Epic stream – April 15, 2016 – For nearly three decades, it’s been a running gag in videogaming that Final Fantasy doesn’t exactly live up to its namesake. How can a series with over fifteen main entries have the gall to be called “final”? Sadly, these days, that might be the case. The video game world  is changing, especially in Japan. Mobile games are taking over the market, and high-end consoles are not as big as they used…

Yahoo! Tech – April 13, 2016 – If the humans ain’t broke, don’t replace them with robots. Otherwise, your whole restaurant will itself be — you guessed it — broke. In a rather damning display of the limitations of technology, a fleet of useless robots meant to replace human servers have caused the demise of two restaurants in China. As it turns out, the answer to the question, “What can’t robots do?” is actually, “a lot.” Initially,…

Polygon – April 12, 2016 – Kodansha Comics, publisher of popular manga titles like Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon and Akira, will now publish certain ongoing series in English on the same day as their native Japanese printings. The company announced the simultaneous digital release schedule over the weekend, alongside a translation of the latest chapter of Attack on Titan, one of the publisher’s biggest series. Day-one translate manga will be available from Comixology and the Amazon Kindle store. The series benefitting from this program, which the…

Pakistan Today – April 11, 2016 – Tourists visiting Japan won’t need to change their money up as the country plans to introduce fingerprint currency. Set to be tested this summer, visitors will have their identities verified, and then be able to buy things from shops with a flash of their finger when their card details have been processed. The Japanese government is introducing the project in bid to encourage visitors from abroad in the…

April 1, 2016 – TOKYO – Thousands of people, including tourists, are gathering to enjoy Japan’s cherry blossom season, when cherry trees, or “sakura” as they are known locally, begin to flower, laying out a pink carpet in parks, avenues and temple lawns; their distinctive color overflowing to tinge everything from shop windows to beer cans. Although Japan’s Meteorological Agency had announced on March 21 that cherry trees were beginning to flower in Tokyo’s Yasukuni…

The Star Online – TOKYO: Tourists checking out a foreign exchange bank at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on March 25 were greeted by a diminutive robot clerk, called NAO. Built by Paris based-Aldebaran Robotics, the sleek red and white robot stands about 58cm tall (23in) in front of Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ airport store and speaks to visitors in Japanese, English or Chinese. “As this is Narita Airport, we get a lot of overseas clients. And as…

TECHINASIA – March 25, 2016 – Pioneers Asia’s three day international startup event concluded yesterday with a pitch competition. Japan-born wheelchair alternative Whill took the top prize by “introducing an innovation into an unsexy market,” according to the judges. Pioneers featured Japanese Taiko drumming, a bicycle performance by a BMX champion, traditional Noh theater streamed over 4K, and even a beautiful Japanese garden, but it was really all about the startups. Here are the five finalists selected…

nippon.com  – March 24, 2016 – On December 16 last year, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling on a closely watched case regarding the right of spouses to maintain separate surnames after marriage. The plaintiffs in the case challenged the constitutionality of article 750 of the Civil Code, which requires one of the spouses to adopt the surname of the other. They held that the provision violated the couple’s rights, and also that it violated…

REUTERS – March 23, 2016 – Japanese videogame maker Nintendo Co Ltd will stop production of the Wii U video game console as early as this year after stagnant sales, Nikkei reported on Tuesday. A few components of the device have already been stopped and parts inventory will dry up this year, according to Nikkei. Nintendo’s Wii U console has lagged behind Sony Corp’s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox, while the rise of smartphone games has won…

Star Media – March 22, 2016 – TOKYO: From ready-to-wear knits manufactured instantly to customised dresses produced on inkjet printers, Japan’s apparel industry is turning to state-of-the-art technology in a bold bid to cut labour costs and secure its future. At manufacturing giant Shima Seiki’s factory in western Japan, garments materialise in minutes, thanks to digitally-programmed automated machines that can turn out a sample seam-free pullover in half an hour with a push of a button….