While I frequently travel around the world as CEO of the Suntory Group, I also value the time to contemplate on the future of Japan, as a private sector member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.

The key to the future is to address the many issues that the aging society presents through the social implementation of IoT and AI, and to utilize technological innovation to realize a low-carbon society and to find solutions to marine pollution caused by plastic waste. Society 5.0 must be realized promptly by all means.

That's why "the third arrow" of Abenomics (monetary policy, fiscal policy, growth strategy) is now more important than ever. "The third arrow" is not as topical now, but if we change our perspective, there is so much more that must be done. The productivity of our country will improve dramatically if the government, businesses and academic institutions work together to push for structural reforms, such as industrialization of public services, elimination of gray zones and fluidization of insufficient human resources. This can happen at all levels. Since local governments boldly changed their perception, we have started to see successful cases of the implementation of Smart City projects.

Aizuwakamatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture is contributing to the improvement of the quality of life by collecting and analyzing personal vital data, and providing the analysis results to each household by using an "opt-in" data collection method where they ask residents to provide their personal data after receiving their consent. In addition, medical and regenerated energy fields are also expected to see great progress. Seeing initiatives that create a whole new era born from Aizuwakamatsu, instead of big cities such as metropolitan Tokyo, I cannot help but feel the underlying strength of Japan. More and more leading IT companies are venturing into Aizuwakamatsu where the population is aging rapidly, and the University of Aizu is developing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) talents through the implementation of various technologies in society.

To allow Society 5.0 to penetrate every corner of society, it is important for government, business and academia to work in collaboration to accumulate successful cases of implementing smart city solutions. I believe that with these initiatives, we will be able to create a vibrant Japanese society again.