Mr. Tokio Hasegawa: His Life and Social Contribution

Mr. Hasegawa along with Bihar CM Hon'ble Nitish Kumar Ji & H.E. Sujan Chinoy Ji

Mr. Masayuki Handa,

Executive Director

Japanese Association of Museums 

世界はいよいよ危機的な局面に入っている。2011 年 3 月 11 日の東日本大震災による福 島原子力発電所事故による災害、世界的な気象異変になる大規模災害の多発、さら に、新型コロナ・ウィルスの世界的大流行。こうした問題はいずれも、人間と自然の 関係、大都市圏に人口が集中する暮らし方について、根本的に再考することが不可欠 になっていることを意味している。 

国際交流基金賞の趣旨は、国際交流に貢献した人物や団体を表彰することだという が、こうした危機的な局面において、国際交流のあり方について根本的なところから 考え直し、これからの時代の国際交流の指針となるような人物や団体に光を当てる必 要があるのではないだろうか。私が、長谷川時夫を推薦するのは、そうした視点から 注目すべき人物だからだ。 

Corona Virus and Global Economy

Credit: Bangkokpost.com

Kumiko Yurimoto

Department of Humanities and Culture, 

Hoso Daigaku, Wakaba, Mihama-ku,

Chiba, Japan.

Can a virus cause economic slowdown? The answer is simply, yes. More than two dozens countries are affected by Corona virus which started spreading from Wuhan, China. Many multinational companies were forced to shut down or partly cut their operations across the globe. A Japanese food chain, ‘Izakaya’ has announced to shut all of its outlets in mainland China as only a few customers are turning to their restaurants. Hyundai, an other company in Korea has announced to curtails its productions. Philipines, Thailand and Indonesia are the other countries which are severely affected by this epidemic.    

Tourism is most affected sector due to the Corona virus. Many tour operators have cancelled their bookings and several countries have suspended issuing Visa to Chinese citizens. Several flights are already restrained flying to China and businesses are hampered. The GDP growth for China has been predicted to be below 5% and a panic is emerging due to all this. It will pull down the global economy particularly nations dependent on Chinese economy will be affected the most, including Japan. 

The prices of masks in Tokyo have surged many fold and out of stock in the city. Even the online stores are not able to meet the supply. Several cities in China are are facing self lockdown and economic activities are not happening at all due to the fear.  “Coronavirus will have a larger negative effect on the global economy than the SARS outbreak in 2003,” IHS Markit wrote, adding that China accounted for 4.2% of the global economy in 2003. The report says China now commands 16.3% of the world’s GDP. “Therefore, any slowdown in the Chinese economy sends not ripples but waves across the globe”, cites CNBC. 

As number of deaths have crossed more than one thousand in China mainland, the panic is spreading among business communities. The sales of Nissan motors dropped to around 18% in China. This is a clear sign of the impact of the virus on economy. Similar impacts can easily be found in neighboring countries like Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan too. A Japanese taxi driver in 80s died recently and number of infected persons in Cruise ship Diamond Princess is gradually increasing. If it will spread further the Japanese economy may be shaken. Though there is no direct threat to forthcoming Olympic games but if the outbreak continues it will pose a potential threat to organize the games. 

The Corona virus outbreak has burdened the global economy and hampered the business movement severely. China being an economic giant affecting the global businesses. Many companies, particularly in aviation sector and tourism are the most hit. The Guardian has reported that, Ikea has closed all of its 30 stores in China, while McDonalds shut about 300 restaurants, 10% of its network in the country, and Starbucks has shut about half of its 4,100 cafes. This just a tip of the iceberg. As there is no effective control to spread the virus, the future of global economy is still in limbo.  

Nation in Environmental Crises: Australian Bushfires

Credit: Getty Images

Kouno Kenich

Faculty of Liberal Arts,

The Open University of Japan,

Chiba, Japan.

E-mail: info@globalculturz.org

Extreme weathers are showing their presence across the globe. Bushfires had happened earlier too but rains were able to extinguish and control them in time. The bushfires of Australia have extended to almost three states due to strong winds and scorching temperature. People and firefighters didn’t receive well, PM Scott Morrison during his recent visit to fire hit areas of New South Wales (NSW). As the death toll has reached almost 23 and supposed to rise, anger and pain growing among common folk. 

