Mr Takashi ITO
hotmanishi@hotmail.com
Director
The Nippon Foundation, Maritime Affairs, Japan

Born in Yokohama, Japan, 1952, Mr Ito spent his childhood in Surrey, UK, until returning to Japan after taking 11 plus examinations. He graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department of Keio University, Japan, specializing in solving partial differential equations for “solitons”.

In 1975, he joined The Japan Foundation, an institute which provided funding and one that specialized in the field of international cultural exchange, introducing Japanese culture abroad. At the Foundation his work included programming, coordinating, grant-making, directing Japan studies, films, performing arts, fellowships and civil societies (Center for Global Partnership).

In 1997 he joined The Nippon Foundation, the largest grant-making foundation in Japan, which provided funding to social welfare, Japanese ocean affairs as well as directing overseas funding and maritime affairs. He is also involved in some non profit organizations, national centres for NPOs, volunteer activities, internet charities, etc. He is a reviewer of several grant programmes.

Is there a space between the tragedies of commons and anti-commons for creativity?

I have been working in the worlds of “non-profits” and “culture” for several decades as a programme officer of, basically, grantmaking foundations.

“Non-profits” can be referred as not-for-profits, charities, volunteerism/voluntarism, civil-societies etc. Millions of definitions have been argued about what Non-profits are or to say more precisely, how people in concern wants it defined, but it is determinably an antonym of “for-profits”, and mostly and usually a synonym of “non-governmental” .

Similarly, culture may be referred as “creativity”, “value systems”, “ethnicity”, “codes”, “language” etc. Presumably here on this occasion ample studies will be given to what it is. I will like to pay attention here about excessive pursuit of intellectual property rights: Or to be more precise, to seek the balance between “creation” and “utilization”. -- In the world of science, no one would ask Einstein to have permission to use his theory of relativity.

Meanwhile I would revisit, if really, a difference is lying between non-profits and for-profits or not; to see what in common they have: And focusing that both started from receiving charters and being incorporated.

Presumably, the “balance” exists somewhere around here.

Takashi ITO

Takashi ITO先生在日本出生，童年在英國度過，畢業於日本慶應大學。他在1975年加入專責日本海外文化交流事務的日本基金會，工作包括項目策劃和統籌、撥款資助事宜，日本研究以及公民社會等。他在1997年加入日本最大的資助機構日本基金會，負責海外資助事宜。他也參與其他非牟利及非政府團體的工作。

創意的異同之處當中有沒有重曡的地方？

筆者在非牟利機構及文化圈子中，特別是在撥款基金中當了數十年的項目主任。筆者留意到「非牟利」有不少定義，也是「牟利」的相反詞。而「文化」也有不同定義，筆者特別提出對知識產權過份追求的議題，即如何在「創作」和「使用」之間取得平衡。在科學領域，沒有人會先取得愛恩斯坦的批准才可使用他的相對論理論吧？