I recently took part in discussions with the presidents of some Japanese universities for a summer review. One of the topics we discussed was the concept of continuing education, also known as recurrent education. This issue needs to be considered from both macro and micro viewpoints.

Let me first discuss the big-picture issues of recurrent education. There is little question that the manufacturing industry led Japan's reconstruction after World War II. But today, the weight of manufacturing in Japan's GDP has shrunk to less than a quarter of the total. Japan's manufacturing industry, characterized by its high productivity, is certainly a national treasure that must be cherished into the future. However, I imagine that no one thinks the manufacturing industry's share of the Japanese economy will rise again.

The driving force of Japan's economy and society will be new service industries, such as the information technology sector. Today, the world's top five companies in terms of aggregate market value are tech startups such as those often referred to collectively as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon).