Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Tarin Clanuwat, a research scientist for the Google Brain Tokyo team, has been developing a mobile phone application to recognize cursive classical Japanese (kuzushiji) as modern Japanese text.

Although the technology for computers to read printed and handwritten characters (OCR) has been used since the 1960s, kuzushiji has a lack of clear character breaks and is often intricately laid out around pictures, making it much more difficult to read.

Consequently, only about 0.01% of the Japanese population can read kuzushiji fluently.

Miwo, an AI cursive script recognition app developed by Clanuwat and her team, uses deep learning and datasets to translate Japanese cursive into modern Japanese text, making classical Japanese texts more accessible.

Miwo utilizes the ROIS-DS Center for Open Data in the Humanities’ (CODH) KuroNet kuzushiji recognition system, trained on the kuzushiji dataset created by the National Institute of Japanese Literature.

Users can either upload photos from their mobile phone camera roll or use their camera in the app and the translated cursive text will be overlaid on the original photo.

Specific characters can be highlighted and selected, opening a menu which shows other similar-looking characters, and users can also access a dataset of the selected character as it appears in different classical texts.

The app has some accessibility features, such as text size and colored boxes to separate the cursive characters, making them more discernible from each other.

The user can edit and annotate any of the translated text as they see fit, as well as copy the text and conveniently paste it into another application.

The translated photos can also be saved in the app for easy reference or if the user wishes to continue editing the translation.

Bungaku Report suggests that miwo in its current state can read about 80% of well-organized texts from the Edo period, and around 60% of handwritten manuscripts.

Miwo is free of charge and has surpassed 16,000 downloads as of September 6.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — SoftBank signed an agreement with Aichi Prefecture to be the representative company for the prefecture’s startup hub: Station Ai.

The automotive industry, which is the leading industry in the prefecture, continues to develop in response to Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Station Ai’s purpose is to maintain and strengthen local industry through startup innovations.

The project will be led by Station Ai Corporation, established by SoftBank on September 1. Hirotaka Sahashi, the president and CEO of Station Ai, has previously been involved in internal entrepreneurship programs and supported various businesses at SoftBank’s subsidiary for new businesses, SB InnoVenture.

SoftBank will utilize 5G, IoT, and AI in tandem with their know-how in startup support and networks with domestic and overseas companies to develop Station Ai as a core base for innovation, not only in Japan but also globally.

The facility will include offices for startups, offices for partner companies, including overseas startup support organizations and universities, a tech lab for prototype production and evaluation, and more.

Aichi Prefecture is part of the Central Japan Startup Ecosystem Consortium approved by the Cabinet Office in July 2020, an association including the Chubu Economic Federation, Nagoya University, Nagoya City, and Hamamatsu City.

Station Ai is an initiative of the Aichi Startup Strategy, serving as the core for the project.

The design and construction period is slated to be from October 2021 to September 2024, and Station Ai is projected to operate from October 2024 to September 2034.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — On Tuesday, Clairvest Neem Ventures finally opened an office in Wakayama city, weeks after it was selected to lead the local Integrated Resort (IR) consortium.

The office is a modest affair on the second floor of a nondescript office building in the Junibancho district, walking distance from Wakayama Castle in the center of the city. It is quite distant from the Marina City location of the proposed casino resort.

The Clairvest office is quite unlike the flashy Suncity Group office that had been opened in September 2020 to showcase that Macau firm’s IR plans and to widely appeal to the public as a sort of community center. Indeed, Clairvest is asking visitors to send an email and to make advance arrangements before members of the public drop by their new office.

There are a couple of ironies here.

The first is that in an earlier stage of Japan’s IR race, Clairvest was often the first to open a small local office. This was the case in both Sasebo, Nagasaki, and Tomakomai, Hokkaido. However, they have only now opened a local office in Wakayama, the location where they actually won their bid.

The second irony is that among the IR operators that at one time sought to lead IR development in Wakayama—Suncity Group, Bloomberry Resorts, Groupe Barriere—the ultimate winner, Clairvest, was the one which made the weakest effort to build local community relations.

That was also the case for Nagasaki, where the firm that won, Casinos Austria International, was also the most silent and least engaged in public marketing activities.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A joint venture of Panasonic Homes and Sojitz Corporation called PT PanaHome Deltamas Indonesia (PHDI) has initiated the sale of eighteen smart home units in West Java, Indonesia.

