The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 13 | Issue 5 | Number 2 | Feb 02, 2015

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Komatsu, Smart Construction, Creative Destruction, andJapan’s Robot Revolution コマツのスマートコンストラクション､創造的破壊と日本のロボット革命

Andrew DeWit

Japanese multinational construction giantKomatsu is a front-runner, in Japan as well asglobally, in the development and deployment ofrenewable energy, efficiency, automation androbotics. It is also a repeat winner of thecoveted Deming Prize and numerous otherawards for excellence, innovation andenvironmental protection.1 It is important tostress that Komatsu has a history of impressiveachievement as preface to suggesting that, onJanuary 20, it held a possibly epochal pressconference. Komatsu's presser unveiled a newparadigm of "smart construction," one aimed atrevamping the construction industry with arobotics revolution. Komatsu staged itsannouncement in Shibuya's capacious HikarieHall, a focal point and showcase of Japaneserail and real-estate conglomerate TokyuCorporation's smart city strategies.2 With aGPS and camera-equipped drone hoveringoverhead, Komatsu CEO Ohashi Tetsujideclared that, from February 1, his companywould begin offering smart constructionoptions at its 123 sales outlets within Japan.Komatsu calculates that its smart approach cancut project costs by at least 20-30 percentthrough the use of robotics, including the multi-sensor drones; cloud computing through its"KomConnect" platform to process the massiveflows of information; and further automation todisplace reliance on scarce labour whileincreasing precision and decreasing waste.Komatsu, the world's second largestmanufacturer of mining and constructionequipment (behind Caterpillar), and the biggestin Asia (including China), also intends to makesmart construction a global product by March

of 2016.

Komatsu's Helicopter Drone at HikarieHall (http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/58533)

Komatsu's launch of smart constructioninstantly adds a new aspect to the proliferatingelements of Japan's smart cities and perhaps tothose evolving elsewhere. The stress onautomation will certainly interest those whohave been following the development ofAbenomics in general as well as the roboticsrevolution in particular. As we detail below,this is not just about Komatsu. Japan itself isunfolding a policy mix and public-privatecollaboration to recapture some of the outrightdominance the country held in robotics duringthe 1980s. Komatsu's project clearly has thefull backing of the Japanese state, being part ofa business-government "Robot RevolutionRealization Council" report released on January23, 2015.3 Both Komatsu and Japan's ambitionsseem unlikely to be impeded by concerns about

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job losses and other potential downsides fromautomation and robotics. The labour shortagesalready plaguing construction and otherprojects in Japan's ageing and shrinking societyare in fact a major reason for Komatsu's newbusiness model. The suite of technologiescomposing Komatsu's smart construction alsoaim to bolster the climate-resilience of roads,bridges, and other core infrastructures, whilereducing the escalating costs of theirmaintenance and repair.

Indeed, this article suggests that Komatsu andits paradigm might be key to buildingmajoritarian political coalitions to accelerateresilience and sustainability through smartcommunities. It is common to encounter thecontrary assertion, that resilience andsustainability are primarily about grassrootsactivism, with smart technology at bestsecondary i f not delusionary or evendangerous. But timely mitigation andadaptation to climate change appear to requiremassive and rapid shifts in energy-relatedinfrastructure enabled by technological change,organizational discipline and powerfulincentives. Komatsu's example perhapsillustrates some of the creative destructionrequired to build smart communities centredon renewable energy, efficiency, new materials,and other technologies.

Komatsu and "Dantotsu" Green Power

Komatsu takes its name from the city ofKomatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture. The companywas founded there, in 1917, by TakeuchiMining Industry as a subsidiary to supplyindustrial tools. 4 Komatsu became anindependent corporate entity from May 13 of1921, but struggled to survive through suchshocks as the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquakeand the 1927 Showa Financial Crisis. It held onby f inding markets, in the 1930s, forconstruction and farming equipment in theJapanese colonies of Manchuria and Korea.5 Italso branched out into weaponry – such as

tanks and howitzers – during Japan's long yearsof war until its defeat seven decades ago in1945. Komatsu truly gained traction in thepostwar rebuild. It received an enormous boostfrom the reconstruction of Japan's devastatedcities, especially Tokyo, introducing theworkhorse D50 bulldozer in 1947. Like Toyota,Honda, Fujitsu and other non-zaibatsu firms,Komatsu emerged as one of the new Japanesei n d u s t r i a l g i a n t s t h a t b l e n d e dentrepreneurialism with a zeal for innovativetechnology and thus reaped immenseopportunity in Japan's postwar growth miracle.6

Bombed-out Tokyo on March 9, 1945(http://flashbak.com/tokyo-japan-1917-1950-rare-images-of- love-loathing-and-life-24983/)

Komatsu relocated its head office to Tokyo in1951, while remaining the major employer inits corporate birthplace of Komatsu City. Itsproduct line centres on construction andmining equipment, forestry related machineryand industrial machines, with a significant R&Dinvestment in robotics, automation, and energy-related technologies.7 Komatsu is also a globalmult inational with 143 consol idatedsubsidiaries and over 47,000 employees (as ofMarch 31, 2014), but it is neither a householdname in Japan nor recognized internationallyas representative of the "Japan Brand" as such

