ブックタイトル佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

概要

佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

?Imagine there?re no countries...?Even if we don’t reach quite the level of unification expressed in John Lennon’spopular song, entitled‘Imagine’, it is hard to deny that the lines between countriesare beginning to blur. The inventions and technologies created in our last interestingcentury are contributing to this breakdown of barriers in a way few predicted. TheInternet is allowing me here in Japan to communicate to my friends in America viaemail, to send flowers to a friend in Spain, and to write to a girl in Britain curiousabout life in Japan. There are literally countless examples of similar cases, of peoplevisiting the world right from their own home-traversing the globe without leavingtheir seat. It may be a bit cliche, but the Internet is absolutely beginning to affecteveryone on the globe.The exchange of culture and ideas is not limited to the Internet alone. Airplanesmake it possible to travel halfway around the world in a matter of hours. Thesesame planes bring people, luggage, clothing, and souvenirs; in short, culture. Thefashion styles between Japan and America are so subtle that it takes a good fewweeks staying here to really see what they are. It is the same in countries around theworld. How do people in other countries see other cultures’fashions, besides throughvisitors? They see it through television, the third great source of the spread of ideas,thoughts, and knowledge of what is beyond the viewers’home.The UN, in its Millennium Conference held September 6-8, 2000, recognized thefact that Internet usage around the world is becoming a standard activity. Severalproposals in this direction were submitted during this conference, one of the mostrelevant being the proposal discussing the‘United Nations Information TechnologyService’. This is a volunteer corps whose goal is to educate and train those indeveloping countries about the Internet. It should be interesting to see how this76