What China Didn’t Learn From SARS

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 INTERNATIONAL EDITION
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DEPARTMENTS
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In Focus 'HSXW\ (GLWRU /RQGRQ %XUHDX Alfred Joyner
$VVRFLDWH 1HZV 'LUHFWRU /RQGRQ Marc Vargas
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06 New Orleans 6HQLRU (GLWRUV Peter Carbonara, Jenny Haward,
Spreading Kenneth R. Rosen, Meredith Wolf Schizer,
Christina Zhao
Happiness 'HSXW\ (GLWRUV Jennifer Doherty, Philip Jeffery
(Opinion), Matt Keeley (Night), Scott McDonald
08 Andavías, Spain (Sports), Kyle McGovern, Emma Nolan (Culture),
Ring of Fire Hannah Osborne (Politics), Donica Phifer,
Ramsen Shamon (Opinion),
San Juan, Batya Ungar-Sargon (Opinion)
$VVRFLDWH (GLWRU David Chiu
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Is a Health Hazard 'LUHFWRU RI 3KRWRJUDSK\ Lauren Joseph

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&RQWULEXWLQJ $UW 'LUHFWRU Mike Bessire
Lessons of SARS 'LJLWDO ,PDJLQJ 6SHFLDOLVW Katy Lyness

18 Older Workers
to the Rescue
Boomers May Be the
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Resignation
20 Chain Reactions
Why Product Delays
Have Become the
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24 Talking Points
Queen Elizabeth,
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 NEW ORLEANS

Spreading
Happiness
Billie Eilish kicks off her Happier Than Ever
tour at a sold-out Smoothie King Center on
February 3. The tour is a celebration of her
second studio album of the same name,
which was released in July 2021. It was the
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in the city. The occasion did hit a minor
speed bump when Eilish’s opening act, Dora
. ( 9 , 1  0 $ = 8 5 ʔ* ( 7 7 <

Jar, was a no-show due to COVID illness.

KEVIN MAZUR
8
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M a rCh 04, 2022
C LO CK WI SE F ROM TO P L E FT: E M I L I O FR A I L E/G ET T Y; C H I P S O M OD E V I L L A /GE T T Y; X AV IE R G ARC I A/ BLO OM BE RG/GE T T Y
 ANDAVÍAS, SPAIN
Ring of Fire
Spaniards celebrate the Fiesta de
las Aguedas on February 6. This
deep-rooted tradition of the Castile
and León region, also known as el
dia de las mujeres, allows women
to be the center of attention and
take over the city. Town councils
hand over a baton as a sign of
authority and, over a period of about
seven days, different festivities
are held where attendees dance,
sing, eat and jump over a bonfire.
→ EMILIO FRAILE
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
School’s Out
Thousands of teachers, firefighters and
other public-sector workers march to
the governor’s mansion on February 9
to demand higher wages and improved
pensions. The protest follows a walkout
of 70 percent of the territory’s school
teachers angry that the base salary
hasn’t changed in 13 years. Governor
Pedro Pierluisi has, however, announced
a temporary $1,000 monthly salary
increase for educators via funds from
the U.S. Department of Education.
→ XAVIER GARCIA
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Lives Lost
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
leads a bipartisan group of House
and Senate lawmakers in a candle-lit
moment of silence on the steps of
the U.S. Capitol on February 7 for
the more than 900,000 Americans
who have died from COVID-19. The
coronavirus victims were memorialized
by 900 tolls of the Washington
National Cathedral’s funeral bell
as well as hymns and spirituals,
followed by the moment of silence.
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Technology
Brings the Joy of
Mobility to People
With Disabilities
Barrier-free accessibilty is crucial to realizing an inclusive
society. In attempting to achieve that goal, innovative
products and services are being launched one after another.
How do their developers envision a barrier-free future?
ne element of an inclusive soci-
O ety is an environment in which
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up. Aiming to realize such a society, the
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One of the principles of the United
Ashirase, a navigation system for the visually
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has been kept simple to keep its price low, but
there are plans to develop an array of optional
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Nation’s sustainable development goals Chino Wataru was involved in the development
(SDGs) is “leave no one behind.” In Japan,
where various efforts have been made to
of the electronic control of electric vehicles and
automatic driving systems at Honda. Following an
accident that involved a close relative, he began
realize this principle, many products and developing Ashirase, a device to assist the visually
impaired to walk.
services are being developed to help people
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system for the visually impaired. Attached smartphones to determine users’ routes. The
to the user’s shoes and linked to a smart- device, with a built-in motion sensor and an
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Chino said, “Walking is the basis of
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In a similar vein, WheeLog! is an appli-
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tion of wheelchair-accessible restrooms,
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PHOTO CREDITS: ASHIRASE / WHEELOG!
sort of access and information is needed
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At the beginning of her wheelchair life,
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sible to go out like she used to. However,
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THIS ARTICLE IS REPRODUCED FROM
alized the importance of sharing this in-
formation broadly, with everyone, which
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barrier-free environment is rapidly im-
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ant for everyone to gather information
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Oda has come to realize that people
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ing information and having others use it
through WheeLog!. She continues to take
Check other articles
in KIZUNA
on the challenge of solving social issues
using the power of information toward
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sustainable cities and communities.
Leaving no one behind is a central tenet
of the SDGs. Japanese innovators like
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Oda Yuriko, the developer of WheeLog!,
is a wheelchair user herself. She has been
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free initiatives based on the information
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WheeLog!, a wheelchair
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Periscope NEWS, OPINION + ANALYSIS

STAND ALONE
China has used
lockdowns, vaccines
and testing to
protect its citizens
from COVID-19. Its
leaders have reason
to think that the next
time a pandemic
strikes, they won’t
need the West’s help.

12 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

 “Camilla will be known as Queen Consort.”» P.24

F O R E I G N A F F A IR S

The US-China
Rift is a
Health Hazard
The COVID-19 experience may have hurt the
ZRUOGŠVDELOLW\WRɿJKWWKHQH[WSDQGHPLFODUJHO\EHFDXVH
relations between the U.S. and China have tanked

athletes competing at the winter olympics
in Beijing have gotten first-hand experience
of China’s prowess in controlling COVID-19 out-
breaks. Unlike the often vague and inconsistent
policies of the U.S., Beijing has perfected the art of
the lockdown. Athletes have been strictly cordoned
off from the outside world, required to wear masks
and submit to daily tests, and isolated in their
rooms upon a negative result.
The safeguards do more than merely protect
* ( 7 7 <  72 3  5 , * + 7  & + 5 , 6  -$&.6 2 1 ʔ* ( 7 7 <
to early warning of new viruses should be reassur-
ing not just to the people of China but to the rest of
the world. Yet China’s strategy of relying on strict
lockdown measures to keep the Omicron variant at
bay may not be sustainable in the coming months.
And animosity between the U.S. and China raises
concerns about the world’s prospects for battling
future outbreaks.
In the realm of pandemic prevention, cooper-
ation is key. Nations are far better at fighting pan-

athletes from infection. They also protect China’s demics when they collaborate than when they go it
newfound reputation as a competent steward of alone. The COVID-19 pandemic may have hurt the
global public health in a pandemic crisis. world’s ability to fight the next pandemic, rather
The idea that China, less than 20 years since bun- than improved it, in large part because U.S.-China
gling the SARS outbreak, has raised its relations have deteriorated.
game to world-class standards might Nerves were already on edge be-
be cause for celebration. A Chinese BY
fore the pandemic, with the Trump
public-health system that is alert to administration’s bellicose talk and
pandemic pathogens and can bring FRED GUTERL aggressive stance on trade. Two
the best technology and know-how @fredguterl years of COVID-19 have exposed

Photog raph b y K E V I N F R A Y E R NEWSWEEK.COM 13

Periscope
longstanding rifts and opened some
new ones. The debate over the origins
of the virus—whether it came nat-
urally from animals or a lab in Wu-
han—generated more animosity than
information. And the Biden adminis-
tration refused to attend the Olympics
in Beijing over China’s human rights
violations. For its part, China’s pres-
ident Xi Jinping posed with Russia’s
president Vladimir Putin in support
of his Ukraine adventure.
The pandemic has also soured pub-
lic opinion on China. The proportion
of Americans who view China as an
“enemy” doubled in the first year of
the pandemic, according to Gallup.
Americans supported the Olympic
boycott by a ratio of two to one, and
nine out of 10 consider China to be a
“competitor” or “enemy,” according to
a Pew survey in January. It’s not just
an American thing: similarly unfa-
vorable views on China showed up in
nearly every major country in Pew’s
attitudes survey last year. Although
Chinese views are harder to measure,
anecdotal evidence suggests that an-
ti-American nationalism is on the rise.
Distrust of China, and vice versa,
does not bode well for global public
health. China’s leaders have some
reason to think that the next time a
pandemic strikes, they won’t need the
West’s help. The pandemic has made
it more difficult to argue that China
has something to learn from the West
about infectious diseases. While the
U.S. has just passed the grim milestone
of 900,000 deaths from COVID-19,
China has kept its death rate below
5,000, at least officially. It developed
two vaccines and administered three
billion doses, enough to inoculate all
of its 1.4 billion citizens.
Dr. Jennifer Bouey, an epidemiol-
ogist and analyst at the RAND Corpo-
ration, has studied China’s progress
in improving its public-health and
14 NEWSWEEK.COM
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
disease-surveillance systems for the
past several decades. Public-health
officials in the two nations had devel-
oped an unprecedented collegiality
that made it easy to put their heads
and resources together to battle new
outbreaks. But with mutual distrust
on the rise, that ability is evaporating.
“There was an increase in collabora-
tion between the two countries, par-
ticularly in the last 20 years,” she says.
“That phase now looks like it’s over.”
Forgetting the lessons of SARS
The golden age of U.S.-China coop-
eration in public health started with
the SARS crisis in 2002. Although
China mishandled the epidemic in
the early days, it quickly recovered
and went on to forge a close working
relationship with public-health offi-
cials in the U.S. and elsewhere–prog-
ress that has diminished since the
COVID-19 pandemic.
When SARS was first detected in
Guangdong, in southern China, in
November 2002, the provincial gov-
ernment sent a team of investigators,
including some from the central pub-
lic-health authorities in Beijing. But
China did not publicly acknowledge
the outbreak until March, when cas-
es had surfaced in several countries
“There was an
increase in
collaboration
“sentinels,” keeping watch for out-
between the U.S.
and China in the
last 20 years. That
phase now looks
like it’s over.”
of Southeast Asia and as far away as
Canada. Beijing didn’t muster a sig-
nificant response until the World
Health Organization confirmed 791
cases and 31 deaths on March 27, five
months after the virus was initially
detected.
Beijing reacted by establishing
a national command center, firing
more than 1,000 officials and im-
plementing lockdown measures. Al-
though SARS was much more deadly
than SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus,
it turned out to be far less transmis-
sible. By the end of June, the WHO
declared China SARS free.
China was criticized for its de-
layed response, which, had the virus
been more transmissible, could have
put the world in considerable peril.
After the crisis subsided, however, it
invested billions to shore up its pub-
lic health system and infectious-dis-
ease reporting. It also moved to
strengthen relationships between
its public-health officials and those
in the U.S. and other nations. It ac-
cepted help from U.S. experts in
fashioning its own facilities, which
were modeled on the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). China’s CDC took a coordi-
nating role in the nation’s response
to emerging threats from infectious
disease and, in turn, supported
branches in the provinces and cities
throughout China.
In 2014, Beijing established a Na-
tional Influenza Center, which grew
to include more than 408 laborato-
ries and 554 hospitals that acted as
breaks, according to Bouey. It also
set up pneumonia centers that spe-
cialized in the symptoms of coronavi-
rus infections of the lungs and upper
respiratory system.
The new system got its first major
test in 2013, when about 420 people
M a rCh 04, 2022

C LO CK W I SE F RO M TO P: ST R /AF P/G E T T Y; A RT YO M I VAN OV/TASS /G E T T Y; VAL E NT I N F L AU R AUD/AF P/GET T Y
were sickened with H7N9, a bird-
flu virus, which killed one in five of
those infected. Although the virus
wasn’t very good at jumping from
one person to another—most cases
involved people who’d come into con-
tact with animals—scientists fretted
that a variant would overcome this
limitation and spark a pandemic.
The H7N9 outbreak gave China an
opportunity to demonstrate its new
disease-surveillance chops. It had its
technology and clinics in place to
HEALTH KICK
After SARS, China
beefed up its public
health systems.
Clockwise from top: A
health worker disinfects
a taxi in Guangzhou,
China, in 2003; Xi
Jinping and Donald
J. Trump; Protesters in
February in Lausanne.
identify the virus, and continued to
monitor it over four successive waves
over several years. It also developed
its own vaccine, in case one was nec-
essary to contain the outbreak.
The outbreak came at a time of
peak cooperation between the U.S.
and China. The U.S. sent experts. A
staff of 40 or so U.S. scientists worked
in offices adjacent to the Chinese
CDC in Beijing, making it easy to
compare notes and consult one an-
other over the latest developments.
Over the next few years, Chinese sci-
entists earned praise for their close
tracking of new cases and for their
generous sharing of information and
observations with other public health
officials. “For H7N9,” says Bouey, “the
timing was right.”
Then things began to unravel.
After the assassination of a U.S. dip-
lomat in Benghazi, Libya, and the
subsequent hearings on Capitol Hill,
the U.S. State Department. tightened
security, recalling the CDC experts to
the embassy in Beijing, where contact
with their Chinese counterparts was
more constrained. “That was the
beginning of the loss of trust,” says
Bouey, “not because of the health is-
sues but really because of geopolitics.”
This close working relationship
also took a hit when both nations
scaled back their pandemic-defense
spending. The Trump administra-
tion eliminated the office of pandemic
preparedness in the White House. Bei-
jing reduced the staff of its CDC from
more than 11,000 to 2,120, just before
the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Pandemic rifts
Exactly when the first case of
COVID-19 arose is the subject of some
debate, but it probably occurred on
December 1, 2019, in Wuhan, ac-
cording to Yanzhong Huang, a pub-
lic-health expert at Seton Hall Univer-
sity, who wrote an account of the early
days of the pandemic for the Council
on Foreign Relations.
Huang wrote that, according to
Chinese state media, Dr. Zhang Jixian,
a physician at a provincial hospital,
noticed that patients were coming in
with an “unknown pneumonia.” The
hospital informed the district CDC
office. A few days later, as Zhang saw
more patients, she grew concerned
that the virus might have been
transmitted from person to person,
NEWSWEEK.COM 15
Periscope
though it was also possible that in-
fections were acquired from animals
at the Huanan Seafood Market. She
alerted the authorities for a second
time on December 29 and sent six
patients to a hospital for infectious
diseases. The next day, according to
Huang’s account, the Wuhan Health
Commission sent an urgent mes-
sage to Zhang’s hospital calling for
“effective treatments.”
Samples from these early patients
were promptly submitted for tests,
which quickly confirmed that 80
percent of the new coronavirus’s
genetic material was similar to that
of the original SARS virus. Chinese
scientists worked to isolate the vi-
rus and sequence its genome, and
shared this information with the
WHO, the U.S. and other nations.
“ The disease surveillance sys-
tem appeared to work at the time,”
wrote Huang.
Almost immediately, however, the
attitude of local authorities changed.
The provincial government made
decisions that left Western pub-
lic-health experts perplexed. On De-
cember 30, by Huang’s account, the
Wuhan Health Commission sent out
a notice that “no units or individuals
shall release treatment information
without approval.” Two doctors who
shared information in apparent vio-
lation of the order were admonished,
and one was called in to local police
to sign a statement admitting to
spreading falsehoods.
On January 1, the Hubei Provincial
Health Commission issued orders
that ran counter to the kind of trans-
parency a Westerner might expect
in a public-health inquiry. Rather
EARLY WARNING Dr. Zhang
Jixian (right) reported symptoms
of “unknown pneumonia” in her
patients in December 2019.
16 NEWSWEEK.COM
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
than quickly disseminating infor-
mation about the new pathogen its
disease-surveillance system had iden-
tified, it ordered a halt to testing of
new samples, the destruction of all
previous samples and tight secrecy
on any information obtained about
the virus. It also disinfected the Hua-
nan Seafood Market, destroying evi-
dence that might have been useful in
determining how the virus first arose.
For the next several weeks, in-
formation from China about the
outbreak slowed to a trickle. The
provincial government seemed to un-
derreport cases and accounts, at least
compared to what scientists outside
of China later estimated. No public
statements about person-to-person
transmission appeared until January
20. It seemed that China, despite its in-
vestments in public health, was mak-
ing the same mistakes it had made
during SARS nearly 20 years ago.
“It’s a vertical
system: the central
government gives
the orders to the
local government.”
From the vantage point of Wash-
ington, D.C., these actions seemed
odd, to say the least. To some, it
seemed that Beijing was engaged in
some kind of cover-up. The lab-leak
theory, which holds that the virus
originated in the Wuhan Institute
of Virology and escaped, perhaps by
infecting a lab worker, expanded into
this vacuum of information.
After nearly two years of investi-
gation and debate, decisive evidence
either way is absent. Huang, for one,
is agnostic about the lab-leak theory.
“You can’t rule it out,” he tells News-
week. But the lack of information on
what China did in the early weeks of
the pandemic, and why, leaves much
room for speculation. “With China’s
lack of transparency,” he says, “you’re
free to use your imagination.”
Whatever the cause, mounting
grievances in Beijing and Washing-
ton, D.C., are not helping the cause
of global public health. “ It’s like a
divorce case,” says Bouey. “It’s hard
to say whose responsibility it is. But
there’s mutual dissatisfaction that
built up over many years and became
an open fight, and that has spilled
over to health.”
Observing hierarchy
The SARS experience in 2002 offers
an alternate explanation of China’s
actions in the early days of the pan-
demic: the top-down structure of Chi-
na’s government may have inhibited
Wuhan authorities from reporting
information up the line to Beijing.
Between late December 2019 and
late January 2020, the CDC in Beijing
sent three expert teams to investigate
the reports of pneumonia. Neither
K E H AO/ XI N H UA /GE T T Y
the first team nor the second team,
confining their focus mainly to the
seafood market, found evidence of
person-to-person transmission as
late as January 8. Only when cases
M a rCh 04, 2022