Each housing unit is outfitted with Panasonic’s Home Network System and PureTech air filtration and ventilation system, which is a device that filters out about 90% of any harmful particles that enter the house, according to Panasonic Homes.

The houses are also equipped with security networks and energy-saving functions, with the use of solar and wind power as well as rain water.

The construction method used by Panasonic PowerTech built the houses quickly while still meeting anti-earthquake criteria required for shop and office buildings in Indonesia.

The houses are part of PHDI’s Savasa residential project, an initiative to provide the people of Indonesia with a “smart lifestyle.” This is the beginning of one of four housing clusters in Savasa’s first phase of development, which will eventually consist of 811 houses and 33 shophouses over an area of thirteen hectares.

The smart town is strategically located in the heart of Deltamas city, a convenient distance from main business districts, and only minutes from the Karawang Station of the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail.

Savasa plans to build a total of 2,500 houses by 2030 on a determined area of 37 hectares, slated to accommodate around 10,000 residents.

Panasonic Homes has built a total of approximately 480,000 homes in Japan over the past fifty years.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — SkyDrive has gained top level political support in Osaka for its ambition to develop the eVTOL industry in Japan, using the heart of the Kansai region as its main base.

On Tuesday, the Japanese eVTOL startup signed an agreement with Osaka that featured the personal attendance of Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Mayor Ichiro Matsui, signaling the importance which they place on this initiative.

“The realization of ‘flying cars’ will not only shorten travel times and improve convenience, but also solve various administrative issues, such as transportation in the event of a disaster and utilization as a tourism resource,” declared Mayor Matsui. “Facing Osaka Bay, where many industries are concentrated, Osaka has enough area to realize ‘flying cars’ and develop it as a new industry. We hope that this cooperation agreement will further accelerate the efforts to realize the flights of ‘flying cars’ at the 2025 World Expo and commercialize them, leading to the creation of innovative new industries in Osaka.”

SkyDrive CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa added, “We have been continuously discussing the implementation of flying cars with Osaka, but this agreement has brought us one step closer to the realization of practical applications… Osaka has a geography that connects the airport and the bay area with urban areas via the sea and rivers, making it an ideal place to launch air mobility in Japan.”

Most of the agreement relates to the exchange of information and promotional activities for the eVTOL industry.

In November 2020, the Osaka Roundtable on a Moving Revolution Society in the Sky was launched, with the inaugural members being Osaka Prefecture and 41 private companies and organizations. No other Japanese local government has been so proactive in its support for the development of the eVTOL industry.

In a related initiative, SkyDrive is collaborating with Obayashi Corporation, Kansai Electric Power Company, Kintetsu Group Holdings, and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance on an air taxi business feasibility survey in the Osaka Bay area, with results expected to be delivered in the coming months.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — All three of the major Integrated Resorts (IR) firms pursuing a partnership with the Yokohama municipal government have now conceded that their bids have come to an end, as new anti-casino Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka initiated formal procedures to bring the matter to a close.

Despite a post-election appeal from the adamantly pro-IR Yokohama Chamber of Commerce & Industry to break his campaign promise and to defy the democratically expressed will of the overwhelming majority of the city’s voters, Mayor Yamanaka did not waver, making clear that he fully intended to pull the plug on the city’s IR bid.

Last Friday, Yamanaka—in his first ever appearance before the city council—formally announced his decision, noting that the city’s IR promotion office would be abolished as of October 1 and its staff reassigned.

The same day, both Genting Singapore and Sega Sammy Holdings, which had combined their efforts into a single consortium, acknowledged that the process was over.

Sega Sammy’s statement was more spare, simply noting that “we have been forced to suspend our participation in IR business in Yokohama.”

Genting Singapore revealed more emotion and even a sense of betrayal about the matter, declaring, “We are surprised and disappointed by the unexpected turn of events leading to the city’s decision to cancel the Yokohama IR bid, as the board of directors and management of the company, together with our consortium partners and supporting partners, have devoted considerable time and our best efforts to prepare and submit a compelling bid and proposed a significant investment that will benefit the city of Yokohama and its community, and at the same time make Yokohama a world-class tourism destination.”

