—
(2) Ten-year Plan for Restoring the Japanese Archipelago
First, in developing the Great Collaboration society henceforth, the greatest bottleneck is that Japan’s homeland has become too contaminated and dangerous as a result of reckless development. This is a negative legacy of the 20th century. In light of the values of LOHAS ― namely, health and sustainability ― many parts of the homeland of Japan today are unsuitable for living a healthy life in and there are many places that are too dangerous to lead a sustainable life in.
What can the old, 20th-century version of the nation state hand down to the new era of the 21st century, the coming age which will basically be driven by the vigor of the private sector? The answer is the thorough “cleanup” of the homeland and the implementation of “safety measures”: more specifically, dismantling and removing no-longer-needed structures; thoroughly cleaning the soil, rivers, lakes, and seas; replanting forests with broadleaf trees; and drastically implementing disaster prevention measures. I would like to name this program the “Ten-year Plan for Restoring the Japanese Archipelago.”
In the decade of the thirties of the Showa era, under the “modernization” policy at the time, Japan’s homeland underwent a radical transformation. It was in the 39th year of Showa (i.e., 1964) that the Tokyo Olympic Games were held. The rapid development in those days caused huge adverse effects such as environmental destruction, thus leaving us a negative legacy that has not disappeared as Japan “modernized” and has remained to this day. Also, with regards to the safety measures for the homeland, I am startled anew to find that many places, both urban and rural, are still exposed to the great dangers caused by large-scale natural disasters, which have occurred more often in recent years.
The “cleanup” and “safety measures” would require huge amounts of money and manpower ― resources that are beyond the control of medium-sized, small, or tiny companies that cooperate by forming a horizontal network. That is why the national government needs to undertake and expedite such projects early on, as part of building a new infrastructure.
[As a previous example of such new infrastructure building], the Tokaido Shinkansen, which started its operations in the 39th year of Showa (i.e., 1964), halved the amount of time required to travel between Tokyo and Osaka. Needless to say, this has greatly contributed to the development of the Japanese economy in the years that followed.
Bottleneck is a term used in economics. When a specific troubled part of a system is impeding the growth of the entire system, that part is referred to as a bottleneck. The contamination of and hazard on the homeland will be a major bottleneck in building a Japanese society based on Great Collaboration henceforth. It will be very important to resolve this bottleneck through the “Ten-year Plan for Restoring the Japanese Archipelago.”
To table of contents (English)
—
(Date published / 公開日： 7/23/2021)
(Date last updated / 最終改訂日: 7/23/2021)
