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On February 26, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the awards ceremony for the Fourth Japan Venture Grand Prize, held at the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“Congratulations to all of the winners on their awards at this Fourth Japan Venture Grand Prize. Taking this opportunity, I would like to commend your efforts and achievements.

Just a moment ago, I viewed the exhibits set up by each of the award winners. All of them looked quite exciting and made us envision the great change coming in the near future.

Even in politics, it is of the utmost importance that we create and implement policies that excite young people and make it possible for them to have dreams and hopes for their future. This is not just important for young people, as we enter an age of 100-year lifespans. The people gathered here today have shared with me some insights for thinking about what our jobs will look like and how our experiences and know-how, accumulated over the years while we are growing old and physically weak, can be applied to new fields as various technologies advance. In a sense, our work shares a similar aspect to start-ups, in that we must not forget the spirit of constantly pursuing new challenges. Standing before all of you now, I am reminded of this once again.

I have gone a little bit off track. Anyway, earlier, I tried out the free market app created by Mercari, one of the award winners this time. Using Mercari’s app, people can easily turn into money items that they no longer need and would otherwise throw away. It also gives consumers a cheap way of purchasing the things they want. Having proposed such a recycle-based consumption style, Mercari generates revenue through the collection of processing fees. Furthermore, this contributes to the tax revenue of the Government. I think it therefore benefits all parties.

We should not simply cut costs or imitate others, but expand our businesses by creating entirely new value. This way of doing business has traditionally been the forte of Japan, ever since the time of the Omi merchants (a famous group of merchants in Japanese history) to the present day. This is the royal road to success in business no matter where you are in the world. That is why Mercari has enjoyed success across many different countries, including Japan, the United States, and even the United Kingdom, and quickly gained over 100 million users around the world.

Big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI). Thanks to these revolutionary innovations, we are now witnessing a historic change that is worthy of being called the fourth industrial revolution. There comes completely new value when we overcome existing technical limitations and connect people and even people with things. The possibility of the creation of such value is increasing rapidly. This revolution presents a major opportunity for the Japanese economy. We must not let it pass us by. We will take on the challenge of creating revolutionary business models by making active use of new innovations. Standing at the forefront of these efforts are none other than ambitious startups like yours. Even Toyota and Sony began as start-ups. Determined to provide new value to the world, they took on challenges after challenges to create cutting-edge innovations, thereby developing into world-class companies.

I hope that all of you will continue to boldly rise to new challenges and grow into companies that can drive the Japanese economy forward. The young people of the next generation are watching you. In closing my remarks I would like to express my high hopes for your continued success and development such that you inspire even stronger entrepreneurship among the next generation. I have high expectations for all of your future activities. Congratulations on your awards today.”