iU President Gachon. Mr.Toshiaki Endo

 2026/1/18

■iU President Gachon. Mr.Toshiaki Endo

The first Minister for the Olympics and Paralympics. At the time, I was asked by Mr. Endo to serve as a government advisor for the Olympics and Paralympics. We are still together at the Japan Sport Organization.

He served as the chairman of the bipartisan Education ICT Diet Members' League, and I teamed up with him as an advisor. In 2019, the "Act on the Promotion of Educational Informatization" formulated by the Diet Members' League was passed unanimously, which gave the impetus to realize one PC per student in school all at once.

The interview took place in the office of the LDP Election Strategy Chairman. He later became the LDP General Affairs Chairman. He has held two of the four top positions in the party.

◆Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020

We apologize for causing concern, but in the end it was a great success. As there were no spectators, it seemed like the excitement was lacking domestically, but from overseas, there were almost no people watching in person, and they watched on TV. Someone overseas told me that 30-40 million people watched it. They said it was amazing that Japan could hold such a wonderful tournament at a time like that. They said it was possible only for Japan, and we received positive feedback. Japan's reputation is rising in every country. We are very happy about this.

A dozen years ago, we created the Basic Act on Sports in order to utilize the power of sports. A national organization to enforce this law was needed, so we created the Sports Agency. At the time, we were in the era of administrative reform, and there was a lot of opposition to creating a new ministry. After much consideration, we thought that if we brought the Olympics, everyone would cooperate, so we started bidding. We also did the Rugby World Cup.

As a result, the Basic Act on Sport was enacted, the Sports Agency was established, and this led to the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I was able to engage in fulfilling political activities for 10 years.

◆ Education and Digitalization in Japan

I first saw ICT education at Tsuchido Elementary School in Onomichi a dozen years ago. My parents were school teachers, so education was a policy theme. By using ICT, I could instantly know the students' answers and develop good answers. It was an eye-opener for me to see English pronunciation classes. I thought that if we used this, education would advance dramatically. Since then, I have been promoting ICT in education.

During the Aso administration, they allocated 300 billion yen to install tablets, Wi-Fi, and electronic whiteboards, but when the government changed, the budget was cut and it was not possible. In 2013, they formed a parliamentary group and started to move forward again. Three years ago, the law was finally passed.

The purpose of digital education is not to use it as a tool to help students understand and cooperate with each other. There are issues such as the gap between schools and the lack of teachers, but we should try it first. We want to move forward with the ICT in education and GIGA School Initiative.

◆Message for you guys

Have hope and challenge your dreams. I wanted to be a politician when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, but my father was not a politician, so I thought there must be some way to become a politician. I graduated from university, trained as a secretary to a member of parliament, and then I took on the challenge. I have lost two elections so far. Including the time I spent in Korea, I was a ronin for 8-9 years. Not everything will go well, but I will pursue my dreams and work hard. That kind of passion moves people.

Every job is important. Whatever your job, have the biggest dream and work hard to make it come true. People around you have high hopes for those who have dreams and work hard. My favorite saying is "Whoever has a dream has a way." If there's a will, there's a way. Look forward and do your best.