Can Japan end its reliance on 'boomer-era' tech? One minister is waging war on the fax machine

Veteran cabinet minister Taro Kono, newly tasked with slashing through Japan's legendary red tape and doing away with bureaucratic and corporate inefficiencies, has wasted no time in declaring war on two of the country's most anachronistic throwbacks: "hanko" personal seals and fax machines.

But his crusade to modernise Japan away from workplace tech that would not look out of place in an office of the 1980s is likely to meet with resistance, observers say - not least from the country's army of petty bureaucrats and professional pen-pushers who are both reluctant to learn new technologies and have an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude.

Since being named minister for administrative reform and regulatory reform by new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on September 16, Kono has laid out his ambitions with gusto.

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Last week, he ordered all national government offices to broadly halt the practice of requiring "hanko" personal seals on official documents - limiting their use to only the most important or sensitive paperwork.

A 'hanko' personal seal is seen after being used to stamp a document in Japan. Photo: Twitter alt=A 'hanko' personal seal is seen after being used to stamp a document in Japan. Photo: Twitter

In a letter distributed by the Cabinet Office, he urged every ministry to comply with his orders, warning those who did not that they would be required to provide an explanation as to why before the end of September.

"Why do we need to print out paper?" Kono asked at a press conference on Friday. "In many cases, it is simply because the hanko stamp is required. So if we can put a stop to that culture, then it will naturally do away with the need for printouts and faxes."

Japan's reliance on boomer-era technology came in for fierce criticism earlier this year, when doctors struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic condemned the legal requirement that hospitals must complete paperwork on new cases by hand and then fax it to public health centres to compile statistics.

This further led to the revelation that virtually every government office and company across Japan has a fax machine, along with one in every three households.

Morinosuke Kawaguchi, a futurist and innovation specialist who was previously a lecturer at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, said the realisation of just how analogue - and, arguably, antiquated - Japan had become in comparison with other advanced economies is almost certainly behind Kono's campaign.

"More than 97 per cent of the documents that are produced in companies and government offices presently need a hanko, but these are hanko that can be purchased in a convenience store, so there is no meaning to this habit," he said. "It makes no sense, it's completely ridiculous."

Kawaguchi said Kono's initiative to simplify and speed up many aspects of everyday life was long overdue, but he cautioned that there will be some who drag their feet.

"It would be too radical to simply get rid of hanko and fax machines entirely and immediately, especially because something like the fax machine has been improved and upgraded over the lifetime of the technology so that today it is still very efficient and plenty of people are going to ask what would be the advantage of adopting something new," he said.

Fax machines are seen for sale at a store in Japan. Photo: Twitter alt=Fax machines are seen for sale at a store in Japan. Photo: Twitter

Security concerns might also factor into the reluctance of ministries, in particular, to ditch their fax machines, according to Kawaguchi.

"It may be 1970s technology, but it is extremely secure and very difficult for someone on the outside to hack," he said. "Many ministries still use them for sensitive communications because they are impossible to access. Digitisation may make things more efficient, but there is clearly a trade-off when it comes to security."

Yet the response to Kono's plans show that they are widely popular. Within days of him switching from his previous portfolio as the minister of defence, he had announced the creation of a system for people to report excessive bureaucracy at all levels of government - which was brought to its knees within hours by the sheer volume of complaints.

Kono initially took to Twitter to urge the public to "send information, such as unnecessary regulations, rules that are making your job difficult and bureaucratic silos that are problematic."

In an excited follow-up message, he declared, "More than 3,000 emails in just hours! We are now reading them."

He clearly realised just how fed up the Japanese public had become with burdensome regulations, however, with him soon suspending the service after admitting he had received "far more" emails than expected.

And while many Japanese appear to have plenty to complain about, Kono has also received messages of support on his English-language Twitter account.

"Don't burn yourself out, sir!" one cautioned, with another lamenting, "I want more politicians to act as quickly as you do."

Kawaguchi said that if anyone can drag Japan into the 21st century, it is Kono.

"He is the right man for the job and I am sure he will be successful," he said. "This has become one of the key issues that the Japanese public expects of the Suga administration and Kono is perfectly suited for making sure it gets done."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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