Translator: Shannon Walston Reviewer: Hiroko Kawano
Today, I'd like to start with my own story.
Does anyone know what these numbers represent?
The first one is 6,434.
It is the number of people killed in the Kobe Earthquake 20 years ago.
The next number is 2.5 times that.
This is the number of people killed 4 years ago in the Tohoku earthquake.
Sad to say, but this is the current state of my hometown.
This was such a major event,
that it changed my outlook on life forever.
At that time, I felt an intense need
to change my hometown into something totally new,
or Fukushima wouldn't be able to recover from the incident.
I remember feeling a sense of crisis.
My hometown, Aizu-Wakamatsu is a tourism-based town.
A tourist town. The number of tourists dropped by 90%.
I really love this town,
but when I walked around the town, there were hardly any people.
It was like a ghost town.
I, myself, had been busy making my own living.
I wanted to do something for my hometown,
but, I couldn't think of anything,
and I felt quite vexed.
Then, an idea popped into my mind.
Bicycles.
Why bicycles?
Well, what better way to bring back tourists,
than free bicycles spread around town?
That was the starting point.
Now, let's think about bicycles.
Currently, 130 million bicycles are made every year.
130 million bicycles!
Every year!
That's amazing, isn't it?
Also, a new approach to utilizing bicycles,
the trend of renting bicycles is spreading all over the world.
In America, in Europe,
in Taiwan, etc.
This is the rental cycle program started in Kobe on March 26th, 2015.
Have you ever ridden one of these rental cycles in Kobe?
Could you raise your hands?
Ah, not very many of you.
Let's try to ride more often.
Let me explain a bit about bicycles.
Bicycles were invented 200 years ago in Germany.
And bicycles...
Well, if you think about a bicycle, as I'm sure you know,
it has 2 wheels.
And that's how it moves.
There's no special innovation to it.
Yet, it has been like that for 200 years.
Rental cycle programs are currently
spreading rapidly throughout the world.
In this rental cycle business model,
you rent a bicycle, and you receive money for renting it.
Think about the declining population.
In an aging country with a low birth rate, such as Japan,
we need a new means of transportation, or mobility.
Let's take Tokyo and London.
Basically, their populations are declining.
However, during the Olympics,
tourists temporarily flood the city.
That's why the freeways,
large railroads,
and other large infrastructures were invested in.
At that time, it's fine.
But how do you support it after that?
You can't, right?
I don't think bicycles are the solution to all our problems.
However, I believe bicycles
are one option to solve this problem.
Therefore I went about 'reinventing the wheel.'
I think some of you know what I mean by this.
In the programming world, to 'reinvent the wheel' is like this.
Though people know of the existence of the wheel,
there are super geniuses who can make more,
and idiots who don't even know what the wheel is.
They are separated into these two types.
I have to prove that I am a genius from here on out.
Let's take bicycles, for instance.
I think you probably consider bicycles to be possessions.
If bicycles were public property,
what would you think?
By public property, I mean it's not solely yours,
but something everyone shares.
Think about umbrellas, or bicycles.
I bet you have had these items stolen.
It's really frustrating, isn't it?
However, if bicycles or umbrellas
were widely available, what would happen then?
No one would want to steal them.
That's what public property means.
When you think of bicycles as public property,
what can you then do?
Let's think about that.
Here is the concept diagram of my "FUKUSHIMA Wheel" project.
There are 3 main differences from a normal bicycle.
One is a smart phone app,
which is connected to the cloud.
Another is the LEDs on the wheel.
And the third is the environment sensor.
Those 3 things make up "FUKUSHIMA Wheel."
Currently if you rent a bicycle,
you have to return it to a station.
But, we have equipment that opens the lock
with your smart phone; called a 'smartlock.'
By putting this device on the bicycle,
let's say you leave your bicycle somewhere,
when you come back, it could unlock
with just the use of your smart phone.
These kinds of things are possible.
We can do this, so what's next?
A big problem at the time of the disaster
was that so many commuters couldn't go home from Tokyo area.
You may have also had difficulties evacuating
when the Kobe Earthquake hit.
If an event like the Great Kobe Earthquake
or the Tohoku Earthquake, should happen tomorrow,
if there were bicycles available throughout the city,
I think fewer people would be as troubled as in previous disasters.
The use of bicycles
will allow us optimize the cities' resources
in various ways.
For instance, I don't live here right now,
so I don't have a bicycle.
If I ever wanted to use a bicycle,
being able to borrow one would be a lifesaver.
The bike owner would also be happy to receive payment, I think.
