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Human Centered AI: Ep.009 - The Iwakura Principle
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In 1871, Japan sent half its government overseas. For two years.
This isn't ancient history. It's a blueprint for AI transformation.
The Iwakura Mission included sitting cabinet ministers, future prime ministers, and a six-year-old girl who would later appear on the 5,000-yen note.
They didn't send junior staff to "figure it out." They sent the decision-makers.
The result? Mitsubishi. Mitsui. The Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nearly 500 companies founded by one mission member alone.
Most organizations today respond to AI with a pilot program and a steering committee.
The Japanese have two words for "leaving something to someone":
→ 任せる (makaseru) - entrusting
→ 放置する (hōchi suru) - abandoning
One built modern Japan. The other builds slide decks nobody reads.
Three Critical Insights:
→ Send Decision-Makers, Not Researchers - The people who will implement change need to do the learning. Waiting for a summary is abdication, not delegation.
→ Give It Real Time - The mission lasted nearly two years. Most AI initiatives get a quarter to show ROI. That's not transformation—that's a pilot.
→ Study Systems, Not Just Technology - They visited factories, yes. But also schools, courts, prisons, slums. They learned what NOT to copy as much as what to adopt.
Four Implementation Principles:
→ Literacy Before Strategy. If leadership hasn't personally used the tools, they're not ready to set direction.
→ Document With Intention. The mission produced a 5-volume, 2,000-page report. Most AI pilots end with a deck nobody reads.
→ Filter Through Context. They studied multiple countries, then built something Japanese. "Best practices" from Silicon Valley won't work in Tokyo—or your organization.
→ Build the Next Generation. The young officials on that mission led Japan for 50 years. Who are your future AI leaders? Not the consultants.
The Iwakura Mission wasn't a project. It was a commitment.
150 years later, we're still talking about it because it worked.
In this episode, Nathan Paterson and Brittany Arthur explore what this 150-year-old voyage teaches us about taking AI transformation seriously and why most organizations are confusing delegation with abandonment.
How you commit matters more than how much you invest.
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