Japans

This is a 2020 Nissan Leaf on display at the 2020 Pittsburgh International Auto Show Thursday, Feb.13, 2020 in Pittsburgh. Nissan is speeding up its shift toward electric vehicles, especially in Europe where emissions regulations are most stringent, the company said Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.Credit: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File Nissan is speeding up its shift toward electric vehicles, especially in Europe where emissions…

An in-depth analysis has finally revealed the make-up of a bizarre 'mummified mer-monkey' housed at the Enju-in Temple in Asakuchi City, Japan.The peculiar artifact has been an object of curiosity for decades, though according to an accompanying note it's oceanic origins are purported to date back centuries. At a total of 30 centimeters (1 foot) in length, the body consists of a furred, primate torso and what appears to be a scaly fish-tail, with two human-like hands framing a frozen grimace bristling with tiny, pointed…

Japan is joining a growing list of countries exploring the possibility of adopting a digital currency, with country’s central bank, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), announcing that it would launch a pilot to test a “digital yen” in April.  The move comes more than two years after the BoJ made its first step in the space, launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof of concept experiment, in October 2020.  The BoJ kicked off the first phase of that PoC in April 2021 to test the basic…

Research groups in Japan are lining up against a government plan to exert greater control over the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), the country’s national scientific academy. They argue the changes would expose the council to political influence and weaken its independence. More than five dozen academic societies, as well as SCJ itself, have raised concerns that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will soon ask the National Diet to create a new outside panel…

Tokyo, Japan's space agency said that the new flagship H3 rocket failed to lift off as scheduled on the day due to an ignition failure.Japan's first H3 rocket failed to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture on Friday morning after the booster engines were unable to ignite, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).Read AlsoThe agency said it is investigating the launch failure, Xinhua reported.The launch of the H3 rocket, Japan's successor to the H2A rocket, its previous…

Artistic impression of the H3 rocket during launch. Screenshot: JAXAIt’s been a long road, but the time has finally come for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to light the 207-foot-tall candle known as the H3 launch vehicle. You can catch the action live right here.Should all go as planned, the H3 medium-lift rocket will blast off within a brief seven-minute launch window that opens on Thursday, February 16 at 8:37 p.m. ET (Friday, February 17 at 10:37 a.m. JST). JAXA’s broadcast of the launch, available at the…

Emergency services in Japan have been inundated with false emergency calls triggered by Apple’s Crash Detection feature during casual trips to the country’s ski areas according to the latest reports. The Fire Department Kita-Alps in Nagano, one of Japan’s most popular ski areas, received 919 emergency calls between December 16 and January 23, 134 by accident mainly triggered by Apple’s Crash Detection feature on the newest iPhone 14 models, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch Ultra. The false Crash Detection epidemic…

In 2017, Japan created a pioneering national hydrogen strategy, envisaging a carbon-neutral "hydrogen society." But a Renewable Energy Institute report slams the policy as catastrophically misguided, with 70% of its 10-year budget "spent on bad ideas."Despite the fact that it's been "revised somewhat" over the last 5-6 years, the REI claims Japan's strategy needs a complete overhaul if the country is to have any chance of catching up with Europe, China and other countries, let alone regaining any kind of early-mover…

Japan has been developing robots to care for older people for over two decades, with public and private investment accelerating markedly in the 2010s. By 2018, the national government alone had spent well in excess of $300 million funding research and development for such devices. At first glance, the reason for racing to roboticize care may seem obvious. Almost any news article, presentation, or academic paper on the subject is prefaced by an array of anxiety-­inducing facts and figures about Japan’s aging population:…

Katsunori Takemoto, president of the Choshi Electric Railway, has used savvy marketing partnerships and branded souvenirs to keep his business afloat. In the driver's seat of a two-carriage train, Katsunori Takemoto puts on his white gloves and checks the antiquated gauges before setting out alongside cabbage fields in Japan's rural Chiba.…