ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the roles of different actors within the holistic vision of a smart society and offers a brief overview of investment into 'smart cities' in Australia, China, and Japan. It explores the roles of individuals on the societal level to gain more insight into the nature of change brought about by smart initiatives. The chapter focuses on Japan in particular owing to the Cabinet Office's declaration of making Japan a 'super smart society' ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It constitutes a vision of society of prioritised resource efficiency, and is defined as a society where all people can live comfortably and actively, overcoming various differences in terms of language, region, sex, and age, and receiving high-quality services. The chapter provides an overview of Diet discussions relating to smart projects, where the 'smart interchange' and 'smart meter' were identified as the most prominently used 'smart' terms in the National Diet since 2004.
