One of the cooler things about summer in Japan is the centuries-old tradition of swapping ghost stories. Some argue that the fear induced by a spine-chilling story can actually lower one’s body temperature, making it a great way to deal with the summer heat. With this in mind as the summer heat sets in, here […]
On June 25, researchers at the Chiba Institute of Technology unveiled a working prototype of the Halluc II, a robotic vehicle with eight wheels and legs designed to drive or walk over rugged terrain. The agile robot, which the developers aim to put into practical use within the next five years, can move sideways, turn […]
On July 24, Hitachi announced the development of a biometric cardless credit payment system, called “finger vein money,” which allows shoppers to pay for purchases using only their fingertips. The company plans to begin field testing the finger vein money in September.
Finger vein money relies on Hitachi’s finger vein authentication technology, which verifies a person’s […]
As industrial equipment manufacturer Yaskawa Electric forces the MOTOMAN robot out of its comfort zone on the factory floor, we see it quickly acquiring new skills. First the robot developed the ability to sort mail. Now it has learned to play taiko drums.
On July 21, a team of four MOTOMAN machines — two dual-armed […]
On July 19, electronics giant NEC announced it has developed the world’s first automated border control system that uses facial recognition technology capable of identifying people inside their automobiles. The system is already in operation at checkpoints on the Hong Kong - Shenzhen border.
Built around NEC’s NeoFace biometric face recognition system, as well as […]
Each year, farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aomori prefecture create works of crop art by growing a little purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru-roman variety. This year’s creation — a pair of grassy reproductions of famous woodblock prints from Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mount Fuji — has begun […]
If, over the past several years, you have had the privilege of joining the 3.3 million people that pass through Tokyo’s Shinjuku station each day, you may have observed the work of Mr. Sato. A construction worker by trade, Sato uses strips of adhesive tape to create elaborate makeshift signs that help people navigate the […]
In 1926, Kenjiro Takayanagi, known as the “father of Japanese television,” transmitted the image of a katakana character (イ) to a TV receiver built with a cathode ray tube, signaling the birth of the world’s first all-electronic television. Last week, in a symbolic gesture over 80 years later, researchers from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced […]
In early ’90s Japan, mobs of hungry primeval men hunted gigantic prehistoric creatures in a series of fanciful “Cup Noodle” commercials featuring stop-motion animation by Kim Blanchette.
Sea creatures
Uintatherium
Moa
Saiga antelope
Check here for other beasts in the series, including the mammoth, pterodactyl and giant warthog.
Wake up and smell the pencil lead, says Japanese stationery and writing instrument manufacturer Pentel, who has combined the power of nanotechnology with the knowledge of expert aromatherapists to develop a new type of fragrant pencil lead. Featuring a long-lasting aroma designed to enhance mental capacity, the pencil lead — called “Ain supplio” — recently […]
