The 32nd Midwest-Japan business leaders annual meeting, which was held in Japan in mid-September, was the most successful in its history. The gathering offered a special opportunity for members of the two associations, the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association and the Japan-Midwest U.S. Association, to join together to chart the future direction of our partnership, explore new business opportunities and reaffirm friendships. This year, some 150 business and government leaders attended from each of the two associations.
The meeting’s forward-looking theme, “Globalization and Information Technology”, facilitated stimulating discussion as prominent speakers from the Midwest and Japan offered different perspectives on manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services and health-related services etc.
One Japanese speaker, Mr. Kouji Ohboshi, Chairman, NTT DoCoMo, related the phenomenal experience of “i-mode”, the cellular telephone that first incorporated web page capabilities. In just over one year, 12 million Japanese have flocked to “i-mode”, with the number of subscribers growing by an astounding one million per month.
Only time will tell if web phones will overtake the personal computer as the preferred communications device. When I tried such a phone, it far exceeded my wildest expectation, as it has with millions of Japanese. That is why its popularity is exploding in Japan, as it will likely do so in the United States. Although I don’t think web phones will replace the PC, the “i-mode” experience signals that future generations of digital technology will enhance our lives in ways we cannot even imagine.
At the joint meeting, I presented an opening message, the gist of which follows:
I am most pleased to participate in this 32nd joint meeting between the Midwest and Japan.
This morning, I stand before you not just as a Japanese diplomat but as a true fan of the Midwest. During the last two years, the Midwest has been so kind to me. The new Chairman of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association, Senator Adlai Stevenson, has guided me both as a mentor and as a friend.
Moreover, I have been truly impressed with the spirit of the Midwest’s dynamism. The region truly embodies the American spirit of meeting challenge after challenge. Take sports, for example. We have the St. Louis Rams, the reigning Super Bowl champion. We have the Indianapolis Colts, the soon-to-be Super Bowl champion. We have the Wisconsin Badgers, the Rose Bowl champion for the last two years. And, of course, we have the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who are ranked number one in the NCAA, with Michigan and Kansas State following close behind. In major league baseball, the Chicago White Sox are poised to be crowned the next World Series champion and Sammy Sosa continues to lead the home run race. Have I missed any teams?
More seriously about economics, in the 1980s, the Midwest was known as the Rust Belt. Rather than capitulate, the region’s government officials and business leaders redoubled their efforts and achieved an unprecedented transformation.
The Midwest soon became the engine that spearheaded America’s economic vitality. And to this day, it continues to stand at the forefront. The Midwest today leads in a broad range of areas from traditional sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture to the new economy sectors such as high technology, e-commerce and financial services.
The good news to us is that during this transformation, the Midwest-Japan partnership has grown considerably. Japan, for many years, has continued to be the largest importer of Midwest agricultural products. And most recently, as was pointed out by the previous speakers, a large Japanese direct investment is headed to the region, thereby reaffirming our mutually beneficial relationship.
Of course, the Midwest-Japan partnership is not limited to the economic field. We have expanded cultural exchanges, educational programs as well as person-to-person communications.
As we enter the 21st century, the frontier of our cooperation will be broader and deeper. Japan has now emerged from its economic difficulties and information technology has been identified as the key to its economic vitality. And the Midwest’s recent success provides a golden opportunity to advance our partnership. That is why this meeting is so important.
The topics such as information technology, job creation, aging society and health-related services could not be more relevant to our two nations individually as well as to our partnership.
We are indeed fortunate to have the most prominent speakers from both sides of the Pacific and are so pleased to see so many friends from the Midwest who have come all the way to participate in this very important meeting.
I therefore would like to congratulate both Senator Adlai Stevenson and Dr. Rokuro Ishikawa, the chairmen of the two associations. Through their leadership, a new energy and a new vision have been introduced into this important joint meeting, as we will see during the next two days. For this reason, I am most enthusiastic about this meeting and offer my fullest support.
Although it was rather perilous to talk about sports, an unexpected dividend was realized from my remarks. I was soon invited to attend an Indianapolis Colts Monday night football game! In fact, my aspiration this fall is to attend as many football games as possible since I have adopted my Midwest friends’ enthusiasm for the sport. Unexpectedly, the Wildcats (Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois) have now achieved two consecutive victories in the last two weeks over the almighty Wisconsin Badgers and the nationally-ranked Michigan State Spartans. This has spurred even more football passion among my Evanston neighbors. In November, I will head to Lafayette, Indiana to attend the Purdue-Indiana game. Through this pastime, I am truly gaining a sense of America this fall.