From "Deep" to "Forward"

It is my great honor to become the President of Ricoh Institute of Sustainability and Business as of June 1, 2021.

I have taken this opportunity to change the title of this column from Shinso ("Deep Level") to Zenshoto ("Head Light")*. While both to deep dive into various subjects and to act as a head light and illuminate the way forward are hurdles for me, I will try my best.
*Shinso was the former title of this column in the Japanese edition. The new title is Zenshoto.

The word "Zen" has many meanings according to the Iwanami Japanese Dictionary. I find it particularly interesting that the word can be used to express both "past" (the time before the present), and "forward" (the direction in front of you).

Over the past 38 years, I was continually confronted with the "past" in the world of finance, in my capacity as an official at the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency. Financial crises with root causes in the past repeatedly hit Japan. Typical examples are the period following the bursting out of the Japanese economic bubble in the 1990s, and the global financial crisis of the late 2000s symbolized by the failure of Lehman Brothers.

"Next time is different" - this is a frequently used expression in the world of finance when people talk about crises. That being said, both the Japanese financial crisis and the global financial crisis mentioned above had a common trigger: the bursting of a credit bubble. The Great Depression of a century ago was caused by the same phenomenon.

However, the economic turmoil we are facing around the world at present has taken on an entirely different form: it was triggered not by the bursting of a credit bubble but by a tragic health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, things like cyber-attacks and climate change are regarded as candidates for potential triggers of the next financial crisis.

In terms of the latter definition of "Zen" (i.e. "forward"), the interest of the financial world is focused on technological innovation. Even in Japan, where many bank branches remain and people still love cash, smartphone-based transactions and e-money are becoming commonplace. The utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data is also proceeding at a rapid pace. Driving further technological innovation while addressing the digital divide among the elderly is critical not only from the perspective of customers, but also for the survival of financial institutions who have been struggling with the ultra-low interest rate environment persisting in Japan.

Considering the idea of "forward" brings back memories of my childhood. Almost 55 years ago, I was obsessed with Astro Boy* and other animated television programs. In one of these, which was called Super Jetter*, the main character used a device that foreshadowed today's smartwatches to stop the flow of time, and then called in Ryuseigo, his flying vehicle.
* Astro Boy and Super Jetter are animated TV series that originated in Japan.

At present, smartwatches are a common sight on people's wrists. While stopping the flow of time is still difficult now (and probably will be in the future), I hear that flying vehicles are just around the corner. I am simply overwhelmed by the strength of that imagination over half a century ago. I would hope to keep the importance of imagination in mind as I lead the Institute.