Four of Japan’s top robot startups have decided to pool their efforts in order to meet the threat of rival South Korea overcoming Japan’s lead int he race to commercialize robot technology.

Japan, which has long led the world in robo-technology, has created machines that can clean, dance, greet, feed, monitor, relax and befriend. But for all the buzz, so-called “intelligent service robots” have been slow to penetrate the average home, which is still more likely to shell out money for the latest flat screen TV than a pricey humanoid.

The companies — Tokyo’s ZMP Inc., Nagoya’s Business Design Laboratory Co., Osaka’s Vstone Co. and Fukuoka’s Tmsuk — say that new South Korean robot legislation passed earlier this year compelled them to form the “Association for market creation of the future generation robots” to cooperate in research, development and marketing.

Apparently the South Korean government is committed to having a robot in every house by 2020, and the country’s National Assembly has passed legislation to promote development and marketing through financial support.

Thanks to D

The dream of every tubby around the world. . . A pleasant tasting magical fruit that will allow you to eat your way to a slimmer waistline. That is what is being claimed for the Thai mangosteen.

“Mangosteens are sometimes called the Queen of Fruits,” Koichi Okabe, a dessert company president who deals with a variety of different Thai foods, tells Sunday Mainichi. “Mangosteen juice, made by crushing the fruit, skin and seeds, not only tastes great, it has wonderful health benefits. It was only developed last year in Thailand, but American buyers are swarming to get it.”

Mangosteens contain over 100 different beneficial substances; most notably xanthones, said to help fight the effects of allergies, cancer and lifestyle diseases, as improve blood pressure and the immune system, and restore youthfulness to the body’s cells.

This isn’t the first time that magical properties are being claimed for a plant growing in Thailand. Long-time readers of JAPUNDIT may remember that a number of years back we had a report on a plant called the Pueraria Mirifica, which is said to enhance female breasts if ingested regularly.

I used to be pretty amazed to see golfers in Japan imbibing beer, sake, shochu, and whiskey early in the morning before venturing out onto the golf course, but at least the tipplers were getting some exercise in the open air.

But now the latest thing in Tokyo seems to be golf bars, which let you enjoy bashing golf balls without all of the troublesome stuff like walking and going outside.

My swing is so bad I look like a caveman killing his lunch.
- Lee Trevino

Fellow JAPUNDIT contributor Brian Engel kindly alerted me to a great piece in The Washington Post about how golf has changed in Japan, thanks mostly to U.S. investment companies like Goldman Sachs, which manages hundreds of golf courses through a company named Accordia Golf.
Then. . .

A weekend round of golf was slow, boozy, expensive and strictly regimented, Asami said. The day began around 8 a.m. with breakfast at the club, followed by nine holes of golf (always with caddies), followed by a lunch with lots of wine, beer and sake, followed by nine more holes and coffee or tea to finish up before a long drive home.

The round cost between $350 and $400 for nonmembers, and it kept a golfer away from home and family for at least 12 hours. “That was how you played,” Asami said. “We did not know another way.”

Now. . .

To make the course attractive to a potentially huge market in nearby Tokyo, Aqualine has halved the cost of a game for nonmembers. It is now about $135 for 18 holes. At the same time, course maintenance has improved markedly, members say. The food has improved. Out on the fairways, Asami said, there has been an American-style revolution in etiquette.

Golfers no longer must hire caddies. They can drive carts onto fairways. They can start play early in the morning or late in the afternoon. They don’t have to stop play to have lunch. A time marshal scolds dawdlers.

Groundskeepers are cutting the fairway rough so it plays easier, according to Accordia’s management. Greens, too, are mowed in a way that slow putts and improves scores.

“Japanese golf has changed drastically,” said Shinobu Haruna, a well-known golf journalist and author. “The merits of being a club member have declined for sure, but nonmembers can play at reasonable prices almost everywhere.”

