JAXA (Tokyo) — Japan Aerospace Exploratory Agency (JAXA) and Yamato Holdings have announced their collaboration on a cargo pod for an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aerial system. The two organizations have worked together in designing and evaluating the aerodynamic shape of the PUPA8801 heavy-size eVTOL cargo pod.
PUPA8801 is a 400 kilogram payload-class variant of the PUPA (Pod Unit for Parcel Air-transportation) series which Yamato has been developing, and is transportable by either being loaded onto existing ground transports together with conventional load units, or else externally attached onto future eVTOL aircraft.
During ground transportation, the pod needs to follow existing cargo unit size standards and be as rectangular as possible in order to maximize its capabilities. On the other hand, the pod is also required to obtain high aerodynamic performance as it is intended to be attached to the aircraft externally to enable rapid loading and unloading. Regarding these constraints, PUPA8801 had to be designed in an innovative manner that differs from traditional aerospace and logistics equipment.
To cope with this issue, Yamato has conceptualized the pod based on its know-how on ground logistics that originates on its century-old business, and from studies on cargo eVTOL system the company has performed. For this initial concept, JAXA provided expertise in aeronautics and performed a series of computational fluid dynamics-based analyses for improving aerodynamic efficiency, using its high speed fluid analysis tool FaSTAR. The organizations held an open discussion to turn the hypotheses construction and evaluation loop rapidly and verified its aeromechanical feasibility within a period of about four months.
Based on these results, Yamato will further develop the necessary components for the new-age eVTOL logistics service that the company is intending to become by the early 2020s.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Fujitsu has made a big move into emerging checkout-free retail store industry by signing a deal to become the exclusive distributor of Zippin’s checkout-free technologies in Japan.
The agreement was concluded after a successful field trial that Fujitsu and Zippin conducted with the cooperation of the Lawson convenience store chain earlier this year.
San Francisco-based Zippin has been developing a platform that tracks shoppers from directly overhead with cameras, combined with data from shelf sensors, to try to ensure the highest level of purchase accuracy even in crowded stores. This can allow shoppers to avoid checkout lines, simply walking out of the store and confirming that their purchases were recorded accurately on their smartphones.
Fujitsu has now become Zippin’s first exclusive distributor in any market, and it may integrate its own multi-biometric authentication systems for the Japanese market.
Hirohisa Yamaguchi, corporate executive officer and head of Finance & Retail Solution Business Group at Fujitsu, commented, “We will continue to proactively partner with best-in-class startup companies in order to accelerate digital transformation for not only Japan but for global retail industry.”
Retail customers in Japan may be having their first direct experiences with this Fujitsu-Zippin style of checkout-free markets by about September 2021. This business model is expected to spread rapidly through the coming decade.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A consortium consisting of the Iwatani Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Fortescue Metals Group, an Australian mining firm, have signed a joint agreement to explore the possibility of producing green hydrogen in Australia to be exported to the Japanese market.
The grouping will be called the Global LH2 Consortium.
While Japan has been aiming to further develop hydrogen-powered vehicles as a central plank of its new environmentally-friendly energy strategy, there has been at least one major flaw in its scheme. Even if the hydrogen vehicles themselves produce no carbon emissions, the production process of the hydrogen fuel that powers these vehicles does routinely contribute to global warming.
The solution is “green hydrogen,” denoting hydrogen fuel that is itself produced through a zero-emissions process.
The Global LH2 Consortium aims to produce green hydrogen in Australia through a liquefaction process using electricity supplied by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and then transported to Japan via a hydrogen marine carrier. If successful, the entire chain of production, transportation, and utilization will thus become carbon emissions free.
Iwatani is currently the only liquefied hydrogen supplier in Japan, and is capable of producing 120 million cubic meters of liquefied hydrogen annually through its three bases and six plants. It has a 70% share of the hydrogen market in Japan.
Iwatani Board Member Manabu Tsuyoshi commented, “Iwatani is the number one hydrogen supplier and only liquefied hydrogen supplier in Japan. Since we started in the hydrogen business in 1941, we have built a nationwide hydrogen network from manufacturing to transportation, storage, supply, and safety. In order to expand our hydrogen supply capabilities and to develop new business models, Iwatani is pleased to partner with Fortescue and Kawasaki to establish future global hydrogen supply chains.”
