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| ■To Develop the Amusement business and Become a Driving Force in IT Society |
| Yoshihito Kakihara, President, Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA)
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| I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year. The twentieth century, one in which we experienced the most remarkable developments in human history, has come to an end, and we are now entering a new stage with the twenty-first century. While the Japanese economy is gradually emerging from a protracted slowdown, the upturn is still not a full-scale recovery. In the amusement industry as well, commercial-use game machines are losing their advantage. Nevertheless, in step with progress in technology, we in the amusement industry have always combined the most advanced technology of the time with a spirit of play to create a new culture. Even during times of great change such as the present, new business opportunities emerge to link advances technology and play. Indeed the companies who make up the membership of our association are exploring and realizing ways of bringing together information technology and amusement. This effort is not limited to JAMMA. Together with JAMMA, the All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators' Union (AOU), and the Nihon Shopping Center Amusement Park Operators Association (NSA) have established a special committee to revitalize the amusement industry as a whole. This committee solicits suggestions on new amusement from makers, operators, and met for the first time in November 2000. In 2001, we will see many new types of amusements that link mobile equipment, home-use game machines, and the Internet with commercial-use game machines. As our society becomes more digitalized, I believe the amusement industry will be in a position to use its distinctive expertise to offer amusement as a place for people to come together and enjoy the company of one another. In the twenty-first century, it will be our mission to further develop the amusement business born in the twentieth century and become an important driving force in our information technology society. As we enter a new year that marks the dawn of a new century, I hope that it will be one with dynamic advancement for everyone. |
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