Thank you.

Yeah. You’ll say that Japan I guess is much more complacent, but that’s also why it’s slacking behind, I guess.

The conservative bureaucracy really holds on to the authority, because if everything is digitalized, if participation is broadened, then they’re going to lose power, and in the absence of the wider change of government, then the same older men stay in power. The picture is so different in fact, that ...

Safety is prioritized because participation is not really considered to be one of the priorities in the perception of a lot of people from the government’s point of view. Because of the popular reluctance, progress is also not delivered very often. It’s like a vicious cycle in many ways.

Because, of course, Japan, in spite of the earlier image that it’s high tech, it’s advanced, it’s still very much stuck in the analogue age in many ways. In fact, quite often, people too are resistant. It’s not just the bureaucracy. The people too, because the trilemma that you talked ...

I’m actually quite struck by the difference between Taiwan and Japan in many ways.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Whereas, in Japan, in some ways, we are a parliamentary democracy where the locus of responsibility or authority seems to be questioned. I think that was what accounts for the Japanese hesitancy in going further in digitalization. We can’t quite let go of the authoritarian approach.

Once you push through the digital agenda, then when you have to complement with the contextualization…I guess you mean, in some ways, it’s probably the difference between Taiwan and Japan, where I come from, because of course, Taiwan is a presidential democracy, and you are known as a genius. [laughs] ...

I’m also worried, maybe not worried, but I also do wonder if there’s any room left for more traditional forms of authority being provided in that context. Of course, democracy doesn’t always get it right. Popular opinions may still be misguided, even when they were given with a lot of ...

In some ways, sooner they are breaking down, but then we still have to find a way to offer context so people can understand. I think you’ve been very much emphasizing participation as a way of providing that context by people helping out, even voluntarily, and so forth. That makes ...

I asked this question about political parties in some ways because that’s the old fashioned way in which context was provided by years and policies.

I was also fascinated by your earlier comments. If I understood you correctly, you emphasize the importance of offering contextualization against the potential problems of radicalization of democracy.

Hi. Very nice to meet you. Thank you very much for your time. My name is Koichi Nakano. I teach at the Sophia University in Tokyo. My own specialization is political science, so I have questions to ask you in relation to politics.