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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2014

Sumo robots converge on Ryogoku for first international competition

Robot sumo wrestlers from 10 countries battled each other Sunday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, the Mecca of traditional sumo, in the first such event of its kind.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2014

Japan now at a crossroads

Japan has the opportunity in the Dec. 14 election to break away from its past obsession with measuring GDP growth. Voters can change the national scorecard to a system-wide view of infrastructural assets and quality of life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 6, 2014

Cultural differences shade reactions to robots

It was only right that Disney's new animated feature, "Big Hero 6," opened this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, and that Disney animation head John Lasseter was on hand to introduce it. Lasseter has often said that his career has been greatly influenced by Japanese anime — in particular the...
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2014

Dentsu says it's creating robot entertainers

Dentsu Inc. will launch a new business focusing on developing "humanoid robot entertainers," the major ad agency said.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 24, 2014

Japan should be more German

Why has the 'Made in Germany' brand thrived over the last 15 or so years, even as 'Made in japan' grinds toward irrelevance?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 20, 2014

Getting crafty with ideas at Maker Faire Tokyo

Walking into the makeshift laboratory of Skeletonics, Inc. in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, it's impossible not to notice the nearly 3-meter-tall robotic exoskeleton in the room.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Nov 16, 2014

Minamisoma to get top-flight robotics R&D center

A Tokyo machinery maker will launch a cutting-edge research and development center for robots in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, in April to support the recovery of the disaster-hit prefecture.
WORLD
Nov 16, 2014

Hagel announces push to boost U.S. military's technological edge

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, warning that the Pentagon's technological advantage is eroding, announced an ambitious effort on Saturday to identify and develop weapons systems that would enable continued U.S. military dominance in the 21st century.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 25, 2014

Cutting-edge inventions showcased at Tokyo future-tech expo

Japanese technologies that engage multiple senses, such as virtual reality eyewear and wearable robotics, are being shown off at a Tokyo museum, offering the public a glimpse of a futuristic society.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Oct 24, 2014

Disney's 'Big Hero 6' animates a bridging of cultures

This week's Tokyo International Film Festival is hot on animation, featuring screenings of the collected works of Hideaki Anno, creator of the epic franchise, "Neon Genesis Evangelion," and 3-D shorts directed by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, producer of "Donkey Kong" and "Super Mario Bros." But the festival's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2014

Vision of anime's future at Tokyo International Film Festival

The Tokyo International Film Festival, running through Oct. 31, is no longer Asia's biggest or most important festival — that honor is now claimed by the recently held rival Busan film festival. But its 27th edition — the first to reflect the full influence of TIFF's current director-general, Yasushi...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / SEEN AT CEATEC
Oct 7, 2014

Omron's ping-pong robot built to rally

Seeking a ping pong partner who never tires? Omron Corp. might have granted your wish with a robot unveiled Tuesday that can continuously rally — or at least until its batteries run out.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2014

Europe struggles with cost of caring for its elderly nuclear plants

Europe's aging nuclear plants will undergo more prolonged outages over the next few years, reducing the reliability of power supply and costing operators many billions of dollars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction

My least favorite part of being a film critic is probably going to see Michael Bay movies. And the most horrific Michael Bay movies of all are the "Transformers" ones. So when I heard that Bay's latest, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," clocked in at nearly three punishing hours filled with fireballs,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2014

Who wants to be a billionaire? Son's SoftBank academy vets entrepreneurs

If Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and CEO of SoftBank Corp. needs a fresh strategy to fend off a surprise French counterbid for a prized U.S. telecommunications target, he could do worse than ask budding entrepreneurs at the SoftBank Academia.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2014

Robots can solve labor woes: Son

Employing all-purpose robots endowed with artificial intelligence as a workforce in the manufacturing industry is the solution to staving off any impending labor shortage in Japan, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014

The age of intelligent robots

When a chatbot can convince judges at Britain's Royal Society that it is a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy with limited English skills, it may be time to worry about a computer taking your job.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2014

Humanoid robot exhibit opens in Tokyo

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) on Tuesday unveiled three humanoid robots that are to be put on display so visitors can interact with them.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2014

SoftBank unveils Android-like OS for robots

Billionaire Masayoshi Son wants to create Android for robots.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 14, 2014

Happy endings: foreigners working in Japan's film industry

Film is supposed to be a universal language, but the film business in any given country is usually run by the locals for the locals. The one great exception is Hollywood, which has been making films for the world since the silent days and is open to talent, preferably English speaking, from around the...
LIFE / Digital
Jun 6, 2014

Amazon's drone dream sparks race for better sensor

In the quest to build drones that can enable companies such as Amazon to make door-to-door deliveries, engineers are racing to overcome a fundamental challenge: helping unmanned, suitcase-sized aircraft see where they're going.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2014

New digital technology wave replacing labor

People scrambling to keep up with digital technologies need to know that the world we are entering is one in which the most powerful global flows will be ideas and digital capital — not goods, services and traditional capital.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
May 10, 2014

Industry 4.0: Germany rethinks manufacturing

Last month, the chief executive officer of one of the country's largest manufacturers spoke in a closed-door meeting to a group of Japanese executives on his company's global strategy. Remarkably, he spend 20 percent of his time praising German companies, from traditional heavyweights such as Siemens...
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2014
May 9, 2014

Horizon 2020 fosters knowledge

Horizon 2020 is the EU's biggest ever research and innovation framework program with a seven-year budget worth nearly €80 billion intended to help boost Europe's knowledge-driven economy and tackle issues that will make a difference in people's lives.
LIFE / Digital
May 2, 2014

The robots are taking over, and it won't be pretty

Not often do you hear a "Newsnight" presenter using an arcane mathematical term, but last week was an exception. The culprit was David Grossman, who made an excellent film for "Newsnight" about the threat to employment from advanced robotics. In the course of this, he made the standard pilgrimage to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 20, 2014

$73 billion payoff for SoftBank's ventures fuels push into Japan startups

Japan's biggest companies have a case of SoftBank envy, and that's good for entrepreneurs like 23-year-old Takumi Shimizu.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Mar 10, 2014

[VIDEO] Honda's Robotics Technology

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 23, 2014

Computers 'to top humans by 2029'

Computers will be cleverer than humans by 2029, according to Ray Kurzweil, Google's director of engineering.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 13, 2014

The trouble with books that change over time

A few weeks ago, I bought a copy of "The Second Machine Age" by two MIT researchers, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who are among the most insightful commentators currently writing about the likely impact on employment of advanced robotics, machine learning and big-data analytics. Since I already...

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