This essay applies the conceptual framework of the Japanese Ethics — most prominently associated with Tetsuro Watsuji — to re-read the School IGF Japan 2025 Osaka conference. Target audience: researchers, doctoral students, policy analysts, and executives.
Introduction: The Problem
Watsuji's Fudo and Ethics presented a Japanese ethics that conceives humans as "relational beings" (aidagara) against Western individualism. School IGF Japan is a venue where each country's fudo and aidagara intersect.
This essay argues that the multistakeholder process of School IGF Japan becomes intelligible in its specificity only through the concept of Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), and that the concept itself undergoes transformation under the new material of digital space. Describing this mutual transformation is the task of this essay.
Fudo of digital space
The fudo of Osaka and the aidagara formed there constitute the quality of discussion. Japan's concept of relational responsibility relativizes a privacy discourse skewed to individual responsibility.
Each session's agenda-setting can be read as a contemporary restaging of the Tetsuro Watsuji-type problematic.
The Youth IGF practically raises the philosophical problematic of intergenerational justice.
Relational responsibility
Tetsuro Watsuji's concepts are not confined to abstract philosophical discussion; they apply to the concrete agenda items debated at the 2025 conference. We examine that application below.
1. Application to "AI"
Discussion of "AI" can be positioned, from the perspective of Tetsuro Watsuji's Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), as a central problematic. In Japan's context, the three layers of regulatory design, social implementation, and citizen participation around AI are particularly at stake.
2. Application to "中高生"
Discussion of "中高生" can be positioned, from the perspective of Tetsuro Watsuji's Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), as a derivative problematic. In Japan's context, the three layers of regulatory design, social implementation, and citizen participation around 中高生 are particularly at stake.
3. Application to "メンタルヘルス"
Discussion of "メンタルヘルス" can be positioned, from the perspective of Tetsuro Watsuji's Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), as a peripheral yet important problematic. In Japan's context, the three layers of regulatory design, social implementation, and citizen participation around メンタルヘルス are particularly at stake.
4. Application to "若者育成"
Discussion of "若者育成" can be positioned, from the perspective of Tetsuro Watsuji's Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), as a peripheral yet important problematic. In Japan's context, the three layers of regulatory design, social implementation, and citizen participation around 若者育成 are particularly at stake.
5. Application to "若者のSNS利用"
Discussion of "若者のSNS利用" can be positioned, from the perspective of Tetsuro Watsuji's Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate), as a peripheral yet important problematic. In Japan's context, the three layers of regulatory design, social implementation, and citizen participation around 若者のSNS利用 are particularly at stake.
Implications for Executives and Practitioners
The philosophical reflection of this essay is not merely academic. The Tetsuro Watsuji perspective carries three practical implications for executives operating in Japan.
First, it raises the reflexive question of how the firm's business model connects to the logic of Aidagara (relational being) and fudo (climate). Second, in dialogue with regulators and civil society, it suggests dimensions of consensus formation that purely technical arguments cannot reach. Third, it indicates that the long-term ground of business legitimacy lies not so much in technical advantage or market share as in participation in such philosophical-normative debates.
Academic Positioning and Future Research
The argument of this essay attempts to graft a philosophical perspective onto the mainstream political-science and legal approaches to internet governance research. Three future research questions follow.
- Verification of the applicability of Tetsuro Watsuji's framework to other IGF conferences
- Comparative contrast between Japanese Ethics and other theoretical traditions
- Exploration of dialogue possibilities with the indigenous intellectual traditions of Japan
In particular, the third point has the potential to liberate IGF research from West-centric debate and open a more multi-layered discursive space.
Primary Sources
- IGF Secretariat. Annual Reports of School IGF Japan.
- School IGF Japan 2025 Osaka Conference Materials.
- Japan IGF Support Organization. https://japanigf.jp/
- Nakazawa Yuki Blog. https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/
Secondary Sources (Philosophy)
- Works of Tetsuro Watsuji (representative texts of Japanese Ethics)
*This piece belongs to the academic essays (philosophy series). The author's views do not necessarily represent those of any institutional affiliation. Feedback and critique are welcome.*
更新履歴
第1稿投稿 2026年5月31日 14時58分（記事コンテンツアップ）
— 中澤祐樹