Kawasaki Executive Officer Eiichi Harada added, “Kawasaki is a world leader in the production, storage, shipping, and handling of liquid hydrogen. In order to contribute to securing a stable energy supply and the preservation of the global environment, Kawasaki is excited to enter into a relationship and business partnership with Fortescue and Iwatani for the establishment of the Global LH2 Consortium.”
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Toyota is stepping up its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell trucks both by unveiling a new set of Class 8 heavy-duty trucks and by partnering with three major Japanese convenience store chains on trials of fuel cell electric delivery truck deliveries.
In the first instance, Toyota Motor North America Research and Development has produced a set of production-intent prototype trucks that are being prepared to run drayage routes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to validate their performance, efficiency, and drivability.
The firm says that these second-generation fuel cell vehicles have over 480 kilometers of range at their full load weight of 40 tons.
“This is an important step in the transition to emissions-free heavy-duty trucks,” said Andrew Lund, chief engineer at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development. “Our first prototype trucks proved that a fuel cell electric powertrain was capable of hauling heavy cargo on a daily basis. These new prototypes not only use production-intent hardware, they will also allow us to start looking beyond drayage into broader applications of this proven technology.”
These prototype Class 8 trucks use Kenworth T680 chassis as well as a cab and chassis from Toyota’s subsidiary, Hino Motors.
In the second instance, Toyota will be conducting Japan-based testing light fuel cell trucks in partnership with Seven-Eleven Japan, FamilyMart, and Lawson in order to measure their capabilities in terms of transporting merchandise between distribution centers and convenience stores.
These lighter vehicles have a maximum weight capacity of about 3 tons and a cruising range of about 400 kilometers on one tank of hydrogen.
Many experts believe that, among zero emissions technologies, hydrogen will prove to have many key advantages over battery electric vehicles particularly when it comes to the performance of heavy trucks and on long-haul journeys.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A shoreline area in Kawasaki city near Haneda Airport is scheduled to host what may become the world’s first cargo drone logistics facility, equipped with a fleet of drones at least 24 strong.
The ESR Higashi Ogishima Distribution Centre is being constructed as a partnership between Hong Kong-listed ESR Cayman Limited, a logistics real estate platform, and the UK-based drone firm VRCO.
These companies intend that the nine-story facility will be able demonstrate in detail how a highly automated fleet of smart and self-aware air cargo vehicles, controlled by a state-of-the-art command center, can successfully manage air deliveries in a variety of weather conditions. This prototype facility would then become a model for other cargo drone logistics centers in other nations.
It will be designed to deliver about 14 tons of cargo on a daily basis upon its opening.
Japan was chosen as the nation to host this unique facility because the firms calculate that this country’s rapidly developing 5G infrastructure together with the proactive stance of the government as regards the development of an accommodating regulatory framework makes it their best bet.
Daniel Hayes, co-founder of VRCO, says, “We are delighted to be working with the leading logistics real estate platform in Asia, which appreciates the opportunities presented by eVTOL transportation. This is both relevant and timely now that Japan has published a roadmap embracing the air mobility revolution. Underpinning this revolution is the need for the infrastructure to be there and ready. The evolution of a distribution center to facilitate eVTOL cargo movement provides a compelling use case and value proposition to both ESR and its customers.”
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Nagoya-based Menicon, Japan’s first and largest contact lens manufacturer, has joined forces with California-based technology firm Mojo Vision, to explore the possibility of producing Augmented Reality (AR) contact lens.
Mojo Vision has been developing smart contact lens, which it calls Mojo Lens, that it hopes will be able to overlay images, symbols, and text on users’ natural field of vision without obstructing their view, restricting mobility, or hindering social interactions.
The potential applications for Mojo Lens are still being explored, but ideas that have already been proposed include contact lens that might help the visually-impaired to function normally, built-in data displays such as weather forecasts or emergency information, or even a maps function that can point the wearer to their intended destination.
