METI Journal

Intangible assets, including IP, become driving force of competition

Today, what influences the competitive power of a country is intellectual property (IP) such as patents and know-how. Giant enterprises including Google LLC, Amazon.com, Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc. —...

Nurturing the future of Fukushima with intellectual property

Eight years have passed since the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The rebuilding of towns, houses and roads, as well as re-establishing infrastructure, is ongoing. Today, self-sustaining industrial recovery...

Forgoing early IPOs in favor of pursuing a larger market share

Headquartered in Silicon Valley and active in about 60 countries, 500 Startups is an accelerator of startups and a seed fund. James Riney, a renowned venture capitalist in Japan, is...

Creating a Japanese role model to be effective on a global scale

In June, flea market application operator Mercari Inc. went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers section. It had garnered attention as a startup unicorn, which is a privately held...

Public administrative services look to streamline to new platforms

What kind of future does the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry foresee ahead of administrative reform under the premise of digitalization that the ministry is working on?The METI Journal...

Leading administrative reform under premise of digitalization

As economic activities and people’s lifestyles undergo transformation through the use of digital technology, public administration entities are also promoting digitalization efforts. For instance, the government is considering a...

‘Time has come’ to promote and standardize cashless payments

People from companies engaging in cashless payments gathered at a Tokyo hotel on Oct. 15 to celebrate the founding of the Payments Japan Association. “Finally, the time has come,” noted...

Playing catch-up, Japan forges ahead with cashless payments

Japan has seen increasing momentum to promote cashless payments that don’t require physical currency. It is not only because of a response to such needs from inbound tourists in...

The days to come: Science fiction’s transition to everyday reality

In addition to companies that have traditionally worked in space development — dubbed established space — these days, there are active efforts from new players in the field termed newspace....

Varied private sector goes galactic, government boosting efforts

Half a century has passed since the first humans landed on the moon and today, the space industry has hit a major tipping point. One after another, private companies have...

Companies bridge borders of respective fields to join growing market

Established in 2011 with funding from companies such as Kobe Steel Ltd. and Hitachi Metals Ltd. to produce large forged parts domestically, airplane component maker Japan Aeroforge Ltd. (known as...

New horizons mark next chapter of Japanese aviation industry

The domestically made regional passenger jet Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) flew over British skies at the Farnborough International Airshow, held at an airport on the outskirts of London, from July...

Ministries discuss future of artificial intelligence and education

When looking at a future society where artificial intelligence and humans coexist, how to nurture personnel to address social changes is an important matter. Curiously enough, in June, the Ministry...

Future of education: Startups eye programming, custom learning

The environment surrounding education has seen changes thanks to an approach to utilize the latest information technology in education, which is known as “edtech.” Today, there are a variety of...

‘Right to a career’ serves as compass for economic and social changes

In the era of the 100-year life, “why do people work?” and “how do people want to work?” are the fundamental questions that individuals of all generations will inevitably face...

100-year-life era enhances motivation to carve out skills, careers

The arrival of the era of the 100-year life urges individuals to constantly “upgrade” themselves through lifelong learning. How can people nurture the potential to exercise their abilities in any...

Recovery is progressing step by step in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture

Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the town of Tomioka in Fukushima Prefecture moved its entire town hall to the city of Koriyama in response to the evacuation order...

Companies’ Fukushima branches hope to reinvigorate healing region

Seven years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. For those who are not aware of the current...

Connected Industries cooperative business endeavors underway

In 2017, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko announced a new strategy called Connected Industries based on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the spread of the “internet of...

Minister hopes shared data will transform Japanese corporate culture

“Connected Industries” (CI) aims to create added value and solve a variety of social problems through the connectedness of various data. The concept was first proposed by Minister of Economy,...