The Concept behind the Kawasaki-Tamagawa Innovation Valley (KTIV)

June 06 (Tuesday) 2006

In this post I wish to discuss the concept of the Kawasaki-Tamagawa Innovation Valley (KTIV).

Many R&D bases for various companies, research institutes and other organizations are agglomerated along the coast of Kawasaki and Tamagawa. Currently there is an effort to exploit the synergistic effects of this agglomeration and to make this the global base for next-generation innovation. Recently, this area has become a base for numerous high-tech companies such as Ajinomoto, Canon, Fujitsu, etc. In the past, it was a center for heavy and chemical industries. It was called the Keihin Industrial Belt for several decades following the end of war, and the industries located here helped support Japan's industrial export-oriented economy. Centered on the heavy and chemical industries was a plethora of medium and small-sized enterprises that supported the Keihin Industrial Belt. The region grew strong as a part of the industrial structure that supported export-oriented Japan.

However, in recent years Japan has continued to develop into an aging and mature nation, the economy has seized to be export-oriented, the worlds' factories are shifting to China, and the foundation of Japan's exports is shrinking. In the face of these megatrends, the industries of Kawasaki City's past will wither away. On the other hand, however, an aging and maturing Japan means that the importance of healthcare needs is rising.

In response to these developments, those connected with Kawasaki City pondered whether or not the production capabilities of the medium and small-sized enterprises that had gathered in the area could be connected with answering the growing demands of society's “lifestyle needs”. Kawasaki City then began focusing on “welfare industries”. Conventionally, welfare and industry are considered polar opposites. In our society, welfare has come to be thought of as providing lifestyle-supporting services for underprivileged people. However, Takao Abe, Mayor of Kawasaki City, turned this conception on its head, and proposed thinking of welfare as a business or industry.
How can welfare become an industry? Take, for instance, one important element of welfare: assistance for health promotion. This includes medical, nursing and other contents-related fields. To support superior welfare services, various elements such as treatments and nursing services that utilize superior technology, the development of new kinds of nursing equipment (e.g. wheelchairs, etc.), and home safety systems are necessary. Moreover, food products and sports are also related to this concept. If Kawasaki can attract the agglomeration of competitive product development and production, it can become a base for supplying the world's aging societies. Thus, the development of KTIV implies creating an agglomerated base that can support these needs through industry.

There is already a great deal of agglomeration occurring in KTIV, such as with Ajinomoto's 40 billion yen (about US$354 million) center and Canon's basic research development that is conducted there. Additionally, KTIV is home to Fujitsu's unsurpassed known-how in health information data systems, and it is here that Fujitsu is carrying out further development of these systems. Within this agglomeration is a drive to attract revolutionary advanced healthcare facilities to KTIV. This kind of advanced healthcare center includes TeamNET, which I described in the previous post, and the Tokyo Bay Medical Initiative.

The Tokyo Bay Medical Initiative is a concept with roots in the Tokyo Bay area, initially conceived as the development of the island of Odaiba. Owing to difficulties in acquiring land, however, the focus of the concept has shifted to the city of Tonomachi in Kawasaki.

When you spread out a map of Tokyo and look at Tokyo Bay, Haneda Airport is positioned at the tip of the bay. Even if a base were to be made at Haneda Airport, it could still be said to be part of the Tokyo Bay Initiative. This region's strength lies in its ease of access from points all over the country. Every prefectural and municipal airport is within one or two hours of Haneda Airport. It is both the center of Japan, and the center of Japan's traffic infrastructure. Throughout Japan, there are a great many people who wish to receive heavy-particle therapy and to be cured without having to undergo surgery, and the Tokyo Bay Medical Initiative would make it easy for these people to access this technology. Additionally, there are also plans underway for eventually connecting Haneda Airport and Kawasaki City with a bridge. This would allow patients to arrive in KTIV and receive treatment within 15 minutes of exiting an airplane at Haneda. Furthermore, Haneda Airport is also easily accessible as an Asian hub, and it will soon be possible to build new runways at the airport in the years to come.

Building off of the global megatrend of aging societies, if KTIV can be transformed into a development center for health promotion it will be possible for it to grow into a leading, world-class center that will have the potential to save a great number of people who desire to be healthy.

I pray for the rapid realization of this initiative as not only part of a new industry but as a way to promote the happiness of a great many people.