What's more, we could also manage logistics
that utilized bicycles citywide.
If I wanted an ice cream, for example,
I could use this app, and soon,
someone could buy one and bring it to me from a nearby convenience store.
Quite useful, right?
You could ask for anything.
Also, there is an environmental sensor on the bicycle.
It can detect temperature, humidity,
carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides as well as radiation.
Just riding your bicycle around,
you can see how polluted your town's air is.
Or how much radiation there is.
Each sensor on the bicycle
collects data,
and all that data will be collected into the cloud.
This way, we can visualize the data.
We could put this huge data set to practical use.
Visualization of this data
will enable us to solve the problems
you face in your town one-by-one.
Now let's get back to rental cycles.
It seems like only good things can come of a rental cycle program.
Like, relieving traffic congestion.
Yet, there are still challenges.
A large corporation might start a rental cycle program
to improve its public image.
Or, more commonly, a municipality might use a large sum of subsidies,
a.k.a. taxpayers money.
and start a rental cycle program.
That is to say, the rental cycle program
is largely considered an unsustainable business model.
Using our idea of 'reinventing the wheel,'
to figure out a sustainable business model for rental bicycles,
is my new challenge.
So, I put LEDs on the wheels.
When it spins, an advertisement shows.
According to location or time information,
relevant advertisements can automatically show.
Let's say there are 1000 bicycles running around town.
They will show ads for the various stores they pass by.
If there will be a time sale at 3pm,
'Sale’ would appear on the wheel.
We can do things like that.
By using this software,
we can change the price for up or downhill trips,
we can make the price less
if you return it to a certain station.
Then, since after this TEDx, everyone will want to ride a bicycle,
we can raise the price.
These are things we can do. (Laughter)
Now, I made a movie
showing the realization of this world I described.
Please watch.
(Music) [Reinvent the Wheel]
Thanks to the smart lock,
a rental cycle that required a station before,
can be parked anywhere, and can then be borrowed from anywhere.
The sensor data can tell you how many calories you burned,
the temperature and humidity where you are,
as well as nitrogen compound and carbon monoxide levels.
You can see how clean the city is.
Also, you can collect all this data into the cloud,
and share it with others.
As an example,
a tourist might not know exactly where they are,
but the GPS can tell them.
That same GPS can show
the location of nearby bicycles.
Currently, it’s common to use a navigation system when you drive a car.
We attached this to the bicycle.
With this technology,
you can share with your friends
the tourist spots you visited,
and experiences you had during your trip.
Again, bicycles can be part
of an extremely healthy lifestyle and can be the basis
for creating more sustainability
in our society.
We often see this kind of congestion, right?
What do you think about taking a bicycle next time?
Just like this, when you ride, the ad shows on the wheel.
Of course, you can take a selfie to show on it.
What do you think?
If you saw this bicycle, would you not be excited?
(Applause)
In order to realize this idea,
I am traveling around the world;
America, Europe, Asia, Japan.
I've visited many countries.
Basically, a bicycle has 2 wheels.
If one wheel is Fukushima,
the other represents your town.
Towns all over the world
each have their own problems.
I believe my plan to 'reinvent the wheel'
can surely solve those problems.
My hometown, Aizu-Wakamatsu,
is also known for lacquer ware.
There is a lacquer technique
called 'Kintsugi,' or 'golden repair.'
With this technique,
broken tea cups and pottery
are repaired with gold and lacquer.
I feel that this disaster has left us with 'broken pottery'.
However, in the world of tea,
in the world of 'Kintsugi,'
these fragments that have been repaired
with gold and lacquer,
are cherished and used with more care than before.
That is to say, the value of the piece has increased.
What I am trying to do by 'reinventing the wheel,'
is exactly the same as using 'Kintsugi' to repair my hometown.
Currently we think of bicycles as private possessions.
If you thought of them as public property instead,
how do you think the world would change?
When things you've always thought of
as belonging to an individual,
become public property,
how will that change your world?
Please think about this.
And so, lastly,
I'd like to put on a show.
(Applause)
In a little bit,
I will spin this bicycle wheel.
At that time, I'll count down; 3, 2, 1.
When I do, I need you to shout 'Showtime.'
If your voices are too quiet, I'll be too embarrassed.
(Laughter)
And it's not '3, 2, Showtime!'
After '3, 2, 1,'
please say 'Showtime.'
Okay? We aren't going to practice this.
Okay!
3!
2!
1!
Audience: Showtime!
(Cheering)
(Applause)
And with that, I'd like to end my talk.
Thank you for your attention.
(Applause)