TWO weeks ago, it was our good fortune to be present in Japan for a few days to co-chair the 7th Annual Global Emerging Forum in Chiba (where Narita Airport, near Tokyo, is located. Our last Sunday’s column focused on the «gloomy» prognostications for US-EU economic recovery, including Japan’s uncertain prospects – coming from the world’s leading economists at their annual IMF-World Bank Conference in Tokyo in mid-October.
In the aftermath of the March, 2011, catastrophic tsunami in Sendai City and the accompanying meltdown of nuclear power plants in Fukushima and other places, Japan has – not surprisingly – rebounded with heightened resilience and new smart economic programs. These are happening despite continuing recessions in the US and EU which have cut deeply into global trade, investment, and capital flows, and the equally complex problem of Japan’s aging population.
On top of these vicissitudes, is China’s new aggressiveness in the East China Sea where these rival Asian powers are in intense confrontation over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islets near the Okinawa island group.
Relatedly, China, in an ultra-nationalistic outburst last April revived its ancient «U-line sovereignty» in the South China Sea, which includes West Philippine Sea islands (claimed by us, being within our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
Japan’s Remarkable People
We and the rest of Asia are all painfully aware of the unprecedented magnitude of the 2011 disasters that caused Japan great suffering, and which reminded us once more of the overwhelming power of Nature, against which human contrivances seem vulnerable and insignificant.
But, as the world witnessed in real time the tsunami’s huge swaths of devastation, we also learned to admire the indomitable spirit and collective will of the remarkable Japanese people in the wake of the triple whammy of earthquake-tsunami-nuclear radiation.
Already, Japan is rebounding with innovative projects and plans for «smart grids» to achieve energy efficiency and conservation (minus nuke power plants, being piloted in many of its key cities and in the US
Japan’s SoftBank Corporation bid for control of the giant Sprint Nextel multinational (America’s 3rd largest in ICT is adding evidence that Japan’s overseas buying spree isn’t about to abate.
The Daily Yomiuri (Bloomberg reported (16 October: «The Sprint deal brings takeovers abroad in 2012 close to the record $88 billion Japanese companies notched last year, showing how a strong yen and weak domestic demand are combining to stoke acquisitions.»
«Supporting Japan’s growth ambitions, the yen has appreciated 3.7 percent over the six months, the best performance among the 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The strength of its currency is probably one of the biggest factors driving Japan’s ability and desire to do these outbound deals. «
Companies in Japan announced $63.4 billion of acquisitions abroad in 2012 to-date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Smart Grids/Smart Communities
On the domestic front, Japan has developed and is marketing abroad the concept of the «smart grid/smart community.» The Japan Times reported (14 October: «A definition of ‘smart grid’ would be a grid to share energy-saving measures. But the term is generally used to describe a neighborhood of houses, buildings, and other social infrastructures to reduce the entire community’s energy consumption.
«Promoting the concept of a ‘smart community,’ the idea of which is to efficiently use energy within a locale, is something Japan has thought of for quite some time as the country has always relied heavily on imports of resources such as oil for its energy needs.
«It was not until US President Obama mentioned the idea of ‘smart community’ in his Green New Deal policy in fall 2009 that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI set up a section to promote the concept in Japan. «
Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, or NEDO, develops smart grid technology, among other technologies related to alternative sources. METI selected four areas among 19 applicant cities for «smart community» building: Yokohama City, Toyota City, Kitakyushu City, and the Keihanna area straddling Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara prefectures.
METI characterized the four areas, thus: Yokohama City is a large urban area, Toyota City is a «stand-alone house» community, Keihanna’s people are housed largely in condominiums, and Kitakyushu is a special supply area where there is no local-dominant power supply company.
Yokohama As Model Modern City
Japan aims to spread the idea of efficient living to the world, with the port city of Yokohama as its model of modernity.
Yokohama’s «smart» target is to create 27 megawatts of electricity from solar power generation, install a home energy management system (HEMS for 4,000 households, operate 2,000 electric vehicles, and provide 100% accessible, clean sewage services.
