****In its series of public lectures, the German Institute for Japanese
Studies will present on

*Thursday, 15 February 2007, 18.30 h*
Taizo Yakushiji, Ph.D.
Professor of Policy Studies, Keio University**
JAPAN*’*S INNOVATION AGENDAS**

Given that Japan faces aging and labor shortage in the near future,
Japan’s future agenda is simply “innovation.” Innovation increases the
wealth of a nation through economic realization. This is conventional
wisdom. However, unconventional is the fact that it often triggers the
decline of a nation. The reasons are four-fold:

*First,* the emergence of contenders, like China. Latent competitors
eventually come up when they are successful in technological
“emulation”. “Emulation” in this sense implies “copying” plus
substantial “improvement.”

*Second*, “techno-parochialism”. This happens when a nation at the
forefront of the innovation race, like Japan today, or the U.S. in the
mid 1980s, starts to look only inwards. Parochial pride leads to
arrogance, making people forget the very secret of pre-eminence, i.e.,
the “emulous (innovative) power”.

*Third*, vulnerability of international technological cooperation.
Conventional wisdom has it that technology lends itself to international
cooperation. This is a naïve view. In actual fact, innovation is
potentially both, cooperative and competitive. The recent alliance of
Japanese semiconductor manufacturers against South Korean SAMSUNG is a
case in point.

*Fourth*, economic rationality prevails. Gains in national wealth invite
blind belief in economic efficiency. But efficiency taken too far can be
an impediment to innovation which is often costly in terms of time and
money.

Taizo Yakushiji took his Ph.D. in Political Science at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Besides his Professorship he is member of the
Council for Science and Technology Policy, Cabinet Office and serves as
Executive Research Director at the Institute for International Policy
Studies.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on *Thursday,
15 February 2007 at 6.30 p.m*. at the DIJ. Admission is free, space is
limited, so please register with Ms. Dinkel at the DIJ.

Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 - 3222 5420, e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

*Please note that we have moved. For a map refer to www.dijtokyo.org*