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Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Aug 23, 2014

Yoshimoto Kogyo's role in creating a real-life robot with a sense of humor

With big, round, smiling eyes and a shirt and bow tie displayed on the screen on his chest, humanoid robot Pepper is ready to entertain his guests. Music begins to play, and Pepper shows off his moves to the 1960s hit song "The Loco-Motion" as a crowd of onlookers laughs with pleasure.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NUCLEAR AWAKENING
Jan 6, 2012

Domestic robots failed to ride to rescue after No. 1 plant blew

After the March 11 tsunami slammed into the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and wrecked three reactors, many people expected the nation's cutting-edge robotic technologies to come to the rescue.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2009

Panasonic robot dispenses drugs

Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday it has developed a medical robot that dispenses drugs to patients, the electronics giant's first step into robotics.
Japan Times
LIFE / THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
Feb 24, 2008

Blazing a trail to the cyberfuture

Yukiko Nakagawa started toying with a personal computer when she was a 6th-grader in the early 1980s — years before Microsoft introduced its first Windows operating system, and back when most people, let alone children, had never seen a PC.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

A robot could have scripted this

I, Robot Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alex Proyas Running time: 115 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 18 [See Japan Times movie listings] When was the last time you were enthralled by a big-budget sci-fi flick?
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2023

New developments seek to turn Haneda Airport area into major business hub

Haneda Airport Garden and Haneda Innovation City are part of an attempt to draw new companies and visitors to the area around the Tokyo airport.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 21, 2022

Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil 'Optimus' robot

The company is floating ambitious plans to deploy thousands of humanoid robots, known as Tesla Bot or Optimus, within its factories.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2022

Made in Britain: Broken supply lines drive manufacturing back home

After two years of global supply-chain disruption, manufacturers around Birmingham say they are inundated with orders, helped by clients bringing some production back home.
Japan Times
GLOBAL MEDIA POST / U.S. Midwest report 2022
Mar 15, 2022

Omron: Keeping the heart of the Midwest beating

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 3, 2020

Japan figuring out how to deliver goods untouched by people amid pandemic

Labor shortage and virus fears push robotics and logistics companies to explore ways to integrate technology into consumer deliveries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2019

As Japan's labor crunch bites, companies look to robots to plug the gaps

In the not-so-distant future, more robots may be interacting with customers at shopping complexes, serving food at restaurants or cleaning floors at offices in Japan amid a serious labor crunch.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2019

How Japan can win in the ongoing AI war

It is time to reshape the conversation about the country's 21st century technologies away from niche technologies and toward a narrative of global leadership.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 14, 2019

New, more agile robots speed takeover of jobs once done only by humans

At a vast greenhouse in the central Danish city of Odense, a squad of robots move thin plastic pots of herbs for shipping without even putting a dent in them. For moviegoers used to seeing humanoid machines in action, that might not seem special — but in truth, it is a remarkable feat.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / G20 Osaka Summit Special
Jun 27, 2019

Developing creative solutions that benefit the international community

Our global society is grappling with a myriad of challenges — from artificial intelligence and its rapid development to the effects of climate change and aging populations — that require bold, innovative solutions. As these issues grow in urgency and complexity, it is up to universities to foster...
Japan Times
Mar 20, 2019

Yamaha Motor Invests in Industrial Taiwanese Equipment Manufacturer

- Strengthening Robotics Business Competitiveness -
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Deep Dive
Nov 18, 2018

Japan's IT firms enthusiastically open doors to overseas tech workers

The dozens of young Chinese engineers looked nervous, but eager, as they presented their work in English during a hack-athon in September at the high-rise Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 28, 2018

Get ready for the robot invasion — of our classrooms

We may be wary of trusting robots enough to let them educate our children, but what if children were to help teach them a thing or two?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 13, 2018

SoftBank mulls major investment in robot pizza startup Zume

SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest from $500 million to $750 million in Zume Inc., a startup that makes and delivers fresh pizzas with the help of robots, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 1, 2017

Sony's Aibo makes a comeback: There's life in the old dog yet

Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will resurrect Aibo, the robot-dog that inspired a cult following even after it was discontinued over a decade ago.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2017

The technology policy debate

With governments and citizens already struggling with the consequences of recent innovations — from job displacement to security risks — technology policy is likely to take center stage in the coming decade.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2016

Depopulating rust belt counts on 'robonomics' to run assembly lines

A withering factory town in the rust belt is looking for revival through a dose of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "robot revolution."
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2016

Future of learning on display at Tokyo's Educational IT Solutions Expo

From robotics to virtual reality technologies to 3-D printers, advanced, cutting-edge technology was on display at this year's Educational IT Solutions Expo, which kicked off Wednesday in Tokyo's Koto Ward.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 15, 2015

In Japan, the rise of the machines solves a labor problem

The rise of the machines in the workplace has U.S. and European experts predicting massive unemployment and tumbling wages.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2015

Japan using robots as fix for labor, growth woes

Factory worker Satomi Iwata has new coworkers, a troupe of humanoid automata that are helping to address two of Japan's most pressing concerns — a shortage of labor and a need for growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 12, 2015

Tokyo companies begin work on Transformer-like robot

Two Tokyo-based firms said Friday they have begun developing a transformable robot that can be operated from inside, both as a humanoid robot and a vehicle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2015

Robots leave behind Chinese factory workers

Chinese factory owners are increasingly turning to automation, leaving millions of low-skill workers with an uncomfortable sense of impending obsolescence.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 10, 2015

Cheaper robots predicted to replace more factory workers over coming decade

The falling cost of industrial robots will allow manufacturers to use them to replace more factory workers over the next decade while lowering labor costs, according to new research.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2014

SoftBank unveils 'historic' robot

SoftBank Corp. unveiled on Thursday what it says is the world's first humanoid robot that can communicate and read people's emotions, and said it will go on sale to the general public next year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2013

2013 was an amazing year in tech

If you go by the headlines, the iPhone 5S and Google Glass were the big technology stories of 2013, and Twitter's IPO was the event of the year. The coverage of Glass focused mostly on its privacy implications — not its ability to change the world. And iPhone and Twitter were just more of the same....

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