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firms as Sony, Panasonic, Toyota, and Nissan.This general lack of awareness concerningKomatsu seems largely be due to what itmakes. For example, Sony Group's globalemployment of 140,900 is thrice that ofKomatsu, but its brand recognition manymultiples greater.8 The key difference may bethat Sony built its fame on the basis of fist-sizeddevices like the Sony Walkman, consumeritems that have direct personal utility forhundreds of millions of consumers as well asenormous cachet. Komatsu, by contrast, makes70% of its income from hydraulic shovels andother heavy earthmoving and constructionequipment – "yellow steel," as one author aptlyputs it.9 Most people experience thesemachines from a distance, as nearly generictools that labour in the midst of noisy publicworks or the destruction and construction ofhomes and condominiums in the urbanlandscape.

A Komatsu hydraulic shovel at work(http://okirakuhobby.blog114.fc2.com/blog-date-20130505.html)

Komatsu is well-known among businessanalysts and other specialists because of theoutstanding success of i ts dantotsu("unrivalled") business model that stressescontinued organizational and technological

innovation (where it sharply contrasts withailing Sony). Komatsu is also a leader in theaggressive deployment of renewable energyand efficiency in its factories and equipment,bringing to market the world's first hybridelectric forklift trucks in 2007 and hydraulicexcavators in 2008.10 Komatsu's power ininformation and communications technology(ICT) is also unmatched in the industry. ItsKomtrax wireless equipment monitoringsystems remotely monitor, in real-time, myriadsuch parameters as fuel consumption, location,and productivity. Together, these items tell thecustomer whether their machine is makingmoney and whether it is safe and in goodhealth.11

Moreover, in the wake of Japan's 3-11 disasteron March 11, 2011, Komatsu doubled-down onits commitment to efficiency and renewablepower, spending YEN 74 billion in 2014 torefurbish domestic facilities towards itscorporate goal of halving its power demand.12

Komatsu draws on its long-institutionalizedinnovative strengths to achieve this ambition.For example, Komatsu subsidiary Kelk was partof the New Energy and Industrial TechnologyDevelopment Organization (NEDO) 2002-2006in i t ia t ive to a t ta in h igh -e f f i c iencythermoelectric generation, which uses wasteheat to produce electricity.13 This and otherNEDO projects helped Komatsu become aworld leader in advanced thermoelectricgeneration. The firm used this and other greenpower-generation and efficiency technology,together with ICT and automation, to cut powerdemand by a staggering 92% in a refurbishedassembly wing of its Awazu factory14 in theprecincts of the firm's starting point inKomatsu City. Demonstrating dantotsu, fully20% of the reduced power demand is derivedfrom increased productivity (i.e., reorganizingproduction to save energy), 32% from moreefficient equipment, and 40% from solar,biomass and other in-house generation.Komatsu is undertaking similar projects at itsother facilities, explicitly aiming to free itself

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from reliance on power firms as well as cut itstotal corporate peak summer power demand by50% by 2015 compared to 2010.15

Komatsu's ambitious projects have long caughtthe attention of technical specialists in Japan.They are also an increasingly visiblebenchmark for city planners and othersdevoted to transforming the energy economy.The most recent evidence of this attention wasa January 24, 2015 symposium "Aiming atGreen Energy in Tochigi ," at TochigiPrefecture's Utsunomiya University, inUtsunomiya City (population: 510,000) roughly100 km north of Tokyo. Representation fromarea academic and research institutions wassupplemented by the University of Tokyo(through its "Green ICT Project"). But the eventwas framed by Komatsu's Oyama factory (30kilometres from Utsunomiya) production-technology division's presentation on thedetails of their aggressive deployment ofenvironmental measures.16

Komatsu's deep power-demand cuts are surelyessential to any realistic programme forsustainability, so for that reason alone the firmdeserves to be made a benchmark. But as wedescribe next, Komatsu is also central toJapan's new National Robot Strategy.

Komatsu and Japan's National RobotStrategy

PM Abe Shinzo Trying Out a Robot, June1 9 , 2 0 1 4(http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/96_abe/actions/201406/19robot.html)

Japan's ambitious National Robot Strategy wasunveiled on January 23, 2015. It was developedby the "Committee for the Implementation ofthe Robot Revolution," which had its firstmeet ing on September 11, 2014. I tsmembership included heavyweights straddlingbusiness and government, such as KuroiwaYuuji, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture (justsouth of Tokyo with a population of 9.1 millionand its capital in Yokohama City) and a strongproponent of renewable energy. Its chair wasNomaguchi Tamotsu, senior advisor toMitsubishi Electric and former director of thequasi-governmental National Institute ofAdvanced Industrial Science and Technology.The committee met five times in late 2014. Atits final meeting on January 23, it formallypresented its report to Japanese Prime Minister

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Abe Shinzo.17 Abe then declared 2015 to be"year one" (gannen) of moving towards a "robotsociety."

