This report represents the distillation of ten months of intensive discussion and debate by the Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century. Our aim was to elucidate Japan's challenges and policies as it moves into the next century from a medium- to long-term viewpoint.
Everyone recognizes that Japan is at a major turning point---one might even say a critical point. Based on that awareness, the report sets forth the new ideals and organizational principles with which Japan should equip itself for the twenty-first century, the qualities it is hoped the Japanese people will possess fifteen or twenty years hence, and the way to get there.
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan, while working assiduously to catch up with and overtake the West, managed to retain at least some of its quintessentially Japanese qualities. Thanks to its efforts, Japan today is the only developed country from a non-Western cultural sphere. This is an achievement we can justly be proud of. But when we contemplate the power of globalization, which will envelop the whole world in the next century, we realize that Japan cannot afford to rest on its laurels.
It is fine for the Japanese to be proud of their nation's good qualities, but that does not mean wrapping a mantle of exclusivity around themselves; this pride must be open and expansive, oriented toward universality. If so, rather than stand still and pontificate on Japan's good qualities, should we not face the future of the world and engage with it body and soul? By so doing, even if sometimes we wrestle with contradictions, surely the good qualities of the Japanese---including latent strengths we ourselves are yet unaware of---will be honed into qualities possessing universality. If we live with such an attitude, we will come to see that Japan's frontier lies within.
On the basis of this way of thinking, the Commission has done its best to delineate the direction in which we should proceed and propose the policies we believe necessary. The report comprises six chapters. The first chapter, an overview, is the work of the commission as a whole. Chapters two through six represent the reports of the five subcommittees. We hope people will read the entire report, since doing so is important for grasping our vision for Japan in the twenty-first century as a whole.
Today, when diversity is valued, there is no single "right answer." This being so, we have considered Japan's direction and offered proposals in our own way, but of course this report represents just one way of thinking. We strongly hope that the report will serve as the catalyst of lively national debate and that a vision for Japan in the twenty-first century will steadily take shape among the people.
Hayao Kawai
Chairperson
Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century
On January 18, 2000, members of the Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century submitted its final report titled "The Frontier Within: Individual Empowerment and Better Governance in the New Millennium" to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi after approximately ten months of intense deliberations and consultations. The Prime Minister established the Commission on March 30, 1999, appointing sixteen leading private citizens from diverse fields of expertise as its members (see the accompanying list). The mandate of the Commission was to produce a report for the Prime Minister on the desirable future direction of Japan to which the next generation of Japanese can aspire in the new century, thus encouraging a broader national debate on the subject.
The Commission comprised five subcommittees with thirty-three additional experts drawn from various fields (see the accompanying lists). Each subcommittee was assigned one of five themes: (1) Japan's Place in the World, (2) Prosperity and Dynamism, (3) Achieving a Contented and Enriching Life, (4) A Beautiful Country and a Safe Society, and (5) Future of the Japanese.
The Commission met four times and the subcommittees met forty times in the course of eight months, and Prime Minister Obuchi participated in eleven of those meetings. The Prime Minister also attended an overnight retreat held in the outskirts of Tokyo on August 6 and 7, 1999. In keeping with the Prime Minister's hope that the working process of the Commission be open to the public, minutes of the proceedings of the Commission and subcommittee meetings were posted on the Web site, and opinions and concrete recommendations were actively solicited from the public through e-mail and fax. Eighteen young leaders selected from those submitting policy proposals were invited to the Prime Minister's official residence on November 15, 1999, for a two-hour dialogue with the Prime Minister. In a similar vein, several key members of the Commission traveled abroad in October and November 1999 to undertake a series of consultations with intellectual leaders and political leaders of Southeast Asia (Singapore), North America (Washington, D.C.), South Korea, China, and Europe (Paris). The Commission members are planning to participate in various efforts to disseminate the Commission Report in the hope that the analysis and recommendations presented in the Report will stimulate a broad national debate as well as active external dialogue on the future direction of Japan.