started arising in Thailand and South
Korea among people who clearly had
no link to the Wuhan market did Chi-
na dispatch a third team to Wuhan.
It concluded on January 19 that the
coronavirus was indeed being trans-
mitted from person to person.
F RO M TOP : WA NG PE N G/ XI NH UA /G ET T Y; SE RG EI SU PI NS K Y/A FP/G E T T Y
It’s possible that provincial au-
thorities kept Beijing in the dark
about what was going on in Wuhan.
They were certainly worried about
the economic impact of a disease
outbreak in the days before the Chi-
nese New Year, when citizens travel
to gather in celebration. The un-
derstaffed CDC in Beijing relied on
provinces and municipalities, also
underfunded, to carry out many of
the important public-health tasks.
Local authorities may have held back
information to avoid reproach.
“It’s a vertical system: the cen-
tral government gives orders to the
local government,” says Bouey. “Infor-
mation rarely comes the other way.
That’s not the way it was designed.
The local government is supposed to
implement what the central govern-
ment is doing.”
It’s also possible that the pro-
vincial and municipal authorities
were indeed carrying out the cen-
tral government’s wishes by sup-
pressing news of the outbreak. In
China’s closed society, where such
TEST CASE Experts fear that China’s
reliance on strict lockdown measures has
left the nation in a precarious position. Left:
Waiting for COVID-19 tests in northwest
China. Below: the CoronaVac vaccine.
communications are not accessible
via Freedom of Information Act re-
quests, it is difficult to know.
Whatever the explanation, it seems
clear that a lack of transparency in
China’s political system, as well as
its hierarchical structure, constitute
more-or-less permanent obstacles to
an effective pandemic response. It
may be possible in the best of times
to overcome these obstacles, but in a
situation of mutual distrust, proba-
bly not. Fixing flaws in China’s dis-
ease surveillance capabilities may be
a relatively straightforward matter
of investing resources in new clinics,
personnel and training, but “the po-
litical system will be much harder to
change,” says Bouey.
What will happen next? Public
health experts warn that China’s
policy of relying on draconian lock-
down measures to keep the pandemic
virus in check has left the nation in
a precarious position. Its COVID-19
vaccines provide poor protection
against the highly-contagious Omi-
cron variant that is currently on a
rampage across the globe. Experts
think that SARS-CoV-2, which can
carry on circulating in deer and other
animals, is probably never going away.
To avoid the kind of Omicron spike
that much of the rest of the world
is experiencing, China will be hard-
pressed to keep lockdown measures
in place while it administers booster
shots to its citizens.
Beyond COVID-19, the ability of
nations to keep the world safe from
future pandemics may hinge on
whether two nations can reconcile
their differences.
NEWSWEEK.COM 17
Periscope

O PINIO N

OlderWorkers
to the Rescue
Boomers, exiled from the workforce
due to ageism or the pandemic—or both—may be
employers’ answer to the Great Resignation

Will older AmericAns sAve us?
Unless you have been living in
exile, you know all about “The Great
Resignation,” a term coined by orga-
nizational psychologist and Texas
A&M professor Anthony Klotz. It’s
the period beginning in 2021 when
pandemic-shocked employees went
into revolt: The number of Amer-
icans quitting their jobs exceeded
pre-pandemic highs for a majority of
the year, despite employers struggling
to fill millions of open positions. For
example, according to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS),
roughly 3 percent of all
workers, or 4.3 million
BY
people, quit their jobs
in December. This was a
BRADLEY SCHURMAN
slight improvement over @bradleyschurman
the previous month, but
still problematic given
that help wanted signs are still ubiq-
uitous across the nation.
Meanwhile, thanks to cost-cut-
ting and ageism, older workers were
taking the beating they usually do
during recessions. According to the
Center for Retirement Research at
Boston College, it’s expected during
a normal year that one out of eight
older people will leave their jobs; that
jumped to nearly one out of three
by April 2020 and hovered around
one in five for the remainder of the
year. Furthermore, the report says,
the “share of people ages 55 or older
who left the workforce during the
pandemic increased by a statistically
significant 7.6 percentage points.”
A report from the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis pegged total pan-
demic retirements at 3 million—an
excess of 1.5 million more than would
be anticipated during a typical year.
This has all happened despite the fact
that there has only been a marginal
uptick in Social Security claims. This
means that older people may be call-
ing their current reality “retirement,”
but they might just be
sitting on the sidelines
and waiting for the right
moment to return to the
workforce, especially
those who are too young
to collect Social Security like those during the post-World
benefits (you must be at War II period. In those days, Amer-
least 62 to collect early, reduced ben- ica relied on older workers to fuel
efits and typically 66 to 67, depending growth and, in 1950, nearly one out
on the year you were born, to collect of two men over the age of 65 were in
full benefits). One possible sign of the the formal labor market.
desire to keep working among older Can it happen again? Will employ-
Americans: The Pew Research Center ers dive in and embrace this massive
reckons that 20 percent of gig work- labor pool?
ers in the U.S.—from freelance con- They should. An AARP-funded
sultants to Uber drivers—are over the report by The Economist Intelligence
age of 50, and nearly a third of those Unit (now Economist Impact), esti-
are over the age of 65. mated that the U.S. economy missed
The bottom line: Today’s employ- out on adding an additional $850
ment picture looks a lot less like the billion to its GDP in 2018—“a figure
pre-pandemic years and a lot more the size of Pennsylvania’s economy”—

18 NEWSWEEK.COM M a rch 04, 2022


due to age discrimination and the
exclusion of older people from the
labor market.
Nothing will change, though,
unless employers abandon hiring
and firing practices that favor the
young. A large number of companies,
' ( $ 1  0 , 7& + ( / / ʔ* ( 7 7 <  + $ 5 3 ( 5 & 2 / / , 1 6
for instance, have an ageism problem.
The AARP report found that nearly
eight out of 10 older workers believed
they witnessed or were a victim of this
bias at work. This is further evidenced
by long-term employment data that
illustrates that it takes the older unem-
ployed nearly twice as long as their
younger peers to find work.
The good news: We already know
that generational diversity improves
corporate performance, so employers
can get a lot of good out of creating
an age-inclusive work environment.
For example, a 2013 study of 147 Ger-
man companies, which was reported
in the Journal of Management, found
higher employee productivity and
retention rates, as well as higher prof-
its and growth projections among
businesses with a mix of employees
of various ages.
In order to achieve this genera-
tional diversity, businesses will need
to shift their strategies to compete
for talent of all ages with better sal-
aries and novel benefits, augment
their workforce with technolo-
gies, support their workers’ lives
outside of the office, and focus on
extending the working lives of all
employees through ergonomics and
inclusive design.
Employers can integrate all of
these non-insurance benefits, but
they won’t mean much to older work-
ers if age-related bias prevails in the
hiring process. Hiring managers, in
particular, must remove coded lan-
guage like “recent college graduate,”
as well as the requisite number of
years of experience from job postings.
They also need to get out of the rut
of assuming that an older worker is
“overqualified,” technologically illiter-
ate or only going to stick around for a
few years. According to CareerBuilder,
The good news:
We already know that
generational diversity
improves corporate
performance.
over the course of their working lives,
baby boomers spend 1.5 times longer
in a job than Gen X, and around three
times longer than millennials.
Policy makers have a role, too—
and will need to adapt current social
welfare programs to extend working
lives, as well as provide allowances for
lifelong learning. They should offer
information and incentives that
encourage employers to hire a diverse
set of generations in the workplace.
Employers may not have a choice
but to embrace changes when it
comes to an older workforce. The
labor force participation rate for peo-
ple over the age of 75 is expected to
grow by nearly 100 percent by 2030,
according to the BLS. In contrast, the
total workforce will only expand by
about 5 percent, and the 16-24 age
group will likely decline, thanks to
decades of contracting birth rates.
That may be a good thing. Research
from the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development shows
that countries who give older people
greater opportunities to work could
raise their GDP by as much as 19 per-
cent over the next three decades. So,
the practice of excluding older people
from the workforce no longer makes
sense. It hampers operational effi-
ciencies, negatively impacts the bot-
tom line and threatens the health of
the larger economy.
That’s why we need older workers
now more than ever.
ƠBradley Schurman is a demograph-
ic futurist and expert on longevity and
author of the super age: decoding
our demographic destiny (Harper-
Collins), He’s the founder and CEO of
The Super Age, a global research and
advisory firm, as well as co-founder
and president of KIBA, an inclusive
design company focusing on improv-
ing the built environment.
NEWSWEEK.COM 19
Periscope
ECONOMY
Chain
Reactions
Throughout the pandemic,
manufacturers and consumers
have had to deal with longer wait
times and higher prices. The
new normal means everyone is
learning to be more flexible
20 NEWSWEEK.COM
Early this January aftEr a working through delays,” the com-
long search, Laura Kastner, a pany told her.
27-year-old consultant living in New A lot of Americans have been
York City, found her dream couch: a having similar experiences lately.
plush, Joybird brand L-shaped sec- “A sofa is a good microcosm of how
tional. “It gave me butterflies when everything in the supply chain
I pictured myself laying on it.” She is impacted,” according to Mark
ordered it on January Schumacher, CEO of
3 and was told it would the Home Furnishings
be delivered in six Association. “It’s called
weeks. It wasn’t. Now,
BY
a supply chain for a
it’s due on March 16th. reason. What we have
GETTY
MEGHAN GUNN
The reason? “We are @95gunn found is that it’s not
M a rCh 04, 2022
 been hit by the fallout from the chip there have been other headaches.
“We didn’t catch a shortage, too. Joybird co-founder Last year’s winter storms in Texas,
break anywhere. and vice president of supply chain for instance, decimated the foam

Every aspect of the Joshua Stellin says many things

supply chain has
had a hiccup of one
in the company’s factories nowa-
days rely on chips—fork lifts, for
instance—and the time it takes to
industry, a critical component for
automobile and furniture manu-
facturers. Meanwhile “The Great
Resignation” has left shipping and

sort or another.” get new or replacement equipment

has slowed dramatically. “Things that
trucking companies shorthanded.
“We didn’t catch a break anywhere,”
used to take days and weeks now take Schumacher says. “Every aspect of
weeks and months,” he says. the supply chain has had a hiccup
There is no quick fix. Professor of one sort or another”
been a weakness or a single broken Morris Cohen of the Wharton School Through all of this, however, con-
link, it’s been many.” of Business says, “To build a staff at sumer demand for all kinds of prod-
The last few months have made the factories that fabricate the chips cuts has remained strong. Joybird’s
the phrase “supply chain” part of takes about a year, and then it takes Stellin says the rise of work from
everyday language. According to an another year to tune it and get it to home propelled a boom in furni-
Oracle survey, 45 percent of Amer- work and have acceptable yields and ture demand that quickly outpaced
icans say that before the pandemic, quality. You can’t just flip a switch.” the company’s ability to provide new
they never thought about how prod- Further down the supply chain, product. He puts it this way: “If you
ucts were delivered. Now, 87 per- look at it in terms of having a bull-
cent say they have been negatively LIMITED SUPPLY Stress points include
dozer dumping things in, and then
impacted by supply chain issues, with the dearth of manufacturers for items you have a bulldozer scooping things
like computer chips, like the one held by
60 percent unable to buy items due Joe Biden, below. One company makes
out, [the supply] bulldozer was bro-
to shortages and 51 percent canceling most of the world’s sophisticated chips. ken and [the demand bulldozer]
orders because of delays.
A lot of forces have combined to
stress supply chains starting with
COVID-19–related shutdowns by
manufacturers and shippers. Those
pressures revealed weaknesses in the
way goods are made and delivered
that long predate the pandemic.
One stress point is at the beginning
of the chain: An estimated 40 percent
of the world’s furniture, for instance,
is made in China. Similarly, a single
Taiwanese company makes most of
the world’s most sophisticated com-
puter chips as well as many of the
more common varieties. Supply for
both furniture and chips haven’t kept
pace with rising demand. Nintendo,
for instance, cut projections for sales
SAU L LO E B/A FP/G E T T Y

of its popular Switch device because it

couldn’t get enough chips in time for
the Christmas sales season.
Meanwhile furniture makers, like
manufacturers of all kinds, have

