Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s media-savvy digital minister said Friday he’s ready to take an iron-fisted approach to speed up the nation’s slow embrace of online services at government offices and workplaces.

KONO Taro — a political heavyweight who has been minister of defence, foreign affairs and Covid vaccines — has already declared war on fax machines, floppy disks and other obsolete technologies that are still common in the world’s third-largest economy.

“I have no plan to be a coordinator. If there are people who have a problem with it, I will beat them up,” he quipped in an online interview with a small group of journalists.

“The pandemic forced everyone to acknowledge that Japan’s digitalisation has been slow,” added Kono.

“It has become crystal clear, compared with other countries, how difficult it is to do business and to conduct daily affairs.”

With Kono’s new comments, comes the decision to digitalize passport procedures for Japanese citizens. 

Starting March 27 next year, the Japanese government said it will put the revised passport law in effect making procedures for the renewal of passports available online.

People will also become able to report their lost passports online. These online procedures will be available at some Japanese diplomatic offices abroad from March 27, and in June or later in Japan depending on the prefecture.

The process of issuing new passports is expected to go online in fiscal 2024, which begins in April that year.

Japan is often internationally considered a byword for high-tech, but fax machines are still routinely used by businesses and households along with email and texting apps.

Floppy disks and CD-ROMs are less visible to consumers, but some official documents are legally required to be stored in these outdated formats.

“Throughout Covid, we have seen so many countries move their government procedures onto digital platforms,” Kono said.

“At the same time, we are not there yet.”

He blamed a culture that does not necessarily encourage people to suggest change in the workplace, which he said results in people pretending not to notice problems.

“People are so quick to make changes if something is not convenient at home. But once you step out of your house, everything becomes someone else’s problem,” Kono said.

“We must build a society where people take actions and suggest improvements to better society.

Kono, who has also sought to phase out the personal ink signature stamps known as hanko, said he was optimistic society would embrace the convenience of digitalisation.

“If people feel their lives are getting better, more convenient, easier, I think that means the digital agency is successful,” he said.

“How do you measure that? If you see people have more smiles on their face.”

*With AFP and JIJI Press