昨年のYamaha Dayグローバル統一テーマはHeritage。当社の過去を振り返り、先達が遺してくれた遺産をみんなで考え、語り合いました。そして、今年は未来。2030長期ビジョンで掲げたART for Human Possibilities、人はもっと幸せになれる、がテーマです。これについて、私の考えを語りたいと思います。

当社は、企業目的に示すように新たな感動と豊かな生活を提供するために存在していますが、別の視点から見ると、人が人間らしく生きるための商品やサービスを提供してきたと考えています。“人間らしく”がポイントです。人間は余暇を楽しむ動物です。ランドモビリティやマリンの商材は余暇を楽しむものですし、ロボティクスは人の時間（余暇）を生み出す商品やソリューションを提供しています。そして、モータースポーツやマリンスポーツといったスポーツの文脈でも語られるように、技量を求め人の成長を促す商品も多くあります。これらの主力事業は、これからもさらに人間らしく生きたい・可能性を拡げたいという人々のニーズに応えていくことで成長していけると思います。

ある本に書かれていた「ケインズは1930年の論文で、100年後（2030年）には週15時間働けば十分に生きていける社会が来ると予言しています。」という一文に私は強い関心を持ちました。求められるニーズが一定であれば、イノベーションによる生産性の向上でそうなっていたでしょうが、人の欲望には際限がなくニーズのほうもどんどん大きくなり、私たちは今も週５日出勤し残業もしたりしています。イノベーションにより100年前に比べればはるかに健康で豊かな生活が送れるようになりましたが、2030年に週15時間はとても無理だと思います。一方、100年前に比べて人は幸せになっているのでしょうか？モノや娯楽という点では間違いなく豊かになっていますが、人の精神面での充足度はどうでしょうか？教育制度の拡大、技術の進化、物質的資本の充実、グローバル化、と社会が発展するにつれ、公害の深刻化、競争社会の激化、格差の拡大等の社会問題も大きくなってきました。週15時間どころか、時間に追われ精神を病む人も増えているように思います。人の考え方や感じ方は様々なので、幸せかどうかは分かりませんが、100年前より時間的余裕度は低くなっているのではないでしょうか？
未来に向けて、ロボティクス技術を使い、社会課題解決にも貢献できる新たなソリューション事業を開発し、人の時間的余裕を増やし、その時間的余裕で海や陸の新たなモビリティを楽しみ、人間の可能性・能力を拡げていく。
私にとってのART for Human Possibilitiesは、これです。
限りある人生を幸せに生きたい。そういう人の気持ちに応えるヤマハブランドであり続けたいと思っています。

The theme for last year’s Yamaha Day was the same for everyone worldwide—Heritage. We all looked back on our past, thinking and talking together about the many assets our predecessors left behind. For this year, we look to the future by making the theme our Long-Term Vision toward 2030: ART for Human Possibilities – Let’s strive for greater happiness. Here, I would like to share my own thoughts on this topic.

As our Corporate Mission states, Yamaha Motor exists to create new Kando and offer a more fulfilling life for people all over the world, but from a different perspective, I think we also offer products and services that help people live in ways that truly make us human. The last part is key—what makes us human. We are mammals that have fun in our free time; Yamaha’s Land Mobility and Marine Products are items for doing that, but at the same time, our Robotics business creates products and solutions that help create that free time for people. And in the context of competition like motorsports and marine sports, we have numerous products that help drive the growth of people who seek to better their skills. I think we can continue to grow our core businesses by answering the needs of people who wish to live in ways that make us even more human or otherwise want to take their own possibilities further.

A book I was reading referenced economist John Maynard Keynes’ Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren essay from 1930 in which he predicted living standards a century later—in other words, 2030—would have improved to the point that a 15-hour workweek would be enough to lead a good life in society. This was a real thought-provoking statement for me. If needs remained at a fixed level, the increased productivity through innovations likely would have made Keynes’ prediction a reality. But there is no limit to human desires; needs simply grew and grew. Even today, we work five days a week and do overtime as well. Human innovations have certainly made our lives healthier and more fulfilling compared to 100 years ago, but I think a 15-hour workweek by 2030 is simply impossible.

On the other hand, can we truly say we are happier now than people were a century ago? In terms of what items, products, fun, and entertainment are available to us, we undeniably have more to choose from. But what about our mental or psychological fulfillment? With greater societal development, expanded education systems, technology advances, more physical capital, and globalization, the social issues we face have worsened in step, from more environmental pollution and increasingly competitive societies to widening social inequalities. I think achieving a 15-hour workweek is out of the question when signs point to more and more people experiencing depression from never having enough time. Everyone thinks and feels differently, so I cannot declare if we are “happy” today or not, but compared to Keynes’ era, does it not seem like we have even less time to ourselves?

So for our future, if we apply our robotics expertise and technology to develop new businesses offering solutions that also help solve societal issues, that will generate more free time for people. They can then spend that new free time having fun in or on new forms of mobility out on the water or land, thereby expanding our possibilities and capabilities as humans.

This is what ART for Human Possibilities means for me.

It is in human nature to want to live out our limited lives in happiness. It is my wish that the Yamaha brand continue to stay close to that innate human feeling.