NEWSWEEK.COM 21
Periscope
was kicking ass.” Joybird outsources
parts from southeast Asia and manu-
factures mostly in Tijuana. Parts and
labor shortages abroad hit Joybird’s
partner factories just as furniture
demand began to take off.
Even when factories could turn
out new couches, those goods often
wound up stuck in ports due to labor
shortages there. While ships once
arrived and unloaded cargo within
three to four days, Stellin says, that
number looks more like 35–40 now,
and even that “is a flip of the coin,”
with some delays as long as 90 days.
HFA’s Schumacher says shipping
has become more expensive even
as it has slowed down. “We have
been screaming from the rooftops
as an industry since the middle of
2020 about inflation. With all these
shortages, container prices, which
22 NEWSWEEK.COM
ECONOMY
are controlled by companies that
are not American companies, have
exploded.” In some cases, he says,
container prices are 1000 percent
higher than they were pre-pandemic.
Delays and rising prices along
the supply have affected consumer
habits. As HFA’s Schumacher puts
it, “We now live in a retail world
where ‘available in stock’ is every-
thing.” Told they’ll have to wait nine
months for a product they want, he
says, many consumers are likely to
“The consumption of
toilet paper didn’t
change because of
the pandemic.”
switch to something they can get
faster instead. “I want it sooner than
nine months, and this is close, so I’m
going to go for it,” he says. Joybird’s
Stellin agrees, saying some furniture
designs that weren’t that popular
have been moving quickly mainly
because they are in stock in U.S. ware-
houses. He says consumers are likely
to get products quicker if they opt for
standard models rather than look for
custom features.
While supply chain issues aren’t
going away, Wharton’s Morris is
optimistic about companies’ grow-
ing ability to adjust. For example,
toilet paper shortages have generally
turned out to be short-lived. “The
consumption of toilet paper didn’t
change because of the pandemic,” he
says. People weren’t using more; they
were using more at home, instead of
at school or work. Makers responded
by repackaging rolls made for insti-
tutional customers and putting them
on supermarket shelves. Morris adds,
however, that kind of fix is easier in
some industries than others. Longer
term structural adjustments, like
reshoring supplies and redesigning
products to use more standardized
parts, will take more time and money.
HFA’s Schumacher is also hopeful
that the second half of the year will
bring down wait times for prod-
ucts, though probably not back to
pre-pandemic standards. “This is the
year we’re going to see a lot of adjust-
ments to these crazy situations we’ve
seen in 2020 and 2021,” he says.
→ This story is part of a series exploring
C H A NDA N K H A NN A /A FP/G E T T Y
the latest consumer trends and innova-
tions. For more articles on these topics,
go to newsweek.com/oracle.
BARE SHELVES The toilet paper
and paper towel aisle in a Miami
Beach supermarket this January.
M a rCh 04, 2022
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technology. trillions of dollars in capital programs.

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 NEWSMAKERS

Talking Points

“I NEVER SAID
“Donald ANYONE SEXUALLY
ASSAULTED ME.”
Trump belongs Ŝ7HQQLV VWDU 3HQJ 6KXDL RQ KHU
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in jail.”
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owners, I don’t
—STEPHEN KING

think they’ll
ever hire a
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Peng Shuai
“ I T I S A D I S C US S I O N
T H AT H A S T O B E
H A D — I T ’ S U T T E R LY a mind-set
L E G I T I M AT E .”
—helen mirren on about it. That
whether a non-jew
non jew ought
to play g olda meir mind-set that “There is still
a Black guy, time to
Black men preserve peace.”
can’t do this.” —french president emmanuel
macron on ukraine

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Helen Mirren

“When...my son Charles “I’M AN UNDERDOG. I ALWAYS

becomes King, I know you FEEL LIKE I WAS SCRAPPING
will give him and his wife FROM THE BOTTOM. ALWAYS. I
Camilla the same support ALWAYS FELT LIKE I WASN’T THE
that you have given me; and it ONE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO
is my sincere wish that, when BE IN THE ROOM. THAT’S PART OF
that time comes, Camilla will BEING PUERTO RICAN AND
be known as Queen Consort.” FROM THE BRONX AND A WOMAN.”
—queen elizabeth —Jennifer Lopez

Sherman Smith

24 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

CONTENT FROM COUNTRY REPORTS DENMARK

Denmark: A global role model

Europe’s frontrunner in the digital and green transition surges forward

Having weathered the economic storm of COVID-19 far better than most

©WORLD MAPPERS
of its peers, in 2021 Denmark’s economy is forecast to have grown by 3.9
percent, the fastest expansion it has seen since 1994.
“We’re experiencing very high growth and our lowest unemployment rates
in 12 years. The biggest challenge we face now would be an overheating of our
economy,” reveals Minister for Finance Nicolai Wammen. His government
aided the Nordic country’s strong comeback by “going big and going fast,”
as he puts it. “We took initiatives for health and to keep jobs and companies
afloat, we decided that we would basically do whatever it took to get them
through the crisis.” As one of the world’s wealthiest countries, triple-A rated
Denmark’s deep pockets helped achieve this goal. Another contributor to its
rapid, cohesive pandemic response was a socio-economic model that serves as
an example to others—one based on transparency, trust and partnership. “I
witnessed powerful collaboration between government, companies, organiza-
tions and the public. All of us were in it together,” confirms Brian Mikkelsen, Copenhagen aims to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital
CEO of the chamber of commerce Dansk Erhverv. This model doesn’t only engineering, economics and environmental expertise. “We’re working on the
make Danish society resilient—Danes regularly rank as the happiest people world’s first artificial energy island, with 670 offshore wind turbines producing
on the planet as well. “That’s because you can live a good life here, we have a energy to power 10 million households and power-to-X facilities to transform
strong welfare state and great business opportunities,” Wammen asserts. renewable energy into green fuel,” explains CEO Lars-Peter Søbye. His firm
Additionally, Denmark’s performance benefited from it being the Europe- is a prime example of how Danish firms are exporting innovative sustainable
an Union’s digital champion, coming top in the bloc’s Digital Economy and solutions: “We’re always searching for the best possible ways to apply our
Society Index 2021 that measures skills, connectivity, technology and public know-how to projects around the world to have an impact on society.”
services. Denmark is also a frontrunner in the green transition, states Minister Green energy is just one strength in an economy which is heavily biased to-
ward defensive industries that are resilient to shocks, as proved during the pan-
demic. Supported by research-intensive universities and the public sector, the
“We’re experiencing very high growth and our
country has created substantial and highly innovative clusters in sectors such as
lowest unemployment rates in 12 years.”
life sciences, banking, fintech, food, shipping, green and sound technologies.
Nicolai Wammen, Minister for Finance
It has also fostered many more global giants than those already mentioned,
including A.P. Moller - Maersk, LEGO, Velux, Bang & Olufsen, Novo Nor-
for Climate, Energy and Utilities Dan Jørgensen. “We’ve shown it’s possible disk, Chr. Hansen, Danfoss and Vestas, and seen many startup companies
to reduce emissions significantly while, at the same time, becoming more bloom such as Agreena, Chainalysis and Pleo. With a population of only 5.8
competitive, creating jobs, having better health and a higher living standard.” million, the country is committed to continuing to punch above its weight,
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As Russia-U.S. tensions rise, a new military strategy may ma

26 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

ke nuclear war more likely by WILLIAM M. ARKIN and MARC AMBINDER

NEWSWEEK.COM 27

hree thousand american troops are
headed to Europe, with thousands more
on standby in response to the Kremlin’s
threats against Ukraine. President Joe Biden
is pondering further actions—and as U.S.-Russia
tensions rise, a new American nuclear war plan,
previously unknown, lurks in the background.
For the first time, the war plan fully incorpo-
rates non-nuclear weapons as an equal player. The
non-nuclear options include the realm of cyber
warfare, such as cyberattacks on the basic work-
ings of society like electrical power or communi-
cations. Rather than strengthen deterrence, the
emergence of countless options and hidden cyber-
attack schemes weakens deterrence, obscures the
nuclear firebreak and makes escalation more likely.
Why? Because an adversary such as Russia can be
confused about where preparations for nuclear war
start, and whether a multi-domain attack is merely
a defense or the makings of a first strike.
It isn’t the war plan of yesterday with hair-trig-
ger alerts, bolts from the blue and global destruc-
tion. Instead, the standalone nuclear option has
become the integration of many options: nuclear,
conventional and unconventional, defensive as well
as offensive, “non kinetic” as well as “kinetic.”
President Biden alluded to this widened spec-
trum of warfare on February 7 when he warned
that if Russia crossed the Ukraine border, the United
28 NEWSWEEK.COM
HERE AND THERE
Below: U.S. troops head
for Europe this February
as part of a plan to fortify
NATO forces. Clockwise,
from top left: A police
impound yard in an
area of Ukraine held by
separatists; Ukrainian
servicemen take part in
a tactical exercise; an
abandoned classroom
near the front line of the
FRQʀLFW DQG D 8NUDLQLDQ
soldier on the lookout.
WORLD
States would bring an end to Nord Stream 2, the nat-
ural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, and
one that the Russian energy economy depends on.
“There will be no longer [sic] a Nord Stream 2,”
the president said. “We will bring an end to it.”
When pressed, all Biden would say is, “I promise
you, we’ll be able to do it.”
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He was referring to cyberattacks, experts say.
This little-understood American capacity to wage
offensive cyber warfare is central to the new nucle-
ar war plan. “We will take steps to reduce the role of
nuclear weapons in our national security strategy,”
President Biden wrote in his first National Security
Strategic Guidance last March. A potential cyber-
attack on the operations that regulate the Nord
Stream 2 pipeline, for example, is now an integral
part of the escalation “ladder.”
In the eyes of nuclear strategists, this broad menu
is a more effective way to thwart any peer adversary,
giving the president options short of nuclear war. But
experts also warn that the new flexibility might con-
fuse an adversary; a series of non-nuclear moves might
come to look like the opening salvos of a first strike,
provoking the very thing that is being prevented.
In the new nuclear war plan, integration of all
military and non-military weapons in the Ameri-
can armory is labeled the new deterrent. Planners
seek to debilitate and immobilize any enemy rath-
er than physically destroy it. The dividing line be-
tween what is nuclear and what is conventional has
been blurred more than ever. And with that, “strate-
gic stability”—the singular objective of preventing
the use of nuclear weapons, which has kept nucle-
ar weapons sheathed for more than 75 years—has
been made obsolete. Russia is not likely to invade
Ukraine, but if a military confrontation unfolds, it
would be the first test of this new approach to war.
Last June, the United States and Canada carried
out their largest war game since the end of the Cold
War, moving more than 100 fighter aircraft and
their supporting units to nine bases in northern
Canada, Alaska and Greenland. The objective of the
exercise was to defend the northern approaches to
North America from a mock Russian bomber attack.
Over eight days, the interceptor pilots each com-
manded their own earthly battlestars equipped with
the latest long-range radars, powerful electronic
warfare accessories and air-to-air missiles. By creat-
ing a tightly woven network of sensors and shooters,
M A RCH 04, 2022
 A series of non-nuclear moves
might come to look like the opening
salvos of a FIRSTSTRIKE, provoking
the very thing that is being prevented.
Moscow’s bombers were detected and destroyed, an
entire leg of the Russian nuclear arsenal nullified.
The oddlyy timed “Amalgamg Dart” exercise,, held
long before tensions over Ukraine escalated, wasn’t
your normal air defense drill. In contrast to Cold
War practice, where interceptors operated close to
the American border and each fighter was more
or less on their own, this exercise had aircraft op-
erating over thousands of miles in a remote part
of the globe. American F-22 Raptors stealth fighter
jets came within 200 miles of the Russian border in
the high Arctic. Even over long ranges, pilots were
able to talk to each other and aircraft received intel-
ligence data from ground stations and satellites. In
the background, cyber and space warriors further
worked their own magic, contributing to the whole.
This integration of multiple domains is one of the
hallmarks of modern high-end warfare. In addition
to increasingly lethal air defenses, today’s integrated
capabilities include conventional long-range weap-
ons, missile defenses, cyber warfare, space operations
and even commandos operating behind enemy lines.
As the techniques of integration have been perfect-
ed over two decades of conflict since 9/11, conven-
tional and digital weaponry have also become part of
the nuclear war plan, one that shifted from nuclear
weapons only to nuclear-and-conventional today;
from a model of one deterrent working through the
threat of overwhelming force, to more and more
flexible and adaptable responses which integrate
a “whole of government” contribution, including
psychological warfare and deception as well as the
inclusion of a series of highly secret capabilities.
To codify these changes, on April 30, 2019, the U.S.
Strategic Command (STRATCOM) issued Change 1
to CONPLAN 8010, “Strategic Deterrence and Force
Employment,” a major modification of a war plan
that was first issued nearly a decade ago. The new
NEWSWEEK.COM 29
plan—over 1,100 pages long—refocuses empha-
sis on “great power competition” and the four big
threats: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Russia
remains and is once again the most challenging ad-
versary, with its equivalent nuclear arsenal and an
overtly aggressive posture toward Europe and the
United States. Like the U.S., Russia also has “novel
weapons” that give it “the capability to unilaterally
escalate at any level of violence, across any domain,
into any geographic location…and to do so at a time
of their choosing,” says Maj. Gen. Ferdinand B. Stoss,
director of plans for U.S. Strategic Command.
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at
the Federation of American Scientists, discovered
the existence of the new war plan through the
Freedom of Information Act. It was previously
unknown outside the government, and even there,
the war plan itself is highly compartmentalized, its
totality known to only a few hundred.
“The Biden administration is going to issue a ‘Nu-
clear Posture Review’ in the coming weeks that is
expected to say very little,” he tells Newsweek. The
reason, Kristensen says, is that the composition of
the nuclear arsenal—bombers, land-based missiles
and submarines—is not expected to change, with
the current $550 billion modernization programs
continuing with only minor modifications.
“As we await the Nuclear Posture Review, the iro-
ny is that nuclear weapons are now inseparable
from the entire spectrum of strategic effects,” Kris-
tensen says. Instead, he says, Washington needs to strategy today is no longer centered around the
produce a “strategic posture review” that acknowl- threat of a one-time massive American retaliatory
edges these changes, and one that particularly ex- nuclear strike, the severity of which is perceived as
amines whether all of these capabilities enhance so great that it deters Russia (or any other adversary)
strategic stability and peace or undermine it. from attacking in the first place. The strategy today,
“Nuclear stability still rests on the Cold War mod- adopted in the Obama administration, is to have the
el of invulnerable nuclear submarines that cannot flexibility to assess the purpose of an attack (that is,
be destroyed in a surprise Russian first strike,” Kris- is it a massive strike or a limited strike or even an ac-
tensen says. “But war planning today is increasingly ON ALERT cident) before acting. The war plan today is modeled
integrated to provide more non-nuclear options, From top: President around the ability to absorb any first strike—to “ride
options that could be seen by Russia as provocative Joe Biden speaks with it out,” as war planners put it, including blunting it
Ukraine’s president
and even the makings of an American first strike”— by phone in the Oval with defenses and secret capabilities—before decid-
even if it begins without nuclear weapons. 2IɿFH 86 DLUPHQ LQ D ing on the nature and size of the American response.
“This integration of nuclear and non-nuclear, F\EHUWUDLQLQJH[HUFLVH This new strategy provides the president with
and Hans Kristensen, a
and the focus on ‘effects’ rather than destruction,” QXFOHDU ZHDSRQV H[SHUW more decision-making options; automatic nucle-
Kristensen says, “erodes the firewall between con- at the Federation of ar retaliation is no longer the only option. Imple-
ventional and nuclear warfare and creates more $PHULFDQ 6FLHQWLVWV menting the new strategy requires bombers and
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30 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

 WORLD

defenses are seen as protecting this survival against

further detection, to preserve a highly flexible de-
cision-making structure, and disrupt Russian of-
fensive methods. Timing and flexibility are the key.
When he was commander of STRATCOM, Gen.
John Hyten hinted at this new approach, saying
that when he took control at the Omaha-based
command, what surprised him most “was the flex-
ible options that [were] in all the plans....”
“If something bad happens in the world,” Hyten
said, “and there’s a response and I’m on the phone
with the secretary of defense and the president...I
actually have a series of very flexible options from
conventional all the way up to large-scale nukes
that I can advise the president on to give him op-
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tions on what he would want to do.”

