoke on stage at an event called “What Will Happen? Media x Content in Japan and the World”

Q What did coronavirus do to the music industry?

A Concerts stopped. Music went through the digital wave before any other industry and changed its business model. They let you listen to music through streaming and make money through concerts and merchandise. However, merchandising at concerts and venues was no longer possible, which was another big blow. I would like to ride this out. The most important issue is heading to capture the global market on the net.

Q Will conversion to online proceed rapidly?

A 1993 is when we began collectively call books, music, games, television, and movies content, in anticipation of information becoming data due to digital technology. It was apparent that online distribution would become mainstream. It finally came. Japan is slow. This likely means that Japanese TV and print media were well-made.

Q How do you view the online market?

A Advertisement is influenced by GDP, and GDP by population. Advertising will not grow. Rather, life will shift to the net, including entertainment. Information such as education will also become content, and expenditures on information and communication costs will also increase. This was instantly accelerated by the coronavirus. Japan’s digitalization have advanced five years on the clock. There is no going back.

Q What about fusion between communications and broadcasting?

A Online streaming started in Japan over 10 years after the rest of the world. However, the world industry is one step ahead and progressing toward all-IP cloud technology. All content is uploaded to the cloud and sent to all devices, such as TVs and smartphones, over all transmission channels, such as radio waves and the net. There are rumors that the BBC will relinquish airwave transmissions.

Q Will TV change?

A The field of video is already a data business. The foundation of Netflix is viewership data, and all online advertising is also linked to data. The fusion of communications has ended, and the ability to utilize data will serve as the foundation. However, Japan’s broadcasting stations are still in the test stages for data utilization. TV has held up well, but a billow of change is finally coming.

Q Will the Big Four continue to reign?

A The Big Four has had overwhelming power, but various countries are strengthening regulations and rules, such as antitrust laws and personal information protections. There are also moves in Europe such as newspapers/magazines and Google agreeing to pay content usage fees. The focus of the next one to two years will be how the relationship between content and platforms will change.

Q How do you approach platforms?

A US platforms are competitors, as well as partners in global sales channels. Something similar may happen in China. The news that Netflix will offer funding for anime and that KADOKAWA receive a 30 billion yen investment from Tencent is a very important move.

Read More

Copyright policy compatible with the DX era

■Copyright policy compatible with the DX era

The Council for Cultural Affairs has announced a copyright system and policies that are compatible with the DX era.

Aiming to create a virtuous cycle of content creation, they deliberated on simple, unified rights processing policy.

This laid out direction in a big way.

A system that creates a cross-sector, unified help desk and also constructs a rights information database.

Until a few years ago, discussions on copyright focused heavily on institutional theory and were confined to cliques.

Now, the focus on “measures” such as database and help desk preparation and public awareness has increased.

Is this not a sign that the tie between copyright and economic society has become an important field of policy?

The most difficult problems are things like costs and revenue design, and this entire report will be hollow if we cannot clear that hurdle.

We must also increase the prioritization of policies relating to securing public funding.

I think giving outward-facing messaging for that sake as well, such as by riding along on other large policies, is important.

In that respect, rather than staying within cliques, coordination within Kasumigaseki is also important, such as for data policies and regulatory reforms, so blood, sweat, and tears are required to implement this policy. 

I would like the cooperation of both committee members and other relevant parties.

Read More

NTT’s IOWN and the Olympics

■NTT’s IOWN and the Olympics

NTT R&D FORUM2021. I visited the Musashino Communications Research Center. “IOWN” was the focus this time as well.

It is a technology-driven vision laid out by the President Sawada system.

This is the next big concept after INS from new media in the 80s, VIP from multimedia in the 90s, and NGN from broadband in the 2000s.

Network renovation through “all-optical” that surpasses IPs, and “digital twins” that create models in cyberspace that are the same as in real space.

Technologies such as AI, VR/AR, quantum computers, and biomedical technology will intertwine like nesting dolls.

The pillar standing next to IOWN is Tokyo 2020.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were a showcase for all the upcoming technologies in radio, television, and the Internet.

At least, they were supposed to be.

However, there were also some regrettable things, such as 4K and 8K public viewing being blocked.

