Yuriko Koike Worry, solve, and gain confidence. It's okay to fail. Start with what you can do.

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Yuriko Koike
Member of the House of Representatives. Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (for National Security Affairs). Former Minister of the Environment and Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs.
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1952. After dropping out of Kwansei Gakuin University, she studied abroad at Cairo University in Egypt. After graduating from the university in 1976, she worked as a freelance journalist. She is also known as the first anchor of "World Business Satellite" (TV Tokyo). She entered politics in 1992 and has been elected to the House of Councillors for one term and the House of Representatives for five consecutive terms. Her books include "Environmental Business Women" (Nikkei BP) and "Nagatacho Broadcaster" (Asahi Shimbun).

On the historic day when the referendum bill was passed, I interviewed Yuriko Koike at the House of Representatives building in Nagatacho, Tokyo. When she appeared dashingly with an eco-bag in hand, I was impressed by her appearance as a former Minister of the Environment.

Change the "atmosphere" of Japan!

Cool Biz gave birth to the idea of ​​businessmen doing their work without jackets and ties, and has firmly established the trend. It became a social phenomenon on June 1, 2005, when former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appeared looking cool in "Kariyushi wear." "Cool Biz" won the 2005 Buzzword Award, and the movement has had a major impact not only in Japan but overseas, spreading to China and Chile in South America. It's no secret that the mastermind behind Cool Biz was Yuriko Koike, who was Minister of the Environment at the time.
The government urged the public to "take off their ties" and "set the air conditioner to 28 degrees Celsius." However, Koike says that a major factor in the success of Cool Biz is that it changed the "atmosphere" that "working men must wear ties and jackets."

"This is how a woman should be"?

According to Koike, the same can be said about Japan's attitude toward men and women. For example, there's the invisible pressure from those around single women to "get married yet." There's also the "atmosphere" in the workplace that makes it difficult for men to take advantage of the childcare leave system. The "atmosphere" is dominated by the idea that women should be a certain way and men should be a certain way. Rather than being satisfied with the system itself, it's this "atmosphere" and attitude that needs to be changed. "Japan is still a male-dominated society. That's the result of Japan's fundamental structure, the division of roles between men and women that has existed since before the war. But women tend to be viewed as special. If they do well because they're women, it's expected, and if they fail, they're told, 'I knew it.' If they make a lot of mistakes, they're labeled as incompetent. That's frustrating, isn't it? So ultimately, women think they have to work about 10 times as hard as men."

Wisdom is important

He also reflected on his time as a student in Egypt, saying, "I had many experiences that I would not have had at a Japanese university. For example, war. The Middle East is said to be the powder keg of the world, and unfortunately, Egyptians were 'used to war'. Just like how Japanese people take shelter under their desks during earthquakes. There were times when I realized that we would be in trouble if we ran out of food and went to the supermarket, but it was too late; all that was left were rubber boots and scrubbing pads."
This was a time when there were no computers or copy machines. How does he feel about the differences between students today and his own time as a student? "Back then, if you wanted to research something, you had to look it up in a book or ask someone. It took a lot of effort. Especially in this age of convenient information society, it's meaningless if you don't understand things systematically as a story, rather than just memorizing symbols and individual things. That's what I think."
Also, I think the knowledge you learn in school is about the size of a CD-ROM. I also think that wisdom is necessary. It's something they don't teach you in school, but by struggling and finding solutions, it becomes your own know-how. To do that, you have to experience things for yourself and learn by watching others. There are no exams for wisdom, but every day is a repetition of exams."

Take it one step at a time

"Set high goals and execute diligently!" This is something that Mr. Koike consistently talks about in interviews and in his book, "Koike Style Concept Notes." Here is a message from Mr. Koike for students.
"Worrying won't improve anything. So find your own way to solve the problem and clear it. It's okay to fail, but just keep trying, and move forward one step at a time. That will also lead to confidence. I personally find it to be my driving force. And if you act with the understanding that your student days are 'precious time that will never come again,' I think you'll be able to use your time very well."

From the August 2007 issue of the Student Newspaper