Through this newest agreement, Menicon and Mojo will conduct a series of feasibility studies that will apply Menicon’s decades of experience in rigid gas permeable lens to Mojo’s smart contact lens concepts. If the feasibility studies prove successful, Mojo and Menicon may consider a more extensive working relationship in the future.
“This agreement with Mojo is a key step forward in our expansion of Menicon’s technology initiatives,” commented Menicon President Hidenari Tanaka. “Menicon has been a pioneer in contact lenses for seventy years, and we constantly strive to improve the quality of life of contact lens wearers worldwide. Mojo is an innovative company with a technology platform and a vision for the future of contact lens wear that aligns with Menicon’s aspirations. We believe that both companies can bring together skill sets and technologies that will support the successful development of a truly breakthrough product.”
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Sony Pictures Entertainment has announced that it will be buying from AT&T the massive Crunchyroll anime business on behalf of its Funimation Global Group for about US$1.75 billion.
Crunchyroll is the premier anime direct-to-consumer service within AT&T’s WarnerMedia business with more than 90 million registered users and 3 million paying subscribers globally, offering video on demand, mobile games, manga, merchandise, and more.
As a result of the purchase, Crunchyroll will be merged with Sony’s smaller existing service, Funimation.
“The Crunchyroll team has done an extraordinary job of not only growing the Crunchyroll brand but also building a passionate community of anime fans. Crunchyroll’s success is a direct result of the company’s culture and commitment to their fans,” said Tony Goncalves, chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia. “By combining with Funimation, they will continue to nurture a global community and bring more anime to more people. I’m incredibly proud of the Crunchyroll team and what they have been able to accomplish in the digital media space in such a short period of time. They’ve created an end-to-end global ecosystem for this incredible art form.”
Added Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, “We are proud to bring Crunchyroll into the Sony family. Through Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan, we have a deep understanding of this global artform and are well-positioned to deliver outstanding content to audiences around the world. Together with Crunchyroll, we will create the best possible experience for fans and greater opportunity for creators, producers and publishers in Japan and elsewhere. Funimation has been doing this for over 25 years and we look forward to continuing to leverage the power of creativity and technology to succeed in this rapidly growing segment of entertainment.”
Crunchyroll launched in 2006 as a site for fan-uploaded, fan-subtitled content, much of it pirated, but eventually grew into a more mainstream business. It is now the world’s largest online library of Japanese animation.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Toyota Motor Company has renewed its flagship hydrogen-powered automobile with the launch of the second generation Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV).
The original Mirai was unveiled in 2014, and this represents the first major upgrade of what Toyota calls “the ultimate eco-cars.”
The new Mirai is a five-seater with a range of about 850 kilometers, which is about 30% more than the first generation of the vehicle. Refueling with compressed hydrogen is said to take about three minutes.
Only about 11,000 Mirai cars have been purchased worldwide, and only about 3,700 of these were sold in Japan, disappointing earlier expectations.
The steepest barrier to wider adoption of the Mirai is thought to be its relatively steep price tag, and this is one dimension that hasn’t really been improved upon in the second generation model. The basic price tag is ¥7.1 million (US$68,000), tax inclusive, only slightly cheaper than its predecessor.
While the Mirai itself does not emit any carbon dioxide, producing only water and air as its emissions, the production of the hydrogen fuel itself is not necessarily carbon emissions free, and in that sense technological improvement is still needed to address the climate change risks of FCEVs.
There is also a need to build out the network of hydrogen refueling stations both in Japan and overseas.
LayerX promotes digital transformation in various industries, including the financial field, centered on blockchain technology. Its annual income is undisclosed.
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2020
December
-LayerX and digital ID solutions provider xID team up to build a voting platform for the city of Kaga in Ishikawa Prefecture.
LJC (Tokyo) — Japan’s historical temples and shrines are often ranked at the top for visitors to Japan. Indeed, the foundations of many Japanese customs come from these tranquil and old religious sites. Nevertheless, castles too are an important and spectacular legacy of the nation’s pre-modern past.