In the new war plan, these are called “Directed
Planning Options” (DPOs), previously known as
“adaptive” options. They are a menu of capabilities
that include nuclear attack, but also a variety of
other attacks to handle every scenario from terror- For the first time, the war plan
ist threats involving weapons of mass destruction fully incorporates non-nuclear
to responding to massive space and cyberspace at-
tacks upon the U.S. Regarding Russia, there is much
more attention paid to non-nuclear and non-kinet-
s an
weapons as EQUALPLAYER.
ic attacks on the Kremlin national leadership and

-
ing to receive early warning and to communicate.
These DPOs exist not justj to respond
p to specific
p
scenarios but also accommodate new capabilities—
not necessarily “weapons”—some of them highly
compartmented at classifications above Top Secret.
Altogether they make up an increasingly five-di-
mensional threat to Russia—air, land, sea, cyber
and space. Experts say that in a crisis, the capability
could easily cross the line between conventional and
nuclear and between information attack and real at-
tack, with the unintentional result of making crisis
posturing (and even the preparation of defenses)
look a lot like the early stages of a nuclear first strike
threat. That might provoke the very thing that all of
the flexibility is built to avoid, the very vulnerability
of the force that pushes a “use it or lose it” mentality.
A former STRATCOM planner, who spoke to
Newsweek on background because he is not autho-
rized to discuss classified matters, describes DPOs
as “executable,” which in everyday English means
they’re not just theoretical or aspirational, but are

NEWSWEEK.COM 31
 WORLD

prepared and implementable. The capability to Russia is also able to

“readily execute” DPOs, the planner says, requires a
high degree of readiness, especially in a crisis. “unilaterally escalate at
“Nuclear war is no longer necessarily going to start
any level of violence,
with a bolt-out-of-the-blue missile attack,” the plan-
ner says. “It’s more likely to look like a coordinated across any domain, into
attack on command and control structures—from
early warning to communications to decision-mak- ANYGEOGRAPHICLOCATION ”
ANYGEOGRAPHICLOCATION.
ing—to impede a Russian attack or at the same time
to make whatever American attack is planned, of
course defined as a retaliation, more likely to achieve.”
The planner thinks that the drift from a solely nu-
clear to a “multi-domain” war plan, while intended
as a way to give the president more “decision space”
and to lessen the likelihood of nuclear war, actual-
ly threatens overall strategic stability. “Many of the
DPOs in 8010 [the war plan] cover Phase Zero,” the
planner says—the period of the six-phased war plan
called “shaping the environment.”
“These are capabilities that are already in play
that might also communicate a readiness on the
part of the U.S. to actually strike first, even if not
with nuclear weapons.”
The planner points to an Air Force military exer-
cise, held in January, where two B-52 bombers flew
to a rural airfield in Arkansas, practicing an “agile
combat employment” concept where all bombers
would disperse to a larger number and wider vari-
ety of airfields to increase the survivability of the
overall force against any Russia attack. American
bombers started to practice such a concept in 2019
and it is now integrated into the nuclear war plan.
“It’s not just survival,” the planner says. “This is
also the means of extended war-fighting:” being
able to survive a Russian first strike with a large
number of deliverable weapons. Within a few
hours, pairs of bombers can land at remote loca-
tions, refuel, receive repairs, resupply and be back
in the air before Russia can pinpoint their location.
During another one of these agile military exer-
$ 1 $72 / , ,  67 ( 3$ 1 29ʔ$ ) 3ʔ* ( 7 7 <

cises held in December, B-52 bombers hopscotched

to an airbase in western Canada called Shilo, again
demonstrating rapid dispersal to a growing list of
remote locations. One of the officers involved in
the exercise told Air Force Magazine that the whole
point was “challenging predictability.”
“Challenging predictability” and putting increas-
ing emphasis on flexibility, the STRATCOM planner
responds, “builds ambiguity regarding American

32 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

 LINE OF FIRE
A Ukrainian soldier,
with weapon in hand,
walks along a trench
on the front line with
Russian-backed
separatists, near the
town of Avdiivka in
the country’s Donetsk
region late last year.

NEWSWEEK.COM 33
intentions that is the very antithesis of deterrence
as we have thought about it for the past fifty years.”
The planner is not arguing that the United States
should go back to Mutual Assured Destruction
(MAD): He is pointing out that this new integra-
tion demands serious attention. “The integration
of non-nuclear capabilities has opened up new
possibilities,” he says—more credible interception
of Russian bombers and missiles, destruction or
negation of Russian satellites, electronic warfare
against Russian navigation systems, disruption of
Russian command circuits and electrical power,
even special operations to kill or capture Russian
civilian and military leaders—“all of which facil-
itates, in the eyes of decision-makers, the notion
that small-scale nuclear attacks can occur without
further escalation to all-out nuclear war.”
The U.S. nuclear arsenal today—that is, those
warheads that are available for immediate use—
consists of a triad of approximately 1,650 nuclear
weapons: 950 on ballistic missile submarines, 400
on land-based missiles and 300 on bombers. The
land-based missiles are deployed in individual
34 NEWSWEEK.COM
GEARING UP
Above, clockwise,
from top left: A soldier
prepares to load a missile “strategic shooters” that are conventional rather
during a weapons load
competition; a crew
uploads a Joint Air-
to-Surface Standoff
Missile (JASSM) during
a demonstration at a
New Mexico Air Force
Base; Army paratroopers “extreme” range model, up to 1,200 miles) and de-
prep for an airborne
exercise last month; and
D SUHʀLJKW FKHFN IRU D
B-1B bomber. Opposite
page: Employees unload a
plane carrying equipment
from the U.S. to assist
Ukraine security.
hardened silos across five states in the American
west. The 950 warheads are deployed on 12 subma-
rines, all but one of which has missiles loaded and
counted as deployed. The B-2 and B-52 bombers are
at three domestic bases. Another 100 or so nuclear
bombs are forward deployed in Europe.
While these numbers have dramatically declined
since the height of the Cold War, conventional
weapons with direct integration into the nuclear
war plan have ballooned. The addition of credible
than nuclear, Kristensen says, “is the most single
dramatic development since the Gulf War” in 1991.
The premier conventional strike weapon in this
category is the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile,
which can stealthily travel over 700 miles (or in its
stroy almost any unhardened target. The Air Force
and Navy are planning to purchase 10,000 JASSMs
and though the missiles are only deployed on B-1
bombers today (which have otherwise been “denu-
clearized”), eventually every fighter airplane will be
able to carry the weapons. Air Force experts say that
M A RCH 04, 2022
 WORLD

If a crisis like Ukraine escalated to
military confrontation, the ramp-up might
be obscured behind largely invisible
and even
war plan can in theory be destroyed with conven-
tional weapons.
p A future of JJASSM,, together
g with
the Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile, opens
up the prospects of an omnidirectional threat to
Russia and a secret change to the nuclear calculus.
Behind the nuclear and conventional arsenals are
additional non-quantifiable and sometimes high-
ly ephemeral weapons, including cyber and space
weapons, as well as other weapons and techniques,
some of them highly secret. The cyber domain was
given an expanded role in the nuclear war plan in
the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, and in the 2018
6(1,25$,50$1$$521,59,1ʔ86$,5)25&(*,$1&$5/2&$6(0ʔ86$,5)25&(5,*+76(5*(,683,16.<ʔ$)3ʔ*(7 7<
use-it-or-lose-it, while at the same time threatening
enough damage that the prospect would make any
attacker cautious. Up until the digital age, that un-
comfortable balance was maintained. Now, for the
first time, “damage” can no longer be described as
nuclear only, and the effectiveness of however-ma-
ny nuclear weapons is called into question, given
defenses and new methods of attack.
The new nuclear war plan is thus today neither
segregated from the rest of warfare (or of military
posturing) nor is it a stable edifice. If a crisis like
Ukraine escalated to military confrontation, the
ramp-up might be obscured behind largely invisi-
ble and even secret capabilities. And, in the name of
readiness and flexibility, they might have their own
automaticity, a sort of move-it-or-lose-it format that
would provoke its own responses. Missiles and
submarines might provide the picture of stability
while all around, the wires, airwaves and far reach-
es of space quiver with society-destroying powers.
Ơ William M. Arkin is senior national security cor-

National Cyber Strategy, cyber deterrence was add- respondent for NEWSWEEK and author of numerous
&/2 &.:,6()520723/()7$,50$167&/$66-2(/3),(67(5ʔ86$,5)25&(-26+8$0,//(5ʔ86$,5)25&(

ed as a formal part of the strategic deterrent. While books on nuclear weapons and strategy, including
this is often thought of as strictly defensive—pro- S.I.O.P.: THE SECRET U.S. PLAN FOR NUCLEAR WAR.
tecting U.S. command lines—the incorporation into Marc Ambinder, a nuclear scholar, is also author of
the nuclear war plan now includes a healthy dose THE BRINK: PRESIDENT REAGAN AND THE NUCLEAR
of offensive options, outlined in Directed Planning WAR SCARE OF 1983. Together, they write the Substack
Options and compartmented plans, equal “domain” newsletter THE SECRETS MACHINE.
partners to nuclear and conventional weapons.
“The challenge in the future will be to understand
how these weapons actually augment and even sup-
plant nuclear weapons,” the former STRATCOM
planner says. “The danger,” he says, “is that while the
numbers of nuclear weapons remains constrained
by arms control treaties and the composition of the
nuclear triad remains essentially the same in the
future, advances in non-nuclear elements of deter-
rence quietly begin to be more and more influential,
even as the effect is not widely understood.”
In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy
was aghast when he was given a detailed briefing
about the nuclear war plan. It was all-or-nothing,
and in even the best-case scenario, hundreds of mil-
lions of people were projected to die. He ordered
the Strategic Air Command to come up with more
options and to move away from attacking civilian
targets. That led to a 50-year effort to produce a nu-
clear war plan that would eliminate the necessity of

NEWSWEEK.COM 35
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The 2022 ranking of America’s
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Customers were given the
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as all reward programs that
provided the customer with a
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The survey was conducted on
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The awarded loyalty programs
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FXVWRPHULVVDWLVɿHGZLWKWKH
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4. Customer support: Measures
the level of assistance provided
to customers when signing up
for the program or having
WURXEOHUHGHHPLQJEHQHɿWV
(weighted 10 percent)
5. Trust: Measures the trust in
the loyalty program around
how they use the personal data
provided through the program.
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6. Recommendation: Measures
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(weighted 30 percent)

38 NEWSWEEK.COM
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NEWSWEEK.COM 45

Building a new world: Japan’s infrastructure and
construction leaders take their expertise global
From a Shinkansen railway system
boasting zero passenger fatalities
in 50 years of operation to the
world’s longest suspension bridge
connecting Awaji Island to Kobe,
Japan is recognized as a global
leader in construction and infra-
structure. Since the country’s first
construction boom prior to hosting
the 64’ Olympics, Nippon enter-
prises have been admired not only
for their ability to build engineer-
ing marvels, but for their capac-
ity to do so in one of the world’s
most inhospitable environments,
marked by tectonic activity and
mountainous regions. It is there-
fore no surprise to find that since
1990, the ‘land of the rising sun’
has consistently ranked amongst
the Top 5 in the WEF’s ‘quality of
infrastructure’ assessment.
Today, the Japanese construc-
tion market has matured. With
the oldest population in the world,
Japan’s demographic line has been
sharply declining since 2011, which
has lowered the amount of new
projects. The Japanese market is
currently sustained by the rising
need for maintenance and repair
of aging infrastructure, which also
includes leveraging the latest di-
saster prevention technologies to
enhance resilience to natural di-
sasters. And with Japan looking to
reach carbon neutrality by 2050,
the environment is also a major
priority for those in construction
and related industries.
“About 50 years ago, around the
time of the Tokyo Olympics, we had
the construction of the Shinkansen,
the major road networks and many
other infrastructure projects to
support the Olympics,” says Shinya
Okuda, president of civil engineer-
ing firm Fudo Tetra. “Now, 50 years
on, it’s time to perform mainte-
nance or refurbish the road and
rail networks in particular but also
infrastructural systems such as the
water and sewage pipe networks,
and this is a higher priority than
the construction of new projects.”
In 2021, the Japanese govern-
ment launched a national resilience
project, allocating a budget of 15
trillion yen over the course of five
years. “The project will basically
reinforce existing infrastructure
to prevent damage from natural
disasters,” explains Katsutoshi
Ogawa, president of Okasan Livic,
a trader and manufacturer of con-
struction materials. “We have a lot
of old structures, like roads, and
we need to maintain big rivers and
dams also. Our company is try-
ing to supply good techniques and
materials for this project, including
water and sewer pipes and bridge
reinforcement/restoration.”
Another company playing its
part in the government’s national
resilience plan is Hiraiwa, which,
like many of its peers, is actively en-
gaged in the maintenance and re-
pair of Japan’s existing infrastruc-
ture and facilities built over the
last half century. When it comes
to disaster prevention technology,
Hiraiwa is a leader in the provi-
sion of tailor-made anti-seismic
retrofitting solutions, a particu-
larly pertinent area of expertise in
earthquake-prone Japan.
“Due to the seismic regulations
in Japan becoming stricter each
time an earthquake occurs, we get
a wave of inquiries. Clients come to
us and ask us to inspect their build-
ings that were built several years
ago to see if they still adhere to the
most recent seismic regulations,”
explains Hiraiwa president Toshika-
zu Hiraiwa. “Needless to say, new
buildings have to be constructed
according to safety regulations and
seismic retrofitting. Public facilities
such as hospitals or universities
with spacious and wide areas like
canteens or gymnasiums request
our assistance to ensure the safety
of their roofs and facilities. It is not
only making sure that buildings can
withstand high-magnitude earth-
quakes but also paying attention
to the surrounding infrastructure.”
In terms of natural disasters,
perhaps the greatest challenge
for Japan – and indeed the world
– is climate change. Like many
other industries, Japanese firms
involved in construction have
prioritized green technologies,
including Chemical Grouting, an
expert in soil improvement and
stabilization that has developed
environmentally friendly solutions
such as BioJet and ICECRETE.
“‘ICERETE is an environmen-
tally friendly ground freezing
method that means we no longer
have to use cement to reinforce
soil,” explains company president
Yuichi Tachiwada, who aims to
bring Chemical Grouting’s tech-
nologies to countries around the
globe. “We want the world to
know about our technologies. If
we have more people collaborat-
ing, then we can protect the Earth
together. We want to come up
with measures that will tackle
the problems that global warm-
ing is bringing about. So, we will
continue to develop technologies
that address this challenge.”
Fuji-I-Tec, which specializes in
heat insulation, sound insulation,
fire-proofing, asbestos removal
and the painting of various types of
plants including power generation
facilities, is also playing a small but
important role in the path towards
carbon neutrality. “We do not con-
sider our company a key player
in changing the industry because
we are such a small company,”
president Fumio Uchikawa states.
“Nevertheless, we are extremely
proud that our insulation technol-
ogy highly contributes to the real-
ization of a carbon-neutral society
and the efficiency of a facility.”
Japan’s aging and shrinking pop-
ulation has also presented a chal-
lenge to the Japanese construction
industry when it comes to finding
new recruits. With a shrinking do-
mestic labor pool, companies must
turn to new technologies such as
automation, while trying to market
the industry as an attractive career
option for young Japanese.
“Many Japanese companies are
struggling in relation to their HR
activities because it’s very difficult
to employ new graduates from uni-
versity, especially in the construc-
tion industry. Less than 10% of
our workers are between the ages
of 19 and 25, so something must
be done to regenerate our work-
force,” states Seigo Minamioka,
president and CEO of construction
equipment rental company Nikken.
“One of our strengths is the ability
to recognise problems and one of
those problems right now is the
shrinking labor force, with the solu-
tion being in our services and IT.”
Japan, traditionally an insular
country, also aims to welcome
more foreign workers as a means
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
to address the labor shortage.
“The Japanese government is
now pursuing immigration poli-
cies for foreign workers to in-
crease the labor force, especially
in the medical, technology, and
construction fields,” says Ma-
saaki Katsuyama, president of
Fuwa Metal. “We have a stance
on contributing to the industry in
our own way, but in order to make
up for the shortage of human re-
sources in Japan, the government
will need a long-term strategy.”
A large portion of the foreign
construction workers destined to
land on Japan’s shores will come
from Southeast Asia, a fast-grow-
ing region where many Japanese
construction and related compa-
nies have turned their attention
amid the dwindling demand for
new projects on the domestic
market. Driven by rapid economic
and demographic changes and
by reforms that facilitate PPPs,
the value of mega projects (those
worth more than $25 million) in
the ASEAN (Association of South-
east Asian Nations) region alone
stands at an incredible $2.9 trillion.
Since 2000, Japan has financed
more than $230 billion worth of
projects in the region, more than
any other country thus far.
When it comes to construction
projects and related materials and
machinery, Japan is renowned in
the region for delivering the high-
est quality, thanks to companies
like Hitachi Construction Machin-
ery (HCM), which aims to expand
throughout Asia, as well as the U.S.,
Latin America and Africa. For HCM
president Kotaro Hirano, the re-
puted ‘Made in Japan’ brand gives
Japanese construction machinery
manufacturers an edge over com-
petitors. “One characteristic of the
Japanese industry is that the whole
supply chain has high standards,
and those standards are applied
across the entire industry. So as
a result, the final products show a
markedly different level of quality.”
Mitsui Miike, another company
offering machinery of the high-
est quality and durability, also has
plans to grow internationally, and
particularly in the ASEAN region.
“The products for which we would
like to expand sales overseas are

