Science World Report – June 14, 2016 – Japan loneliness robot named Pepper was developed by Kanamae Hayashi who is dubbed as the father of a new machine  This robot is designed to be used at home. Hayashi left Softbank employment in 2015 r and started his new company “Groove X,” which main trade is the manufacture of humanoids that are able to speak and respond to human emotions. According to reports, the Japan loneliness…

South China Morninig Post – June , 2016 – In a country awash with everything manga, it only makes sense that Japanese political parties will try and make use of cartoon characters in the first national election granting 18-year-olds the right to vote this summer. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito as well as many opposition parties have created pamphlets and brochures using manga or mascots to promote their…

ASIAN REVIEW – June 6, 2016 – TOKYO — Robots are now a fashion statement, at least to some innovative minds in Japan. A skirt with two robotic arms sticking out from underneath is a bit unnerving at first, but one gets used to it — sort of. Welcome to the nexus between cutting-edge technology and edgy looks. Moso Calibration, a Japanese girl group (moso roughly translates as “fantasy”), recently made a splash with its video…

World leaders began two days of G7 talks in Japan on Thursday, with concerns about the health of the global economy, terrorism, Europe’s refugee crisis and disquiet over China’s growing influence set to dominate proceedings. France24 – May 26, 2016 – Heads of state and governments from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan are meeting in Ise-Shima, 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe greeted US President Barack…

The Japan Times – May 23, 2016 – Two days of talks last week between finance chiefs from the world’s biggest advanced economies at a hot springs resort in Sendai were marked by some of the sharpest dissonance in years between the U.S. and Japan over exchange-rate policies. The tensions at the gathering of Group of Seven central bank governors and finance ministers highlighted a lingering division between the G-7’s two biggest members over the…

TheHuffingtonPost.com – May 19, 2016 – Automation has been responsible for improvements in manufacturing productivity for decades. Advanced robotics will accelerate this trend. Machines, after all, can perform many manufacturing tasks more efficiently, effectively and consistently than humans, leading to increased output, better quality and less waste. And machines don’t require health insurance, coffee breaks, maternity leave or sleep. The industrial world realizes this and robot sales have been surging, increasing 29 percent in 2014 alone, according…

Anime News Network – May 18, 2016 – If the idea of an eyeball panacotta and a sundae topped with maggots doesn’t have you screaming in terror, the stomach-churning Shojo Tsubaki cafe might be up your alley. The café “holy” in the Daikanyamachō area of Shibuya is getting a menu makeover from May 24-31 to mark the debut of the live-action “erotic grotesque” film based on Suehiro Maruo‘s Shojo Tsubaki horror manga. A store inside the cafe will sell related goods while…

TheBitBag – May 17, 2016 – We have a bit of a bad news for all excited fans of the upcoming One Punch Man Season 2. It appears that the release date of the second installment of the widely popular anime manga series is yet to be finalized. However, there are some rumors circulating online that the forthcoming second installment will be happening sometime around November or December this 2016. Should this be true, fans have to…

If you’re brand new to anime, here are 10 great shows to get the er, dragon ball rolling… Den of Geek – May 16, 2016 – Anime. There’s so much of the stuff, it can be difficult for newcomers to know where to begin. Add to that the fact that many series’ titles don’t give an awful lot away (Bleach, for example, is about Death Gods rather than cleaning products) and finding a suitable show…

The Asahi Shimbun – May 14, 2016 – The public housing complex, or “danchi” as it is known in the local lingo, was once an emblem of upward social mobility during the postwar boom era. More than just multifamily dwellings, they functioned as self-contained communities, with their own supermarkets, restaurants, barbers and other amenities. These robust concrete structures are still fixtures of urban scenery, although they have long since lost their luster. Storefronts are often…