One might see this as a natural disaster but, as we know, human activities are more responsible to incite such a dangerous happenings of the history. In telecast, Scott Morrison seems helpless. He said, "In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level.” It was Amazon a few months ago, it is Australia now, it will be some other part of the earth in years to come. Relationship between humans and nature is completely changing and new models of development are continuously burdening the nature and its channels. A wast population is chemicalizing the earth by dumping beauty products, fertilizers, vehicular and electronic wastes, and various types of plastics. It is absolutely destroying the ecosystem of the earth. Rains have become uncontrolled phenomenon. Where as there is no sign of it in Australia, there are immense floods in Indonesian capital Jakarta. Both disasters are happening together in an unbalance way causing deaths and destructions.  New Zealand Herald has stated that, “The fire danger increased as temperatures rose Saturday to record levels across Australia, surpassing 43C in Canberra, the capital, and reaching a record-high 48.9C in Penrith, in Sydney's western suburbs.” Jakarta is reeling under water and Canberra under fire. Two capital cities have met altogether different fates but the reason is one i.e. our policies  and ignorance towards environmental issues. DW has reported that, “Australia's deadly fires have burned through more than 5.25 million hectares (13 million acres) of land since September, causing catastrophic damage to property and wildlife.” Though one cannot agree to the idea of blame game on a single or a few people. "There has been a lot of blame being thrown around," PM Morrison opined. "And now is the time to focus on the response that is being made. Blame doesn't help anybody at this time and over-analysis of these things is not a productive exercise," the  PM added."There is no dispute in this country about the issue of climate change globally and its effect on global weather patterns and that includes how it impacts in Australia," stated Scott Morrison. Bushfires in Australia can happen anytime in the year but there are several seasonal bushfires too. Exploiting natural resources would not help. A balanced lifestyle and restraint desire for industrial development is the only way to go ahead. Consumerism is another threat for the future of mother earth.

G-20 SUMMIT AT OSAKA: ACHIEVEMENTS, EVALUATION AND FUTURE ACTIONS

Credit: g20.org

 Laura Frank

Research Associate, CCGS

Berlin Chair

E-mail: Info@globalculturz.org

G-20 is a group of twenty powerful nations of the globe, which also includes European Union. In 1999 the group was founded with the aim to promote the international financial stability and a few other issues. Economic cooperation was the key agenda behind its establishment. Its consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spain is a permanent invitee.

Since then G20 leaders have met thirteen times at different global venues and the summit held in Osaka (Japan) on 28-29 June 2019 was the fourteenth one. The economists have raised the doubts of its achievements and its relevance too. The G20 leaders are divided on several issues and the global character of the G20 is severally hampered in new emerging situations globally. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), US=China Trade tussles, Japan-Korea cultural relations, US-Russia tensions and many other regional issues are more dominant over the global goals. In that case G20 summits just become a mere ceremonial meet without a concrete purpose.

Eight themes were put forth for discussion in Osaka. These were (i) Global Economy, (ii) Trade and Investment, (iii)Innovation, (iv) Environment and Energy, (v) Employment, (vi) Women’s empowerment, (vii) Development and (viii) Health. These were important issues before the global leaders to ensure the global sustainable development. Whereas the US has already moved out of Paris climate accord and has faced criticism, it was expected that there will be hardly any progress to control global warming. The worries expressed by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe through the press release is quite obvious, ‘The world economy still faces downside risks due to trade tensions. The G20 shared the determination to take further actions and lead strong economic growth while paying attention to such circumstances.’TheUS-China trade war is, as experts say, is not going to settle till Mr. Trump is in office. Chinese BRI project is boycotted by India, the most accelerating economy of the world. BREXIT has created a big trouble for European Union and Germany is passing through a phase of sluggish growth.

The preamble of the summit declaration suggests that there is a will to get united and make the world a prosperous, terror free, energy secured, gender justice and healthy place for every human individual. It says, 1. We, the Leaders of the G20, met in Osaka, Japan on 28-29 June 2019 to make united efforts to address major global economic challenges. We will work together to foster global economic growth, while harnessing the power of technological innovation, in particular digitalization, and its application for the benefit of all.

2. Building on work done by previous presidencies, we will strive to create a virtuous cycle of growth by addressing inequalities and realize a society where all individuals can make use of their full potential. We are resolved to build a society capable of seizing opportunities, and tackling economic, social and environmental challenges, presented today and in the future, including those of demographic change.

3. We will further lead efforts to foster development and address other global challenges to pave the way toward an inclusive and sustainable world, as envisioned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

One journalist said at the venue, Honesty is prime, rest will follow.

For us, Center for Culture & Global Studies, it is satisfactory that there is special mention of promoting tourism and strengthening cultural diplomacy. The Declaration states in its article ’24. Tourism accounts for a significant share of the world's GDP and is expected to continue to be an important driver of global economic growth. We will work to maximize the sector's contribution to the creation of quality jobs and entrepreneurship, especially for women and youth and in the creative industry; economic resilience and recovery; the preservation of natural resources through sustainable tourism planning and management; and the achievement of inclusive and sustainable development’.

We appreciate such endeavors of G20 leaders.