In such circumstances, NTT did a great job.

https://2020.ntt/jp/tokyo/tokyo/

A sailing competition held offshore was composited in real time as an ultra-wide video with a horizontal resolution of 12K using 5G and the ultra-high-presence communication technology “Kirari!” and transmitted to spectators seats on Enoshima.

It was projected on a huge offshore widescreen with a total length of 55m.

It is a new style of spectating and rooting for your favorite.

A badminton competition held at Musashino Forest.

A special life-size court was arranged at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and displayed life-size images of athletes playing at a distant venue.

This smoothly recreated in real time not only the sense of depth between the players in the background and the players in the foreground facing each other across the net, but even the shuttlecocks flying furiously at 400 km/h, using a holographic display.

This immersive sports viewing experience feels as if you are watching the competition right in front of your eyes.

A 50 m LED display installed in Sapporo.

Even the facial movements of fans in Tokyo tracking the athletes were conveyed is if they were actually there, sharing the space.

A marathon is run at 5 meters per second. If video of fans is delayed even by a few seconds, the runners will already be gone.

Real-time transmission was a challenge. They did it, didn’t they?

The results and wonders that make you say, “All this was done at the Olympics!” should be more well-known.

Read More

DX and the Digital Agency

■DX and the Digital Agency

When I first heard that the government was creating the Digital Agency, I felt it was 25 years too late for digital technology, but with the explosive power of implemented in one year by passing laws and budgeting and gathering people from the private section, I had hopes that this might work.

I am an advocate for creating a Ministry of Culture to act as a lowest common denominator for handling communications, broadcasting, computers, and intellectual property in an integrated manner, with digital as its core.

In that case, the first thing is to produce small but easily understood results through administrative DX.

By linking systems to My Number, we can quickly produce output that lets the public experience the benefits of digital.

I received a request from Takuya Hirai, the first Minister for Digital Transformation, to turn Smart City Takeshiba in Tokyo, which I am overseeing, into a branch of the Digital Agency and use it as a base for collaboration between the public and private sectors.

iU and the Digital Agency are collaborating to create a curriculum to develop regional DX talent.

We should have the private sector do more and more of the portions where they can help in that manner.

The X in DX means transfer, a transition period.

The goal is for everything to become digital, and if the government digitizes everything, the Digital Agency will no longer be needed.

The goal is for the Digital Agency to disappear.

I want it to go away in about five years.

Read More

Why did Japan not go through DX

 ■Why did Japan not go through DX

Japan is the only one in the G7 with a negative excess mortality rate during the coronavirus pandemic. We became healthy due to coronavirus.

By simply “requesting” that people show restraint, there were even no riots. Overseas, they were littered with protests. We did well.

However, what this revealed was Japan’s digital defeat.

National procedures that can be done online make up 8%. Online teaching is 5%.

The e-commerce rate is 18% worldwide and 8% in Japan.

The delay of DX is directly connected to shrinkage in Japan overall.

Our IMD 1989 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, which was 1st place in the world in 1989, has fallen to 34th place.

Among major countries, Japan is the only one that has undergone a unilateral decline.

Why did we not go through DX?

There have been many efforts, such as e-Japan. But they didn’t work.

Just why?

If we do not think that through, we will miss again.

For some time, Japan’s weaknesses in IT utilization have been thought to lie in the public for medical care/education/government, and management.

Doctors, teachers, government officials, and company presidents were the bottlenecks.

Medical care/education/government and management were the winners in the 70s to 80s.

Japan’s world-leading medical care and world-renowned Japanese management.

That success refused to be changed wholesale into digital.

Not converting what was successful was a rational action.

However, leadership and that generation could not understand that digital is a complete change, not a partial change.

Conversely, there are some genres that have already transformed industry-wide due to DX.

For example, content.

The music industry was hit by a digital wave 20 years ago, shifting from selling records to a business of listening online and making money with concerts and merchandise.

Content distribution is now 2.5 times more popular online than for than packaged content.

This industry transformed from wondering how to use digital to being an entirely digital business.

They are now shifting to data business driven by data and business that incorporates AI.

This will spread to all industries.

Read More