Here we provide our assessment of which of these structures is most worth your time to visit, and the reasons why.
Number 8: Kagoshima Castle
Yoshihiro Shimazu of the Satsuma Han built this castle in 1601 after Satsuma lost the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. History says the castle was quite small and poor in design so as not to incur the wrath of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa.
Although the castle did avoid the wrath of Ieyasu, it did not escape conflict altogether. Large earthquakes, fires, and even termites destroyed it several times.
Most recently, it was seriously damaged in the Kagoshima earthquakes of early 2016, but after years of pain-staking reconstruction, it has reopened to the public.
Number 7: Matsue Castle
Matsue Castle, also known as the Black Castle, is in Shimane Prefecture. Constructed in 1611, and built to withstand many battles, it has never seen war. It is one of the twelve castles in Japan to still be standing on its original foundation.
One special feature for visitors is that you can take a boat cruise around the moat with a tour guide.
Number 6: Hikone Castle
Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture is another of the twelve Japanese castles sitting on its original foundation. While many castles were demolished during the Meiji Era, the Emperor himself asked that Hikone Castle be spared.
The spiral zig-zag path on the approach to the castle reflects the military design meant to foil attackers.
This castle is also quite close to Kyoto, and in spring it becomes a very popular spot to view the cherry blossoms.
Number 5: Okayama Castle
Located in Okayama Prefecture, Okayama Castle is not an original but a replica, because unfortunately the original structure, with the exception of one turret, was destroyed by US bombing during the Pacific War.
Nevertheless, the castle is quite beautiful and boasts a brilliant view of the surrounding landscape.
It was first built in 1597 in the Azuchi-Momoyama style. The original owner was Hideie Ukita, a loyalist to Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but his rights were lost after the Battle of Sekigahara. The castle was then inherited by the Ikeda Clan, who later added the very famous Korakuen gardens.
Number 4: Odawara Castle
Odawara Castle has become the symbol of Odawara city, not far from Japan’s metropolitan area. The Hojo Clan built the castle in the mid-15th century. They used it as a fortress to control the surrounding region.
Later, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and his forces attacked and took control of the castle by force. The current structure is not that original, as it was rebuilt several times. An earthquake destroyed the first iteration in 1703, and in 1890 the castle was dismantled and sold. However, the Japanese government rebuilt the castle in the Olympic year of 1964, using drawings of the castle from the Edo period.
Many visitors come and enjoy this castle during the cherry blossom season.
Number 3: Goryokaku Castle
Goryokaku Castle in Hakodate, Hokkaido, was the first Japanese castle built with Western fortifications in mind. As a result, the shape of the castle is star-like, or a pentagon-like shape.
The masterminds behind this development were Ayasaburo Takeda and the French military engineer Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
The castle saw battle when the remnants of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the famous Shinsengumi challenged the Imperial armies at the end of the Boshin War.
Number 2: Osaka Castle
Hideyoshi Toyotomi began constructing this castle in 1583, and it would serve as the main stronghold for his unified Japan for some years. At the time, it was the largest castle Japan had ever seen.
However, in 1615 Ieyasu Tokugawa’s forces destroyed the castle. It was later rebuilt, only to be destroyed once again in 1665 by a lightning strike. Later versions of the castle were badly damaged in both the Meiji Restoration and the US bombings of 1945.
In 1995, Osaka’s government approved yet another restoration project, and it opened to the public a couple years later as a concrete reproduction complete with elevators and an internal museum.
It hosts many events, such as the annual Osaka Castle Festival in the summer.
Number 1: Himeji Castle
Built in 1601, this hill castle consists of 83 buildings connected by a complex series of stairs, staircases, halls, corridors, and other structures.
This stunning fortress is also called “White Heron Castle” because its white-plastered towers resemble snow-capped little egrets.
The main tower is a six-storey structure visible from almost any location within Himeji city.
It is widely considered to be the best preserved original castle in Japan.
Do you agree with our castle ranking? Let us know why or why not!