The strategy outlined by the committee's reportaims to quadruple the current domestic robotmarket from YEN 600 billion at present to YEN2.4 trillion in 2020. Seed money for basic R&Dand related activities will total YEN 100 billionof public and private-sector financing.18 Thestrategy itself, released by METI on January 23,identifies developments in other countries asthreatening Japan's lead in the deployment ofrobots (see accompanying figure on "industrialrobot sales" for 2013 and operational stock in2012). The challenges highlighted by the reportinclude the Chinese robotics programmes, theUS "Industrial Internet Consortium", as well asthe German "Industry 4.0" initiatives that seekto revamp industrial processes throughout theeconomy. The Japanese documentation conveysdeep concern that their annual take-up ofrobotics peaked (in terms of shipments) in1991, and that the robots are concentrated inautomotive and electronics factories. TheJapanese authorities want to expand the use ofrobots in other industries such as elderly care,services, construction, disaster resilience, andfarming. To promote this goal, they aim toreduce the size of robots (compared to currentindustrial robots) and enhance theirconnectedness (via ICT) so as to make themmore readily adaptable in small and medium-sized firms that at present have no alternativeto scrambling for scarce human labour.

S o u r c e(http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a5cca8c0-e70c-11e3-aa93-00144feabdc0.html)

The Japanese Robot Strategy explicitly uses theabove competitive challenge as well as theupcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics as spurs toaction. As to targets, the strategy aims toincrease dep loyment o f robot ics inmanufacturing by 2020 from the 7% prevailingin the auto industry in 2010 to 25% for largefirms overall and 10% for small and medium-sized firms. To help achieve this aim, thestrategy will identify and promote at least 30cases of best-practice use. In services, such ashotels and the food sector, the strategy aims ata diffusion rate of 25% by 2020 for sorting andchecking functions, as well as the selection ofabout 100 best-practice cases in wholesale,retail, foods, hotels and other areas.

Elderly care is also a large target for robotsand automation. Policymakers aim atexpanding the elderly-care robotics market toYEN 50 billion by 2020. Japanese workersemployed in nursing the elderly totaled550,000 in 2000, a figure that by 2012 hadincreased to 1.49 million. By 2015, employmentis estimated to increase to reach 1.7 million,with a further increase to roughly 2.4 million by2025. These numbers imply great stress ontight labour markets as well as on the workersthemselves. The robot strategy aims to alleviateboth problems, using robotic assistance todisplace labour demand and to zero-out thecurrent high risk of injury to care givers fromhandling the sheer weight of the elderly. Thusrobotics will be used to help in moving theelderly from beds, in assisted walking, inbathing and use of the toilet, as well as in careof those with dementia. Survey data indicatesthat 59.8% of caregivers would like to userobots in elderly care. Moreover, amongrecipients of care, the desire to be assisted byrobots is already higher, at 65.1%. The strategyaims to raise both these figures to 80% by

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2020.

The strategy highlights startling facts about thefields of infrastructure, disaster-relief andconstruction. Total employment of 6.85 millionin 1997 has declined to 4.99 million as of 2013,with a profound demographic shift. The 45 yearand above cohort in these fields comprised40.1% of employees in 1997, but by 2013 hadswollen to 55.3%. Conversely, the demographicunder 34 years declined from 30.2% in 1997 to19.2% in 2013. The strategy thus aims toautomate maintenance checks and otherwiseback up technical staff. Robots such as dronesare seen as means to more quickly identify thelocation and scale of disasters as well as aid infacilitating rescue. The strategy proposes toraise productivity in these sectors as well asreduce human labour, by achieving a diffusionrate of ICT construction equipment to 30% by2020. It also aims to outfit 20% of Japan'sbackbone infrastructures (such as roadwaysand waterworks) with sensors and roboticdevices to perform routine inspections toassess areas of stress and other indicators ofimpending failures. Robotics will also bedeployed to assist in repair work. Similardevices will also be adopted for assistance insuch severe natural disasters as mudslides andforest fires.

Robotics is also to be expanded in farming andforestry as well as food processing, whereageing and declining population have also ledto severe labour shortages. The average age ofJapan's 1.74 million people employed in thefarming sector is already 66.5 years, with only10.2% (178,000 workers) being 50 years andunder. The strategy is thus quite aggressiveand explicit in its ambitions of deployingautomated tractors and other farmingequipment to raise productivity to hithertounthinkable levels. The use of power-assist(exo-skeleton) equipment will also be used tomechanize and automate as much as possible ofthe sector's heavy work. The strategy aims tohave automated tractors and other equipment

in place and operating by 2020 and to haveover 20 different kinds of new robot processesin place in the primary industries as well asfood processing.

Japan's ageing, while more pronounced thanmost of its competitors, is also common to all ofthem. The attached chart on "Average age ofpopulation aged 20 and more, 1950-2060"shows, for example, that China will catch up towhere Japan is now in under two decades, oneof the consequences of the now abandoned one-child family policy. Should Japan get a headstart on creative and competitive uses ofrobotics in age-related fields, it may build itselfenduring export opportunities.

