Learning Sustainability from Japanese culture – Sustainable Business Hub webinars

Japanese culture is a mixture of tradition and beauty, which still inspires wonder in many people today. Shrines embraced by nature, food that focuses on longevity, time-proven artistry that remains treasured today, memorable stories told by manga and anime… the list which binds the Japanese essence goes on.

And it is finding another role in modern times. In this era of troubles, the climate crisis is the biggest threat the world faces. The World Economic Forum recently released their Global Risks Report 2022 recently, ranking climate change as the top global risk. Biodiversity loss and extreme weather, including droughts and floods, are among some of the devastating threats to the world.

But it is precisely because of crises like climate crisis that we need to revisit tradition and culture, especially Japanese culture. For centuries, the Japanese’s understanding of their relationship with nature has molded their philosophy and action to harmonize with their environment. They birthed concepts like mottainai and wabisabi, and have even created an original circular economy model, centuries before the world realized the model is a necessity.

Sustainable Business Hub held a series of four webinars to explore four contemporary issues while revealing hints that Japanese culture can offer to solve.

Sustainable human resource development and Japanese Culture

While many businesses are shifting towards sustainability, the move away from traditional management strategies raised numerous concerns. One of them is human resources. There is a realization that the value of an individual needs to be treasured as the world makes changes in society, consumer behaviors and lifestyle. Through looking at Japanese culture, the first webinar will visualize how sustainable human resources will look like in the future.

Carbon Neutrality and Japanese Culture

The world is in crisis over climate changes and resource utilization. Countries worldwide are exploring solutions that would address the carbon issue. It includes Japan, which declared to go carbon neutral by 2050. On the other hand, seeking carbon zero will require a significant change in our social structure and values. Perhaps we may not be looking for something new in our search for that change, but searching for something we can adapt from the ancient Japanese lifestyle.

Circular Economy and Japanese Culture

Although it is still a new term for the masses, the circular economy is the latest trend in shifting businesses to become sustainable for the future. It takes the damaging linear economy and turns it into a circular flow of materials and resources to eliminate the error called “waste.” With conviction, Japan can achieve a circular economy too. We know this because this has been done in Japan before. In this webinar, we will be inspired as we study the features of the Circular EDOnomy, a circular economy model perfected in the Edo Period.

Decentralized society and Japanese culture

Many festivals in Japan are centuries-old, passed down from one generation to the next. However, it is also true that some of them are waning in popularity. It is then fortunate that Japan is beginning to explore the idea of decentralization, because the revitalization of festivals could also mean the building and solidification of a resilient community. By exploring Japanese society and its people, we can get hints on how we can transition from metropolitan centers to decentralized societies.