This article was originally developed by Link Japan Careers.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Technology journalist Tim Hornyak joined Akihabara News remotely to discuss the flying taxi industry, also known as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), both in general concept as well as in relationship to Japan specifically.
This information is offered here as a podcast in three easily digestible parts of five-to-seven minutes.
In Part 1, he sets the scene with basic information about the state of play.
In Part 2, he goes on to discuss the power sources and autonomous nature of the flying car industry.
In Part 3, Tim Hornyak discusses how flying cars may transform their lives, as well as the leading role of Toyota among Japanese manufacturers.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Nissan Motor last week marked the ten-year anniversary of the Nissan Leaf, the first mass market electric car.
The launch of the zero-emission Leaf in December 2010 quickly put Nissan in the lead for global electric car sales, and it maintained this lead in the total number of vehicles of a single model sold until this year. It even reached the milestone recently of selling 500,000 units over the model’s lifetime.
The Leaf has been produced at plants in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and has been sold in 59 markets around the world.
Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida stated, “In marking these milestones, we firstly want to express our appreciation to all the customers who have come on this electrifying journey with us. By switching to electric mobility, customers around the world have brought us all closer to a more sustainable and resilient society.”
However, its dominance has long since faded. For example, in the first half of 2020, the Leaf held the No. 3 rank in global sales of battery electric vehicles with about 24,000 units shipped to buyers. While that may sound pretty good, the world’s top-ranking electric car, the Tesla Model 3, scored 142,000 unit sales in the same period.
The regrettable fact is that although Nissan jumped out to an early and decisive lead in electric vehicle sales, it failed to follow through by putting out new models and showing a true commitment to an electric-first strategy. It wasn’t until July this year that the company finally made its next big step, which was the unveiling of the Nissan Ariya all-electric crossover.
While Nissan expects to sell one million electrified vehicles annually by 2023, including vehicles with e-Power electrified powertrains, it seems highly unlikely that it come anywhere near catching up with Tesla in the foreseeable future.
ispace (Tokyo) — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it has awarded contracts to both ispace, inc. (ispace) and the company’s subsidiary, ispace Europe S.A. (ispace EU), to acquire regolith from the lunar surface to be purchased by the space agency.
ispace, by leveraging its strategic global presence, was awarded two of four contracts offered to companies who submitted proposals for NASA’s request to purchase lunar regolith. The first contract, awarded to ispace, inc. (the company’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan), will collect regolith with its lander during its first mission (M1) planned in 2022. The second contract, awarded to ispace EU (ispace’s subsidiary in Luxembourg), will use ispace’s rover to collect regolith during the company’s second mission (M2) planned in 2023. Both M1 and M2 fall under ispace’s Hakuto-R program.
These contracts are set to mark a historic moment as the first-ever commercial transaction for the collection of lunar resources, as well as the first transaction for space resources to take place off-world. ispace believes this will be a first step toward normalizing the commercial trade of space resources among international stakeholders. The impact of a successful demonstration could stimulate partnering countries of the US-led Artemis Accords, including Luxembourg and Japan, to increase their lunar exploration activities, as well as to increase public interest in space resources, which may encourage greater investment in lunar exploration from both the public and private sectors. ispace also believes this will be a triggering event to enable an Earth-Moon economic system.
Legislative actions and efforts have been made to facilitate commercial transactions for space resources. In Luxembourg, where ispace EU is based, the Law of 2017 on the Exploration and Use of Space Resources allows the collection and ownership transfer of regolith by commercial enterprises. In Japan, a nonpartisan debate on a space resources bill is underway, and in November 2020, the submission of a bill to allow companies to own space resources was approved by various parties, including Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party; that bill is expected to be submitted to a Diet session in the near future.
Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace, commented, “We are pleased to receive these two awards from NASA for what will be a historic moment for humankind. For ispace, this collaboration with NASA in two regions where we operate shows the positive momentum for our development as an internationally operating company. For the space industry, as well as the potential for all industries on Earth, this marks the beginning of a cislunar economy where economic value can be created on the Moon, apart from Earth—but for the benefit of Earth’s economy.”
