A Message from Hideo Miyahara, Executive Adviser
“Knowledge Capital” is conceived to be a knowledge creation center of an entirely new kind, for bringing together cutting-edge technology and art, for research and development of products and services that can be of real benefit to society. It will also strive to understand the impact of advanced technologies on our everyday lives.
Close to 2.5 million people pass through and around Osaka Station each and every day. Probably nowhere else in the world does there remain so much vacant land around a hub of such intense human activity. Located within this redevelopment site, regarded as the last piece of prime real estate in the heart of the city, the Osaka Station North District Development Project (more commonly, “North Yard”) is being built. It is here that we are moving to establish a center for promoting a new kind of innovation.
Osaka and the Kansai region is blessed with a high concentration of companies with strong technological capabilities and manufacturing expertise. However, unless these companies can accurately identify and understand what people need and want they cannot make full use of their strengths. To overcome this limitation it is necessary to provide a means to enable information exchange and communication between researchers, engineers, and ordinary users. If we can provide a place for these people to come together for the exchange of knowledge, we will be able to produce new and valuable products and services.
At this Knowledge Capital, we want to fuse science and technology with art, to cultivate engineers who have the sensibility and sensitivity to produce new ideas and designs, and to create new value. And also the new products resulting from the creation of this new intellectual value can be publicly shown, demonstrated, and tried out. We can then reflect the feedback of users in further design and development. Furthermore, promoting international exchanges, between professionals from Asia and ordinary Japanese, will help to raise the consciousness of the Japanese public. In view of this, Knowledge Capital can serve as a base for collaboration between industry, government, academia, and even citizens, adding further value to the city of Osaka.
Right here in Osaka, we are establishing the kind of “knowledge center” that is a drawing widespread interest in many parts of the world. This represents an entirely new challenge in the sphere of urban planning. We are confident that the fruit of this effort will lead to the revitalization of the Kansai region, as well as to a significant stimulation of the Japanese industry.
