National Feb 1, 2022

Use of tablets on the rise for children unable to attend classes

Experts say remote lessons could act as an impetus to get such students used to eventually learning among their peers again in the classroom.

National / Social Issues Nov 11, 2021

City halls tap AI to interpret sign language in Japan

A system jointly developed by the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and SoftBank Corp. converts sign-language gestures into written text.

Digital Aug 8, 2021

Struggling with sleepless nights? 'Sleep masters' and AI are here to help.

One-third of a person's life is said to be given over to sleep — but getting enough of it, and of sufficient quality, can be a challenge for many people, especially under the duress of a worldwide pandemic. Help, however, is at hand as new ...

National May 29, 2016

Japan turns to wearable gadgets to monitor animals, including pets

A 2-year-old horse strapped with a GPS-aided sensor to monitor its speed and heartbeat ran a 1,500-meter lap on a farm in Urakawa, Hokkaido, a town famous for producing racehorses, earlier this year. Monitoring the animal via PC at Chestnut Farm, Toru Hirose, 53, was ...

National Apr 18, 2013

Chilling: Arctic explorer Yamazaki sees climate change impact up close

Spending six months of every year in the Arctic, adventurer Tetsuhide Yamazaki sees the impact of global warming firsthand through the region's thinning sea ice, the expanse of which has roughly halved in the last three decades. The ice is "very thin this year," Yamazaki, ...

National Nov 2, 2002

Woman prevails in quest to land teaching position

Chen Lixing is a sociologist who gained a university teaching post in Japan when she was 42, having overcome such barriers as age, gender and nationality. She is now at the University of California, Berkeley, conducting a one-year comparative study on international small and midsize ...