Melco Resorts & Entertainment waited until yesterday to make its statement, but it also had the most to say.

“For the past several years, we have worked with our partners to devise a superlative, world-class IR proposal that reflects the unique characteristics and culture of Yokohama and which would put the city on the global stage of tourism,” stated Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of the firm, “Unfortunately, the citizens of Yokohama have decided otherwise, and the mayoral election results give a clear verdict. The new mayor, having campaigned on an anti-IR platform, has now closed the door on the process we engaged in with our partners. While we are disappointed, we are grateful for the friendships that we have formed throughout the process and express our sincere gratitude to the people and government of Yokohama, as well as our business and community partners, for their tremendous support.”

Although Melco’s major bid in Yokohama was terminated by the elections, and its small, silent bid in Nagasaki was rejected, Lawrence Ho affirmed that his company still desired to be involved in some way in the Japanese market.

“Melco has been working on the ground in Japan for over a decade. We firmly believe in the country’s long-term potential and remain committed to exploring opportunities to develop the world’s best Integrated Resort in Japan. We will be closing our Yokohama office while maintaining a representative office in Tokyo,” he stated.

Ho had indicated for several years that should his firm win a contract for a major IR in the country, that Melco would move its head offices from Macau to Japan and that he would personally take up Japanese residence.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — AirMobility, a startup aiming to build eVTOL (flying car) infrastructure, will soon begin practical tests in Mie Prefecture of its route planning and navigation system.

The system, called AirNavi, is meant to serve both beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones as well as eVTOL.

In November 2020, Mie Prefecture, Air Mobility, and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Company concluded an agreement to collaborate on the testing of the system within Mie Prefecture. It is hoped that manned demonstration flights can begin from as early as next year.

AirNavi allows users to enter a destination, after which the system calculates the optimal flight route, taking into account various conditions, including weather. The users can also check the insurance arrangements for the flight, and even purchase the most appropriate insurance on the spot via cashless payment.

Aside from the aforementioned parties, the other companies involved in the project are Chodai Co., Dynamic Map Platform Company, Eames Robotics, KDDI, Magellan Systems Japan, Mitsubishi Electric Company, Weathernews Inc., and Zenrin.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In a joint project with Mitsubishi Motors and NMKV, Nissan plans to launch an all-electric mini-vehicle in early FY2022.

Under the name of IMk, the electric mini-vehicle will feature characteristics such as instant acceleration with a smooth and quiet drive. It will also be equipped with Nissan’s ProPilot Assist technology for steering and navigation assistance.

The car features distinctive Japanese design features such as structures that mimic Japanese twine (mizuhiki), copper (akagane) colors, and an interior which simulates the wooden edging strip of flooring (engawa) found in Japanese architecture.

The IMk will have a nominal battery capacity of 20 kWh, and its dimensions are 3.4 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, and under 1.7 meters high, allowing daily driving in the cramped environment of Tokyo.

Additionally, the IMk will have an energy export, its battery able to provide electricity to a home acting as a mobile power source during emergencies.

The price of the IMk is expected to begin at ¥2 million (approximately US$18,200).

Nissan has recently laid out a Japan-focused electrification program it calls Blue Switch, an initiative that addresses issues such as environmental load reduction and disaster countermeasures.

Nissan has already sold more than 500,000 units of the all-electric Nissan Leaf worldwide.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura used a press conference last week to outline his ambitions for eVTOL (flying cars), including the target of having the first practical operations begin over Osaka Bay in 2024.

“We would like to reach the stage of having customers riding in the vehicles by 2024,” the governor said, “This would be over the seas, such as a route between Universal Studios Japan and Yumeshima, or connecting Osaka Bay. We’d like to see the flights begin in 2024 and launch in earnest in 2025.”

The governor added, “We also need to prepare the surrounding environment, such as the social aspects. Because people looking at the skies will start seeing flying cars there, it is necessary to have social acceptance.”

The governor added that his government will be signing a partnership agreement with the startup SkyDrive tomorrow at which a model eVTOL will be exhibited.

In a followup question, Yoshimura also indicated that if other eVTOL firms enter discussions with the prefectural government, additional agreements are possible.

