NY Forum on Japanese Culture and Business Globalization in the IT Revolution

Part 1: Japanse Business Culture and Globalization

Keynote Speaker:
Yotaro KOBAYASHI (Chairman, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.)
(See the "Opinions" page for the summary of his speech)

Panelists:
Katsuto MOMII (President and CEO, Mitsui & Co. USA, Inc.)
John BUSSEY (Foreign Editor, The Wall Street Journal)

Part 2: Japanese Network Culture and the IT Revolution

Speakers:
Shumpei KUMON (Executive Director, GLOCOM)
(See the "Opinions" page for the text of his speech)
Alan WESTIN (President, Institute for Social and Legal Research)
(See the "Opinions" page for the summary of his speech)

Panelists:
Katsuto MOMII (President and CEO, Mitsui & Co., USA, Inc.)
John BUSSEY (Foreign Editor, The Wall Street Journal)

Other participants:
David ISENBERG (President, isen.com)
Hugh PATRICK (Professor, Columbia University)

Moderator:
Takahiro MIYAO (Professor, GLOCOM)

NY Forum on "Japanese Culture and Business Globalization in the IT Revolution" held at the Japan Society in NY on October 2 from 12:00 to 2:30 pm.

Panelists include Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi of Fuji Xerox, Professor Shumpei Kumon of GLOCOM, International University of Japan, President Katsuto Momii of Mitsui & Co., USA, Mr. John Bussey of the Wall Street Journal and Dr. Alan Westin of the Center for Social and Legal Research.

This forum is part of the GLOCOM Platform activity and is fully supported by the Japan Society and the Japan Foundation as co-sponsors. A summary of the forum discussion will be posted along with an edited video (RealVideo) at this website later this month.

We are pleased to report to you that we have been able to generate more interests in our NY forum than we initially anticipated. In fact, there were more requests for invitation than the seminar room could accommodate (a maximum of 100). Among those who attended our forum were: Ambassador and Consul General Takekazu Kawamura, Columbia University Professor Hugh T. Patrick, Isen.com president David S. Isenberg, and other opinion leaders as well as quite a few jounalists from Japanese and American media.

The forum itself went well with Mr. Kobayashi's keynote speech on the implications of globalization and the IT revolution on Japanese corporate culture, emphasizing the need for more open and explicit "trust," and Mr. Momii and Mr. Bussey commented on Mr. Kobayashi's speech from their respective standpoints. Then, Dr. Kumon and Dr. Westin presented their views on possible contradictions and conflicts among empowered individuals and organizations in the IT era, and made proposals as to how to reestablish stable and productive relations based on new types of trust and rules among those individuals and organizations in Japan.

Takahiro Miyao, Managing Committee Chairman, GLOCOM Platform