30 | ASIA ONE | JULY-AUGUST 2018Cynosure
A
s a vision of Japan, I’d like to
introduce a keyword “Society
5.0” which is defined as
“A human-centered society that
balances economic advancement with
the resolution of social problems
by a system that highly integrates
cyberspace and physical realities”.HIGH LEVEL OF VISION
The naming of Society 5.0 implies the
5th generations of the social revolution,
following the hunting society (Society
1.0), agricultural society (Society
2.0), industrial society (Society 3.0),
and information society (Society
4.0). Society 5.0 is a vision of super
smart society, and an ongoing policy
principle advocated in the 5th national
plan of science and technology, which
was adopted at the Cabinet headed by
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2016.
In the super smart society (Society
5.0), “Internet of Things (IoT)”
connects all people and things, and all
sorts of knowledge and information
are shared, then totally new value
will be born. “Artificial Intelligence(AI)” frees humans from burdensome
works of analyzing huge amounts
of information. The possibilities
of humans expand through the
evolutionary utilization of robots,
autonomous car, etc. Society 5.0
achieves a high degree of convergence
between cyberspace (virtual space) and
physical reality (real world). A huge
amount of information from sensors
in physical space is accumulated in
cyberspace. This big data has been
analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI),
then the outcome has been already
fed-back to the Japanese society in real
world in various forms. This process
brings new value to industry and
society in super smart ways.
As the economy grows globally,
there have been growing socio-
economic challenges such as
the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, a stable increase of foods
production while a reduction of loss
of food-staffs, mitigation of social
and economical costs associated with
aging society, support of sustainable
industrialization, redistribution of“vision of japan is society 5.0, the
super smart society connecting all
people & things through IOT”
wealth, and correction of regional
inequality for the prosperous world.
New technologies such as IoT,
robotics, AI, and big data drive a
drastic change in society developments
to resolve such challenges. Under the
Society 5.0, Japan seeks a new super
smart society that incorporates these
state-of-the-art new technologies in
all industries and social activities,
consequently achieving both economic
development and solution of socio-
economic challenges in parallel.TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES
In 2017, inbound visitors to Japan
achieved the record high of 28.7
million which shows the number of
foreign tourists has increased 20%-
40% annually during the last five
years. Tourists’ interests in Japan as
a destination have widely expanded
through visit-promotion campaigns
by not only enhancing the Japan’s rich
attractiveness but also the exemption
and relaxation of visa requirements,
the expansion of tax-free program,/$1'2)9$/8(6
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of the Japanese archipelago. Often called the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan
has always shown the world way forward be it technology, showing respect
to others, or living in harmony. Today, it is the world’s third-largest economy
by nominal GDP and the world’s fourth-largest economy by purchasing power
parity. It is also the world’s fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer,
and is considered a great powerJapan
By His Excellency Dr. Akima Umezawa,
Consul-General to the UAE, Japan