road headers for tunnel excava-
tion, 1-2 MW small hydroelectric
power generation equipment, bio-
mass power generation transpor-
tation equipment, and planetary
gearboxes (for excavators, large
cranes, excavators, etc.),” explains
president Motohiko Nakamura.
“Hopefully, we will also be able to
provide power through the elec-
tricity generation business we are
starting. We would like to take our
hydropower generators overseas
and sell them in relevant markets,
such as Southeast Asia.”
Japanese firms engaged in wa-
ter treatment and sewage are sup-
porting the development of water
infrastructure throughout South-
east Asia and beyond with the help
of Japan’s overseas development
assistance (ODA) programs. “In
countries and regions where water
and sewage facilities are under-
developed, we believe that pipe
jacking methods can play a major
role in achieving a safe and hygienic
environment,” says Kyoichi Yasuda,
president of Yasuda Engineering,
a leader in pipe-jacking solutions.
“Some developing countries have
already begun to develop water
pipes and sewerage facilities with
Nihon Suido Consultants: Leading the
water sector with sustainable services
Since its inception in 1959, Nihon Suido Consultants (NSC) has been contributing to
various business solutions through sustainable growth in the field of water supply and
sewerage systems in over 70 countries as a leading engineering consulting firm.
With water scarcity currently
on the global collective mind,
confronting it requires compa-
nies with experience, reliabil-
ity and high technology – and
Nihon Suido Consultants finds
itself fitting the bill perfectly
for such a task.
Having already had various
successes overseas – Brazil, Sri
Lanka and Indonesia to name
but a few – NSC’s integrated ap-
proach provides the backbone of
its success. President Kazunori
Mayama explains: “So far, we
have accumulated knowledge
overseas through the work of
planning and designing of many
water and sewage facilities. From
now on, we will use the special
technology we have developed
to provide sustainable services
and contribute to solving water
problems around the world.”
loans from other countries includ-
ing Japan, but Japan plans to con-
tinue to provide support through
ODA, and we would like to work
mainly on pipe jacking work.”
Addressing the growing global
concern of water scarcity is a ma-
jor priority for Nihon Suido, which
is involved in the ODA business
to support developing countries
for clean water supply and sew-
age treatment. “In Indonesia, we
started off with ODA projects.
We bought companies in Jakarta
and made that a hub for our busi-
ness once those projects were
completed,” explains company
president Kazunori Mayama. “In-
dia is also an important market.
Through the ODA scheme, we
were involved in two big projects
there.” Nihon Suido uses the lat-
est digital technologies to of-
fer state-of-the-art solutions for
water management, which Mr.
Mayama says “is critical when we
anticipate scarcity in the future”.
For its part, Awa Paper is an-
other leader in wastewater treat-
ment, having developed innovative
filtration systems such as M-fine,
which is a flat-sheet membrane
for membrane bioreactors (MBRs).
To combat such problems, Nihon
Suido can count on technology
which simulates nature’s water
cycle and models the ground in
question. Then, simulated rain on a
100,000-1 million year timeframe
is added in order to provide a base
model for future infrastructure
and city-building models. This fore-
cast can be run on a 10-20 year
time period in any area with water
management issues.
The technology can also pinpoint
radioactive substances within the
system. Later, during the manage-
ment phase, technology such as
Blitz GROW and Blitz GIS take
center stage – two cloud-based
services that regulate facility and
“Awa Paper can produce anything
related to water treatment in dif-
ferent industries that require dif-
ferently adjusted water filtration
systems,” comments president
Yasuhiro Miki. “Excluding drinking
water and the production of bever-
ages, in the context of wastewater
treatment, we are emphasizing
the recyclability and reusability of
water, with new initiatives being
applied to what is truthfully an
old business. With adjustments in
filtration processes, we can reach
new, excellent filtration levels ap-
plicable to different industries.”
Japan’s disaster prevention
technologies also cover the likes
of gas alarms and it is another area
in which the Nippon nation excels,
thanks to companies like New Cos-
mos and Figaro Engineering. As
a result of the increasing use of
natural gas alarms in Japan, where
New Cosmos holds a 70% market
share of the market, deaths from
gas explosions have virtually been
eliminated. New Cosmos president
Yoshinori Takahashi wants to help
other countries reach such mile-
stones. “We feel our experience in
Japan can be replicated elsewhere
in countries that need it most. In
maintenance information, while
guaranteeing effective asset man-
agement. One other technology re-
cently developed by the company
is a high-performance 360-degree
camera. The firm’s engineers can
observe the interior of sewer pipes,
after which AI reads the data and
instantly identifies the location of
any deterioration.
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
fact, recent data shows that many
people in the U.S., U.K., France,
and other countries still experience
deaths due to gas explosion acci-
dents and we are making signifi-
cant efforts to provide gas alarms
to overseas markets.”
New Cosmos’ latest state-of-
the-art gas alarms rely on the
kind of MEMS sensor technol-
ogy developed by Figaro, which
counts New Cosmos among its
clients. “Our battery operable
sensors can be utilized in wireless
and portable devices. To that end,
we are expecting to expand our
miniaturized products in various
fields that represent the frontier
of innovation,” says president
Toshihiro Udaka, who adds that
the company seeks international
partners to further enhance inno-
vation as it looks to strengthen its
global presence. “Looking to the
future, we are interested in open
innovation and working together
not only with domestic but also
overseas companies, especially
startups. We are looking for a
partner who can change our
business model by integrating
our core technology with theirs
to create something innovative.”
“NSC is even able to simulate
future water environments
using sophisticated
modelling, including
technology that simulates
nature’s water cycle.”
Kazunori Mayama, President,
and Kyogo Nomura, Vice
President, Nihon Suido
Consultants Co., Ltd.
When cutting-edge technology
meets experience and know-how,
success is guaranteed. As such,
NSC’s undoubted strengths will
become increasingly needed in a
world where fears increase ever
more when it comes to the topic
of the provision of water.
http://en.nissuicon.co.jp
 CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO

Nissei Build Kogyo: Bringing ready-made solutions

for society’s housing needs
Since its establishment in 1961, Nissei Build Kogyo has always prided itself on being
the one and only company engaged in prefabricated houses, system architecture,
and multi-storey car parks that provides comprehensive support, from development, [Parking Structure with Ramps]
manufacturing and construction to after-sales services. Visitor’s parking lot
In an era with a declining number count on an extremely strong human enough schools. Accordingly, Nissei
of workers due to Japan’s aging resource platform. In the firm, every Build Kogyo snapped into action to
demographic, Nissei Build Kogyo is employee is provided with both the provide temporary school buildings
using its 60-plus-year experience skills and subsequent encourage- and kindergartens to help accom-
to systematize old, labor-intensive ment to prioritize solutions based modate the people affected.
methods withinitsindustry. The firm on what works best for the envi- One comprehensively rounded [Steel-frame Buildings]
achievesthisbyincreasedproduction ronment, society and, of course, the product that brings the firm much Botanical garden
ofcustom-madeprod- customers.Employees pride is “V-Span-S”, an innovative
ucts as well as those operateunderadetail- approach which systematizes all the
with predetermined oriented sales system processes involved in the building of
specifications. Presi- that enables instant housing,fromdesigntoconstruction.
dent Hideki Ueda ex- response to the needs By using such a method, customers
plainsoneofthefirms’ of customers. One ex- not only get a better price but overall [Prefabricated House]
maintargets:“Mygoal ampleofthisapproach project time is also cut significantly. Temporary school building
is to turn about 80% was seen during prep- Mr. Ueda comments: “I think it is
of the things that we arations for the Tokyo rare to find a system builder like us
domanuallyintothese Olympics. Some areas in the medium-sized market where
Hideki Ueda,
prefabricatedsystems of the city experienced V-Span-S excels, and I am extremely
President,
and technologies.” a dramatic and tem- proud of it.” The thorough approach
Nissei Build Kogyo Co., Ltd.
In its quest to stan- porary swelling in offered by V-Span-S will undoubt-
dardize its methods, population, and conse- edly propel the company to further
NisseiBuildKogyocan www.nisseibuild.co.jp/en quentlytherewerenot success both at home and abroad. [Steel-frame Buildings] Cowshed

No doubt the finest geo-doctor

Founded in 1963, Chemical Grouting has been supporting the construction industry
through its disaster prevention technology that strengthens buildings and infrastructure.
Koishihara River Dam
Thetechnologyrevolutionhas signifi-
cantly transformed some industries,
but sometimes you have to look a
little deeper to find the groundbreak-
ing progress technology has enabled
in other sectors. Grouting is an ex-
ample of the latter, and Japanese
construction company Chemical
Grouting is one of the companies
pushing the industry forward with
its world-leading technology.
Founded in 1963, Chemical Grout-
ing has developed technologies used
around the world, including the jet
grouting method, which uses high-
pressure water that cuts through
the ground and mixes with cement
slurry. "We don't intend to monopo-
lize our technologies, and we hope
that engineers around the world will
actively use them,” says company
president Yuichi Tachiwada.
Chemical Grouting has developed
innovative, environmentally friendly
technologies to contribute to the
achievement of the UN’s Sustain-
able Development Goals (SDGs). The
ICECRETE method, for example, is
a new ground-freezing technology
that utilizes liquefied CO2 at -45°C to
Ground freezing method, ICECRETE
stabilize the ground without the use
of chemicals or cement. In addition,
the ICECRETE method uses 40%
Soil remediation technique, BioJet™
less electricity than the conventional
freezing method, contributing to the
reduction of CO2 emissions.
The BioJet™ method, meanwhile,
is an environmentally friendly solution
for in-situ remediation of contami-
nated soil. This technology has been
commercialized with the cooperation
of U.S. company EOS®, and has been
commended by the U.S. Department
“Not only in construction,
Chemical Grouting has
high technology and is
continuously developing
the ability to provide
solutions to the problems
underground.”
Yuichi Tachiwada, President,
Chemical Grouting Co., Ltd.
of Commerce. Chemical Grout is also
in the process of licensing the technol-
ogy to a Taiwanese company.
Moving forward, Chemical
Grouting seeks other international
partners to help develop innova-
tive technology to tackle global
environmental challenges.
www.chemicalgrout.co.jp/en

Structure study by BIM
Hiraiwa: the comprehensive
construction company
Serving local residents, government offices, major general contractors and many
others, Hiraiwa aims to work as a close partner in clients’ construction projects.
Remodeling, retrofitting, and
reconstruction are pushing the
construction industry towards
a more sustainable, safer future.
Construction companies must
be able to guarantee strong life
cycles for their new builds whilst
offering clients the opportunity
to retrofit older buildings with
the latest technology.
Newly completed nursing home
Japan’s Hiraiwa offers customers
a one-stop shop from design to con-
struction and maintenance, priding
itself on the safety provided by its
innovative technology. Founded in
1946, Hiraiwa recognized the need
for repair works in the industry
before its rivals, establishing its
renewal division some 20 years
ago with a focus on eco-friendly
methods. This renewal work in-
cludes the retrofitting of Hiraiwa’s
tailor-made anti-seismic solutions,
helping its customers meet Japan’s
strict seismic regulations. As presi-
dent Toshikazu Hiraiwa explains,
the company’s work goes beyond
simple building safety: “It is not only
A scenery of construction
making certain that buildings can
withstand high-magnitude earth-
quakes but also paying attention to
the surrounding infrastructure. For
example, we are promoting disas-
ter prevention planning including a
storehouse for emergency supplies
and an electric supply system in
case of a blackout while securing
enough space for evacuation.”
Hiraiwa applies the same qual-
ity from its retrofitting to its new
designs, employing industry-lead-
ing technology to ensure worker
safety and customer satisfaction.
Through its Building Information
Modeling (BIM) system, which
incorporates CG animation and
VR, the company ensures there
is no discord between the client’s
idea of a project and the proposal
at the design stage.
Mr. Hiraiwa says the system
has created a smoother workflow
because it avoids “a long process
of frequent correspondence and
less efficient implementation”.
Among the residents, govern-
Long bridge construction
ment offices, and general con-
tractors to have benefited from
this technological approach are
several nursing homes, with Hi-
raiwa determined to serve the
needs of Japan’s aging society.
Advanced systems such as
BIM require technicians of the
highest quality, and Hiraiwa
employs talented workers from
Perth image by BIM
Newly completed factory in Vietnam
across Asia at its construction
sites, to ensure not only efficien-
cy but also safety, using tech-
nology to prevent disasters and
minimize the workers needed at
excavation sites.
Not only has the company in-
corporated talent from abroad, it
has also expanded beyond Japan’s
shores and into Vietnam, where
it offers Japanese quality service
with local market knowledge. For
now, its customer base is primarily
other Japanese companies which
have relocated to Vietnam and
need factories or warehouses.
However, there is an increasing
demand across Vietnam for higher
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
“BIM allows us to present
our proposals using
perspective and
computer graphics.”
Toshikazu Hiraiwa,
CEO,
Hiraiwa Construction Co., Ltd.
quality construction solutions, and
Hiraiwa has positioned itself to
provide these solutions as demand
continues to grow in the future.
This higher quality construction
also reduces the long-term life-
cycle costs of a project for clients,
and as Mr. Hiraiwa points out, this
in turn reduces carbon dioxide
emissions proactively.
Hiraiwa is not only at the van-
guard of the construction indus-
try in terms of the technology it
uses, but also with its working
conditions. The company is intent
on reducing working hours and
improving its employees’ work-
ing environment, with compen-
satory days off, a No Overtime
Day, and a five-day working week
policy. Hiraiwa hopes flexible and
diverse working styles can at-
tract the best workers, be they
domestic or international; men
or women. Mr. Hiraiwa says: “We
will be able to support social de-
velopment by our active employ-
ment of women, the elderly, and
foreigners, providing various op-
portunities to motivated people.
It is a revolutionary approach,
especially for SMEs like Hiraiwa.”
This approach is part of Hirai-
wa’s wider mission to be a good
neighbor, providing efficient,
safe, and high-quality construc-
tion through modern technology
which is bringing construction
into the digital age.
www.hiraiwa.co.jp
 CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO

