Does Japan Show Us the Future? A Mysterious World of Sensory Revelations and Human Connections

Experience a transhuman change back to powers seemingly beyond humans in a digital age.

Erik P.M. Vermeulen, PhD
4 min readJul 12, 2024

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Photo courtesy of author

In 2005, I came to Japan for the first time. An engineer based in Tokyo was inspired by my Ph.D. on organizational forms and believed it could help Japan regain its economic position from the sixties and seventies when the country experienced high and sustained economic growth.

He invited me for a visit.

At that time, I knew nothing about Japan and was expecting a technological wonderland that many tourists anticipate when they first get here.

Upon arrival, my expectations were met as I was taken to Shiodome, a newly developed city district in Tokyo filled with spectacular skyscrapers, offices, the headquarters of Nippon Television, shops, cafes, restaurants, theaters, hotels, and other attractions. The fully automated train on the elevated track felt like a glimpse into the future, reminiscent of the Neo-Tokyo environment portrayed in many cyberpunk books and movies.

From that moment, I began regularly visiting Japan. I delivered numerous presentations and became a frequent guest lecturer at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan.

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