Young Power—the new tide for Osaka's rebirth

The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan's newspapers with a national circulation, announced the results of an opinion poll on the "sense of nationality" that was conducted in January of this year. The poll results were made public in the paper's morning edition on January 25th. The results clearly indicated the distress of the Japanese people over the lack of the direction of national strategy. There were many conflicting points between what people desired in the context of the global society and the grim reality. The more contradictions there are, the more they reflect the increasing complexity of the issues that the Japanese society must deal with.

One of the most worrisome points in the poll results for the writer was the lack of consciousness and sense of crisis for the future of Japan among the younger generation of Japanese. Their willingness to contribute to the nation was extremely low by international standards. While they are vocal about their individuality, they are phlegmatic and exhibit a clear declining trend in their interest or concern for the future of Japan in the global society. Those in their 20s with a strong love for Japan were only 9% of the total, and the ratio was low even when compared to those between the 40s and 50s. If invaded by other countries, 40% of the 20s said that they would escape without fighting. It is rather unusual to note, however, that 73% of those in this age group replied that they would prefer to be reborn again as Japanese. What possible reason could there be for this? The present-day Japan, as viewed by Japanese people, is a peaceful country now and no longer a major economic power, and data also show that it is a closed nation not trusted by foreign countries. The difference is like night and day when this type of awareness is compared to China and Korea actively promoting the uplifting of their youthful spirit to serve their countries, and the future-oriented consciousness among the younger generation of the advanced Western countries with stable public opinion. It can be perceived from the data that Japan's youths have not been able to discover their own visions in the future of Japan that has no compass. In connection with this reality and the future, if the gap between the older and new generations is mainly bridged by those in the age groups from the 40s to the 60s, then there are misgivings about Japan's smooth generational shift.

On January 27, 2008, a 38-year-old attorney and father of seven children, Toru Hashimoto, was elected as the governor of Osaka, achieving an overwhelming victory with 1.83 million votes, nearly twice as many as those of the second runner-up. He thus became the youngest ever governor in this country. This was the response of political independents and uncommitted voters in their 20s and 30s to his appeals, and it also greatly increased voter turnout. The gubernatorial election result was a strong reflection of their sense of mistrust and stagnation toward the current political situation, forcing the young people to build up momentum for change on their own since they were unable to rely on the present politicians to break down the existing circumstances and entrust their future. Though saddled with debt exceeding four trillion yen, the Osaka prefectural government has begun to attack its financial difficulties. Osaka's industrial base recovery efforts include the completion of a 24-hour operational second runway at Kansai International Airport, the establishment of Sharp Corporation's liquid crystal panel production base in Sakai City, as well as the development of a state-of-the-art medical technology research town in Saito situated in northern Osaka and its tie-ups with overseas scientific clusters. They also include the acceleration of research for the practical applications of embryo-stem cells through the interuniversity partnership between Kyoto and Osaka universities, the development of IT and robotics industries, and the focus of more energy on eco-business. The young generation of Osaka prefectural citizens has begun to strongly voice their hope that these industrial base improvement efforts combined with the active role of the young, energetic 38-year-old governor of Osaka will overcome the stagnation of the present government and industrial sectors and become the new trend for Osaka's message to the world.