| The tenth anniversary Fukuoka Asia Urban Research Center establishment
"Future Fukuoka / Writing Contest 1998" entry |
| My Future Fukuoka in 2025 |
| by Shunya Susuki |
| August 31, 2025 Weather: Fine (I'm 71 years old ; PC diary by the voice inputting) I was woken up by children's laughing voices followed by the sound of breaking glass. When I stepped out of my house, I found out that one of our outdated solar panel tiles on my roof was broken. Several children came to me and said "We're sorry for breaking it". This incident reminded me of my childhood when children were playing on the road. I would like to talk about the process how it again became possible for children to play on the road without caring about the traffic. At first, in 2010, the CPU performance of personal computers (PC) progressed drastically in comparison with those in 2000, and it promoted networking and globalizing the world at the same time. The rate of Japanese households owning a PC had already become 100% in 2010, and the Internet became common in Japan. The indexes that even amateurs could read about the potential of all the companies around the world were released by the Internet in 2020. They were useful to judge each company's activities objectively both on how the company was expected to do well in the world economy and on how the company contributed to the global environment. All companies got a chance to get the investment from all the people around the world at this time, but at the same time they were always checked on their performance by the organizations rating them. Teleworking became common in Fukuoka during those days, and video phone and the Internet were often used for all the trades and business talks. As purchasing commodities directly from the producers by video phone or the Internet was common in 2020, people were gradually not using cars. The car makers had to continue appealing to stockholders for the future prospects of the company to survive under the globalizing economy. And, as one of the strategies, they continued suggesting a design of unique public transportation systems that matched the characteristic of each self-governing body. As a result, computer-controlled electric car system was adopted in Fukuoka City. People no longer owned private cars, and driving cars in residential areas was prohibited in the daytime as a general rule. All the public transportation networks such as subway and bus were established, and transit parking lots were set up near subway stations and bus stops, where robot electric cars (maximum speed per hour is 20km) were deployed. Those who made reservations for the robot electric cars on the Internet in advance could go to the subway station parking lot or the nearest bus stop by using the electric cars. And then they would change to the public transportation for their destination. Meanwhile, mail was carried at night taking the reverse path from the stations to each family. Because the public transportation was used all day, its profit increased very much. In addition, the number of traffic accidents in the city decreased and there were hardly any traffic jams. Crimes using cars such as reckless driving acts or bank robberies decreased drastically as well. By the way, because the children had been accustomed to playing with their PCs or other toys at home since their birth, they had already lost interest in playing outdoor by 2020s. Due to both the decrease in birthrate and the increase in truants, many universities had been making all efforts to make ends meet. The following was one of the big news related to education at that time. A primary school truant in Fukuoka City was very interested in mathematics. He asked a question to a professor in Peking University about mathematics by using his new PC given from his father. Since then, he has been taking a mathematics class in Peking University through the internet. (Speaking with foreigners by using PCs in those days had been made possible by automatic translation system by voice inputting.) This story symbolized that children could learn the subject with their interest at home, even if they did not go to school. In March 2025, Japanese compulsory education turned into the direction that sought much of volunteer activity at last, and university entrance exams were abolished. Freed from the ordeal of university entrance examinations, children dashed out to the roads after school, and roads instantly became a place for communication of neighboring children. I see an old man enjoying a walk with a junior high student doing a volunteer work far away. A neighboring old woman walking with her grandchild approached and called out to me, "Hi, how are you?" I nodded to her in the same way as I did in my childhood. |