Fujifilm (Tokyo) — Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) has adopted the “Fujifilm Group AI Policy” as guidelines for utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) effectively and appropriately across all areas of its corporate activities including research and development, production, sales, and marketing.
The Fujifilm Group’s corporate philosophy is to contribute to the advancement of culture, science, technology, and industry, as well as improved health and environmental protection in society, thereby helping enhance the quality of life of people worldwide. Based on this philosophy, Fujifilm has developed and accumulated technologies for identifying valuable information out of a massive amount of image data in the fields of medical diagnostic imaging and photo imaging. Using the data-interpreting knowledge and technologies as its strengths, Fujifilm is working on developing and implementing AI technology that addresses the needs and challenges in the areas of healthcare and highly functional materials to resolve social issues.
For example, in the area of healthcare, Fujifilm speedily develops and offers various solutions which support diagnostic workflows at the medical frontline by utilizing AI technology. Fujifilm utilizes AI technology to develop a function that assist diagnostic imaging and a function that automatically generate the candidates of findings to be included to an interpretation report based on the diagnostic image by combining image processing technology and natural language processing technology. In the area of highly functional materials, Fujifilm offers infrastructure photo analysis cloud service “Hibimikke” based on AI-based image analysis, to substantially streamline crack inspection work in response to emerging social issues of aging infrastructures such as bridges and tunnels and the need to verify their safety.
Amidst rapid uptake of AI technology in society, there have been active global debates on the risks of using AI technology, such as the widening of inequality and disparity, from social, ethical, and legal perspectives.
The Fujifilm Group AI Policy stipulates guidelines so that each of its employees can utilize AI effectively and appropriately in terms of fair use, respect for human rights, management of information security, and assurance of transparency. Fujifilm will take on the tasks of creating new value and resolving social issues by providing its customers with safe and secure products and services, developed in line with this policy. In order to ensure adequate administration and application of this policy, Fujifilm plans to enhance literacy education on employees involved in AI development and use to reinforce the development of human resources capable of utilizing AI property at an advanced level.
Fujifilm Holdings will continue to identify social movements and changes in people’s sense of values, associated with the advancement of AI technology, as it strives to maximize enriched values brought about by AI use to contribute to building a better society.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is on track to gain a minority stake in Vestas Wind Systems after the European Commission gave its consent for a proposed all-stock deal to move forward.
Under the arrangement, Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems will acquire Mitsubishi’s 50% stake in MHI Vestas Offshore Wind for around $US847 million and Mitsubishi will receive over 5 million shares, or a 2.5% stake, in the mother company Vestas Wind Systems, including a seat on the board of directors. With the approval of the European authorities now in hand, the deal is expected to be implemented by the end of this year.
Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen issued a statement declaring that he is “personally very encouraged by the many dialogues I’ve had with both Vestas and MHI Vestas Offshore Wind colleagues, as well as our customers and partners, since we announced the strengthened partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It’s clear that everyone is excited about our bold step together towards accelerating the energy transition.”
MHI Vestas will be folded into Vestas, with the Danish firm openly aiming for a global lead in market share in the offshore wind turbine space by 2025.
MHI Vestas was created in April 2014. It operates on a global scale, but among its projects is the Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind Farm Project. This contract calls for the firm to install a total of 33 turbines around 2022 at two locations along the coast of Akita Prefecture. These wind farms will have an expected combined output of 139 MW, enough to supply the equivalent of nearly 130,000 homes.
At the end of October, Johnny Thomsen was appointed as CEO of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, with Tatsuichiro Honda as co-CEO and chief financial officer.
Line Corporation (Tokyo) — Line’s annual technology conference for developers and engineers, Line Developer Day, moved completely online this year for the first time—and in the process enjoyed its best ever international audience, with thousands of people tuning in from around the world. Held November 25-27, Line Developer Day 2020 offered sessions on the latest developments and challenges facing Line’s key technical fields, including Line’s future AI products, Fintech and blockchain technology, cross-platform mobile security, data infrastructure, server-side, and front-end technology.
