When the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake hit Japan, affected people lined up in an orderly fashion to wait their turn to receive supplies. Not a single riot occurred. This behavior was highly applauded by people around the world. This indicates that the spirit of bushido, which has long been passed down in Japanese society, is once again appreciated around the world. In the ongoing efforts of Japan and the Japanese people to expand their contributions to the international community, we need to rethink the identity of the Japanese people and hold an accurate view of the world and history.

For our generation to fulfill our responsibility to future generations, fiscal and other reforms are important. What is equally or even more important is for us to maintain Japan’s proper position in the world and ensure a fair assessment of the country. To leave misunderstandings or false impressions uncorrected would be extremely irresponsible to our descendants. We need to continue acting to ensure Japan is assessed fairly.

In March 2011, Fukushima experienced the worst nuclear accident in the history of mankind. The restoration of Fukushima is a task that we Japanese are intent on achieving. But a vision for this reconstruction is required. We want to propose a decisive and optimistic vision for reviving Fukushima, which is facing its greatest challenge since the war, and returning it to growth. This vision is the “Futaba City” concept for transforming Fukushima prefecture’s coastline into an “Innovation Coast.”

Okinawa, which comprises 113 islands and is home to 1.4 million people, is a paradise that attracts large numbers of visitors. It is blessed with an outstandingly beautiful natural environment, and is one of Japan’s most important assets, geopolitically, economically, and in terms of national security. The government has spent a budget of over 300 billion yen each year on developing Okinawa, but such spending has been a failure. A vision for nurturing a global “three-million-person prefecture” filled with people, things, and information should be drawn up based on a bold and aggressive strategy.

In the U.S., donations to NPOs total 18.2433 trillion yen, while in Japan they stand at just 693.1 billion yen. This difference is also seen in per-person donations, with Americans donating 130,000 yen per year and Japanese donating 2,500 yen per year (2013 White Paper on Donations). Furthermore, in the U.S., NPOs provide 10% of all jobs, employing 12 million people. In Japan, which is saddled with a huge fiscal deficit, the scope of activity of NPOs will need to be expanded in the future. Action to nurture NPOs that can stand shoulder to shoulder with their U.S. counterparts is essential.

In a ranking of Japan’s most attractive prefectures, the “Ibaraki Prefecture” brand came last. The prefecture’s slogan was “Namennayo, Ibaraki-ken” (Don’t mess with Ibaraki prefecture). In fact, though, Ibaraki boasts the sixth highest incomes in the country, the highest average home floor area, and the second highest agricultural output. And as for attracting companies, it is number-one in Japan in three categories: number and floor area of factories and number of companies from outside the prefecture. So though provincial, it’s a prosperous prefecture. This “Namennayo, Ibaraki-ken,” which is the writer’s home prefecture and has the lowest brand value in the country, can provide some hints concerning regional economic revitalization.

Bureaucrat bashing has been going on for some time, but most of the attention has been focused on the amakudari (“descent from heaven” – an institutionalized practice where senior bureaucrats retire to high-profile positions in the private and public sectors) issue. The actual situation with government officials has been ignored. Even if people shout from the rooftops about how bad the bureaucrats are, the essential problem remains unresolved. Kasumigaseki is filled with high-caliber, unselfish, government officials who are working for the benefit of the nation. To ensure that the capabilities of these top-flight bureaucrats can be fully put to use for national administration, we will propose specific reforms relating to recruitment, assignment, evaluation, compensation, human resources development, lifestyles, and second careers.

In Japan, citizens regard it as natural that the government will ensure their safety, which means there is a scant sense of personal responsibility among individuals. The more effort is made to eliminate risk, the greater the cost to society, and that cost is passed on in the form of higher taxes and prices. Ultimately, it is consumers that end up paying for it. The government alone should not be relied upon to ensure the safety of consumers. The government, corporations, and consumers should each fulfill their respective roles to enable safety to be ensured via a healthy market cycle.

Reconstruction has to be about more than just the rebuilding of infrastructure, i.e. “restoring towns to the way they were before.” In disaster-hit areas, the establishment of communities that will be sustainable in the future represents reconstruction in the true sense. The keys are “work,” “towns,” and “people.” At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, our forefathers showed the new Japan to the world. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we also ought to try to show the world a new Tohoku and a new Japan.

Schumpeter emphasizes “free markets” as the source of innovation. Free competition in the marketplace is the source of economic growth. Due to factors such as globalization and advances in IT, the structures of markets are changing. Amid this environment, in Western countries, rules are being changed and appropriate competition policies are being implemented. Japan, meanwhile, is simply pursuing a policy based on antitrust law. It is therefore necessary to raise Japan’s competition policy to at or above the level of that in Western countries.