Last November, the so-called Osaka Roundtable on a Moving Revolution Society in the Sky was launched, with the inaugural members being Osaka Prefecture and 41 private companies and organizations.

Osaka hopes to feature eVTOL exhibitions for the 2025 World Expo at Yumeshima, which is one of the reasons why the prefecture is among the most proactive.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In the twenty-fourth episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Tanjiro works hard during his rehabilitation training as Zenitsu and Inosuke give up.

The episode begins with Kyojuro Rengoku, the flame Hashira, heading out to an assignment upon hearing there was a sighting of an Upper Rank Twelve Kizuki. Shinobu Kocho wishes him safety on his mission.

Murata, the demon slayer they met on Mount Natagumo, pays Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu a visit at the rehabilitation center. They recount their adventures on the mountain and he reveals that he is scared to give his report of the events to the Hashira, as they are intimidating.

Shinobu tells Tanjiro and Inosuke that they are to start their rehabilitation training soon, but Zenitsu must continue resting as his limbs have not fully recovered.

Over the next few days the boys go into training and Zenitsu watches as they come back completely tired and wrecked. They do not respond to his questions, but rather go straight to sleep.

When it is turn for Zenitsu to go into training he is terrified. In the training room, the boys receive physical therapy from triplet Kocho girls in which they are stretched. After that, their agility and speed are tested by playing tag with Kanao Tsuyuri, and none of them even get close to winning.

After a few days of intense training, Zenitsu and Inosuke stop training as they give up. Tanjiro continues to show up.

The Kocho triplets admire Tanjiro’s will. They share with him that Tsuyuri constantly maintains Total Concentration Breathing, a technique he only used during battle due to the energy it takes. Tanjiro trains day and night.

Weeks pass, and Tanjiro feels himself get stronger. He goes above and beyond his training.

One night, as he practices his Total Concentration Breathing on the roof, Shinobu joins him. She reveals that she lost all hope in the idea of demons and humans living in harmony after her sister was killed by a demon. However, Tanjiro’s bond and determination with Nezuko has renewed her hope. She tells him that she is happy that he will continue fulfilling her dreams despite her growing resentment towards demons after all she has witnessed.

The episode ends with Tanjiro vowing to himself that he will turn Nezuko back into human.

Previous Articles

Demon Slayer: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Swordsman Accompanying Demon

Demon Slayer: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Temari and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: The Boar Bares Its Fangs

Demon Slayer: More Important Than Life

Demon Slayer: House with Wisteria Crest

Demon Slayer: Mount Natagumo

Demon Slayer: Let Someone Go First

Demon Slayer: Master a Single Thing

Demon Slayer: A Forged Bond

Demon Slayer: Hinokami

Demon Slayer: Pretend Family

Demon Slayer: Against Corps Rules

Demon Slayer: Master of the Mansion

Demon Slayer: Hashira Meeting

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Amazon.com will buy solar power from the trading house Mitsubishi Corporation under a major corporate power purchase agreement.

Amazon will purchase the power provided by 450 solar power stations developed by West Holdings, located in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Tohoku region. Mitsubishi will gather the generated electricity and provide it to Amazon’s data centers, logistics centers, and offices.

The agreement will last ten years, providing a total of 22,000 kilowatts of electricity.

Other property owners will also invest in the power stations. They will be charged for installation with a promise to recoup investments following the end of the Amazon agreement.

The solar power agreement comes after a wind power agreement earlier this year that sees Mitsubishi’s Dutch unit, Eneco, providing renewable energy to Amazon’s European facilities.

By 2025, Amazon plans to make 100% of its electricity used for its corporate activities renewable, and Japanese trading houses such as Mitsubishi are increasingly focusing on the development of clean energy.

West Holdings plans to have the solar power stations start operations by 2023.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In FY2020 online shopping sales in Japan exceeded ¥10 trillion (US$91 billion). According to the Japan Direct Marketing Association (JADMA), 820 Japanese direct sales establishments increased their aggregate sales over 20% during the fiscal year.

The boom can be attributed to consumers turning to online platforms such as Amazon and Rakuten in lieu of in-person shopping as a result of Covid pandemic restrictions.

JADMA also credits the entry of new service providers for the increased sales, with a wider variety of companies answering the call for online buying options.