The concrete plant specialist with a global outlook

A pacesetter in Japan with over 70 years’ experience, KYC Machine Industry Co., Ltd.
has set its sights on international expansion and a greener future.
demand for constru to release Japan’s
focus is increas- first twin-shaft
ingly beyond Ja- concrete mixer in
pan’s borders, says 1974. “Nowadays
president and rep it’s a conventional
resentative directo technology, but
Masatoshi Naokaw ack then it was
“We’re looking olutionary.”
Masatoshi Naokawa,
expand our existi KYC remains at the
President and KYC BP delivered to SAGA-UBE
in emerging economies, for ex- Nexster cutting edge of its field, hav-
Representative Director, CONCRETE INDUSTRIES, LTD.
ample in Southeast Asia, because ing launched the Nexster twin-shaft
KYC Machine Industry Co., Ltd.
their infrastructure sector is mixer in 2020. “It’s been upgraded change. “Our goal is to develop
Founded in 1950, Osaka-based flourishing, and their geographi- with unique spiral blades for fast environmentally-friendly prod-
KYC is a major manufacturer of cal proximity to Japan gives us flow and homogeneous mixing, ucts based on power saving and
concrete batching plants and mix- easier access,” he explains. making it extremely cost effective.” weight reduction, and realize a
ers, as well as other construction This strategy is the continuation carbon-neutral society” .
machinery and equipment, such of a long-held global outlook at For example, KYC’s lightweight,
as scaffolding and KYC. The firm has next-generation Iq System scaf-
conveyor systems. delivered more than folding “reduces the need for larger
KYC has estab- 900 plants overseas delivery trucks as it requires only
lished international in Asia, the Middle half the volume of conventional
sites in China, South East and Africa framed scaffolding,” Mr. Naokawa
Korea, Singapore, since the 1960s, Seraya Bridge in Singapore says. “This will greatly contribute
the Philippines, Tai- while a technical A priority at KYC is to address to the reduction of CO2 emissions.”
wan and Vietnam tie-up with German reducing its carbon footprint
– and amid de- company BHS-Son- from corporate activities to help
creasing domestic Power cargo thofen GmbH led it to solve the problem of climate https://www.kyc.co.jp

Technology for a greener, more sustainable future

“Our strengths are
the same as those of
Japanese monozukuri:
high quality, efficiency
and durability.”
Motohiko Nakamura,
President, Mitsui Miike
Machinery Co., Ltd.
Established in 1882, Mitsui Miike
Machinery specializes in material
handling systems, manufacturing
transport and storage equipment
for steelworks and power stations.
The Fukuoka-based company’s
portfolio of custom-made prod-
ucts also includes tunnel excava-
tion machinery, and technology for
hydroelectric generation systems.
A specialist in transport and storage equipment for mineral resources, century-old
company Mitsui Miike Machinery is applying its expertise in quality, custom-made
technology to pursue the goal of carbon neutrality.
According to President Motohiko
Nakamura, Mitsui Miike is guided
by a commitment to the principles
of monozukuri, the pursuit of per-
fection that underpins manufactur-
ing in Japan. “Our strengths are
the same as those of Japanese
monozukuri: high quality, efficiency
and durability,” he says.
Mitsui Miike’s top-selling mate-
rial handling products are stackers,
which stow mineral resources in
an open-yard storage space, and
reclaimers, which discharge the
stowed materials. Currently, the
firm chiefly supplies clients in the
steel industry, but the marketplace
is shifting. “There have been in-
creasing calls for carbon neutrality
and there has been a reduction
in steel production, so we need
to investigate other propositions
that respond to these trends,” Mr.
Nakamura explains.
As a result, Mitsui Miike has
branched out into material han-
dling equipment for biomass pow- Mitsui Miike’s products are sold
er plants, and is also embracing both in Japan and around the world
– and products that promote green-
er energy are among those that
will be central to the company’s
goal of international sales growth,
Mr. Nakamura says. For example,
he notes, “we’d like to take our
hydropower generators overseas
and sell them in relevant markets,
such as Southeast Asia”.
renewable energy sources in its
power transmission and generation
business, including the develop-
ment of hydroelectric power gen-
eration systems. www.mitsuimiike.co.jp/english

Yasuda Engineering: Japan’s pipe jacking specialists
“We strive to ensure
quality and to drive
down cost, to provide
excellent structures
that earn the trust of
our customers, and to
contribute to society
with our technology.”
Kyoichi Yasuda,
President,
Yasuda Engineering Co., Ltd.
Today, the adoption of pipe jacking
– a method where hydraulic jacks
are used to thrust pipes through the
ground – has become increasingly
rare because maintenance of exist-
ing sewerage systems is considered
a major undertaking. However, Ya-
suda Engineering continues to lead
Milling Mole TBM
Vietnam Package-G project
the field in this niche construction
technique, particularly as pipe jack-
ing works will still be required for
new water, gas, and electric power
supplies to homes and buildings in
the future, explains Kyoichi Yasuda,
President of Yasuda Engineering.
Yasuda Engineering has developed numerous proprietary pipe jacking methods and
technologies to contribute to underground infrastructure development in Japan, and
is now looking to expand across South East Asia, including Vietnam.
Whilst the domestic Japanese
market continues to be the base of
Yasuda Engineering’s main opera-
tions, the shrinking construction
sector – due to the maturation of
underground infrastructure devel-
opment – prompted the company
to expand its business in 2010 by
seeking new opportunities in the
fast developing economy of Viet-
nam, where demand for infrastruc-
ture works are high.
“Since entering Vietnam, we have
hired and trained local Vietnamese
engineers, and some of them have
been invited to Japan to learn the
pipe jacking method, which is a very
unique Japanese construction meth-
od,” says Noboru Yasuda, Director
and General Affairs and Personnel
Department GM. “And now they
are among the top-class specialist
technicians in pipe jacking.”
Since its foray into the interna-
tional market, Yasuda Engineering
has also been firmly focusing on
the expansion of machinery and
equipment factories, as well as the
Image of Milling Mole method
area of research and
development, to sup-
port its business ex-
pansion. Initially the
company purchased
and outsourced all
its machines, but
now has more than
100 different types
of in-house manu-
factured pipe jacking
machines.
“Since developing
our own machines,
we’ve also developed
the Jyat method which can con-
struct a curved underground tunnel
over a long distance by performing
automatic surveying using a high-
spec CCD camera sensor and LED
target,” says Takeshi Yasuda, Manag-
ing Director and Construction and
Technical Department GM. “In order
to install the jacking pipe at the speci-
fied position and height, surveying at
an accuracy of millimeters is required.
Before we developed this method,
the maximum distance that could
be surveyed was about 100 meters
in a straight line. However, with the
Jyat method, we’ve made it possible
to automatically survey 300 meters
or more, and it is also now possible to
construct perfectly curved tunnels.”
Another innovative solution that
Yasuda has focused on is a method
to overcome the challenges of laying
new pipes amidst crowded under-
ground infrastructure. When re-
constructing a pipeline network for
large-scale urban redevelopment,
a social infrastructure network is
often already in place in those cities,
with the subterranean area full of
existing pipelines of various kinds.
In such a situation, metal ob-
stacles such as PC piles and steel
sheet piles left in the ground were
previously not able to be excavated
easily with existing pipe jacking ma-
chines or shield machines.
“It used to take a lot of time and
cost because there was no choice
other than to change the pipe align-
ment to avoid these obstacles or to
dig up from the ground and remove
them,” says President Yasuda. “So, in
2011 we developed a Milling Mole
method that is equipped with an
electromagnetic wave sensor that
detects metal and can be cut with a
special part to penetrate obstacles.
The great benefit of the Milling Mole
method is that the metal can be cut
into very small pieces by ultra-slow
excavation, taken into the machine
together with excavated mud, and
transported above ground. This is
a very effective method for pipe
jacking work where obstacles exist
on the planned line.”
Fast-forward a decade later and
the company’s most recent R&D
efforts are centered around un-
manned tunnels (automated pipe
jacking), not just for greater effi-
ciency but also to improve safety
in the tunnel and address the issue
of a shortage of skilled operators in
such a niche field like construction.
“Since operating a pipe jacking
machine requires specialized skills
and knowledge and it takes a long
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
(From right)
Kazunari Yasuda, Senior Managing
Director, Noboru Yasuda, Director,
Takeshi Yasuda, Managing Director
time to train new people as opera-
tors, we are working on developing
machines that are easy to handle
even for inexperienced people,”
explains Takeshi Yasuda. “At the
same time, the development of
automatic pipe jacking machines is
urgently needed to respond to the
impact on the construction indus-
try due to the aging and declining
population of Japan.”
Looking forward, as well as con-
tinuing to innovate to overcome the
inherent challenges of the Japanese
industry, the company is planning on
further expansion overseas to take
advantage of developing markets
where investment in new infrastruc-
ture works and projects are set to
experience increased growth.
“There are always risks involved
when expanding business over-
seas, and it is difficult to set spe-
cific target countries, but in our
expansion plan we would like to
cooperate with general construc-
tion companies in the Asia region
and proceed with business as a
specialist in pipe jacking work. Our
main target would be the Japan
Official Development Assistance
(ODA) programs,” says Kazunari
Yasuda, Senior Managing Director
and Overseas Business Division GM.
“We would like to make use of the
experience we’ve gained in Vietnam
and the pipe jacking specialists we’ve
managed to cultivate locally in order
to expand our business to Southeast
Asian countries. We also plan to sell
and rent the pipe jacking machinery
and equipment manufactured in-
house to overseas pipe jacking con-
tractors, while also providing them
with technical guidance,” explains
President Yasuda about the com-
pany’s plans for the future.
www.yasuda-eng.co.jp/en/top_en/

Okasan Livic supports building of a safer Japan
Okasan Livic, which specializes in construction solutions for Japan’s infrastructure development, is focused on
developing new products that can build the country’s roads and railways while defending the infrastructure
from natural disasters.
“We look carefully at
construction sites to
understand and suggest
user needs.”
Katsutoshi Ogawa,
President,
Okasan Livic Co., Ltd.
As both a trading company and
a manufacturer of construc-
tion materials, Okasan Livic
is heavily involved in Japan’s
infrastructure development,
Corrugated pipes
with a focus on public works
projects. The typical solutions
the company offers include cor-
rugated pipes, liner plates and
the multi-anchor reinforced soil
wall method, among others.
“At the moment, there are a
lot of public facilities in Japan
that are not visually appealing,
but there are projects that will
amend this,” says Katsutoshi
Ogawa, President of Okasan
Livic. “For example, our Metro-
politan Expressway runs directly
above Nihonbashi – Tokyo’s busi-
ness district and the starting
point of National Highway No.
1 – and there are plans to de-
velop the expressway itself as
an underground route in order
to improve the traditional land-
scape of the area.”
There needs to be both main-
tenance for old facilities and new
construction projects among
these public works projects, Mr.
Ogawa affirms. “With regard to
Shinagawa, the location of our
head office, the train station will
be overhauled for the new rail-
way line. It will be the starting
point of the new Maglev Shinkan-
sen, which will go to Nagoya. As
a result, we expect there will be
projects in the Shinagawa area
for the next ten to twenty years.
We supply a lot of the technology
needed by the general contrac-
tors involved.”
In addition to this opportunity
for the company, the Japanese
government is currently under-
taking a large national resilience
project, allocating a budget of
Multi-anchor reinforced soil method
15 trillion yen over the next five
years. The project aims to rein-
force existing infrastructure to
prevent damage from natural
disasters, of which Japan is no-
toriously prone. “Our company
is trying to supply good tech-
niques and materials for this,
including water and sewer pipes
and bridge reinforcement and
restoration,” says Mr. Ogawa.
Today, a lot of Japanese general
contractors are also working on
new infrastructure projects, with
Okasan Livic providing products
EDO-EPS method
and solutions to enhance produc-
tivity and longer durability of in-
frastructure through technology.
“We are the company that
provides construction methods
as a solution, helping work-
ers complete the project ef-
ficiently by themselves with
our construction guidance if
required,” explains Mr. Ogawa.
For instance, EDO-EPS is the
company’s method that uses
very light foam material, help-
ing shorten the duration of the
construction work without the
need for ground improvement.
Due to the high frequency of
rain in Japan, the company also
offers groundwater tanks, or
“Geopools”, made of recycled
Innerseal α (alpha)
plastic. In large-scale develop-
ments, structures for storing
rainwater are often put under-
ground, with Okasan Livic rec-
ommending the use of Geopools
instead of concrete for speedy
construction and greater envi-
ronmental sustainability.
“With Japanese public works
now focusing on national resil-
ience and maintenance, in ad-
dition to carbon neutrality and
regenerative energy, I think
there will be a lot of changes in
the infrastructure to align with
these requirements and we will
try to provide new methods
to accommodate that,” says
Mr. Ogawa.
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
“The national gov-
ernment is focusing
on how to make ex-
isting public facili-
ties and infrastruc-
ture more durable. As
we all know, Japan
is a country prone to
natural disasters. It’s
impossible to stop, but
at least you can try to
mitigate the damage.
We have those clear
targets, and we are
trying to find solutions with
our R&D projects.”
With the intensity of heavy
rain in Japan increasing due
to climate change, soil struc-
tures and natural slopes are
becoming fragile resulting in
more frequent landslide events.
Working to address the issue,
Okasan Livic has developed a
special drainage reinforcing
pipe to reinforce the stability of
embankments prone to water-
logging, particularly near vital
infrastructure such as roads
and railways.
“Looking back on the history
of Okasan Livic, we have been
in this field for fifty years and
we are providing materials for
civil engineering construction.
We started with corrugated
pipes, and since then we have
Geopool
developed many products and
introduced technologies in Ja-
pan as well as overseas. We will
continue supporting Japanese
infrastructure into the future
with our construction solutions,
aiming to be a company that is
loved and trusted — a group of
producers with abundant cre-
ativity who will strive to realize
a safe and secure society.”
www.okasanlivic.co.jp

