Innovative Japan has fallen out of focus in recent years, yet it remains the third largest economy in the world behind the US and China, an impressive feat for a country of just 120 million people. The great Asian power does not stop on its way to create the innovations of the future. This review presents the latest developments in 13 areas where Japan continues to lead.
Disposal of radioactive waste of rare metals
The Japanese government has set up a fund worth more than $530 million to help the country become more competitive. Out of 12 research projects, one group of researchers was selected who are looking for a way to dispose and recycle highly radioactive waste. As part of this project, scientists are engaged in the extraction of rare metals from radioactive waste.
Plastic from natural gas
The rise in oil prices has hit Japan harder than the US because Japan has no natural resources. Mitsubishi Rayon is tired of dealing with high prices and the problems they cause, and is planning to build a gas-to-plastics plant along the US Gulf of Mexico.
As part of this project, Mitsubishi is partnering with Mitsui & Co., one of Japan’s largest trading companies, to invest $490 million in the construction. When the plant is finally up and running in four years, it will be able to produce an annual capacity of 250,000 tons.
clean room salad
Fujitsu, a supercomputer manufacturer, is working on a digital patch to create a “Kirei Yasai” line for the production of pure vegetables and herbs.
The company’s facility in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, in northern Japan covers approximately 2,000 square meters; there is a special clean room for crop production. This is the largest center of its kind, engaged in the production of low-potassium vegetables.
Fujitsu grows lettuces that contain 100 micrograms or less than 100 grams of potassium (regular lettuce contains 500 micrograms). Fujitsu salads are designed for people with chronic kidney disease who cannot physically digest this amount of potassium.
High tech freezer
ABI Co. from the Japanese city of Chiba have developed CAS – Cell Revitalization System, which actually changes the physics of freezing. CAS uses 30% less energy than conventional freezers and can, depending on the product, freeze up to five times faster. Oxidation is reduced by 98% so fruits, vegetables and rice can be frozen without loss of flavor.
Tuna farming
Bluefin tuna do not breed in captivity, but the Japanese found a way. A team of researchers from Toyota Tsusho and Kinki University have found the right combination of salinity, water temperature and sunlight to finally start captive tuna farming.
The two organizations will set up a new center in Nagasaki Prefecture, where they will organize the entire process from artificial incubation to breeding.
Entrepreneurship promotion
Life-Is-Tech is a camp for high school students who want to create a software or service company that operates in the virtual space in the future. There, these talented guys will be helped to develop a business plan and launch a company to bring their business project to the market. About 100 participants, boys and girls, live in the camp at the same time, who go to classes, participate in various entertaining games and team up to develop their application.
Life-Is-Tech teaches courses such as iOS and Android platforms, game design, a framework written in the Ruby programming language, and HTML5. As part of the joint launch of some programs, Life-Is-Tech even collaborates with institutions and technology companies.
Return to the aviation business
Japan is back in the aviation business. Mitsubishi, the same company that created the A6M Zero combat aircraft during World War II, is preparing to launch the first commercial aircraft 50 years later.
Mitsubishi will release its new aircraft in 2017, and according to a press release, it will be the quietest and most environmentally friendly aircraft. SkyWest and Eastern Airlines are already among US customers.
Japan is changing the aviation business
The Japanese didn’t invent carbon fiber, Thomas Edison did. But they definitely improved it. Three companies – Toray, Teijin and Mitsubishi Rayon – control 70% of the global carbon fiber market. Toray owns 40% of the market, thanks in part to Boeing. To meet growing demand, Toray is now building a $1 billion plant in South Carolina.
Uni-cube: the best Segway
Segway has not yet conquered the world, as its creators would like. Perhaps because you still have to stand on it. Honda came up with a solution: the Uni-Cube. The Uni-Cube is a battery-powered, self-balancing, zero-turn radius mobile seat that makes it more suitable for pedestrian areas because the new device is not much larger than a person.
Androids: Kodomoroid and Otonaroid
The Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation has two new employees. These are Kodomoroid and Otonaroid, two androids that look frighteningly realistic.
Mostly they sit at tables and communicate with visitors. The creator of androids Hiroshi Ishiguro (an employee of Osaka University and the Institute for International Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR)) has already created an android clone of himself and called it Geminoid.
Robotics: Pepper
Like many Japanese firms, Softbank operates across multiple industries at the same time and has now added robotics to its portfolio. The company recently unveiled its latest development, Pepper, a robot that can communicate through emotions, words or body language. It has special microphones and sensors – they not only understand what you are saying, but also sense the intonation of your voice, which helps them to recreate a picture of your mood. The robot’s vocabulary is 4,500 words, currently only Japanese.
FabCafe: Starbucks with a 3D printer
Don’t have access to a 3D printer but have some cool ideas? Then if you are in Tokyo, be sure to visit FabCafe. It looks like any other coffee shop, until you notice the unusual equipment installed in the premises, which can allow you to create anything from a phone case to greeting cards.
High Performance Computing RISC Adoption
Much of the world is moving away from RISC computer systems, with the exception of some IBM clients. Still – after all, this is a whole iron tank-processor involved in sales. In Japan, many giant computers are being created. For example, the RIKEN Institute for Advanced Computing Sciences created its main monster computer, the famous K, in 2011, which (as of today) is housed in 864 rooms and has 88,000 processors.