Amid this increased demand for stay-at-home shopping, the Rakuten Group is launching later this year Rakuten Zenkoku Super, an online supermarket.

Although some supermarkets are already offering online options, Rakuten Zenkoku Super will have the advantage of veteran expertise in e-commerce. Some businesses looking to enter the online supermarket space will soon be supported by Rakuten.

Rakuten ranked tenth on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s list of top business-to-consumer e-commerce companies in 2020.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — PayPal has acquired Paidy, one of Japan’s few unicorns, or privately-held startups valued over US$1 billion, in a blockbuster deal to expand its reach into the Japanese market.

The ¥300 billion (US$2.7 billion) acquisition, expected to be formalized by the end of the year, will see Paidy continue to operate much as it does at present, and its top management remain in place.

PayPal hopes that Paidy, with its 4.3 million active customer accounts, will help it crack the “buy now, pay later” market in which the unicorn excels.

Paidy customers do not pay interest on the delayed payments. Rather, the firm collects a small fee from merchants when customers make purchases at their shops or businesses.

“Paidy pioneered buy now, pay later solutions tailored to the Japanese market and quickly grew to become the leading service, developing a sizable two-sided platform of consumers and merchants. Combining Paidy’s brand, capabilities and talented team with PayPal’s expertise, resources, and global scale will create a strong foundation to accelerate our momentum in this strategically important market.” commented Peter Kenevan, vice president and head of Japan at PayPal.

Paidy’s payment services allow Japan’s shoppers to make purchases online, and then pay for them each month in a consolidated bill at a convenience store or via bank transfer. The company uses its own technology to score creditworthiness, underwrite transactions, and guarantee payment to vendors.

Russell Cummer, founder and executive chairman of Paidy, stated, “There is no better home for Paidy to continue to grow and innovate than PayPal, which has been removing friction from online shopping for more than twenty years… Together with PayPal, we will be able to further achieve our mission of taking the hassle out of shopping.”

Riku Sugie, president and CEO of Paidy, added, “Paidy is just at the beginning of our journey and joining PayPal will accelerate our plans to expand beyond ecommerce and build unique services as the new shopping standard.”

Paidy was originally established under a different name in March 2008.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Japanese companies are expediting plans to implement 6G by the 2030s.

Following the US-Japan summit on April 16, it was revealed that the two countries will jointly invest US$4.5 billion for the development of the next generation of mobile networks.

In June, industry groups from Finland and Japan agreed to conduct joint research and development on 6G technology.

This will be a collaboration with Japan’s Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium made up of the University of Tokyo along with NTT, NTT Docomo, KDDI, SoftBank, Rakuten Mobile, and Finland’s 6G Flagship led by the University of Oulu.

On August 23, mobile operator Softbank also announced its plans for 6G implementation, with Vice-President and Head of the Advanced Technology Division Ryuji Wakikawa calling it “a technology for the 2030s.”

NTT Docomo currently owns about 6% of 5G patents, while Qualcomm and Huawei are roughly equal at about 10%.

The rush to become a key player in the 6G race serves to ensure Japan does not have the same slow start as it did with 5G.

6G is expected to be 100 times faster than 5G, and ten times more effective than 5G at connecting to multiple devices simultaneously, decreasing connection delays.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The lawmaker bribery case that shook the fledgling Integrated Resort (IR) industry has concluded with the central figure, former Senior Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office Tsukasa Akimoto, receiving a four-year prison sentence.

The case surrounded a Shenzhen-based, New York Stock Exchange-listed sports lottery firm then called 500 Dot Com (now renamed BIT Mining Limited and refocused on cryptocurrency), which established a subsidiary in Tokyo in July 2017 for the purpose entering the Japan IR market, first eyeing Okinawa Prefecture and later shifting its attention to Rusutsu village in Hokkaido.

The Chinese company apparently had the idea that the best way to secure one of the IR licenses was to offer direct cash bribes to Japanese politicians. They weren’t entirely wrong, because it turned out that at least half a dozen conservative politicians were willing to accept their bribes.

The recipient of the largest of the bribes—about ¥7.5 million (US$68,000) according to prosecutors—was Akimoto, who served for about a year from September 2017 as the Cabinet Office’s senior official in charge of developing Japan’s IR policy.