Up here in Tochigi Prefecture, we are surrounded by a very large selection of golf courses that we can play on weekdays for 5,000 yen or less. In fact, by the time you read this, Mr. Pink and I will be out on an Accordia course named Higashi Nasu Country Club enjoying a round of golf in what is predicted to be perfect pre-rainy season weather. . . Fore!

Sega Toys has come out with a new plastic plant robot thingy that apparently is designed for people who have no one to talk to.

The Pekoppa sits there like a regular plastic plant until you talk to it, which will cause the stem to bend, creating the impression that the plant is nodding in agreement with what you are saying to it. The effect is achieved by an IC chip in the pot that identifies rhythms of human speech. Electrical current causes the stem to bend and stretch.

Thanks to Len Cullum

The New York Times has an interesting article on whistle-blowing* in Japan.  The article contends that until recently whistle-blowing was unheard of in Japan for a variety of reasons including strong loyalty between employees and employers and a culture of not making waves.

The first high-profile instance of a corporate whistle-blower was in 2000, when an employee at Mitsubishi Motors exposed the company’s cover-up of accident-causing defects, including failing brakes and leaking fluids, generating investigations that led to arrests of executives and near bankruptcy for the automaker.

In one of the biggest recent scandals, a meat processor called Meat Hope collapsed in July after revelations that it had mixed pork, mutton and chicken into products falsely labeled as pure ground beef.  

Recent high-profile cases exposed by whistle-blowers include the cookie maker Ishiya Trading, which admitted to selling expired products, and luxury restaurant chain Senba Kitcho, which closed its four outlets after admitting it served leftover sashimi and expired food to customers.

*Bringing (usually illegal) wrong-doing to the public.

A black watermelon was auctioned for a record 650,000 yen recently, the highest price paid for watermelon ever in Japan.

The 8-kilogram premium “Densuke” watermelon, grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido, was purchased by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture, according to Kyodo News agency.

How can a watermelon cost so much?

Its unusual black skin, [Kazuyoshi Ohira, a spokesman for the Tohma Agricultural Cooperative in Hokkaido] said. Inside, the watermelon is crisp and hard. And, he says, it has unparalleled taste.

“It’s a watermelon, but it’s not the same,” he said. “It has a different level of sweetness.”

The NY Times ran a Reuters article on Japan’s wealthiest people.  Topping the list Hiroshi Yamauchi of Nintendo who is worth $7.8 billion.  The source material for the article is actually Forbes magazine which has a much more in depth piece.

Property developer, Akira Mori fell from 1st to 2nd place at $7.7 billion and pachinko machine maker Kunio Busujima is 3rd at $5.4 billion.

Tidbits from the Forbes article:

• The rising yen (against the dollar) helped everyone on the list appear wealthier.
• The youngest member of Japan’s wealthiest 40 is 32-year-old Kenji Sahara who founded Mixi (which my fiancee is addicted to).
• Some people from last year’s list fell off the list, most due to the falling value of the Nikkei index.
• Among the 40 wealthiest, just 3 are women: Hiroko Takei, Chizuko Matsui, and Keiko Erikawa.  Only Erikawa participated in the creation of the wealth; the other two inherited it.

In a follow up to the National Geographic video on fugu (puffer fish) that we posted the other day, JAPUNDIT reader RTN writes in to alert us to a report in The New York Times about poison-free fugu being farmed in Japan.

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan — Poison has been as integral to fugu, the funny-looking, potentially deadly puffer fish prized by Japanese gourmands, as the savor of its pricey meat. So consider fugu, but poison-free.

Thanks to advances in fugu research and farming, Japanese fish farmers are now mass-producing fugu as harmless as goldfish. Most important, they have taken the poison out of fugu’s liver, considered both its most delicious and potentially most lethal part, one whoseconsumption has left countless Japanese dead over the centuries and whose sale remains illegal in the country.