As Covid-19 continues to impact the world, Line Developer Day switched to an all-online format over the course of three-days, with more than 150 sessions presenting Line’s vision and strategy in pioneering new technologies and showcasing the technical knowledge of Line engineers. More than two hundred speakers participated in the three-day event—including engineers from Line and its affiliates, as well as 36 people from outside of Line. Nearly 10,000 viewers registered for this year’s Line Developer Day, with two-thirds of them based outside of Japan—a huge jump from last year, when only 10% of online viewers watched from abroad. All sessions were available for viewing on Line Live (either in English or with English subtitles), with video archives on the Line Developers’ YouTube channel.
Line Developer Day kicked off with a keynote address by CTO Park Euivin, who talked about Line’s recent technical challenges and initiatives, areas of particular focus, and thoughts on the future. Then, Park was joined by Yahoo! Japan CTO Chiaki Fujimon to talk about how the two companies are both using technology to overcome social obstacles and other challenges. Line is in the process of being integrated with Z Holdings, while Yahoo! Japan is one of the core subsidiaries of Z Holdings.
“There are still many things that can be done with the power of technology, in Japan and globally,” said Park. “We have various issues facing society, such as Covid-19, and various ways to make life more convenient and enriched. This is an important reason why we want to work together.”
“As our respective CEOs expressed the intent to unite under one team, so shall our engineers,” said Fujimon. “Together, we will tackle social challenges in Japan.”
The keynote also highlighted Line’s technological achievements in a variety of services. Demand for digital-based communication has increased this year, with Line’s video call feature receiving several enhancements, and seeing an increase of 235% between February and May. Line’s data infrastructure, or “Information Universe” (IU), now comprises consolidated data of over 270 PB (petabytes) of storage, and grows at a rate of 700 billion records each day.
“We saw 16 times the usual traffic during peak times,” said Park. “So, we provided load balancing to maximize performance and implemented changes so that data centers in various regions can be dynamically distributed and used according to network conditions.”
A notable achievement outside of Japan included the launch of Line BK, a banking service fully integrated with Line. Line also plans to expand banking services into other countries, including Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
Another technological achievement is a new program that lets residents of Shibuya Ward in Tokyo apply for a residential certificate using Line and pay with Line Pay, marking the first use case of eKYC (electronic know your customer) at the municipal government level in Japan. Soon to come is Line Doctor, a new service scheduled to launch this year, will allow patients and doctors to communicate using Line video chat, diminishing the burden of having to make physical visits.
Line Developer Day also explored Line’s service advancements for businesses. In July, Line Official Account added voice and video calls to help businesses respond to customer inquiries easier, with plans to also add restaurant reservations later this year and to incorporate Line Pay by the end of 2020. Moreover, Line launched Line Mini App this year to provide various services as web applications within Line.
Line’s blockchain platform is another area where Line has continued to make progress since 2018, with the launch of Line Blockchain Developers earlier this year as a platform that provides an easy and efficient way for developers to build blockchain services based on Line’s independently developed mainnet. “Blockchain guarantees reliability by algothrim,” said Seokho Yang, senior executive officer of Line Platform Development at Line Corporation. “We aim to build an easy-to-use blockchain designed for everyone.”
Many more changes will be coming in the year ahead, too, but Line will continue to work on “closing the distance” for all.
Itochu (Tokyo) — Itochu Corporation has announced that it and Sanipak Company Of Japan, Ltd., its subsidiary and Japan’s largest garbage bag maker, have developed the world’s first garbage bag including raw materials made from marine debris.
In recent years, the problem of marine debris has been attracting attention In Japan and abroad, and countermeasures are urgently needed. It is estimated that some 20,000 cubic meters of marine debris per year are washed ashore on the coastline of the island of Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, considered the island that has the largest volume of marine debris in Japan. Hundreds of millions of yen are spent every year to collect the debris, and it is impossible to collect it all. It is a serious social issue. Some of the collected marine plastic waste is recycled into oil, but much of it is deposited in landfills. Tsushima city is working to facilitate the recycled use of marine plastic debris as a city of the future focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sanipak Japan, leveraging the knowledge and technology it possesses as Japan’s largest garbage bag maker, has developed the world’s first garbage bag made in part with raw materials made from marine debris.
