選舉最有創意日本發明

A few weeks the Mainichi News on-line reported the following:

イノベーション１００選:即席めん、新幹線…トップ１０

毎日新聞　2014年06月18日　20時21分（最終更新　06月18日　20時37分）

　公益社団法人「発明協会」（庄山悦彦会長）は１８日、「戦後日本のイノベーション１００選」トップ１０を発表した。インスタントラーメン（１９５８年）や新幹線（６４年）など、世界をけん引してきた技術や、歴代のヒット商品が並んだ。

　イノベーションを「経済的な活動で、歴史的社会的に大きな変革をもたらした事業」などと定義。インターネットでのアンケートや業界団体からの聞き取りなどを基に、選定委員会（委員長＝野中郁次郎・一橋大名誉教授）が選定した。

　協会の創立１１０年記念企画で１００選を決めていく。１８日は第１弾として、アンケートで評価が高かった１０件と、回転寿司（５８年）、自動改札システム（６７年）など高度経済成長期までの２８件の計３８件を公表。同協会は「戦後これだけのイノベーションを実現してきたことは日本にとっての自信になり、さらなる変革のきっかけにもなる」としている。【大場あい】

(試譯文)

   On the 18th (June) the "Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation" (Chairman Etsuhiko Shoyama), an incorporated association for public welfare, announced the top 10 of the "100 Elected Postwar Japan Innovations": innovation using technology that had guided the world, such as instant noodles (1958) and the Shinkansen (1964); all the hot-selling products in the past were being lined up.

   An innovation was defined as "an enterprise etc. which brought about a big change historically and socially through economical activities". The selection committee (chairperson: Emeritus Professor Ikujiro Nonaka of the Hitotsubashi University) did the selection based on interviews with industrial groups and also based on questionnaires on the Internet etc.

   The decision to choose the 100 innovations was to commemorate the 110^th year of the founding of the Institute. On the 18th, as the 1st phase, the evaluation done by questionnaire was released regarding the ten highest innovations: a revolving sushi (1958) and an automatic ticket gate system (1967) etc. totaling 28 cases out of 38, seen during the rapid economic growth period. The association supposed that “it becomes the confidence for Japan when noting these innovation achievement after the War, and it will also become a cause for further changes".

Japan always has cool innovations. To me items such as instant noodle and Walkman are impressive.