Takahiro Miyao's Radio Institute of Global Communications: No. 11, September 5, 2004

Takahiro MIYAO (Professor, GLOCOM)

Partial transcript and translation from Prof. Miyao's Radio Program, posted here with permission of Radio Nikkei

Takahiro Miyao's Radio Institute of Global Communications: No. 11
Radio Nikkei daiichi hoso ; BS Radio Nikkei 300 ch.
Broadcast time:	September 5 (Sunday) 10:00-10:30
Recording place:	Recorded in Radio Nikkei's Studio
Program:	1. Introduction 2. Virtual Discussion 3. Trend Research 4. Concluding Remarks
Audio:	Radio Program  (Windows Media Player) (Mainly in Japanese but some parts in English) Asia Station Web site (in Japanese)

Introduction

Hello, everyone. The weather has so far been very strange this summer, probably due to global warming. It has been and still is very hot and humid in the Tokyo area, and quite stormy and wet in other parts of Japan, due to a record number of typhoons hitting Japan this year. I hope you are surviving this strange weather. Today, I will have a guest who has a great deal of experience in venture business in Silicon Valley, California, and is currently active in running a venture incubator in Tokyo, so we will discuss about the difference in entrepreneurship between Japan and the U.S. and how to promote new business venture in Japan. In the Trend research corner, we will take up an important article on Japan's Soft Power. So, it should be quite interesting and exciting. Please stay tuned.

Virtual Discussion

Today, we have a guest who is currently active in venture business in Japan, Mr. Jeffrey Char. Mr. Char is the founder and president of J-Seed Ventures, which is a Tokyo-based venture incubator, working with local entrepreneurs and foreign companies to build and operate a network of information technology businesses in Japan. He also has an extensive experience in venture business in Silicon Valley, so I would like to ask him about entrepreneurship in Japan as compared to that in Silicon Valley. Since he speaks fluent Japanese, let's have our interview in Japanese.

(Interview with Jeffrey Char in Japanese)

Thank you for joining us today.

Trend Research

In this corner, I will take up an interesting article written by Mr. Toyoo Gyohten, President of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs, entitled, "Japan's Soft Power Reconsidered." In this article, Mr. Gyohten states that if a nation is regarded as having soft power in any field, it must have at least two things: "presence" and "respect." And in that sense, Japan's cultural power could be regarded as a kind of soft power in the international context. At the same time, however, Mr. Gyohten criticizes the view that Japan would become the world's soft power while its economic power might be declining, and maintains that proper balance among military, economic, cultural and foreign policy powers is needed for a nation to be any power, whether hard or soft, in the international arena. What Japan should do is to recognize and promote the global value of its cultural heritage, while strengthening its power in other fields as well.

Closing Remarks

If you have any comments on today's program, please contact us through our Radio Nikkei hompage (www.radionikkei.jp/joho) . Actually you can hear our past broadcast program on our homepage by clicking the "on-demand" section in the upper righthand corner. I hope you enjoyed today's program. Our next program will be on the first Sunday in October, that is, October 3.. In the meantime, please take care of yourself. Bye