It’s Only a Paper Moon

Apr 27

Might the dream of a digital society finally be hanging over Japan?

I’ve been a proponent of paperless for a long time. Going back some 20 years, I was already looking for ways to shift to an all-digital workflow and to rid my studio of the piles of paper that inevitably cluttered my workspace. I was probably ahead of the curve in this respect, but it prepared me well for today’s world—at least the world outside Japan. Here at home, a life without paper sometimes seems make-believe. I was reminded of this as I was editing and designing this issue—but more on that later.

A shift is clearly underway—as someone who has lived in Japan for 25 years, I can feel it even if progress can be hard to see—and efforts to digitize the nation are gaining support. This issue of The ACCJ Journal is all about this needed transformation and the attempts to make it happen. With support from the top, in the form of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s establishment of a Digital Agency and Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform Taro Kono’s push to eliminate hanko and faxes, it feels like our journey over the cardboard sea has begun.

Change across the Board

But the transformation is about much more than just getting rid of paper. Education, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and infrastructure are all areas that will need to evolve for Japan to remain vibrant and competitive in the decades to come. Last summer, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) set out to create a road map to help guide the government and businesses as they embark on digital transformation. The ACCJ New Digital Task Force, led by Chair James Miller, head of public policy at Amazon Web Services Japan, and Senior Advisor Jim Foster, who provides an overview of the project starting on page 8, worked with McKinsey & Company to produce the Japan Digital Agenda 2030. The 140-page report, published in February, outlines 11 big moves that Japan should make to restore digital competitiveness and productivity.

A life without paper sometimes seems make-believe.

We were inspired by the broad reach of the 10-year plan to craft an entire issue of The ACCJ Journal around the theme. On the following pages you will find deep dives into a range of topics, including:

Delivering government services digitally
Eliminating the use of paper and hanko
Leveraging the cloud for healthcare
Developing a digital-savvy workforce

The last of these is especially interesting to me as a parent and as someone who, thanks to lucky chance and forward-thinking great grandparents, began learning to use a computer and write programs at the age of 10. (That was almost four decades ago, but who’s counting?) Given the ubiquity of computers today, I’m sometimes surprised at how few people know how to fully utilize them. But that largely comes down to education and what we teach our children. Making hands-on instruction with technology and programming part of the core curriculum really is necessary if we are to prosper in what will no doubt be a digital future, and I’m very happy that the Japanese government is doing just that through a three-year rollout (2020–22) that requires programming courses to be taught at all levels of primary and secondary school.

My Paper, I Mean Number

I mentioned in the opening that I was reminded of just how paperful Japan still is while working on this issue. That reminder came in the form of the notice that the My Number card that I had applied for online was ready. That I would need to visit city hall to receive an official ID was expected. That the notification card would be accompanied by six pieces of paper (every speck of white space covered in dense type) and two forms that still needed to be filled out was not. What was the point of applying online, I asked myself, if so much paperwork was still involved? It was a timely sign that even Japan’s efforts to digitize remain awash in paper. But it is a step forward, and some of the services that are enabled by the card will make life easier and somewhat more paperless. We’re making progress.

I hope you find many ideas, inspiration, and hope in this month’s focus on the Japan Digital Agenda 2030.