Chapter 200
Japan's GDP has been surpassed by Germany, ranking 4th, and Japan's international competitiveness ranking (IMD2023) has fallen to 35th, so I would like the government to stop making ridiculous arguments about raising wages. 35th place in the ranking is at the level of Turkey, which is not even recognized as a member of the EU, in terms of medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It's too pathetic. By the way, Japan’s medal ranking is 3rd, which shows how low the international competitiveness is. The declining birthrate and aging population are just excuses. It's only natural that it is at the same level of international competitiveness as the Olympic rankings. Global companies are doing well because they earn money from exports, but domestic small and medium-sized enterprises are becoming poorer. How can they raise wages? What are the improvements? What is their vision? Attracting TSMC and supporting Lapidus are better than not doing so, but will such short-handed measures restore national power? Over 50 years ago, when I was still in elementary school, I learned in class that Japan is a country lacking in natural resources, so we must work hard to earn foreign currency. The automobile industry is still working hard and is barely maintaining its appearance, but what's next for automobiles? As I pointed out earlier, the entire social system, including the patent system, which has a major impact on education and scientific and technological capabilities, remains outdated and is not responding to the rapidly changing competitive environment. In particular, the low mobility of human resources can be said to be fatal. Unless something drastic is done, such as making English the official language, the gap will only widen. You cannot move up in the travel and tourism industry. We must create a society that attracts investment and allows talented overseas human resources to play an active role. Almost all of Japanese are only concerned about trivial things such as public order and manners, and are unable to see the big picture. We need to create many examples of excellent overseas students, engineers, and programmers coming to Japan and succeeding. Another major factor is that the people's mindset is insular and naive. As seen in Johnny's sexual abuse issues, many of Japanese are very interested in dirty jokes that don't matter and reacts hysterically. If entertainers want to survive in the entertainment industry, I think it's only natural that they have to go through such trials, and that's why no one has openly questioned it until now. If we think about working in a sex industry or a host club, we don't think there's anything wrong with that. To begin with, I think that allowing adult entertainment establishments is even worse. Previously, in a TV interview, a reporter asked a prostitute, "What do you think about a society where you have to do things like this to earn money?" The prostitute said, "I'm doing this because I like it, because I can make a lot of money." In the first place, it's strange to only point at Johnny's office as a problem. When I was working at an event company 40 years ago, I heard from Mr. Akira Kurosawa's assistant director that in the so-called "industry" of movies, TV, etc., such things are a daily occurrence for both men and women. In the Big Motor Incident, when we hit a mole, the other moles were also guilty, so every entertainment agency is similar. In a sense, the inability to withstand this kind of stress is due to the closed nature of the nation. Improving your economic power = enriching your life = needing to be resilient to change.
Science Fair 2023 was held at the Asutamu Land in Tokushima during this three-day National holiday. Local high schools, universities, and companies held elaborate events for children. Our company also enjoyed making keychains using UV-LED. It's important for everyone to do what they can do without blaming the government for everything! By the way, our company has raised wages significantly.
A scene of Science Fair at the Asutamu Land
November 7, 2023
Thoughts on Japan's decline in international competitiveness and the debate on wage increases
