WEBVTT

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(Music)

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[Value. What is value?]

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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Is this mic working?

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Today I have something

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that I would like all of you
to think about.

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Suppose you were shopping
for a new mattress today.

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One is only 10,000 yen,

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the other is 100,000 yen,
just like the one you sleep on

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in a luxurious hotel.

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Which one would you buy?

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"I take sleep seriously
because it's important for beauty.

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So, I will buy the good quality one
no matter how expensive it is,"

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might be what some of you think.

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Depending on the decision
according to your values,

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the price may not mean anything to you.

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Now, the mattress you paid for
has been delivered to your home.

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The old mattress you have been using
is no longer needed.

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After considering what to do with it,

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you contacted industrial waste
disposal companies.

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The company A said
that it would cost 5000 yen,

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Ishizaki Sangyo said
7000 yen to dispose of it.

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Which one would you choose?

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"I don't want to spend money
for what I don't need,"

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is what many of you have just thought
for a moment right now, isn't it?

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Would you take a quick look at this?

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This is the amount
of non-industrial garbage

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that each of these countries
disposes of per year.

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Non-industrial garbage 
is what we dispose of in everyday life.

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Of course, not all countries
are included in this data.

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In Japan, about 50 million tons
of garbage produced in our daily life

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is being disposed per year.

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This means

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that approximately 365kg per person


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is being discarded every year.

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Do you think that this amount


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is too much or too little?

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This graph shows

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how each country disposes
of their household garbage.

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At first glance, the dark blue
looks dominant, doesn't it?

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This color shows that the waste
is buried into the ground.

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In some countries, 
most garbage is being buried.

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It seems hard to distinguish
which one is which

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by just looking at the colors.

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Can you see it okay?

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Actually in Japan,

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we are incinerating 75% of garbage.

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Since Japan has limited
space for landfills,

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the percentage of garbage
to be buried is very small.

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That is why we depend on incineration.

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Well, then, how much do you think
the amount of the industrial waste

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having been disposed since WWII is?

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It is approximately
400 million tons per year.

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What is industrial waste anyway?

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The more active our economy
and industries get,

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the richer our life gets,
and the more things we produce.

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As the result, what comes out
in that process is industrial waste.

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That is 400 million tons.

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Comparing it to the size of Tokyo Dome,

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it's roughly 1100 times as much
as the dome could hold.

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Disposing of industrial waste is my job.

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In Japan, there are about 18,000 companies

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that accept and dispose
of industrial waste.

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If you were informed
that you are going to have

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an industrial disposal company
in your neighborhood,

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how would you feel?

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"Not in my back yard,"
whose abbreviation is "NIMBY,"

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is a normal reaction.

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Our industry has been viewed
as an "unwelcome industry."

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I run the company that my father
started when I was small.

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"She is the daughter of a binman."

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"Do not play with her,"

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were the words I overheard
when I was a child.

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When I asked my father
why he started this business,

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he answered,

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"As I watched those things being dumped
into the ocean day after day,

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I saw so many things
that could have been reused.

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I am certain that the time
for recycling things will definitely come.

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So, I started this business."

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That was what my father told me.

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However, have you heard the news
about dioxin reported in 1999?

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Because of the news -

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my company is in Tokorozawa, Saitama -

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people in the local communities said,

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"Your company is causing us problems,"

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"Get out of this area,"

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"We don't need your company here."


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A lot of people began
saying things like that to us.

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What my father thought was good for people

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was considered to be useless by many.

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But think again before you have
such view about this industry.

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Who has been contributing
to producing such waste?

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If we don't do this job,
where would the waste be taken?

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I don't want you to forget
that it is our mission

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for each one of us to figure out
what we should do with it.

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I have been seeing people
who work at my company,

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putting their hands into the piles
of stuff carried in by dump trucks,

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to sort out what could be reused
from what could not, everyday.

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Looking at them, I feel like
I am watching "Treasure in Japan."

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And the moment of looking
at them makes me realize

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that I am proud
of what my father has built.

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What would we be able to produce
from industrial waste, then?

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The premises of my company is roughly
3.5 times as vast as Tokyo Dome.

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We use 20% of it for the operation
of industrial waste treatment.

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The rest, 80%, is for preserving
the woodlands in the neighborhood.

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From all over, not only Japan,
but also the world,

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a lot of people visit us.

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How should we dispose industrial waste?

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If a facility like my company
is made in a community,

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what would happen to the community?

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How can we preserve
our environment from now on?

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These are the questions
that we should ask ourselves,

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and I hope visiting my company provides
people with an opportunity for it.

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I also would like you to think about

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how the facilities like my company
which are not too welcomed,

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can get out of the current situation

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and produce something new out of it.

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Something new doesn't always
have to be made brand new from scratch.

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Creating something new by transforming

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things we already have made
and can no longer use

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is also very important.

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Without those who work in this industry,

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and those who actually continue
handling the waste,

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what would happen to the waste?

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Who else would do the job?

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We need to create a culture
where they can work with pride and dreams.

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If I can give people
an opportunity for them to think

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about what to do with industrial waste,

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my role in this job would
become meaningful.

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This is the thought that I have

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while working as the president
of my company.

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Do you want to live on the land


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with the ground contaminated by waste?

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Do you want to live
on the desert-like Earth,

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with forests and rivers devastated?

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Or do you want to live
in harmony with nature

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in the environment
with rich forests and plenty of water?

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It is our mission
for each one of us to choose.

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This is the era
where the choice is up to us.

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Thank you.


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(Applause)