Reportedly receiving smaller bribes of ¥1 million (US$9,000) each were Takeshi Iwaya, Toshimitsu Funahashi, Hiroyuki Nakamura, and Masahisa Miyazaki of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party; as well as Mikio Shimoji of the Japan Innovation Party. While two of these politicians later admitted publicly that they had received the 500 Dot Com bribes, they were not charged by prosecutors for unclear reasons.

The prosecutors focused their attention mainly on Akimoto, who they identified as the ringleader, as well as the go-betweens and a prominent businessman in Hokkaido.

Through all the subsequent twists and turns in the case, Akimoto, who has refused to give up his seat in the House of Representatives, even while behind bars, has always insisted on his innocence, even as those who handed him the money and all of those around him admitted guilt.

This week the legal matter ends with Akimoto’s conviction and his four-year prison sentence. The go-betweens mostly received suspended sentences in light of their willingness to admit guilt and cooperate with the prosecutors.

As a political matter the impact will endure. The Japanese public has always been clear that it opposes the development of IRs including casinos mainly because of their concerns about spreading gambling addiction and facilitating crime.

The 500 Dot Com case illustrated in dramatic form that at least some of these public concerns are not misplaced, and that governance within Japan’s political system is open to question when it comes to the billions of dollars expected to circulate through the IR industry.

The conviction of Akimoto is a salutary warning to others what the price of casino-related corruption might be, but the fact that other conservative politicians—including former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya—were essentially just let off the hook, certainly muddles this law-and-order message.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — As Japan and much of the international community look to move away from fossil fuels and towards a carbon zero future, innovation in electric vehicles has skyrocketed. Among these vehicles are electric take off and landing vehicles (eVTOL), which are often described as flying cars or flying taxis.

As futuristic as the idea may sound, eVTOLs may be available commercially in the coming years. The government has also thrown its support behind some eVTOL projects in hopes to spur domestic technological innovation.

SkyDrive is an eVTOL startup headquartered in Tokyo. Founded in July 2018 by Tomohiro Fukuzawa, it has already become rather prominent. With almost US$400 million in financial backing from Toyota, SkyDrive hopes to start commercial operations over Osaka Bay by 2023.

SkyDrive has already successfully tested a one-seater manned eVTOL vehicle, which it plans to turn into a two-seater for commercial use. With one of the smallest manned eVTOL vehicles, SkyDrive asserts that its two-passenger vehicle will be ideal for Japan’s crowded urban landscape.

NEC Corporation is a major Japanese technology company based in Tokyo. While best known as a manufacturer of electronics such as PCs and phones, NEC recently dove into the world of eVTOL as well. The company held a successful unmanned test flight in August 2019 with the help of many of the engineers behind SkyDrive, of which it has become a major corporate sponsor.

Tetra Aviation Corporation is an aircraft manufacturer based in Tokyo. Tetra’s newest aircraft, called the Mk-5, is a single-seat eVTOL that can travel up to 160kph with a range of about 160 kilometers. Tetra’s eVTOL is considerably easier to both fly and manufacture than most of its competitors’ vehicles. Tetra plans to start delivery of the Mk-5 as a kit as early as 2022, and it is already available for preorder.

Tetra has also partnered with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to research the development of quieter ducted fans in order to make its aircraft more acceptable to the residents of densely populated areas.

DroNext, an Osaka-based drone firm established in 2019, is in the early stages of development of an eVTOL vertiport it calls DroNext SmartHub.

Aside from the Japan-based firms, there are some companies based abroad that have made significant partnerships to enter the Japanese market.

Volocopter is an aircraft manufacturer established in 2011. While it is based in Germany, the company linked up with Japan Airlines (JAL) in September 2020 to develop and explore eVTOL opportunities in Japan.

Within this partnership, Japan Airlines plans to use Volocopter vehicles to operate a domestic air taxi service in the coming years. JAL has already signed an agreement with Mie Prefecture to conduct trials. The airline expects to begin commercial operations in the prefecture in 2025.

Joby Aviation is another eVTOL startup with heavy backing from Toyota. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, Joby has become one of the most prominent eVTOL startups in North America.

In early 2020, Toyota invested US$394 million into Joby. The startup has also received US$75 million in financial backing from Uber after acquiring the rideshare company’s air taxi division last year. Additionally, the startup has earned investment from Japan insurance company Aioi Nissay, who hopes to research insurance services and products for eVTOLs.