| Chairperson: | |
| Hayao Kawai | Director-General, International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
| Members: | |
| Akira Amano | President, Japan Pediatric Association |
| Tamotsu Asami | Deputy Managing Director, Chuokoron-Shinsha |
| Yoichi Funabashi | Chief Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, The Asahi Shimbun |
| Masako Hoshino | Director, Japan NPO Center |
| Makoto Iokibe | Professor, Kobe University; President, The Japanese Political Science Association |
| Heita Kawakatsu | Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
| Yotaro Kobayashi | Chairman of the Board, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.; Chairman, Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) |
| Akira Kojima | Director and Editorial Page Editor, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun |
| Akira Miyoshi | Composer; Director-General, Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall |
| Chiaki Mukai | Science Astronaut, National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) |
| Keiko Nakamura | Deputy Director General, JT Biohistory Research Hall |
| Yuri Okina | Senior Economist, The Japan Research Institute |
| Takeshi Sasaki | Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo |
| Tadashi Yamamoto | President, Japan Center for International Exchange; Executive Director, Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century |
| Masakazu Yamazaki | Playwright; Critic; Professor Emeritus, Osaka University |
(* member of the Commission)
| Chairperson: | |
| *Makoto Iokibe | Professor, Kobe University; President, The Japanese Political Science Association |
| Members: | |
| Keiko Chino | Editorial Writer, Sankei Shimbun |
| *Yoichi Funabashi | Chief Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, The Asahi Shimbun |
| Shinichi Kitaoka | Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo |
| Ryosei Kokubun | Professor, Faculty of Law and Politics, Keio University |
| Hiroshi Nakanishi | Associate Professor, Department of Law, Kyoto University |
| Natsuo Sekikawa | Author; Critic |
| Yoshihide Soeya | Professor, Faculty of Law and Politics, Keio University |
| Kurayoshi Takara | Professor of History, College of Law and Letters, University of the Ryukyus |
| Akihiko Tanaka | Professor, Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo |
| Chairperson: | |
| *Yotaro Kobayashi | Chairman of the Board, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.; Chairman, Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) |
| Members: | |
| Mikio Akiyama | Attorney at Law |
| Yoshinori Hiroi | Associate Professor, Faculty of Law and Economics, University of Chiba |
| Mikiko Iwasaki | Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, University of Tsukuba |
| Haruo Naito | President and CEO, Eisai Co., Ltd. |
| *Yuri Okina | Senior Economist, The Japan Research Institute |
| Ken-ichiro Oohara | President, Ohara Museum of Art |
| *Takeshi Sasaki | Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo |
| *Tadashi Yamamoto | President, Japan Center for International Exchange |
| Taizo Yakushiji | Vice President and Professor, Keio University |
| Chairperson: | |
| *Keiko Nakamura | Deputy Director General, JT Biohistory Research Hall |
| Members: | |
| *Masako Hoshino | Director, Japan NPO Center |
| Takenori Inoki | Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University |
| *Akira Kojima | Director and Editorial Page Editor, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun |
| Taro Maki | Journalist; Reporter, Mainichi Newspaper |
| Hiroko Minami | President and Professor, College of Nursing Art & Science, Hyogo |
| Yoichiro Murakami | Professor, International Christian University |
| Ken Sakamura | Professor, Digital Museum Laboratory, University Museum, University of Tokyo |
| Naomi Sento | Film Director |
Subcommittee 4
A Beautiful Country and a Safe Society
| Chairperson: | |
| *Heita Kawakatsu | Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
| Members: | |
| *Akira Amano | President, Japan Pediatric Association |
| *Tamotsu Asami | Deputy Managing Director, Chuokoron-Shinsha |
| Mie Hama | Actress |
| Masaaki Homma | Vice President; Professor and Director of Economics, Osaka University |
| Toyo Ito | Architect |
| Koharu Kisaragi | Playwright; Art Director |
| Reiko Kuroda | Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo |
| Takafumi Matsui | Professor, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo |
| Kazuhiro Ueta | Professor of Environmental Economics and Public Finance, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University |
| Chairperson: | |
| *Masakazu Yamazaki | Playwright; Critic; Professor Emeritus, Osaka University |
| Members: | |
| Takashi Mikuriya | Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies |
| Yuko Miyazaki | Attorney at Law |
| *Akira Miyoshi | Composer; Director-General, Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall |
| *Chiaki Mukai | Science Astronaut, National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) |
| Emiko Ochiai | Associate Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
| Hatsuhisa Takashima | Executive Controller-General, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) |
| Kiyotada Tsutsui | Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University |
| Kiyokazu Washida | Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Osaka University |
| Director: | Jun Wada |
| Assistant Directors: | Satoshi Ashidate, Kazuya Endo, Yoshihiro Hashimoto, Seiichi Inoue, Kenji Okamura, Kotaro Omae, Taizo Takahashi |
| Staff: | Nobuo Iijima, Tomoko Suzuki |