OYAMA, Shizuoka Pref. -- Education is the key to establishing a stronger national identity amid globalization, business leaders said Thursday.
On the first day of the annual two-day seminar of the Japan Business Federation, 36 senior members of the business group exchanged views and concerns on how Japan can obtain a national identity at a time when it is still loosing confidence following the "lost decade" of the 1990s.
Masaharu Shibata, chairman and chief executive officer of NGK Insulators Ltd., said he believes that many Japanese lack a sense of identity as Japanese.
"We need to teach the importance of accepting diversity while respecting our own culture through education," he said.
Minoru Makihara, chairman of Mitsubishi Corp., said one of the strengths of Japan is that it has many talents homogeneously. "But its hard to understand that from the outside, so Japanese should be sending messages (to the rest of the world)."
Makihara added that Japan should also be more open to outsiders while supporting its citizens to go abroad to experience different societies.
Honda Motor Co. President Hiroyuki Yoshino said safety and health as well as the environment are important elements that people desire.
"Aging is often taken negatively, but it can also mean that Japan can excel as a long-lived society," he said, pointing out that Japan could try to become a role model in this area.