S o u r c e(http://robotenomics.com/2014/08/18/the-world-and-its-ageing-workforce-needs-robots/)

Back to the Future, on CompetitiveAdvantages?

We noted earlier that the Committee for theImplementation of the Robot Revolutionincluded some very senior representation. Oneof its members is Komatsu Chairman andExecutive Director Noji Kunio. On January 23,Noji gave the committee, meeting at the PrimeMinister's Offices, a presentation on smartconstruction. This presentation came threedays after Komatsu CEO Ohashi explained

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smart construction at the above-noted January20 event in Shibuya. Noji brought no drone forhis discussion of smart construction. Perhapsthe theatrics were not necessary: the attachedphoto and video clip show that the fullcommittee – with PM Abe in attendance – hadalready beheld a disaster-relief drone fly aboutthe room, during their first meeting onSeptember 11 of 2014.19 But Noji's short talk onJanuary 23, 2015 did unveil additional metricsconcerning Komatsu's new model.20

Yet another committee member is Tsuda Junji,Chairman and Executive Director of YasukawaElectric Manufacturing Company. Tsudadelivered a presentation on industrial robots tothe committee on January 23.21 Along withKomatsu, Yasukawa is one of the star firmsdiscussed by Michael Porter in his CompetitiveAdvantage of Nations , wherein Portermasterfully details the Japanese business-government cooperation that created theworld's leading robotics industry three decadesago.22

Porter argues that one of Japan's advantages inbuilding up and diffusing robot technologyduring the late 1960s and the 1970s wascooperative trade unions that did not have toworry about their protected employees beingdisplaced. He also highlights the strong role ofengineers in Japanese firms as well as "theemergence of Japanese companies as thepremier manufacturing companies in the worldin a wide range of industries. Through highlevels of automation, reorganization of workflow, and extreme attention to quality, Japanesecompanies redefined manufacturing practice."That description certainly fits the postwarcorporate history of Komatsu reviewed earlier.Porter goes on to relate how these and otherfactors worked together to make 1980s Japan"the earliest, largest and most sophisticatedmarket for industrial robots in the world."

A disaster-relief drone flies on September11, 2014 meeting of Committee for theImplementation of the Robot Revolution(http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/96_abe/actions/201409/11robot.html)

That was then, and this is now. But Japan'smanufacturing elite and public sector areclearly trying to stage a repeat performance,with different assets and a different cast ofcharacters. As with Komatsu, some of the sameinnovative firms, still vibrant, remain at thecentre of the mix, and a few rising stars arealso represented on the committee. But incontrast to four decades ago, Japanesepolicymakers and business elites are nowhoping to use labour shortages, ageing,environmental crises and other constraints asspurs to action and innovation. And they wieldthe 2020 Olympics as a deadline for achieving awide variety of targets.

The Japanese do not appear to be unrealistic intheir estimation of the competition. Oneexample is seen in Taiwan's FoxconnTechnology Group, the world's largest contractelectronics manufacturer. Foxconn is a majorsupplier not only to Apple, Microsoft, Samsungand other global electronic giants, butnotorious for suicides due to "mundane andgrueling work."23 It will automate to cope withshrinking revenues from cheapening of theelectronic devices it supplies parts for in

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tandem with steadily rising labour costs, whichhave doubled since 2010. Foxconn currentlyemploys 1.3 million workers in China aloneduring peak production periods, but seeks torestrict further growth of the workforcethrough plans to deploy a million robots overan as yet unspecified time-frame.24 Moreover,the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry andEnergy announced in early January of 2015 thatit would work with business to build a 1 trillionwon (USD 929 million) fund to help domesticfirms deploy yet more robots and build evenmore heavily automated "smart factories." Atpresent, Korea's largest smart factory is at LSIndustrial Systems (LSIS), Cheongju City,North Chungcheong Province, about 110kilometres from the national capital in Seoul.LSIS is one of Korea's largest cable makers,and about 95% of the production processes atits Cheongju factory are automated. The factoryhas reportedly achieved an incredible level ofprecision, with only 97 defects per 1 millionunits. It has also cut its power costs by 60%.25

Whether corporate Japan can move fast andnimble enough to regain the momentum in thisstrategic industry remains to be seen.Komatsu's smart construction went on-linedomestically on February 1, 2015, and it willtake at least a few months to see if the modelmerits the obvious pride on CEO Ohashi's face.And Japan's Huis Ten Bosch theme park inNagasaki Prefecture will, in mid-July, open ahotel with robot staff and face recognitiontechnology rather than room keys. Huis TenBosch reportedly plan to have 90% of theirhote l serv ices run by robots " in thefuture."26 Expect to read of more such projects.Japan's official programme to restart andreboot its robot revolution bears watching overthe next five years to the 2020 targets andbeyond.

