PEOPLE
Chairman, Fujisankei Group
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.

It is Important to Discuss Energy Issues
KATO: Regarding future issues, as you mentioned, I believe it is essential to connect the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, including its spirituality, to the future. However, Japan is running backwards in a way, and both Yoshida Shoin and Sakamoto Ryoma have disappeared from textbooks. It was announced that historical events and the people involved in them were drastically deleted because there was too much to remember, but the fact that parts related to the Meiji Restoration were omitted is incomprehensible. The Choshu Five have also disappeared, and as for Ito Hirobumi, all that is discussed is his assassination in Harbin, which is shameful.
Hieda: Education is not about making people memorize for examinations. What should be passed on to future generations through history is the important part. What will children feel from history, and what will they learn from their predecessors? The knowledge and aspirations they acquire in this way will become their own way of life, or will become the food for the maturation of Japan. I believe this is what true education is all about. That is why I would like school teachers to learn about the "Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution.” If they can sense the spirit that Japanese people should inherit, I think the trend of Japanese education will change.
Kato: I hope so, but in Japan, it always takes time for the trend to change.
Hieda: This is not limited to education. I feel that Japan tends to stop moving for fear of conflict in everything.
Kato: I agree. In the case of the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, Hashima Island, one of the component parts of the site, has been subjected to fierce criticism from South Korea, saying it is wrong to designate an island involved in forced labour as a World Heritage site. But in response, the country is in a state of freeze ....... I fear that if left alone, the issue will not only not be resolved, but will be pressured and end up folding for those that strongly insist on it. Therefore, regarding the matter of Hashima Island, I decided to take testimonies from people who lived on the Gunkanjima at that time. Currently, the Industrial Heritage Information Center in Shinjuku is showing video testimonies from former residents.
Hieda: First of all, Japanese people must grasp the truth. Even for me, I was able to confirm the truth and take it with a strong heart that there was nothing to be frightened of. I was also surprised that you collected testimonies not only from Japanese but also from Korean people. According to you, those who worked on Gunkanjima then were officially hired by Mitsubishi, regardless of their nationality. The fact that remains of payslips and other documents are said to have survived, but at any rate, they brought to light the Korean people also had affluent lifestyles. In other words, it became clear that there was no such thing as forced labour, and I felt the importance of steadily gathering the truth.
Kato: The theme of my own project is to break through head-on.
Hieda: I see. I would say that you have made a head-on breakthrough against the Agency for Cultural Affairs by taking the initiative in regulatory reform.
Kato: For example, if we had stayed the course, we were on at the beginning, there was a possibility that Yamaguchi's Shoka Sonjuku would not have been included as part of the component parts. If there was even 1% hope, we were willing to take a chance, and we met directly with many people to listen to the reasons why the project was not accepted, and then we explained our concept to them and sought their understanding. It is not enough to forcefully push forward with whatever you want to do; it is also necessary to face various problems calmly and carefully untangle the tangled threads. I have learned the importance of maintaining a balance between the gas pedal and brake in my mind as I continue to move forward.
Hieda: Still, it was a great accomplishment. I had been frustrated that the people who worked so hard during the Industrial Revolution were not included in the World Heritage list, so it was a great relief to see them inscribed. Not all of them were famous people. For example, people who worked in coal mines risked their lives to dig coal. In other words, I believe that the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution played a role in conveying the importance of energy to the Japanese people.
Kato: Yes, that is true. However, I am concerned that Japan is moving in a strange direction, sitting on the ancestor’s laurel that was laid in the Meiji era. I think we have to think about what we should do to maintain a strong national power in the future. I think we have to think about this. ......
Hieda: Seeing Ukraine trying so hard to protect its country makes me think about many things.
Kato: I think it is amazing they do not run away. It is conspicuous that today's Japanese people put themselves before the nation, thinking that all that is good for the present is good enough, and that all that is good for them is good enough. On the other hand, it seems that an increasing number of the younger generation is thinking for the sake of Japan. How do you think, Chairman. Hieda?
Hieda: It is difficult to generalize because there are people of all ages with different values. In any case, the worst thing one can do is to think that all is good enough as long it is good for oneself. Without the circulation of both sentiment and money, we will surely come to a standstill. I believe that the people of the Meiji period were able to produce good results because they were working not for themselves, but for Japan, and ultimately for the future of the Japanese people. They also taught us the lesson that if industry does not flourish, the nation will decline.
Former Director of Nagasaki City World Heritage Office
Former General Manager, Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Chairman, Fujisankei Group
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.
Advisor, Federation of Japan Port and Airport Construction Association
(Ex. Chairman of Specialists Center of Port and Airport Engineering)
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Former Director of the Sano Tsunetami Memorial Museum (currently known as Sano Tsunetami and the Mietsu Naval Dock History Museum)
Director of NPO Association for Thinking about Satoyama
Director of National Congress of the Industrial Heritage
Honorary Chief Priest Toshinari Ueda
Former Mayor of Omuta City
Archaeologist and Heritage Conservation Specialist
A fellow of the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies
Team Member of the Industrial Project Team Office for the Promotion of World Heritage Listing under Cabinet Secretariat
Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Mayor of Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture
The Former Employee of Nippon Steel Corporation
An Associate Professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in Iwate University
Chairman of the Tourist Guide Association of Misumi West Port
President of Kuraya Narusawa Co., Ltd.
Chairman of Izunokuni City Tourism Association
Director and General Manager of Gunkanjima Concierge
Producer of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum
Owner at Tōge Chaya
Chairman: Mr. Hidenori Date
President: Mr. Masahiro Date
Proprietor, Houraikan Inn
Representative Director of Egawa Bunko non-profit incorporated foundation
The 42nd head of the Egawa Family
Democratic Party for the People (DPP) Representative for Nagasaki Prefecture
President of the NPO, Way to World Heritage Gunkanjima
Representative Director
MI Consulting Group
President of Watanabe Production Group and Honorary Chair of Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd.
Member of the House of Councillors
Governor
Kagoshima Prefecture
World Heritage Consultant
Director and Dean, The Kyushu-Asia Institute of Leadership
Representative Director, SUMIDA, Inc.
Journalist, founder of the Shimomura Mitsuko Ikikata Juku School
Representative, Rally Nippon
Chairman, Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Route Promotion Council Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Representative Director, General Incorporated Foundation National Congress of Industrial Heritage (Advisor, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Capital Markets Research Institute)
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Policy Director at Heritage Montreal
World Heritage Consultant
Executive Director of Kogakuin University
Heritage Architect and International Consultant
Head of Data Acquisition at The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation
Head of Industrial Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Scottish Ten Project Manager, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Mayor of Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art. Heritage advisor of Canal & River Trust for England and Wales.
Dean of Tokyo Rissho Junior College
Professor emeritus of Keio University
Mayor of Kitakyushu City
At the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee convened in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 to July 8, 2015, the decision was approved to inscribe the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution on the World Heritage list.
At a celebratory party held to mark the occasion, some of the primary promoters of the project spoke of their joy in achieving their goal and of the trials and tribulations to getting there.
Director and Managing Executive Officer, Hanshin Expressway Company Limited
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Chairman, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Mayor of Omuta City
Deputy Director-General, Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, MEXT
Former Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat
Mayor of Kamaishi City
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage Counselor, Shimadzu Limited
Chairman of the Consortium for the World Heritage Inscription of Modern Industrial Heritage (Kyushu-Yamaguchi) and governor of Kagoshima Prefecture (as of 2015)