Joby’s air taxi can hold up to five passengers and is said to have a range of up to 240 kilometers. The company plans to start operating commercially in California by 2024.

Skyports is a UK-based provider of infrastructure for advanced air mobility, such as drones and eVTOL. In recent years, the company has sought to expand its network of vertiports across the globe, including Japan. Last year, Skyports partnered with Japanese trading company Kanematsu Corporation to develop vertiport infrastructure for eVTOLs in Japan.

Bell Textron is a US aircraft manufacturer based in Fort Worth, Texas. Founded in 1960, Bell partnered with Sumitomo Corporation and JAL last year. While Bell is best known as a manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft, it has recently entered the eVTOL business as well. With its Japanese partners, Bell hopes to create an on-demand urban air mobility network.

The partnership serves as another dimension of JALs’ desire to become a major player, if not the leader, in the domestic eVTOL market.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Sega Sammy Creation has announced that its new series of slot machines called Wealth Rush will shortly be appearing on the casino floors of Macau, China.

Developed by game studio Rising Digital, the Wealth Rush series offers four basic games, named Sorcerer’s Gems, Pixie Garden, Treasures of Fu, and Incredible Coins.

The firm says that subsequent to their appearance at major casinos in Macau, the slot series is expected to arrive in other Asian nations that have legalized casino gambling.

Sega Sammy Creation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings, and it was created in Tokyo in June 2013 as an equipment manufacturer that plans, manufactures, and sells casino equipment, and led by its new President and CEO Scott Winzeler.

Although casino slot machines cannot yet be used legally in Japan, Sega Sammy Creation has focused its business first on the Las Vegas and North American markets, and more recently on the Asian markets.

Sega Sammy Holdings as a whole has long been positioning itself to enter the Integrated Resort (IR) market, and it is in fact a partner in the Paradise City IR in Incheon, South Korea. The company had tied up with Genting Singapore to bid on the establishment of the proposed IR at Yamashita Pier in Yokohama, although the recent mayoral elections appears to have put an end to that particular prospect.

Sega Sammy Holdings still operates the Phoenix Seagaia Resort in Miyazaki Prefecture, an investment that was intended to help provide it experience for its ultimate operation of a major IR in Japan. Chairman Hajime Satomi long ago began explaining that Sega Sammy’s resorts business was supposed to become its revenue center for the future, as the pachinko equipment and video games divisions would likely decline in importance over time.

As for Sega Sammy Creation, the casino equipment manufacturing division, it is expected to remain busy trying to challenge the much larger and more established casino equipment companies in overseas markets, waiting for the first IRs to open in Japan later this decade.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A consortium led by the Toda Corporation recently won the tender for an offshore wind farm in Nagasaki, opening a new chapter for Japan’s offshore wind energy projects.

The floating wind farm is slated to have a capacity of 16.8 megawatt and will be located in waters off the coast of Goto city, Nagasaki Prefecture.

This wind farm project is being operated by a consortium called Goto City Offshore Wind Power Generation. It is led by Toda and includes Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Eneos Corporation, Inpex Corporation, and Chubu Electric.

A first-of-its-kind open bidding process for the Goto location was conducted in the second half of 2020. The Toda-led consortium was the only applicant.

In December 2018, the National Diet passed the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities, setting the stage for the current developments.

In July 2019, the government identified eleven ocean areas it believes potentially suitable for the development of offshore wind farms, including four areas off Akita Prefecture, three areas off Aomori Prefecture, two areas (including Goto) off Nagasaki Prefecture, and one area each belonging to Niigata Prefecture and the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

In April, the offshore construction phase of the 139 megawatt Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind Farm project began. That project, which expects to launch commercial operations at the end of 2022, is in the hands of a consortium led by the Marubeni Corporation.

Japan’s government has set a target of generating up to 45 gigawatt of power through offshore wind power annually by 2040.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — DroNext, a firm based in Sakai city, Osaka, is already making a mark with its drone services, and it is moving toward an ambitious and innovative plan to enter the eVTOL (flying car) industry as well.