Is It Okay to Root For Komatsu's SmartConstruction?

The above has only skimmed the surface of

items that deserve to be explored in Japan'snew commitment to accelerate a technologicalrevolution. In particular, there are legitimateconcerns about the implications of such swiftlyunfolding paradigms as smart construction. Themany well-informed critics of the overall smartcity concept, including the LSE's AdamGreenfield,27 a former sergeant in the 7 PSYOPGp (psychological operations group) of theUnited States Army's Special OperationsCommand, might see Komatsu's smart-construction model as an amalgam ofgimmickry or perhaps yet another threateningportent of unbridled technological change.28

Regardless of Japan's labour shortages anddeclining population, some progressivescholars and activists might be dismayed atKomatsu's deliberate destruction of jobs. Manywill surely be concerned at the furtherdeployment of drone technology that iselsewhere being used in spying and deadlyairstrikes, with Arab, Asian and other childrenamong its collateral damage.29 And thoseconcerns hardly exhaust the potential horrorsfrom business models that mix and match itemsfrom the rapidly growing menu of automation,robotics and related advanced technology.30

Muddying the moral waters ever more,Komatsu's products still include militaryequipment, built by its Defence SystemsDivision. Most notable among these items isKomatsu's Light Armoured Vehicle, first usedby Japan's Ground Self Defence Forces in 2007.This deployment was in Japan's cooperationwith America's still-unfolding disaster ofinvading Iraq on the pretext of a tissue of liesfloating on a sea of oil.31

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Komatsu's Light Armoured Vehicle, ond i s p l a y w i t h t h e J a p a n e s e I r a qReconstruction and Support Group(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komatsu_LAV)

Against this backdrop, as well as our era'sunprecedented inequality, it is small wonderthat many oppose the smart city, or at leasthaving big business in it. Yet we appear to needsmart technology, and even a lot more of it. Wealso seem to lack robust and ready alternativesto incentivizing corporate actors, like Komatsu,that innovate and deploy it. This point remainstrue even if much of the basic research isfunded by taxpayer money or (especially in theUS) by the direct military demand MarianaMazzucato detai led in her book, TheEntrepreneurial State . 3 2

Let us look at the politics of this dilemma froma different angle. Few of us display any qualmsin boarding a Boeing 787 jet, save forlamenting the cramped size of our economy-class seat. Yet the 787 is built with automatedorbital drilling and other technologies thatpresumably kill jobs through greater speed andprecision.33 And the myriad innovations in thejet itself include ICT sensors in its composite-material skin as part of the "smooth ridetechnology" that keeps us from losing our in-flight dinner during turbulence.34 These aircraft

also generate as much as half a terabyte of themuch-maligned "big data" per flight, as theirmultiple smart systems monitor components tospot potential failures in the engines thatcarefully sip the fuel for which we fight wars orfrack away our kids' water.35

We certainly want to have this greatlyincreased safety and efficiency when we fly, yetcriticisms of the smart city, ICT and automationgloss over this perhaps inconvenient truth. Norhas any critic taken on the stubborn fact thatthe core of the smart city includes the smartpower grid whose technology appears essentialfor the diffusion of such intermittentrenewables power sources as solar and wind.

And if Komatsu's Light Armoured Vehicle andhistory of howitzers and tanks raise objectionswhen it comes to its smart constructionbusiness, then what of Boeing? It doesn't onlymake passenger aircraft that we readily board.Boeing's "Defense, Space and Security" arm isa USD 33 billion business whose 56,000employees worldwide outnumber Komatsu'stotal workforce.36 Working together with Bell,for example, Boeing builds the V-22 Ospreywhose deployment by US forces in Japan, andimpending purchase by the Japanese military,37

is of enormous controversy because of itsrecord of crashes. Boeing also built the iconicB-52, that carpet-bombed Vietnam, and theadvances that have kept that airframe flying for60 years are incorporated in and upgraded forthe 787 as well.

Boeing also builds such potentially lethal dronetechnology as the Phantom Eye, whose liquid-hydrogen propulsion system (which leaves onlywater in its wake) has such exceptional fueleconomy that it can stay aloft for four days at20 kilometers in the sky. And its 200 kilogrampayload of sensor packages can spy on motionand communications across a 750 kilometreline of sight horizon.38 That same mix oftechnologies is almost surely to be invaluable incoping with the extreme weather and other

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disasters amplified by the climate change weaccelerate a little while comfortably flying onthe 787 Dreamliner.