NIKKEN: Contributing to a recycling-based
society through rental
Construction equipment rental company NIKKEN CORPORATION looks to promote the reuse and sharing of
industrial machinery in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“SDG activities are
not something new
for us. At NIKKEN,
sustainability is
underlined by our
philosophy to contribute
to a recycling-based
society through rental.”
Seigo Minamioka,
President and CEO,
NIKKEN CORPORATION
Since its establishment in 1967,
NIKKEN CORPORATION has
been one of Japan’s leading
construction equipment rental
businesses, today renting more
than a million units of industrial
machinery across the country
to clients in the civil engineer-
ing and construction sectors.
With its commitment to put-
ting “safety and compliance
first”, the company operates
its business through a network
NIKKEN LIFT (aerial works platform)
of approximately 250 sales of-
fices throughout Japan as well
as facilities where it develops,
manufactures, and sells its own
products to adapt to the chang-
ing needs of customers.
“Alongside civil engineering
and construction, we count
shipbuilding yards, steel mills,
power plants, and railways as
the six main sectors of our busi-
ness,” says Seigo Minamioka,
President and CEO of NIKKEN.
“Whilst forestry is an area which
is also being strengthened in
terms of our core markets, the
railroad business is one of our
greatest strengths – we have
the largest market share among
rental companies in Japan and
we are expanding overseas
through our affiliates.”
Fleet control center in Kobe
NIKKEN’s international af-
filiates include PT. Berlian Amal
Perkasa in Indonesia, Diamond
Rental Myanmar, and T.S.K. Dia-
mond Rental in Thailand, whilst in
the used-machinery trading busi-
ness, there is NDT CORPORATION
LTD. in Tokyo, Americ Machinery
Corporation in the U.S., and NDT
(Thailand) Co., Ltd. in Thailand.
“It’s important to be working with
other companies such as these,
Parade auction of used equipment
in Narita
as we have our own limits, and
exchanging ideas and strengths
with other firms will greatly ben-
efit us,” says Mr. Minamioka.
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
“As predominantly a rental
company, we are not a manu-
facturing business, but we can
produce in-house. However, it’s
not mass production, which is
why we are already working
with some outsourcing com-
panies. We have a lot of proj-
ects in the railway sector, so in
some cases we outsource the Dual-track vehicle for railway
manufacturing to other firms. In the aftermath of the dev-
We do have a nationwide net- astating earthquake that struck
work, which allows us to easily Japan in 2011, many railroad
communicate with our partner lines were damaged severely.
companies and exchange infor- In order to quickly restore the
mation quickly.” disrupted logistics network, in-
cluding the railways,
NIKKEN contributed
to the early recovery
and reconstruction
of the affected areas
and to the protec-
tion of the lives of
the regional society
by quickly supplying
equipment and ma-
terials used in the
construction work.
“If unfortunately
a n o t h e r d i s a s te r
occurs, we must be
able to contribute
to the subsequent restoration
NIKKEN also has a history of of infrastructure,” says Mr.
procuring a variety of products
for rental from both domestic
and foreign sources from differ-
ent countries. In recent years,
it has purchased equipment to
meet renewal work demand and
forestry machinery from abroad.
The company has also put in-
creased emphasis on its goal of
contributing to sustainability Forestry machine
through the reuse and sharing Minamioka. “But SDG activities
of equipment and products in are not something new for us
line with the UN’s Sustainable in general. At NIKKEN, sustain-
Development Goals (SDGs). ability is underlined by our core
“Alongside helping to establish philosophy and purpose: con-
a recycling economy, one of the tributing to a recycling-based
SDGs that we are focusing on is society through rental.”
preventative measures for natural
disasters in Japan,” explains Mr.
Minamioka. “Japan is vulnerable
to natural disasters, which is why www.rental.co.jp/english/
civil engineering companies are
strengthening their presence in
disaster prevention activities, with
a lot happening in that sector”.

Reinforcing the development of the industrial world with
energy-saving and originally developed technologies
“We are extremely
proud that our insulation
technology greatly
contributes to the
realization of a carbon-
neutral society and the
efficiency of a facility.”
Fumio Uchikawa,
President,
Fuji-I-Tec Co., Ltd.
With insulation as its main
business, the letter ‘I’ in Fuji-
I-Tec’s name represents ‘insula-
tion technology’, one of several
areas in which the company
specializes.
“When a plant such as a power
generation facility is installed,
Spraying insulating model
we apply insulation, soundproof-
ing, and corrosion-resistant paint.
We perform remarkably in these
areas, and we will continue to
concentrate on these technolo-
Head office staff
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
Established in 1979, Fuji-I-Tec specializes in heat insulation, sound insulation, fire-
proofing, asbestos removal and the painting of various types of plants including power
generation facilities – utilizing an integrated system from temperature measurement
to design and construction.
adherence to a and the heat insulating material
certain spirit, fills the inside so that a uniform
one which will heat insulating layer without gaps
help Fuji-I-Tec can be formed. Therefore, the heat
to fearlessly insulation effect is much better
and purpose- than conventional methods. This
f u l l y h e a d FIT-type spray method can be ap-
towards its plied not only to turbines but also
future ambi- to various types of equipment such
t i o n s . T h e as piping, valves and pumps.
c o m p a ny ’s An exciting area of growth for
m o t t o p ro - Fuji-I-Tec is the company’s ex-
vides the un- pansion overseas. With the help
Construction site in Hong Kong (CLP Power D-Station) derpinning for of plant construction firm Taihei
gies,” company president Fumio that innovative path: “Make it Dengyo Kaisha, Ltd., which is a
Uchikawa proudly states. earlier and better”.
The power generation industry, “We want to keep
in its previous iteration, was an ex- enhancing our com-
tremely stable one, with highly de- prehensive techno-
veloped methods and well-honed logical capabilities,
approaches, meaning companies aiming to build a
such as Fuji-I-Tec were able to company that can
perfect their business. However, provide customers
in 2016, the Japanese government with more satisfaction
decentralized and liberalized the and reliability in the
industry, meaning downstream future,” Mr. Uchikawa Finished article (spraying insulation)
companies were re- explains. “For example,
quired to reappraise we are extremely proud that our major shareholder of the com-
their methods, includ- insulation technology greatly con- pany, Fuji-I-Tec has started to
ing Fuji-I-Tec. Further- tributes to the realization of a make its presence felt in South-
more, environmental carbon-neutral society and the east Asian countries.
and energy-saving efficiency of a facility.” For instance, it has recently part-
measures have be- One technology developed to nered with a company called Kum
come paramount, and help achieve these goals is Fuji- Shing Group to carry out main-
no more so than in the I-Tec’s FIT-type spray method, tenance work in connection with
energy industry. This which is mainly used for large CLP Power Hong Kong Limited,
has provided Fuji-I-Tec turbines in power generation one of the two electric companies
with a great opportu- equipment. It combines mineral in Hong Kong. With a long-term
nity to adapt its origi- wool and a heat-resistant binder, maintenance contract spanning
nally developed prod- which in turn, creates insulation four-to-five years, the firm is aim-
ucts and services by that is cost-effective and has less ing to collaborate with more local
applying energy-saving of an environmental impact. The companies in Hong Kong.
technologies, and therefore mak- conventional insulation method As recognized by Mr. Uchika-
ing a great contribution to the de- can often be expensive and prone wa, a good company ensures high
velopment of the industrial world. to deteriorate quickly. However, levels of trust from its customers
Such a reconfiguration of ap- with the FIT-type spray method, and has an acute awareness of
proach requires a company-wide the turbine is covered with a cage the contribution of its employees
to its company, all while creating
a work environment that inspires
and rewards a job well done. Fol-
lowing these principles, Fuji-I-Tec
will continue to contribute to an
extremely bright future for all
stakeholders.
www.fuji-i-tec.co.jp/en

Committed to contributing to the realization of
a sustainable society through iron recycling
“As a member of the iron
recycling industry, we
would sincerely like to
create a carbon-neutral
society and occupy an
honorable position.”
Masaaki Katsuyama,
President,
Fuwa Metal Co., Ltd.
With the immediacy of the cli-
mate crisis, it is easy to think of
recycling companies as recent
ventures, but some, such as
Japanese iron recycler Fuwa
Metal Co., have over a century
of experience.
Founded in 1908, in the de-
cades after Japan first began to
modernize after the fall of the
Edo shogunate, Fuwa Metal was
pushing innovation in the iron
recycling sector as the country’s
domestic steel production grew
to surpass even that of the Unit-
ed States in the 1970s, until it
Expanding the business overseas
was surpassed by China around
the start of the 21st century.
Due to Japan’s scarcity of nat-
ural resources, manufacturers
For more than a century, Fuwa Metal has contributed to the recycling of resources
and the development of the recycling industry as a leading company in the collection,
processing and sale of steelmaking raw materials.
have always placed importance
on efficiency and recycling, with
the country striving to make
the most out of every manu-
facturing process. Fuwa Metal
encompasses this philosophy
perfectly, collecting, sorting,
and processing scrap iron from
shipyards, automobile manufac-
turers, and other sources. This
scrap is then made into steel-
making raw materials for new
products, creating a sustainable
life cycle for the iron after its
initial use.
Given the decrease in Japan’s
consumption of steel in the
1990s, Fuwa Metal diversified
into the trading business and
has now grown into a three-
office operation in the United
States since establishing Fuwa
Metal USA in 2007. Company
Speedy processing ability
president Masaaki Katsuyama
explains that Fuwa Metal helped
revolutionize logistics in the
USA when it focused on the
idea of using empty shipping
containers being sent to Asia
to transport iron scrap, and it
now offers local companies cost
minimization solutions through
its nationwide alliances built
from its offices in New York,
Los Angeles, and Texas.
Mr. Katsuyama understands
the rapidly changing market
and has an eye on setting up
an office in Southeast Asia.
Having first began importing
from Southeast Asia in 1982,
the company has strong ties in
the area and its overseas divi-
sion collects information from
each country before conveying
it to the entire company so
quick decisions can be made. As
Pursuing the highest quality
Mr. Katsuyama explains: “When
we have a big contract or a
meeting, we try to spread the
knowledge both in Japan and
overseas by appointing our own
employees without outsourcing.
Based on this ‘circle of trust’,
we would like to foster good
relationships with overseas
business partners.”
As part of the recycling
industry, Fuwa Metal under-
stands the need to move to-
wards a more sustainable,
carbon neutral world. Indeed,
recycling iron scrap raw mate-
rials using electric furnaces re-
sults in a quarter of the carbon
dioxide emissions caused by
the blast furnace manufactur-
ing method that manufactures
steel from iron ore. This means
iron scrap is not simply a sus-
tainable resource, but a trump
card for becoming a carbon-
neutral world.
At its core, Fuwa Metal is
a modern family business,
with Mr. Katsuyama the first
non-member of the family to
become president as the com-
pany modernized in 2016. The
business retains the strong ties
between employees that a fam-
ily company creates, but with
the added benefit of listening
to wider views to make deci-
sions. As Mr. Katsuyama details:
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
“The philosophy inherited from
the former president is ‘do not
hesitate to challenge and don’t
be afraid of failure.’ I would
like employees to take on this
challenge positively.” This phi-
losophy has put the company
in good stead, with transac-
tions increasing from 800,000
tons in 2020 to 1.2 million tons
in 2021, and projections for a
100,000-ton increase a year for
the foreseeable future.
As companies and industries
around the world look to shift
to more sustainable practices,
most are looking forward to find
solutions. However, companies
such as Fuwa Metal that have
the ability to look back on a
long history of creating sustain-
able solutions to help create the
future will be key. Fuwa Metal’s
idea that “people can change
the environment” is fundamen-
tal and enables the company
to coexist and develop with
the societies around it. As the
company continues to grow, the
societies which can benefit from
its innovation will also expand,
which is for the good of all.
www.fuwa.co.jp/en
 O

Paper technology revolutionizing

the field of functional materials
From manufacturing traditional washi paper to advanced filter mediums, Awa Paper has
kept pace with changing demands for paper technologies.
“We have global
ambitions for our special
and functional papers.”
Yasuhiro Miki,
President, Awa Paper &
Technological Company, Inc.
Based in Tokushima, an area sur-
rounded by rivers and mountains,
Awa Paper is blessed with an abun-
dance of the raw materials necessary
for continued success in the paper-
making industry. The firm mainly
panies that want to improve the
run-off quality in their wastewater
facilities. The company’s leading
product in water-treatment, M-fine,
is a flat-sheet membrane for mem-
brane bioreactors, boasting the
guaranteed quality and excellence
synonymous with the company’s
M-fine Unit
paper filtration technologies.
servestheautomotiveandthewater Awa Paper has also developed a
treatment industries, making signifi- MBR wastewater treatment system
cant efforts in developing membrane called “M-fine Package”, designed for
support fabric for Reverse Osmosis small-scale municipal and industrial
membranes in desalination plants. applications, which can bring ben-
As water scarcity is becoming efits such as easy installation, small
a more significant is d low mainte-
all over the world, Aw This packaged
Paper is emphasizing th stem technolo-
recyclability and reusab y could lead to
ity of water, breathin recycling sys-
new life into the sector em, “meguri”, a
Awa Paper aims osed-loopsew-
provide better featur ge treatment
and solutions to co M-fine Package em which
treats sewage with M-fine filtration
technologies,puttingthehigh-quality
permeatedwaterthrougharecycling
processthatallowsittobereusedfor
flushing toilets, watering gardens or
for agricultural use. “meguri” does
not require water pipes, nor connec-
tion to the grid due to its capacity
to run on solar. These cutting-edge
products provide an example of Awa
Paper drawing on its 100-plus-year
history to overcome present and fu-
ture challenges.
Partner of Water
www.awapaper.co.jp/e/

PPE that provides peace of mind

Since 1934, Yotsugi has been a trusted supplier of high-quality personal protective equipment
for electrical workers, not only keeping its wearers safe but also ensuring maximum comfort.
Based in Tokyo, Japan, Yotsugi
boasts nearly 90 years of experi-
ence as a manufacturer of per-
sonal protective equipment (PPE),
specializing in high-voltage insu-
lating gloves, clothes and boots
for electrical workers.
Yotsugi’s commitment to quality
– a trait typical of Japanese manu-
facturing – sets it apart from its
EVA Blanket
emerging Asian competitors, says
president Naoto Yotsugi: “Con-
sumers pay attention to the coun-
tries where their products come
from, and they prefer the high-
quality products that Japanese
companies like us can provide.
yourself how easy it is to move in
them. We’ve consistently received
positive feedback from users who
say it’s easy to operate while
wearing our equipment.” “We’ve earned the trust
With Japan’s aging society
leading to domestic labor shortag-
of our customers at
TECHNO Factory es, Yotsugi has estab- l i s h e d electrical companies by
“People use PPE to protect their a production protecting the lives of
lives, so quality matters more than plant in Viet- their employees who
price. Some Southeast Asian nam – a move work with high-voltage
countries might offer a cheaper also aimed at
price, but people understand the c a p i t a l i z i n g
equipment.”
importance of durability and the on the emerg-
Naoto Yotsugi, President &
potential risks involved. ing Southeast
Director of Yotsugi Co., Ltd.
“We’ve earned the trust of our Asian market.
customers at electrical companies “ D eve l o p i n g increase in demand there,” Mr.
by protecting the lives of their countries such Yotsugi explains.
employees who work with high- as Southeast Yotsugi is also interested in
voltage equipment.” Asian coun- expanding to Europe, North
Yotsugi PPE offers tries are expe- Rubber glove America and South America, as
not only safety but ga Mr. Yotsugi says: “These markets
also comfort, Mr. oom in infrastruc- are large and attractive for devel-
Yotsugi says: “See- ture and growing oping new sales channels.”
ing is believing. Once population density,
you try on our pro so our product line-
ucts, you’ll experience for Rubber sleeve up will be seeing an www.yotsugi.co.jp
 CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO

Illuminating the path towards unique

products of the highest quality
Since its foundation, GENTOS has been offering products and services that are essential
in our lives. After introducing flashlights, headlights, lanterns, and other products
equipped with white LEDs to the Japanese market, GENTOS is now ready to take on
the challenge of diversifying into new markets
A light failing in our hom ustrial lightin can and European
means the bothersome tas shlights, head- markets, where “In order to grow as a
switching the bulb. But in ghts, and lan- its superior quality company, we are always
industrial setting, lights m rns. GENTOS products can help seeking out new sectors.
ensure the safety of hundr ides itself on the company to grow. We will always rise to
of workers at a time, ot eing able to provide varia- GENTOS’ products not only pass the challenge even if we
wise countless lives wou ons and options with added industry testing, but continue to lack expertise.”
exposed to danger. Therefo lue to satisfy each custom- work well in the long run thanks
only high-quality lights th s needs, as company presi- to the quality and reliability for Makoto Okazaki,
have undergone rigorous t nt Makoto Okazaki explains: which the company is renowned. President, GENTOS Co., Ltd.
ing to ensure their reliabi ur extensive knowledge of Having established a strong
should be used, and Japan industrial applications of base in both its B2B and B2C always seeking out new sectors.
manufacturer GENTOS is o Ds is an advantage for us operations, GENTOS expanded We will always rise to the chal-
of the world’s leading comp en it comes to introduc- into Thailand in 2016 where it lenge even if we lack expertise, and
nies for such products. smaller-sized cturing facilities we will continue to do so in 2022.”
Founded in 1978, GE mized produ y Japanese per- As GENTOS continues to expand
TOS uses the Japanese p With 20 year ensure the mono- and diversify, it will remain a shin-
losophy of monozukuri to perience in flas ri mindset is fol- ing light for quality and reliability.
create unique lights which meet production, the owed. Mr. Okazaki
the American National Standards company has an explains that: “in
Institute’s strict standards. The eye on expanding order to grow as
company’s products range from into the Ameri company, we are www.gentos.jp

World leader in gas sensing innovation

Leveraging over 50 years of expertise, Figaro Engineering offers a wide array of gas sensor products for the
detection of explosive and toxic gases, as well as air quality sensors.
Since its founding, Japanese gas
sensor manufacturer Figaro has
been at the vanguard of gas sensors,
beginning commercial production
of the world’s first semiconductor
type gas sensors in 1969, while the
company continues to lead the way
in top-class reliable gas sensors. As
company president Toshihiro Udaka
explains:“Weunderstandthecritical
nature of our products that ensure
the user’s safety. Even low defective
rates wouldn’t be considered ac-
ceptable in Japan, and this rigorous
Japanese approach to quality and
defects is what distinguishes us.”
Office
Figaro’s combustible gas sensors
are widely used for residential and
RV gas detectors in Japan, the
U.S.A., Europe, and many Asian
countries. The Japanese firm also
supplies a variety of air quality sen-
Factory
sors to home appliance, HVAC, and
automotive industries around the
world; while its industry-leading
electrochemical CO sensors have
earned the company almost 50%
of the global market share.
Figaro’s TGS8000 Series is de-
veloped by combining its extensive
expertise in gas sensing materials
with MEMS technology. Their new
MEMS type methane sensor has
some of the lowest power consump-
tion in the world, while the ultra-
compact size of its new CO sensor
allows for a wider range of applica-
tions with flexibility in gas detector
design. These new products can
facilitate their usage in battery-
operated gas detectors that can
be installed anywhere without the
limitation of a main power source,
bringing gas sensors into the age of
IoT and ICT. With indoor air control
becoming a priority for customers, Toshihiro Udaka, President
Figaro’s CO2 sensors act as indices & Representative Director,
of ventilation and can help ensure Figaro Engineering Inc.
buildings comply with regulations
on CO2 levels.
With a vast dis-
tribution network
reaching 49 coun-
triesandproduction
facilities in China,
Figaro is creating
safer and more
comfortable environments across Gas Sensors
the world, allowing its customers to
relax knowing that industry-leading
technology is protecting them. www.figaro.co.jp/en

Natural Gas
Explosions are
a Global Concern
Many people die or are injured from hundreds of natural gas explosions each year.
These catastrophic explosions can devastate a home, its occupants and destroy
nearby buildings in seconds. To prevent this, it’s important to understand how gas
leaks occur and what you can do to keep you and your family safe.
Causes of Gas Explosions
• Aging utility gas pipes
• Loose or cracked fittings
• Poor maintenance of gas hoses
and home appliances
• Gas build-up in enclosed areas
• Improperly installed gas
appliances
How You Can Prevent Gas
Explosions
Make sure to install DeNova De-
tect Natural Gas Alarms near all
gas appliances. During installation,
your alarm should be placed at the
optimal location between 4 to 12
Our Mission is to Protect
People and Property
With Innovative Natural Gas
Safety Technology.
Learn more at
www.denovadetect.com/newsweek
inches from the ceiling. Lastly, be
sure to schedule routine mainte-
nance checks of appliances.
DeNova Detect Gas Alarm
Benefits
• Battery-powered for easy instal-
lation and no wiring required
• 6-year battery & service life
alarm with no additional bat-
teries needed or electricity costs
• Early detection technology with a
10% Lower Explosion Limit (LEL)
• Innovative MEMS technology
sensors virtually eliminate nui-
sance alarms
• Quicker gas detection provides
an average of 11 minutes more
escape time which can save
more lives
Gas Alarms Save Lives
In Japan, 114 people died from
gas explosions in 1982. In re-
sponse, gas companies took vari-
ous proactive safety measures
including mass installations of
residential gas alarms. Now, be-
cause most homes in Japan are
equipped with NEW COSMOS
ELECTRIC gas alarms, the num-
ber of fatalities due to residential
gas explosions has been reduced
to almost zero.
Solutions to Gas Explosion
Accidents
In 2014, a gas explosion de-
stroyed two five-story buildings
in New York City, resulting in mul-
tiple deaths, fifty injuries and the
displacement of more than one
hundred families and businesses.
As a result, Con Edison, a New
York utility company, began in-
stalling New Cosmos DeNova De-
CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIO
tect Natural Gas Alarms in 2019.
Con Edison has since had over
800 gas leak warnings which
prevented possible tragic out-
comes. The results consistently
reveal that installing Natural Gas
Alarms is the right investment
to save lives and prevent cata-
strophic property damage.
Trusted Leader in the Gas
Alarm Industry
Since its inception, NEW COS-
MOS ELECTRIC has been at the
forefront of innovation, intro-
ducing the first ever residential
gas alarm to the world in 1964.
Currently, it holds a 70% market
share for Natural Gas Alarms in
Japan. NEW COSMOS was also
the first to develop a long-life
battery powered Natural Gas
Alarm using MEMS gas sen-
sor technology and the first to
deliver a battery-powered AMI
smart Natural Gas Alarm to the
U.S. The company has sold over
70 million residential gas alarms
worldwide and have expanded
into seven different countries,
most recently expanding into
the U.S. in 2019. NEW COSMOS
is well-positioned to continue to
accelerate their mission to help
eliminate deaths due to gas ex-
plosions and make a huge impact
as a long-standing, trusted global
leader in the gas alarm industry.
NEW COSMOS ELECTRIC has
one of the largest R&D gas
sensor manufacturing facilities
in the world
ML-310ES
 HELPING
N YOU NAVIGATE A R APIDLY CHANGING
N W ORLD

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Culture HIGH, L W +

Ice Climbing
AVENUE OF THE VOLCANOES, ECUADOR
Home to some of the largest, most ethereal-
looking glaciers in the world, Ecuador’s
national parks are known for their vast
array of treks and climbing routes. Practice
your alpine climbing technique in one
of the many crevasses, but beware of
avalanches and dangerous active glaciers.
(See #3, following page)

G ET T Y; TOP R I GH T: A BC/G E T T Y

60 NEWSWEEK.COM M A RCH 04, 2022

 DEEP INTO IT
Amanda Seyfried on playing Theranos’ founder and how she manipulated her voice. » P.64

UNCHARTED

Extreme Winter Sports

for Adrenaline Junkies
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean you can’t get your outdoor adrenaline fix.
Around the world, thrill seekers have found ways to stay active, even in the harshest of conditions.
Whether you prefer your adventures on land or water, there’s something for everyone.
From diving with the narwhals to hopping out of a helicopter strapped to
skis to sailing on ice, these extreme sports were made for extreme weather. —Meghan Gunn

Photog raph b y R O B B R E E C E NEWSWEEK.COM 61

Culture
1 6
01
Heli-skiing
CHUGACH RANGE,
ALASKA
There are no set trails in
this form of backkcountry
skiing. After getting
dropped off by a
helicopter in the fresh
powder, you’ll carve
your own way do own the
remote mountain nside.
Known as one off the
most pristine areeas in
the world for heli-skiing,
these sharp-peaked
mountains have descents
that can reach 4,,000 feet.
62 NEWSWEEK.COM
02
Bobsledding 05
UTAH OLYMPIC PARK, UTAH
Monster Shark Fishing
Now the world’s best athletes UUMMANNAQ, GREENLAND
aren’t the only ones who get
To catch the elusive Greenland
to experience an Olympic-
shark, which can grow up
grade sliding track. Prepare
to 18 feet and looks like a
2 to reach speeds of up to 4 prehistoric creature, one must
70 mph as you ride one at
board a tiny boat and head
the site of the bobsledding,
out on the deep waters of the
skeleton and luge events
Arctic Ocean. Uummannaq
IURPWKH*DPHV is the site of the Greenland
Shark Challenge, in which
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reel in the monster sharks.
03
Ice Climbing
AVENUE OF THE
VOLCANOES, ECUADOR 3
(See previous spread)
04
Fat Biking
KOUCHIBOUGUAC
NATIONAL PARK, CANADA
'RQŠWOHWWKHFKDQJHRIVHDVRQV
slow you down. Try a fat bike,
an off-roading bicycle that lets
you traverse even the gnarliest
terrain. Around the world, fat
biking trails are being created
to keep you riding long into
the winter. Kouchibouguac
is home to miles of these
winding paths that weave
through the beautiful scenery
of the Acadian forest.
M A RCH 04, 2022
 06 09
Arctic Diving Snowkiting
SVALBARD, NORWAY LAKE PLESHCHEYEVO, RUSSIA
Seven national parks protect this With its strong winds in all
northern island, which is home to polar directions, the lake is the perfect
bears and Arctic foxes, as well as the place to take on snowkiting. Here,
gateway to much of Norway’s extreme you’ll see dozens of colorful kites
diving. Swim in frozen turquoise waters dotting the snowy white landscape.
and explore ice caverns with beluga Experienced snowkiters can
whales, narwhal pods and orcas. even embark on a “kite safari,”
7 a multi-day trip traversing the
uncharted frozen waters.
9
    ) 5 $ 1 .  2 3 3 ( 5 0 $ 1 1 ʔ* ( 7 7 <      0 , . + $ , /  -$ 3$ 5 , '= ( ʔ 7$66 ʔ* ( 7 7 <     , * 2 5  3 2 ' * 2 5 1 <ʔ 7$66 ʔ* ( 7 7 <      * ( 7 7 <      <$ 1 *  / , 8ʔ ; , 1 + 8$  1 ( :6 $* ( 1 &<ʔ* ( 7 7 <

07
Ice Sailing
HAAPSALU, ESTONIA
In this long-celebrated
Estonian sport, participants
use a sledge with ice
blades and a sail to power
themselves across snow
or ice. Back in the 17th
century, ice sailing was a
way to transport goods
across frozen water. Now
it’s primarily a means of
recreation, used to explore
the coast and stay active in
the long winter months.
08
Snow Kayaking
LIENZ, AUSTRIA
Have you ever considered
trading in your skis for a
kayak? In this extreme sport,
participants paddle down
snowy backcountry…slopes.
The sport
p is believed to
KDDYH EHHQ RIɿFLDOO\ VWDUWHG
byy a group of whitewater
kaayakers in Lienz who wanted
to continue paddling long
affter the rivers froze.
10
11
Glacier Hiking
SOUTHERN ALPS,
NEW ZEALAND
The ascent of Mount
Tasman—New Zealand’s
second highest
mountain—is a technical
hike consisting of deep
snow and ice. Only for
the most experienced
mountaineers to attempt,
the climb boasts steep
faces, exposed ridges,
challenging crevasses
and at the summit,
spectacular glacier views.
10
Alpine Skiing
SHIGA KOGEN
PLATEAU, JAPAN
Practice your technical skiing
at one of the area’s many 11
winter resorts. While racing
down the courses, you might
even catch a glimpse of
red-faced macaques, also
known as snow monkeys,
who like to bathe in the
mountains’ hot springs.

NEWSWEEK.COM 63
 eek.com/pod
wsw c
e
TH
PARTINGESH

as
n
Culture

ts
Your w OT
eek
of pop cu ly dose
l
every Fr ture,
iday

P A R T I NG SH OT

Amanda Seyfried
The one Thing people Think of when They hear The name elizabeTh Playing someone currently in
Holmes, the disgraced Theranos entrepreneur convicted of fraud, is her the news seems daunting. What
voice, which Holmes artificially made lower. “We collectively judged her for inspired you to take this role?
bringing her voice down as if she’s lying to us,” says Oscar-nominated actress I’m a mimic. I’m never gonna be her.
Amanda Seyfried, who plays Holmes in the new Hulu drama series The Dropout But the trick is to get the audience
(March 3). “But you’re not being untruthful because you’re deepening your voice. to believe that you are her very soon
She needed it. It wasn’t just the fact that she was a charismatic genius and ambi- into the show, then they forget about
tious. It was that she had to present herself in a specific way.” One thing Seyfried what she really looks like. But God, it
did focus on was all the material about Holmes at her disposal. “I didn’t have was so much fun.
anything of her real life, but I had 10 hours of depositions. I had the interviews
and then I had the one when things had come crashing down. All of a sudden Her voice is so specific. Did you
I became this eager college student.” In the end, she came to realize Holmes stress over finding it?
was more nuanced than she’s made out to be. “She was very passionate and very Yeah, it’s the only thing you hear
ambitious. She truly believed she was gonna get there. She was going too fast.” about. I’m not gonna sound like me.
She speaks from a different place in
her mouth. Maybe that’s an accent
or a regional accent or an effect,
“You’re not whatever it is, there’s no judgment,

being untruthful I’m going to try to mimic it.

because you’re The facts of the case are confusing.

deepening How does the show explain it in

your voice. She layman’s terms?

I was reading the scripts and I’m still
needed it.” unsure what exactly she was going
down for. I just think it’s nuanced in a
lot of ways. I think everybody’s going
to have differing opinions by the time
that they’re finished with the show.

It’s been 10 years since Les

Misérables. Do you think you’ll do
another musical, and is there one
C H R I STO PH E R PATE Y/C ON TO U R /G E T T Y

part you’re dying to play?

I will sing until I’m dead. I take voice
lessons twice a week. I always
wanted to sing Eva Cassidy songs
because her life was just so short.
Nobody knows enough about her and
she died tragically. She did the most
beautiful covers. —H. Alan Scott

64 V i s it Ne w s w e e k .c o m f o r t h e f u l l in t e r v i e w
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