Jan-Emmanuel de Neve

Gross domestic product (GDP) has many limitations. It is an excellent measure of economic output but inadequate for anything else. Its strengths are that it is a single key performance indicator (KPI) and that it has an established credibility. Any indicator for parameters beyond GDP needs to have similar strengths. I believe that subjective well-being is a useful complement to GDP.

Well-being is an emotional quantity. Gallup and other companies are already conducting well-being surveys to evaluate it. If we can visualize well-being, it will help us to formulate policies to enrich human lives. These surveys ask people how they feel about their lives and how they rate their quality of life. The advantages of this kind of assessment are that it is based on the real feelings of people and that the underlying science is built on extensive measurements and data.

When well-being is examined from a policymaking perspective, we should also consider human life expectancy. Policy analysis needs to convert well-being and life assessments into “well-being-adjusted life years.”

This is because it makes more policy sense to be able to extend life by five years, even at a somewhat lower quality of life, than to extend life by one year in pursuit of a perfect quality of life. I appreciate that different arguments can be made, but I think well-being-adjusted life years is the right way forward.

Well-being surveys also have political relevancy. Changes in the level of people’s well-being are better predictors of support for a current government than GDP, unemployment, or inflation figures. Intelligent politicians in developed countries are starting to understand this.

On the other hand, subjective well-being is subject to issues relating to environmental sustainability. A paper published in 2020 examining the correlation between the achievement of individual Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and public well-being found that two SDGs were negatively correlated with well-being.

These were Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and Goal 13 (Climate Action). Deeper analysis revealed that the correlation was most negative in the case of Goal 12. This finding implies that trying to be a socially responsible consumer or producer may negatively impact how people rate their quality of life in the short term.

A tension exists between environmental measures and quality of life. We, therefore, need to come up with skillful policies that improve the environment and modify human behavior without undermining people’s sense of well-being.

Hideo Okumura

TOPPAN Holdings Inc. was originally established in 1900 by engineers from the Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance who wanted to use leading-edge printing technology to contribute to the development of Japanese society and culture. While adapting to change since its founding, the company has constantly strived to generate social value. Innovation is in our DNA!

The well-being of employees is indispensable for accelerating innovation. To promote well-being management, we are working to develop the original job-based personnel system and enhance our personnel training program. As foundation measures, we are also trying to improve employee conditions and conducting employee engagement surveys.

The original job-based personnel system is a hybrid of a job-based system based on a “new-normal” workstyle, tailored to job groups, and a traditional Japanese-style employment system. It was designed to facilitate the selection of young employees.

We have conducted engagement surveys since January 2022. They allow us to grasp the specific causes of gaps between expectations and reality, as well as organizational issues. Employee well-being is now included as a KPI in our latest medium-term management plan.

Toppan is also contributing to well-being through its focus on the healthcare business. ICI (Integrated Clinical Care Informatics, Inc.), a company that specializes in medical big data, is now a consolidated subsidiary. Its services offer advanced electronic medical record databases and data analysis tools for improved healthcare. We have also launched Todokusuri EXPRESS, a member-based service that enables faster home delivery of prescription drugs.

On October 1, 2023, we also shifted to a holding company structure. At the same time, the company name was shortened to “Toppan” by dropping the word “Printing.” In accordance with our revised business portfolio, we are committed to ensuring the well-being of all our stakeholders.

Ishikawa: Government policies are now looking at national growth in terms of both GDP and well-being. Well-being and urban design are, therefore, likely to become increasingly essential keywords.

Saito: At Sun Frontier, our business is focused mainly on office buildings in central Tokyo. Since it was founded, the company has continued philosophy-based management with a corporate credo of “Compassion”. In other words, we put importance on helping as many people as possible. Our key sustainability challenges are environmental protection, regional revitalization, and human resource development.

We recognize it is outdated to demolish and reconstruct buildings that are still usable. With the well-being of the planet in mind, we need to use our ingenuity and technology to continue making use of them. One example is A YOTSUYA. Every room in this renovated 40-year-old building features mural art by a variety of artists. This project, which combines art and office space, enjoys a high occupancy rate and is particularly popular among startup companies. It has also become a special place for Ukrainian refugees to gather together. We believe that providing places that help people to create a heart-to-heart exchange of compassion with others is a critical element of urban design that increases the well-being of people.

Kinoshita:I feel that venture capital is inherently altruistic, in the sense that we take other people’s money and invest it with the goal of achieving success together. While I was still a student, I started a business with the aim of getting it publicly listed by the age of 30 or so, as a way of setting a role model. Startups are showing more promise than ever, even in fields like social entrepreneurship, where it has been traditionally difficult to attract funds. Markets are also larger than ever. I want to convey the message that a wide variety of people are working at a high level in spaces with better environments than in the past.

Ishikawa: People may have different ideas about what constitutes well-being, but if we reflect on how we can contribute to well-being, it is a matter of deciding for oneself from a range of options. If we work to generate greater well-being from the perspective of altruism, what does Tokyo have the potential to become?

Saito: The COVID-19 pandemic restricted people from gathering, and it helped to increase remote work. It also accelerated some technological improvements such as internet connectivity and online meetings. Now people are coming back to living in the “real world.” Maybe that’s because face-to-face meeting and direct communication help fuel ideas and inspiration. Collaboration between urban and rural areas can now be done remotely, however, direct and real interactions help to influence each other wider and deeper. We also operate over 22 hotels that connect people across different regions in Japan as well as people from overseas.

Kinoshita: We are starting to offer transportation expenses of ¥10,000 for our startup events. It’s hard for people to get to Tokyo from many rural areas. We are also working to bridge the gap between the regions and Tokyo in other ways.

Ishikawa: I think COVID-19 has helped people to rethink where and how they want to live, as well as the kind of people they want to spend time with.