Bell Boeing's V-22 Osprey in flight(http://www.boeing.com/boeing/rotorcraft/military/v22/index.page)

In short, Komatsu is not the social movementidealized in, for example, Naomi Klein's ThisChanges Everything: Capitalism vs. TheClimate and other people-centered narrativesof how to fight climate change, resourcescarcity and compounding collective crises. Yetas the very climate-and energy-literateElizabeth Kolbert has suggested, and withcompelling detail, there are perhaps too manyhard facts and unpleasant choices being leftout of such accounts.40

Weighing all these factors, on balance,Komatsu's ambitions seem credible, creative,and worthy of recognition. Surely Komatsu is afirm to learn from rather than pointingdisapproving fingers at. As we have seen,Komatsu's deep efficiency and renewable-power rebuild of its Japan-side factories haveset a high bar that at least some communitiessee as a benchmark. Its increasingly automatedshovels and trucks also help reduce theprecious oil required for getting at the

depleting ore grades of copper we increasinglyuse in smart phones and electric cars.41 And ithas shown its commitment to working with themul t ip le s take -ho lders in Japanesecommunities, a model of organizationalmanagement practices that break down silos tosolve collective problems. Komatsu's resilience-oriented ambitions also link to a globalmovement, the Resilient Cities AccelerationInitiative, which includes big capital like IBMalongside NGOs, to "transform cities" andfoster community-based resilience.42 Komatsu'screative role helped lead to the December 2014selection of Japan's smart, resilient andcompact city, Toyama, as one of the Rockefeller100 Resilient Cities.43 Komatsu not only has oneof its head offices in the city's environs, but itsexecutive ranks have long been part of thediscussion on building resilience through city,university, NGO and business collaboration.44

In the Japanese context, Komatsu and itsinitiatives could become key to a coalition thatcreates a majoritarian political movement forresilience and sustainability. We need smartcommunities centred on renewables, efficiency,new materials, and other technologies. And wedo not appear to have the time to wait for themto grow organically, confronted as we are withaccelerating climate change, increasinglyvolatile geopolitical and market effects fromresource depletion, and the ongoing failure ofcentral banks to blow life – as opposed to assetbubbles – into the energy- and materials-intensive conventional economy. So this articlelooks forward to Komatsu's smart constructionmodel quickly becoming an element incollaborative and resilient smart communities.

Andrew DeWit is Professor in RikkyoUniversity's School of Policy Studies and aneditor of The Asia-Pacific Journal. His recentpublications include "Climate Change and theMilitary Role in Humanitarian Assistance andDisaster Response," in Paul Bacon andChristopher Hobson (eds) Human Security andJ a p a n ' s T r i p l e D i s a s t e r

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(http://www.amazon.com/dp/1138013137?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge, 2014), "Japan'srenewable power prospects," in Jeff Kingston(ed) Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415857457/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge 2013), and (withKaneko Masaru and Iida Tetsunari) "Fukushimaand the Political Economy of Power Policy inJapan" in Jeff Kingston (ed) Natural Disasterand Nuclear Crisis in Japan: Response andR e c o v e r y a f t e r J a p a n ' s 3 / 1 1(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0415698561/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20) (Routledge, 2012). He is leadresearcher for a five-year (2010-2015)Japanese-Government funded project on thepolitical economy of the Feed-in Tariff.

Recommended citation: Andrew DeWit,"Komatsu, Smart Construction, CreativeDestruction, and Japan's Robot Revolution,"The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 5, No. 2,February 2, 2015.

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Notes

1 On the Deming Prize for Total QualityManagement, established in 1951, see theUnion of Japanese Scientists and Engineers(JUSE) page (http://www.juse.or.jp/e/deming/)describing its history, awardees and otherpertinent information. On Komatsu's 2014selection for the Deming Prize, as well asconcise information on why Komatsu winsprizes for innovation, see "Deming Prize,"Komatsu Newsletter, No. 24, March 2014(http://www.komatsu.com/CompanyInfo/views/pdf/201403/Views_No24_DemingPrize.pdf).Komatsu's environmental awards are listed inthe "Recent External Commendations andEvaluations on Komatsu's EnvironmentalConservat ion and Socia l Act iv i t ies"(http://www.komatsu.com/CompanyInfo/csr/others/03.html) section of its corporate website.

2 The role of Hikarie Hall is described on pages4-6 of (in Japanese) Tokyu Managing DirectorWatanabe Isao 's 2013 presentat ion"Concerning the City-Design Concept of TamaDenen Toshi as a Community that can Copew i t h E p o c h a l C h a n g e(http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001025682.pdf)," to the Ministry of Lands Infrastructure andTransport. On the global significance of the"Tokyu Method" of building Tama Denen Toshi,

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see the short note "Tama Denen Toshi NewT o w n ( T a m a G a r d e n C i t y ) , J a p a n(http://www.amchamvietnam.com/5654/tama-denen-toshi-new-town-tama-garden-city-japan/)."

3 See "Robot Revolution Realization Council(http://japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/actions/201501/23article3.html)," Japanese Prime Minister'sOffice Homepage, January 23, 2015.

4 Komatsu's corporate history is available here(http://www.komatsu.com/CompanyInfo/profile/outline/history.html).

5 Komatsu's history and innovative strengthsare deftly described by Yozo Hasegawa inRediscovering Japanese Business Leadership:15 Japanese Managers and the CompaniesThey're Leading to New Growth (translated byAnthony Kimm), John Wiley and Sons, 2010:145-56.