The Yokohama Partnership of Resources and Technologies (Y-PORT has been given the highest priority. It includes providing local governments around the world with Yokohama’s knowhow in installing social infrastructure necessary to handle a rapidly growing population. Yokohama is one of very few cities in the world that have experienced a rapid increase in population, subsequent rapid deterioration of the urban environment, and success in handling such situations today.
Yokohama City’s population doubled from 1.37 million in 1960 to 2.77 million in 1980 and has steadily increased to the current 3.7 million, second biggest in Japan after Tokyo. However, the percentage of households and businesses with accessible sewage services was only 2 percent in 1960 and 20 percent in 1980. It is now near 100 percent. In the past, people with no access to sewage systems were dumping dirty water into the sea and rivers, which made the city suffer from serious pollution. The city also had problems with air pollution and traffic jams, which have been solved by expanding infrastructure networks including efficient public transportation systems.
NEDO cooperates with local governments and companies around the world in creating smart communities. In the past three or four years, NEDO has been expanding overseas projects, according to the Smart Community Department of NEDO’s Energy and Environment Center.
Large Asian cities realize that Yokohama has such experiences that they can learn from in dealing with their own problems. Officials from local governments around the world now visit Yokohama to absorb its best practices.
Japan Relocation To The Philippines, Assistance In Mindanao
The Philippine Star reports (26 October: «A growing number of Japanese manufacturers currently operating in China are relocating or planning to relocate to the Philippines,» according to Bank of the Philippine Islands Executive VP Alfonso L. Salcedo, Jr.
«Some are either expanding their Asian manufacturing operations, while others intimated they were pulling completely out of China and mulling the Philippines as their primary target for relocation. The Japanese manufacturers/locators said that Chinese labor is becoming expensive in terms of wages, and training costs, as well as their very low employee loyalties.»
«Other reasons are the increasing territorial disputes between Japan and China, which were aggravated by the mounting cases of reported vandalism against Japanese nationals in China. »
In Mindanao, Japan has been most helpful in advancing the Mindanao peace process through its Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD, and International Contact Group. J-BIRD experts have gone around the conflict zones with AFP/MILF escorts. They identified, evaluated and implemented some 65 projects during a six-year period. Schools, vocational training centers, health clinics, and micro-credit were established. Food aid was distributed. They focused on human resources development to empower individuals and improve governing capacity. Infrastructure, such as the highway between North Upi and Kalamansig, rural roads, water supply, agricultural facilities, etc., is another priority.
The Japanese Embassy in Manila has announced assurances that it will continue to support the Philippines in the quest for enduring peace in Mindanao.
Lessons To Be Learned
If Japan has been consistent in its peace and development advocacies worldwide, history reminds us that only the Japanese people have suffered the horrors of nuclear war.
Since 1945, Japan has demonstrated that the first line of defense in any man-made, natural, or economic disaster is a patriotic citizenry. So it’s no surprise that Japan is propagating the concept of a «smart world» without war.
As the world becomes more vulnerable to corrupt governance, natural calamities, disasters, volatile food and energy supply, rising commodity prices, spiralling poverty and global warming, there should now be greater emphasis on building State capacities, strengthening institutions, and promoting efficiency and teamwork.
We need government leaders to provide extra political will. We need leadership in the corporate world, with its financial and technological capital to make the right investments; we need academe and research institutions to develop and uplift the quality of manpower; we need non-government organizations and peoples’ associations as co-workers and watchdogs.
We need regional organizations like APEC, ASEAN, and the East Asia Economic Grouping, in pushing for concerted action to attain enduring peace and sustained socio-economic development in our Asia-Pacific region.
AND, THE PHILIPPINES SHOULD BE A LEADING ACTOR IN THIS NEW GAME. KAYA NATIN ITO!!!
Please send any comments to fvr@rpdev.org. Copies of articles are available at www.rpdev.org.
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