[paper] Editor's view

Genron NPO representative, Yasushi Kudo

Today, Japan making an urgent push for structural reform to pave the way for new future opportunities and establish a new identity in the global community and within Asia.

Japan has been criticized for its lack of initiative and inability to voice its opinions. Compared to its economic power, Japan suffers from a lack of presence in the world. This is because Japan’s political parties and government have failed to engage in truly serious debate regarding Japan’s future.

Genron NPO is an unprecedented network of thought leaders willing to think outside the box about overcoming Japan’s problems by engaging in serious dialogue. Over the last three years, our membership has grown to 500 people representing many different fields. By promoting in-depth discussions, we hope to nurture independent-minded voters who will be able to have a say in deciding Japan’s future strategies and its world status.

Over the last three years, we have conducted wide-ranging discussions on two themes, while making the proceedings available to the public.

First, on assessing to what degree Japan’s political parties have implemented their policy platforms. These platforms are promises made to voters and must be honored as contracts. Over the last three years, several national elections have been held, with political parties declaring their party platforms. However, the parties have failed to live up to their promises to voters. This is because there’s no existing mechanism linking party policy platform definition and campaign promise follow-through. Platforms are nothing but campaign slogans.

It is clearly impossible for Japan to sustain most of the systems established in the postwar era. The time has come for re-architecting.

Without redefining Japan’s vision and its systems, structural reform will come to a standstill. This is why campaign promises end up being mere slogans. This is why the Koizumi administration despite the high expectations placed upon it, has reached the limits of Prime Minister-led structural reform.

What Japan needs now is to form a consensus regarding the nation's future.

This is why our second major theme for the past two years has been facilitating discussions regarding Japan’s future.

How should Japan go about establishing a new identity in order to make its presence felt in Asia and the rest of the world?

We have used a methodology of strategy formation as the basis for dialogue on this crucial question. The entire process has been carried out in the public eye.

The discussion focuses on mid- and long-term developments in the global community, in particular the expectations that are placed upon Japan, the nation's strengths and weaknesses and its aspirations for the future. Through such debate, we hope to clarify the choices confronting Japan: choices that will decide the nation’s future.

This past spring, we offered an "Assessment of Japanese Power" based on the results of the second stage in our discussion. Around 100 people were involved in the project—experts in various fields and Genron NPO members, including journalists, government officials and private business leaders. At the same time we conducted a survey of approximately 5,000 opinion leaders and used this to calibrate our dialogue.

Now we are seeking the participation of people from Asia and other parts of the world to take the discussion still further.

The "Assessment of Japanese Power" is a reflection of how we see ourselves. Obviously, there exists a gap between Japan's self-awareness and how people in other parts of the world see Japan. We believe in the importance of recognizing and closing this gap in order to facilitate further debate on Japan’s future.

As part of this process, we are planning to set up a forum to promote serious dialogue between Japan and China. We believe that there has not been enough effort made to promote communication and fill the perception gap that exists between our two countries.

We look forward to your participation in our discussions.