6 Gary D. Allinson, Japan's Postwar History(Second Edition), Cornell University Press,2014: 104-5.

7 For example, on Komatsu's robot-weldingR&D see (in Japanese) "Komatsu Deploys RobotWelding Domestically and Overseas to MaintainQ u a l i t y a n d C u t C o s t s(http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDD120UH_S4A210C1000000/)," Nikkei Shimbun,February 17, 2014.

8 S e e S o n y ' s e m p l o y e e d a t a(http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr_report/employees/info/).

9 William R. Haycraft, Yellow Steel: The Storyof the Earthmoving Equipment Industry,University of Illinois Press, 2000.

10 The hybrid equipment is reputed to achieveat least 45% reduction in fuel consumption. See"Komatsu Introduces the World's FirstHydraulic Excavator: Hybrid Evolution Plan forC o n s t r u c t i o n E q u i p m e n t(http://www.komatsu.com/CompanyInfo/press/2

008051315113604588.html)," Komatsu PressRelease, May 13, 2008.

11 See "Komtrax: Komatsu machine monitoringa t r a c k i n g s y s t e m(http://www.marubeni-komatsu.co.uk/komtrax.html)."

12 See (in Japanese) "Komatsu to completerefurbishing of 2 domestic facilities in 2014,with Awazu factory completed by May(http://www.decn.co.jp/?p=11165)," DailyEngineering and Construction News, May 1,2014.

13 See (in Japanese) "Renewable energy foreffective CO2 cuts: Developing and distributingthe world's most efficient thermoelectricg e n e r a t i o n m o d u l e s(http://www.komatsu.co.jp/CompanyInfo/press/2009012713421026622.html)," Komatsu PressRelease, January 27, 2009.

14 The thermoelectric generation applications atthe Awazu factory are described (in Japanese)in "Dealing with climate change (goods andservice that combat climate change):t h e r m o e l e c t r i c g e n e r a t i o n(http://www.komatsu.co.jp/CompanyInfo/csr/environment/2014/pdf/14.pdf)," Komatsu CSRreport 2014.

15 See Tsunashima Yuta, "Komatsu shows offprogress in 'energy independence' at plants(http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Kom a t s u - s h o w s - o f f - p r o g r e s s - i n - e n e r g y -independence-at-plants)," Nikkei Asian Review,May 31, 2014.

16 See (in Japanese) "Thinking about theenvironment and energy, business, academe,government symposium at Utsunomiyaa t t e n d e d b y 1 2 0 ,(http://www.shimotsuke.co.jp/news/tochigi/economics/news/20150125/1850981)" ShimotsukeNews, January 25, 2015.

17 See (in Japanese) "Japan's Robot Strategy

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(http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2014/01/20150123004/20150123004b.pdf)," Committee for theImplementation of the Robot Revolution,January 23, 2015.

18 See "Govt to expand robot market to Y2.4 tril(http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/111109.php).," The Japan News, January 24,2015.

19 The context for the drone display is apresentation on the disastrous August 20, 2014mudslides in Hiroshima City. See from 3:30 ofthe video (in Japanese) "Committee for theImplementation of the Robot Revolution:S e p t e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 4(http://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/prg/prg10456.html)". On the mudslides, see Andrew DeWit,"Hiroshima's Disaster, Climate Crisis, and theF u t u r e o f t h e R e s i l i e n t C i t y(https://apjjf.org/-andrew-dewit/4174)", TheAsia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 35, No. 2,September 1, 2014.

20 Noji Kunio's presentation (in Japanese) wasgiven on January 23, 2015, and is here(http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/robot/dai6/siryou2-1.pdf).

21 Tsuda Junji's presentation (in Japanese) wasdelivered on the same day as Komatsu chairNoji Kunio's, January 23, 2015, and is availableh e r e(http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/robot/dai6/siryou2-2.pdf).

2 2 See Michael E Porter, Competit iveAdvantage: Creating and Sustaining SuperiorPerformance, Free Press, 1998, 384-421.

23 Eva Dou, "After Suicide, Foxconn Worker'sP o e m s S t r i k e a C h o r d(http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/11/07/after-suicide-foxconn-workers-poems-strike-a-chord/)," Wall Street Journal, November 7,2014; Jenny Chan and Pun Ngai, "Suicide asProtest for the New Generation of ChineseMigrant Workers: Foxconn, Global Capital, and

the State (https://apjjf.org/-Pun-Ngai/3408),"Asia-Pacific Journal, September 23, 2010.

24 Michael Gold and Yimou Lee, "Apple supplierFoxconn seeks to reduce 1.3m workforce, eyesr o b o t s(http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/apple-supplier-foxconn-seeks-to-reduce-13m-w o r k f o r c e - e y e s -robots-20150128-1309mb.html)," The Age,January 28, 2015.

25 "'Smart' factory touted as an industrialm o d e l ,(http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=3000113)" Korea JoongangDaily, January 26, 2015.

26 "Huis Ten Bosch theme park to get hotels t a f f e d b y r o b o t s(http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/28/business/huis-ten-bosch-theme-park-get-hotel-staffed-robots/#.VM2xPToq9jE)," Japan Times,January 28, 2015.

