Search - robotics

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Nagoya uses auto industry ties to position itself as a startup hub

This transition period comes at a time when the national government has made the creation of startups a priority as it seeks to bolster the economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2022

Is there too much economic gloom and doom?

Souring macroeconomic conditions and monetary-policy tightening have led some commentators to warn of an impending mega-crisis. Yet there is ample evidence to suggest otherwise.
Japan Times
Czech Republic report 2022
Dec 21, 2022

Czech Republic and Japan, ever closer

“Czechia and Japan have never been closer. We shared this view with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, with whom I met on the sidelines of this year’s U.N. General Assembly in New York. I am glad that even in today’s difficult times we are on the same side, the side of democracy and respect for...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2022

Japan's Olympus says moving from asset sales towards doing deals

After two decades in human resources roles, incoming Stefan Kaufmann will become one of the few foreign CEOs leading a major Japanese company.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2022

This Japanese startup wants to become the moon’s very own FedEx

Ispace is looking to earn money by ferrying scientific equipment and commercial goods to the moon.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 4, 2022

Xi's 'Chinese Dream' flickers in one Beijing neighborhood

As Xi prepares for the Communist Party to anoint him for an unprecedented third term in office, some say the dream is losing definition.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2022

India and Japan to deepen ties amid growing Indo-Pacific tensions

Thursday's 'two-plus-two' meeting, only the second to be held since 2019, came as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic ties this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2022

Google shows off soda-fetching robots

When asked to help clean a spill, Google's robot recognizes that grabbing a sponge is a doable and more sensible response than apologizing for creating the mess.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 8, 2022

Fukushima firm develops drones for inspection of wind turbines

Fukushima Sangikyo, a company in the city of Fukushima that develops and produces communications equipment, succeeded in developing the system after repeated trial and error.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2022

As the U.S. Congress debated landmark China bill, Beijing surged ahead

The American semiconductor industry has withered to the point where none of the most advanced chips are made in the United States. Meanwhile, China has been rapidly catching up.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2022

Implementation, not innovation, is the key to economic success

Innovation has been the main driver of long-term economic growth since the Industrial Revolution. But in today's day and age, diffusion of new technologies separates winners from losers.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jun 29, 2022

Launch of new carrier highlights China's bid to tip balance in the Pacific

The development of the Fujian is just one of several efforts by Beijing to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 20, 2022

Ukraine’s highly mobile tech workforce hits the road

Until late February, Inha Kushnir worked in Odesa. Then Russia invaded and she and her husband decided that it would be safer for her and the couple's young daughter to leave.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2022

Supply snags threaten EV revolution, top Toyota scientist says

Manufacturers are running low on supplies of lithium, nickel and other key battery inputs, with trade frictions and the war in Ukraine exacerbating issues and forcing prices higher.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2022

How robots can help build offshore wind turbines more quickly

New software and robotics systems — initially intended to help conduct research on other planets — may shave years off the time needed to put up offshore wind turbine farms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Longform
May 9, 2022

Out of the box: Japan's vending machines get a modern makeover amid pandemic

The health crisis has highlighted the merits of the unmanned dispensers, leading to a flurry of new — and sometimes bizarre — products being offered by the electronic boxes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2022

SoftBank’s Vision Fund devotes more of its cash to Japan for first time

The newfound interest comes after years of criticism in Japan of an unprecedented investment spree that's bankrolled high-profile startups elsewhere.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Wednesday. Trump's tariff policies are the centerpiece of his effort to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and reshape a world trade system he has long decried as unfair.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 6, 2025

Trump promised a manufacturing boom. Industries are not so sure.

Some question the tariffs' underlying logic, saying that supply chain issues, high costs and other obstacles stand may in the way.
Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, in China's Jiangsu province, in October 2010.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2025

China halts critical rare earth exports as trade war intensifies

The official crackdown is part of Beijing’s retaliation for President Donald Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started April 2.
A DJI drone. British officials have raised concerns that Chinese-manufactured drones are surveying critical national infrastructure sites in the U.K.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

U.K. raises alarm on Chinese drones used to survey sensitive sites

Using Chinese-made drones at key sites in Britain is a risk as Chinese law can compel its companies to share data with the state.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang answers questions from reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2025

Nvidia CEO lobbies Japan to generate more power to fuel AI

The two discussed how Japan is particularly well-positioned to develop AI, given its leadership in robotics and industrial manufacturing.
A man sprays paint graffiti against Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on a Tesla showroom in New York on Tuesday in this screen shot taken from video.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

Musk to reduce White House role as Tesla profits plunge

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he would cut back "significantly" the time he devotes to the Trump administration from next month.
“‘Future of life,’ by Ishiguro,” the World Expo pavilion by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, displays humanlike androids.
LIFE / Travel
May 2, 2025

Want to see the future at the Osaka Expo? Get in line.

Androids and lab-grown heart cells: A dispatch from the world fair.
Phillip Vincent (right), Japan CEO of Plug and Play, and Ma Jingqian, head of ventures, at Plug and Play's Tokyo office, last month
BUSINESS / Companies
May 5, 2025

Plug and Play wants to help Japanese startups go global

The Japanese government is aggressively supporting startups, and large companies are seeking more opportunities to bet on entrepreneurs.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, says his primary interest in space development is not to abandon Earth, but to protect it.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 7, 2025

'Big picture thinker': Ispace CEO Hakamada on reaching the moon and dreaming of starships

CEO Takeshi Hakamada envisions a distant future where humans live and work on the moon — just don't ask him to visit.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, in May.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2025

Trump signs orders to bolster U.S. drone defenses and boost supersonic flight

The executive orders aim to bolster defenses against threatening drones and to boost electric air taxis and supersonic commercial aircraft.
A worker at a rare earth metals mine in Jiangxi province, China, in 2012
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 8, 2025

China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU

Beijing's recent suspension of rare earths-related exports upended the supply chains central to numerous industries around the world.
A checkout system equipped with a display showing a 3D avatar enables a Lawson employee to remotely help customers at an experimental Lawson store that opened Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Lawson beta tests futuristic convenience store with KDDI

Real x Tech Lawson utilizes a range of technologies, including robotics, digital signage and artificial intelligence.
While a trained beekeeper can quickly look at frames in a hive assess their health, AI can do it even faster.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 24, 2025

How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse

Beewise’s units help cut down on losses by providing a near-constant stream of information on colony health in real time and give beekeepers the ability to respond.
Apple Intelligence would rely more heavily on outside technology under a plan being considered by the company.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2025

Apple weighs using Anthropic or OpenAI to power Siri in major reversal

A switch to Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT models for Siri would be an acknowledgment that Apple is struggling to compete in generative AI.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji