19 Understanding Value Shifts in the New Generation Through Social Listening

Kenichi Watanabe

Today, more than 90% of the world’s populated areas are always connected to the internet. People interact digitally through social media and other online means, and capitalized on their reputations through shares, likes, and comments. This reputation permeates society as capital, and can be called evaluation capitalism . Until now, people have engaged in economic, lifestyle, cultural, and social activities using monetary capital, labor capital, social capital, industrial capital, and other capital as yardsticks. In today’s society, however, visualizing and analyzing this so-called evaluation capitalism, for example, what people around the world value, what they are interested in, and how their values have changed, is effective for recognizing the current state of society and predicting the future. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular has drastically shifted in people’s values and driven the creation of new frameworks for social systems, economic conditions, and national policies. Moving forward, my aim is to strengthen the three scientific viewpoints and use them to create a framework for the next generation of Cool Japan strategies. In Japanese, these three viewpoints are known as tori no me (bird’s-eye view: overarching analysis of the ecosystem), mushi no me (insect’s-eye view: observational analysis of mechanisms), and sakana no me (fish’s-eye view: comparative analysis of flows and trends). The Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters at the Cabinet Office and the Cool Japan Public-Private Partnership Platform (CJPF) have released an infographic summarizing the key findings of their joint global social listening survey. While analysis of the results yielded a variety of findings, simply put, the survey indicated that the SC era is progressing, for example, sustainability, social, circular economy, and community. As the major shift in values which can be called the first year of green Cool Japan activities is needed, CJPF is reviewing its whole strategy with food and food culture as a starting point. Specifically, we have outlined three steps: discovery, empathy, and co-creation. Using both tangible and intangible resources of Cool Japan, we hope to create a companionate framework in which people from around the world and in Japan can transcend barriers and work together to create the next generation. We believe that reorganizing Japan’s cultural value from a global perspective and a future-oriented approach, and upcycling society and the economy on a regional scale are the new Cool Japan strategy of the future. As the first step, we have launched our on-demand media platform cjpf.jp to analyze so-called […]

• #DX (Digital) & SNS
• #Japanese Food Culture
• #Overseas Expansion
• #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
• #Community Revitalization

5 Well-being Social Design Inspired by Food

Yoshiki Ishikawa

In Japan, 2021 was the so-called the first year of well-being. Because, well-being was positioned as an important part of the government’s Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform and its growth strategies. In this Basic Policy, it is clearly stated that “well-being KPIs should be established in the government’s various basic plans.” In response, well-being KPIs were established in a total of 32 basic plans put together by governmental organizations such as the Cabinet Secretariat, MEXT, MHLW, MAFF, MLIT, MOE, Cabinet Office, and CAA. These developments are expected to be accelerated further from fiscal 2022 onwards. One of the many definitions of well-being is “a positive feeling or state among individuals or communities.” This is not a fixed definition, but rather a concept that can change dynamically across different generations and cultures. Needless to say, as a such an ambiguous concept, there are diverse interpretations as to what constitutes well-being and what leads to well-being. As such, scholars have long since given up on efforts to define a fixed shape for well-being. How are scholars tackling the topic? Rather than focusing on a shape, they are looking at the factors that lead to well-being. And so, leaving what constitutes well-being to the targets of their investigations, scholars have been researching what factors influence their targets’ ideas of well-being through various surveys for more than half a century. These investigations have led to some interesting discoveries. That is, while the shape of well-being differs from person to person, there are many similarities in the factors that influence their well-being. One easy-to-relate to factor is income.For many people, a certain level of income is a key factor behind their well-being. The way that this income is used to achieve well-being, and what shape this well-being takes, varies by person.Another factor is social tolerance. This shows that, regardless of generation or culture, a society in which there is no categorization or discrimination is an important factor for many people’s well-being. As a one of the researchers of well-being myself, I regularly examine what factors play an important role in people’s well-being. One factor I have discovered is the gender gap in cooking frequency. Specifically, when looking at society overall, the narrower the gender gap in cooking frequency, the higher the level of well-being. In almost all societies, women cook more frequently than men. In other words, societies in which men […]

• #SDGs
• #Public-private partnerships and collaborations

1 The Future of the UNWTO’s Gastronomy Tourism Initiatives

Hiroko Suzuki

According to a survey by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in recent years, the number of tourists who prioritize experiencing the regional lifestyles and cultures of their destination by enjoying the local cuisine is increasing at around the same rate as those who visit tourist hotspots. These tourists have a strong desire for authenticity and tend to consume more than the average tourists. Gastronomy tourism is defined as “A form of tourism that aims to experience the local culinary culture and to enjoy food nurtured by the ingredients, culture, customs, traditions and history created by the local climate.” In today’s post-COVID-19 society, overtourism and other tourism issues prior to the pandemic have made initiatives for the SDGs more important, while awareness of the importance of sustainable tourism—in terms of the economy, society, culture and environment—is gradually increasing. Gastronomy tourism is closely linked to the local natural environment, agriculture and culture. Further, gastronomy tourism, which anyone can participate and which contribute to participants’ health and happiness, can be considered an effective way for achieving sustainable tourism. Moreover, the origins of many types of cuisine can be found in the local history and culture. Food is therefore an ideal contents to highlight a region’s characteristics, and can be one of the great pleasures of travel. In a survey conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency, the primary attraction for foreign tourists visiting Japan was “eating Japanese food”, while in sixth place was “drinking Japanese sake”. As a result of the above, local governments around Japan are proactively engaging in gastronomy tourism initiatives to achieve regionaldevelopment. The UNWTO lists the following five reasons for the focus on gastronomy tourism: (1) It is an effective way for regions to differentiate themselves; (2) it can provide visitors new values and experiences; (3) it can be initiated even in regions with few tourism resources; (4) it is conducive to tell regional stories; and (5) it promotes tourists to revisit. Below are three initiatives led by the UNWTO for gastronomy tourism. The first is a report that the UNWTO published in 2019 called Gastronomy Tourism – The Case of Japan. This report features 18 excellent examples of gastronomy tourism activities in Japan. The report follows a survey of Japan’s 1,741 municipalities, of which 584 responded. It shows that gastronomy tourism activities in Japan are more comprehensively focused on sustainable regional development and collaboration with agriculture than tourism promotion […]

• #Gastronomy and Culinary
• #Japanese Food Culture
• #SDGs
• #Public-private partnerships and collaborations