BN: In 2020 – almost exactly 3 years from now – the world will focus on Tokyo when the city hosts the Olympics and the Paralympics. For you as the Governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, what are your priorities looking forward to this landmark event?

YK: Indeed, in four days from now, on the 24th of July, there will be exactly three years left until the Opening Ceremony. The environment and sustainability have always been two key values determining my political thinking and my actions throughout my career. I have always been very interested in new innovative concepts to deal with the challenges we are facing in this regard. As Japan’s Minister of Environment from 2003 to 2006, I had the chance to set the course for a greener and more sustainable Japan. I initiated a number of key projects that are still ongoing today and also championed innovative concepts which are now part of the daily life in Japan – such as Cool Biz and Warm Biz for instance. For me, the same sentiment applies when it comes to the Olympics. The success of the Olympics for Tokyo and for Japan will depend on whether this event will be a sustainable one with a long-lasting positive impact for our city and country.

So, what do I mean when I refer to a long-lasting positive impact or sustainability of the Games? As an example, let’s look at the Paralympics; this is a particularly interesting and important event for me. In the light of the ageing population challenge that we are facing here in Japan, the Paralympics offer us a great chance to make our capital consistently wheelchair-accessible. As the world develops into an ageing society, I want Tokyo to become a model society for these kinds of ageing populations. This example shows that with smart and visionary planning the Olympics offer us a unique opportunity to lay the foundations for Tokyo beyond 2020 that will offer an even higher quality of life to its citizens and a better experience to its visitors.

Talking about the environment: the 1964 Olympics happened at a time of a great economic and technological advances for Japan, this truly impressed many visitors. With my strong focus on the environment, I want our visitors this time to be impressed by our emphasis on being an eco-friendly city. To achieve this we are benchmarking every step on the way towards the Olympics on its sustainability and are carefully evaluating the long-term impact of each investment and infrastructure project. At the same time, we are also introducing new innovative concepts that build on cutting-edge technology and that allow us to do things more efficiently with fewer resources, and thus the Games and our city will be more environmentally-friendly than before.

To make a long story short, with the help of innovation and technology, we want to organise and hold an event that sets new benchmarks; not only in terms of experience for its participants and visitors, but also with regards to its environmental impact and positive long-term effects. We want to hold Olympic Games that are driven by smart technology, yet at the same time, we want to showcase to the world traditional Japanese customs that have defined our society for centuries and that still have legitimacy today. They show us how our ancestors used innovative approaches to deal with their challenges in their own times. An example of this is our famous Japanese tradition called “Uchimizu”. “Uchimizu” refers to the sprinkling of water in Japanese gardens and streets. Traditionally, this was done in the morning and in the evening with a bucket and ladle. It is more than a mere matter of hygiene and is, in temples and gardens, a ritual with contemplative purposes. In the streets in summer it serves to cool the immediate area, keep down dust and also please neighbours. A unique mix between tradition and modernity is part of our Japanese DNA. This is also a key aspect we want to accentuate and showcase to the world with this landmark event in 2020.

BN: The Japanese tourism industry with Tokyo as its key city is in a boom time and the number of foreign visitors to the country and to the city is increasing continuously. It is expected that the Olympics and Paralympics will bring even more visitors to Tokyo – tourists and business people alike. What does that mean for you as the Prefecture’s Governor?

YK: Absolutely, according to predictions of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) it is expected that the number of foreign visitors to Japan will double to more than 40 million people by 2020. This is an interesting opportunity for Tokyo and for Japan overall, so we are speeding up our preparations. We want every visitor to Tokyo – tourist or businessman – to have an incredible experience, see the best of our city, enjoy delicious food, sightseeing, and a unique mix of high-tech and old tradition and culture. We wish to be a very open society to welcome visitors. Tokyo and Japan as a whole, needs to place more emphasis on being an inclusive society for tourists – this is what we are busy with at the moment. Tourists need to have public signs in other languages, not just in Japanese and we are working hard on improving this. There are some fantastic IT solutions to solve these issues. Programmers just invented a QR code in Japan with which you can scan a sign and read it in a variety of foreign languages. This will allow visitors from every corner of the world to get guidance and support in their language and enjoy Tokyo a lot more. There is a lot of content that we can offer for everybody´s interests, so that they will want to come back many times. We have such a huge number of diverse experiences to offer to our visitors.

Addressing the business community: the upcoming Olympics will of course also entail new opportunities for businesses. Yet, independently from this event, business people and investors should consider Tokyo as a highly interesting city to grow their business. Tokyo is one of the most important cities in the world because it offers a great environment for large corporations and start-ups alike. Our infrastructure, networks and facilities make Tokyo an incredible choice for any foreign business that wishes to establish itself in Asia and Japan. Needless to say, that for me as the Governor, the economy is a key priority and I am doing everything in my power to help Tokyo’s business community thrive and contribute to welfare and prosperity.

BN: One of your priorities as a politician has been the strengthening of the role of women in business, politics and society overall. The latest international rankings, such as the World Economic Forum reports, show that in Japan women are still highly underrepresented. What is your strategy in this regard to create a “Tokyo in which women and men can shine equally”?

YK: When I was elected as the Governor of Tokyo one of the first things I did was to tackle the problem of the childcare waiting lists. Many people had to wait long time to, if they were lucky, get a spot in one of the childcare institutions. This situation of course made it very difficult for those women to go after a full-time job. Many of them had only two options, having children and not being able to work, or, not having children and focusing fully on their professional career. Of course, for women it is completely possible to have both, children and career, but women need the support of society and need to have access to the right infrastructure and services provided by the public. Currently, I am busy with a program whereby I aim to increase the number of day-care centres. What we see now is a major growth in day-care centres and so, more and more mothers are working and raising their children in this way. This provides women with the opportunity to be able to think about having more children and to expand her family. This will, of course, also address our stagnating population. We want to have a city where it is comfortable for women to have children and careers. Japanese women have great energy, talents and skills, but these attributes aren’t being empowered. This is a powerful resource available for Japan that must be better used. In Japan, women are still vastly under-represented – in politics, business and other spheres of life. Of course, we as the government also have to contribute our share. We are working hard to increase the share of women among our public servants. Currently, of our 170,000 public servants in Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 40% are women. 20% of these women are in leading positions. Every Japanese industry should look at increasing the share of women in its workforce and in its management because women are a valuable resource. This is a key pursuit of mine – to strengthen the position of women in Tokyo and in Japan overall; to allow them to thrive.