The ninth business roundtable with the government of Japan
7 December 2009, Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
“Can a once-in-a-century crisis become a once-in-a-century opportunity?” was the question asked at the Economist’s ninth business roundtable with the Japanese government. Around 150 people came to the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo to hear an impressive line-up of politicians, journalists, academics and business leaders discuss the crisis confronting Japan, as well as possible solutions.
Chairs Graham Davis of The Economist Group and Kazuyo Katsuma of the Chuo Graduate School of Strategic Management were clear on the gravity of the situation. Davis urged participants not to give up on Japan despite challenges such as economic malaise, political deadlock, an ageing society and regional tensions. Katsuma highlighted Japan’s high suicide rate as evidence of crisis.
The full day of discussion covered Japan’s opportunities in Asia, the need to “reinvent” Japan’s economic model, how to overcome “institutional fatigue,” and how to use Japan’s world-leading research and development to sharpen the nation’s competitive edge.
Opening remarks came from Motohisa Furukawa, senior vice minister of the Cabinet Office for Economic and Fiscal Policy, Science and Technology Policy, and Government Revitalization. Just a few months after his party’s dramatic election win he coyly admitted, “To tell you the truth I never expected to be standing here.” He stressed the DPJ’s determination to break from old LDP ways, and light-heartedly informed the audience that he, not a bureaucrat, wrote his speech.
Furukawa’s speech helped set a tone of cautious optimism. “A quiet revolution has already begun” he said, explaining that Japan needs a new system to replace the discredited LDP growth model. “It is a Japanese characteristic that we can turn on a pin,” he said. “This is a one-in-a-
hundred- year chance.”