Itochu and Sanipak Japan plan to provide some of these new garbage bags free of charge to Tsushima city and other areas that need garbage cleaning activities on their coastlines, and will establish a recycling economy-oriented business model to resolve the problem of marine debris that society faces. It is hoped that this activity, which also raises awareness of marine debris, will lead to the reduction of marine debris and a reduction of the disposal expenses of Tsushima city.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Residents of Tokyo may have already noticed the growing proliferation of foot-operated sanitizer stands whereby a ground level pedal is pressed in order to shoot alcoholic spray onto people’s hands as customers enter buildings and shops.
This is a good example of Japan’s often simple and low-tech, but nevertheless effective brand of innovation. In this case, users can have their hands disinfected for Covid-19 pandemic purposes without even touching the spray bottle. It’s another step (one might say) toward a contactless society.
Even the Toyota Motor Company is now getting in on the act, announcing this week that it would begin sales of its own brand of this device. The firm has explained, “The foot-operated sanitizer stand that Toyota is launching at this time was first produced in early April under the initiative of employees at Toyota plants, who wanted to take action and prevent infections among their colleagues, where operation of production lines was unavoidably suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Toyota calls its device the “Shodoku Taishi,” which literally means “sanitizer ambassador” but is clearly a pun on Shotoku Taishi, the semi-legendary prince regent of Japan’s early 7th century history.
The Shodoku Taishi stands almost 1.2 meters in height and weighs about 3.2 kilograms. The recommended price is ¥8,000 (US$78).
“Toyota is committed to contributing to society through manufacturing of high-quality, inexpensive products that provide peace of mind and safety throughout the world,” the company statement concludes.
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — It has been revealed, perhaps accidentally, that Capcom will soon release the Retro Station, a mini-arcade machine packed with classic titles, just in time for the holidays.
With an eight-inch 4:3 LCD screen and weighing just over two kilograms, with 1024×768 resolution, this little tabletop unit packs a punch, carrying the following ten game titles: Mega Man The Power Battle, Mega Man 2 The Power Fighters, Mega Man X, Mega Man Soccer, Mega Man & Bass, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.
The Capcom Retro Station’s Japan release appears set for the beginning of December, although it may be that Amazon Japan jumped the gun by advertising it for sale ahead of Capcom’s own rollout. Amazon had it selling for ¥21,780 (US$210), but that page has since then been deleted.
Japan might be the only country in which it will be sold, which would be another throwback to earlier era. It follows the release of a similar gaming device by a competitor this summer–the Sega Astro City Mini.
Akihabara News (Japan) — The Tokyo-based start-up ispace Inc. is taking further steps in an attempt to realize its vision of beginning the human colonization of the Moon within just a few years.
In its latest move, ispace opened this month a new office in Denver, Colorado, utilizing part of the approximately US$125 million that it has so far been able to raise in investment in its decade-long history.
The Japanese firm recently announced the appointment of Kyle Acierno as the CEO of its US branch and hired Kursten O’Neill, who had seven years’ experience at SpaceX, as its US lander program director.
Upon the opening of the Denver office, O’Neill stated, “I truly believe exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond is our destiny as a human race; the uniting factor to further our presence among the stars. By joining ispace to lead our US lander mission to the Moon, I’m excited to bring together the best and brightest to innovate, create, and inspire an even larger shift in aerospace advancement and exploration.”
Company founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada added, “We are very pleased to begin active operations in the United States, which is spearheading the global momentum toward lunar exploration. We believe we can provide value to the United States by complementing the deep US-Japan collaboration on lunar exploration as a commercial services provider operating in both countries.”
ispace has opened its office in Denver mainly to more closely cooperate with its US partners, especially the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
That program aims to begin deliveries of cargo to the Moon, setting the stage for astronauts to start landing in 2024.
Currently, ispace is completing the lander design for its Mission 1 and expects to start assembling and testing it early next year.
Three years ago, ispace produced a video outlining its “2040 Vision” of a Moon colony with a thousand inhabitants. It can be viewed below.