Founded by Asa Quesenberry in April 2019, DroNext’s business encompasses both aerial drones and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV). The firm doesn’t manufacture the hardware, but it has found its niche providing to its clients with Hardware as a Service (HaaS).

“We’ve had a lot of success acting as a bridge business where foreign companies are looking to work in Japan,” Quesenberry told Akihabara News in an exclusive interview. “Maybe they need drones for one of their developments or a project, but due to language barriers or any of the problems you would name with access to the Japanese market, it’s quite difficult.”

Inspired by the fact that Japan is a maritime nation, a substantial part of DroNext’s business focuses on ROVs, which are employed for jobs such as marina or harbor inspections, or inspecting ships that have parked at Japanese ports.

Quesenberry explains that his firm believes in “spreading the wealth,” by which he means that DroNext maintains a wide network around the nation of pilots and others who work with the company when there are jobs to be done in regional locations, far from Osaka.

Although the current business has achieved some degree of success, Quesenberry is looking carefully at current trends in the drone industry and projecting both the areas where demand may gradually fall off and the opportunities which may open up in the future.

One factor he recognizes is that the longterm future for drone pilots may not be so bright. Increasingly, he expects the next generation of drones to become autonomous, meaning the need for direct human guidance will gradually be reduced.

He also has his eye on the potentially lucrative eVTOL market, and is in fact planning a fundraising round in the coming months to begin to shift DroNext towards that industry. But his strategy is a bit off the beaten path.

“Everyone’s trying to build the day-to-day car, the eVTOL flying passenger car,” he explains. “Very few people are focused on infrastructure.”

While the specifics are still under development, Quesenberry and his team are drawing up plans for the DroNext SmartHub, which will be a “vertiport” (a port for eVTOLs and drones) that will become a beehive for eVTOL manufacturers, electric charging companies, drone logistics companies, and retail marketers, much like the train stations of contemporary Japan.

Quesenberry believes that building out this kind of urban infrastructure for eVTOLs and drones, incorporating landing and service facilities for multiple vehicle manufacturers and service providers, is the best way to ensure that they become part of our lives in the coming years and decades.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In the twenty-third episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Tanjiro gets the approval from the Master to travel with his sister and is reunited with Zenitsu and Inosuke. The Hashiras have their annual meeting.

The episode begins with Nezuko staring down Sanemi Shinazugawa and the blood dripping from his hands. She remembers her family and human instincts and turns away from him. This confirms the Master’s statement that she is a harmless demon.

The Master, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, judges that they may continue fighting demons as a pair to prove themselves and win over the rest of the Hashiras that remained skeptical.

On command, two Kakushis, the clean up crew of the demon slayers, take Tanjiro and Nezuko back to Shinobu Kocho’s mansion for healing and rehabilitation.

Outside the mansion, they encounter Kanao Tsuyuri, a girl Tanjiro had met previously during the Final Selection. The Kakushis inform him that she is trained by the Hashira is swordsmanship.

Tanjiro is taken into the mansion where he hears Zenitsu crying about not wanting to take his medication. His limbs are still deformed from the spider venom. Tanjiro is overjoyed to see him alive and whining.

Next to him lays Inosuke, silently. His vocal chords were damaged when he was nearly strangled to death by the father demon. He is depressed that he was weaker than he thought. Tanjiro is just glad that he is still alive.

Nezuko is given her own room to reside in.

Meanwhile, the Hashira conduct their annual meeting with Ubuyashiki. They take note of the rampant demon activities lately and conclude that Mount Natagumo was merely a distraction from Muzan Kibutsuji. The Hashiras claim that the quality of demon slayers has decreased, and they need stronger people.

Once the meeting concludes, the episode ends with the Master vowing to himself that Kibutsuji will be defeated.

Previous Articles

Demon Slayer: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Swordsman Accompanying Demon

Demon Slayer: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Temari and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: The Boar Bares Its Fangs

Demon Slayer: More Important Than Life

Demon Slayer: House with Wisteria Crest

Demon Slayer: Mount Natagumo

Demon Slayer: Let Someone Go First

Demon Slayer: Master a Single Thing

Demon Slayer: A Forged Bond

Demon Slayer: Hinokami

Demon Slayer: Pretend Family

Demon Slayer: Against Corps Rules

Demon Slayer: Master of the Mansion

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