27 On Adam Greenfield's work and background,s e e h i s p r o f i l e a t U r b a n s c a l e(http://urbanscale.org/about/adam-greenfield/).

28 See Adam Greenfield, "The smartest citiesrely on citizen cunning and unglamoroust e c h n o l o g y(http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/22/the-smartest-cities-rely-on-citizen-cunning-and-unglamorous-technology)," The Guardian,December 22, 2014.

29 One of the most informative and credibleinstitutions that details the use of weaponizeddrones, such as the Reaper and the Predator, inAfghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria andelsewhere is "Stop the War Coalit ion(http://stopwar.org.uk/officers)," founded inSeptember of 2001 in opposition to thepost-9-11 "war on terror." For their most recentreport on drone strikes, see Chris Cole, "Thedirty consequences of 'clean' US/UK dronew a r s t h a t t r a s h i n t e r n a t i o n a l l a w

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(http://stopwar.org.uk/news/the-dirty-consequences-of-clean-us-uk-drone-wars-that-trash-international-law)," Stop the War News,January 5, 2015.

30 On the nightmarish scenarios, see the workof the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk(http://cser.org), University of Cambridge.

31 The endurance of thedeceptions about then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's activeprogramme to build "weapons of massdestruction" (WMD) is evident in the fact that40% of Americans believe there was indeed aWMD programme and the US media continuesto debate it. See Kevin Drum, "No, There's StillNo Evidence There Was an Active WMDP r o g r a m i n I r a q(http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/10/no-theres-still-no-evidence-there-was-active-wmd-program-iraq)," October 15, 2014.

32 On the roots of technology used in smartphones and other devices, see MarianaMazzucato, The Entrepreneurial State(http://marianamazzucato.com/the-entrepreneurial-state/), Anthem Press, 2013.

33 See the SAE International excerpt "Boeingadvances automation with smart and portableorbital drilling tools for 787," from WesleyHolleman, Eric Whinnem and Madeleine Wrede"Smart Portable Tools: The Practical Solutiont o A g i l e A s s e m b l y(http://articles.sae.org/12811/)," SAE Int. J.Aerosp. 6(1):180-187, 2013:

34 See James Wallace, "Aerospace Notebook:New technology gives 787 a smoother ride(http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Aerospace-Notebook-New-technology-gives-787-a-1238203.php)," Seattle PI, May 22, 2007.

35 Matthew Finnegan, "Boeing 787s to createhalf a terabyte of data per flight, says VirginA t l a n t i c(http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/infrastructure/3433595/boeing-787s-to-create-half-a-

terabyte-of -data-per - f l ight -says-v irg in-atlantic/)," Computerworld UK, March 6, 2013.

3 6 S e e B o e i n g ' s w e b s i t e(http://www.boeing.com/boeing/companyoffices/aboutus/brief/bds.page).

37 See "Japan picks MV-22 Osprey for tilt-rotora i r c r a f t p u r c h a s e(http://www.stripes.com/news/japan-picks-mv-22 - o s p r e y - f o r - t i l t - r o t o r - a i r c r a f t -purchase-1.315374)," Stars and Stripes,November 21, 2014. On Okinawan oppositionto the Osprey, see Matthew M. Burke andChiyomi Sumida, "Japan opens door forpossible shift of Ospreys off Okinawa(http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan-opens-door-for-possible-shift-of-ospreys-off-okinawa-1.315156)," Stars and Stripes,November 20, 2014.

38 On the Phantom Eye, see Boeing's outline(http://www.boeing.com/boeing/bds/phantom_works/phantom_eye.page).

39 Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything:C a p i t a l i s m v s . T h e C l i m a t e(http://thischangeseverything.org), Simon &Schuster, 2014.

40 See Elizabeth Kolbert, "Can Climate ChangeC u r e C a p i t a l i s m ?(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/04/can-climate-change-cure-capitalism/)"New York Review of Books, December 4, 2014.See also Naomi Klein and Elizabeth Kolbert,"'Can Climate Change Cure Capitalism?': AnE x c h a n g e(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/jan/08/can-climate-change-cure-capitalism-exchange/)," New York Review of Books,January 8, 2015.

41 Tim Maverick, "New Robo-Trucks Poised toRevo lu t ion i ze the Min ing Indus t ry(http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2014/05/21/mining-robo-trucks/)," Wall Street Daily, May 21,2014.

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42 The list of Resilient Cities AccelerationI n i t i a t i v e p a r t n e r s(http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/09/RESILIENCE-Resilient-Cities-Acceleration-Initiative.pdf).

43 See the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient

Cities (http://www.100resilientcities.org).

44 See, in Japanese, the outline of a September22, 2011 event titled "What is the BusinessStrategy in an Era When the IndustrialS t r u c t u r e i s a t a T u r n i n g P o i n t ?(http://www.jrm.co.jp/president/ceo/71.html)"JRM CEO Kimura Blog.