Mr. Miyamoto, who has moved his career from a private company to Shibuya Ward. Talk about what you noticed from the government's point of view, about the work in Shibuya Ward that was more "creative" than you imagined, and about your expectations for SOCIAL INNOVATION WEEK (SIW), which is scheduled to be held again this year. I heard.
more creative than you can imagine
Create a “more interesting public”
—— When did Miyamoto-san enter Shibuya Ward?
About two and a half years ago. Until then, I was in charge of foreign-affiliated companies at an advertising company called ADK. But I've been involved with society at the same company for over 20 years, so I wanted to see the world from a different perspective. I felt that the government would change its perspective 180 degrees.
——What kind of difference did you find when you actually entered?
My job at an advertising agency was to think in one direction: there are clients, then there are customers, and what we can offer to them. I think the big difference in public works is that there are multiple stakeholders and perspectives. For example, residents, lawmakers, companies, NPOs, and other people are involved from various perspectives. I feel that it is a job with
When I think of the ward office, I had an image of window work, and I thought that there was a lot of very detailed work, but when I actually started working there, I realized that it was a very creative workplace. The best example of this is urban development, and the scale is large, such as planning and setting up a vision while thinking about 10 to 100 years from now. I think it's a very interesting job to create it while involving various professionals and stakeholders.
At the same time, I entered the ward office from a private company, but I once again thought that the mobility of human resources is also important. If public servants are civil servants, private citizens are private citizens, housewives are housewives, and so on. I don't think so.
——In the midst of all this, what is Miyamoto-san's main focus?
I am the director of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Culture in Shibuya Ward, which is in charge of industrial promotion, cultural promotion, and startup support. In the Industrial Tourism Division, we support business operators and shopping districts in a digital local currency project called Hachipay, and develop tourism resources together with the Shibuya Ward Tourism Association.
In addition, the Cultural Promotion Division coordinates cultural facilities such as art museums and museums, and supports cultural management organizations in the city.
And one more thing, as a startup support business, I have a wide range of duties, such as preparing an environment for people who want to start a business in Japan from overseas, and supporting them to actually start a business and scale it.
——While working on such a wide range of jobs, is there anything you value in common?
Public-private partnerships are important in all of these departments, and since I also came from the private sector, I hope to make good use of the power of the private sector to create better public projects.
In addition, I think that many people have an image of valuing what has been done so far, but of course, while paying respect to the business that has been done so far, activities that are more suitable for the new society I am trying to do it. However, it is not something that I can do alone, so it is important to work as a team while increasing the understanding of everyone.
The fun of SIW, exchanging opinions beyond the boundaries of standpoints
—— Did you start being involved in SOCIAL INNOVATION WEEK (hereinafter referred to as SIW) right after you moved to Shibuya Ward?
Well, from SIW 2020. We were able to work together when the startup support consortium organization was launched. Since then, I have been involved in some way every year.
As I mentioned earlier, it is very important to understand the standpoints and perspectives of various stakeholders, rather than concluding everything within a single organization. I think there is a lot of value in I would like to utilize the power of SIW to create various styles of public-private partnerships.
——Looking back on the past SIW, what is the most impressive thing?
Last year, 2022 SIW. In the context of cultural promotion, we held a three-part talk session on projects related to art and music.
People from diverse backgrounds related to art will take the stage, and of course each of them will have their own opinions, and they will be stimulatingly intertwined during the session. At the end of the talk, Mr. Naohiro Ukawa (DOMMUNE sponsor / SIW Fellow) said, "No, this is Shibuya." "It's okay to chat like this."
For example, the public and non-public perspectives on art are different, and it's important to realize that it's important to know each perspective. The challenge is figuring out what to create and in what form.
As we promote art and culture projects from a public standpoint, we ask ourselves various perspectives, such as how people in the art world see us, and how we see general viewers and art fans. I felt that SIW was really interesting as a place where I could throw the ball in and use what I learned from it to correct the course of the project.
——If we don't exchange opinions from different standpoints, we might never get to know each other.
I was actually watching the scene of the talk with my heart pounding, but I thought it was very meaningful. If SIW as a whole becomes a more exciting place like this, I think it will be even more interesting.
——SIW2023 will be held again this year, what kind of things do you expect from Miyamoto?
I think that online sessions have been the main focus for the past few years due to COVID-19, but I think it would be nice if we could have a little more offline interaction. I would be happy if we could create a place where diverse people can throw balls equally on the same ground level, rather than just being a speaker and an audience. I don't think it's a good idea to just throw the ball unilaterally from the podium.
——This year, we are planning to activate networking functions more than ever before. It would be great if we could make it a place where people can interact more widely beyond their positions.
I agree. Don't you hate the division between those who will be on stage and those who won't? I think it's more like Shibuya if it's as flat as possible and there are no gaps.
--thank you.
SOCIAL INNOVATION WEEK
https://social-innovation-week-shibuya.jp
