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After all, a nation known for its Nintendo games, Lexus sports cars, and other gadgets also loves fax machines and traditional “hanko” seals that act as analog signatures.
But Digital Minister Taro Kono has a reputation for going against the interests of high-ranking officials and acting mediocre.
“I’m not going to play coordinator,” he told reporters in a small briefing conveniently held online on Friday.
“If people don’t listen to me, I beat them,” he added with a laugh.
Former Secretary of State and Defense Secretary Kono has displayed his digital expertise for many years.
An independent academic institution based in Switzerland, in 2021 Japan was ranked 28th out of 64 countries in the world. Five years into the future. The United States ranked first and China ranked 15th.
Kono’s Japanese Twitter account, which has amassed 2.5 million followers, features everything from bowling videos to political commentary. He is fluent in English, attended Georgetown University and also has his Twitter account in English with 70,000 followers.
In a YouTube video last month, he urged people to get a My Number Card, which Japanese citizens and residents use online for government applications and can be used as a driver’s license, library card, or online banking. A digital ID card for linking.
But Kono knows it will take more than social media stars to pull Japan out of the analog slump. Efforts don’t have to be complicated, he said. People naturally choose what they feel comfortable with. “Even kids know that seals don’t function as personal identification cards,” he says, adding that he loves Japanese seals as a craft.
“There’s this mentality that it’s someone else’s problem,” he said of society’s complacency. As remote work spreads around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese have realized how far behind they are, Kono said.
The Digital Agency was established in Japan last year to promote the competitiveness of digital technology. A certain amount of skepticism remains. Critics say the idea of ”digital transformation” is already outdated and only Japan is talking about it anymore.