Japan’s leading companies, including Toyota and Canon, are apparently establishing a new think tank that will cover a broad range of topics, including international politics, economics, and security. Former Prime Minister Koizumi will be an adviser, and Naoki Tanaka will be its president. That is a good thing, a good thing. But I wonder what has happened to Nomura Research Institute and Mitsubishi Research Institute.
Major companies including Toyota Motor and Canon were found on the 8th to be planning to establish a new policy research institute, or think tank, that will cover a broad range of topics including international politics, economics, and security.
They are coordinating plans to invite former Prime Minister Koizumi, who is well known overseas, to serve as an adviser.
An announcement will be made early next week.
The new institute aims to make policy recommendations from an independent position, taking the view that policy formulation should not be left solely to the central government ministries in Kasumigaseki. It will take inspiration from institutions such as the Brookings Institution in the United States, which participates in policy decisions. The former prime minister is expected to use the personal connections he built with many foreign leaders while in office for research and policy recommendations, as well as for communicating information overseas.
Toyota, Canon, Nippon Steel, and Tokyo Electric Power, companies that have produced chairmen of the Japan Business Federation, will each invest ¥100 million. More than 20 companies are also expected to contribute at least ¥10 million each. Naoki Tanaka, an economic commentator who serves as president of the 21st Century Policy Institute of the Japan Business Federation, will become president. The headquarters is planned for the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower in Chuo Ward, Tokyo.
(Yomiuri Shimbun, October 8, 2006 at 22:12)
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