Panel of intellectuals to make Japan 'Asian Gateway'

The government is planning to set up a panel of intellectuals possibly in November to come up with proposals for translating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Asian Gateway Vision" into action, government officials said Monday. The vision calls for making Japan a conduit between Asia and the rest of the world in terms of the flow of people, goods, money, culture, and information.

The Asia Gateway Vision envisages disseminating information on Japan's culture and trends to the world. Implementation of the vision has been described as a key policy of the Abe administration. Much of the panel's deliberations are expected to revolve around measures to expedite the dissemination of information on Japanese animation, movies, music and fashion, they said.