But what could be seen as potential good news for gourmands has instead been grounds for controversy: powerful interests in the fugu industry, playing on lingering safety fears, are fighting to keep the ban on fugu livers even from poison-free fish.

“We won’t approve it,” Hisashi Matsumura, the president of the Shimonoseki Fugu Association and vice president of the National Fugu Association, said of the legalization of fugu liver. He added, “We’re not engaging in this irrelevant discussion.”

Some interesting facts from the NYT piece:

• Shimonoseki controls about half of Japan’s fugu market.
• Health authorities refuse to recognize officially that fugu can be made poison-free.
• Fugu could be made poison-free by strictly controlling its feed.
• Fugu has appeared in “The Simpsons,” in an episode in which Homer accidentally eats poisonous fugu.
• Only one-third of all wild fugu have enough poison to kill.
• Because of overfishing, wild fugu accounts for only 10 percent of the total sold in Japan.

Japanese company Coptiar Japan Co. has struck gold with http://www.copitar.co.jp/06/ that make it possible for people to enjoy tapping away at blocks of sand to find “fossils” that can be assembled into a dinosaur.

“Up until now the only type of excavations sets were either cheap or expensive,” said a public relations official for the company, which has set the price of its kits at a moderate 2,940 yen including tax.

The kits feature a block of hardened sand containing dinosaur “bones.” Using a hammer and chisel, users chip away at the block to uncover the bones, and then put them together to form skeletons of various dinosaurs, including the tyrannosaurus and the triceratops.

Source

Even dirty laundry can be cute!

Via Hello Kitty Hell

according to articles found on both bloomberg and the guardian, the expanding waistlines of japan’s denizens is causing the ministry of health and welfare concern. so great is there apprehension, in fact, that they along with local and municipal governments, have hatched a comprehensive series of plans to reduce the girth of the nation. as its stated goal, the government hopes to reduce unhealthy weight and obesity in the workforce and their dependents by 25% in seven years time.

being the lazy ineffective bureaucrats they are, the ministry has a plan to hoist all responsibility for achieving these goals on the shoulders of the companies who employ overweight workers and their out of shape dependents. the firms that fail to meet the goal of having 25% of their workforce (and the work force’s dependents) shape up risk paying increased taxes to help assist with the overburdened public health system.

isn’t it enough that your manager harasses you about meeting quotas, productivity, and deadlines? now you have to report to them about your exercise and diet plans, too? lame. not to mention the increased taxes on the entire company. now you not only have to report to your supervisor about your waistline; but anyone who isn’t in shape is probably going to be the victim of hazing from their fellow employees who don’t want to hear about why their paychecks are being cut when the worker doesn’t manage to drop those last 5 pounds.

even more insidious are the possible implications for proprietors and small llc (or japanese equivalent) companies. while the articles are relatively sparse on the details of how this plan would affect small companies (or whether they are excluded) if the same laws did apply this could be a great hidden way to raise taxes on certain individuals who already have enough to wade through.

and would somebody please think of the women and the children here. aren’t the relationships between spouses and their offspring strained enough without having to watch each other’s weight. hey, at least it provides a plausible excuse for telling your wife she’s fat. “honey i’m just trying to help you with your job.”

i know. i know, i’m probably being a tad over-reactive (probably?) and might be engaging in my fair share of hyperbole, but this does seem like an underhanded and indirect way of trying to reign in the present value of future healthcare.

well at least there is a light side to this whole matter. in a bid to encourage japanese citizens to lose weight some municipalities have take it on themselves to create inspirational models of behavior for all the lardasses out there. case in point: the mitsuke mighty morphing metabo rangers.

do you think they morph into something less lame?

A blog called Dark Roasted Blend has posted a report on creative barcodes by a Japanese company named D-Barcodes.

As cool as these things are, I can not recall ever having seen them in use. Has anyone else ever seen them on actual products?

Thanks to Richard Chmura.

CNN.com/Asia has a report claiming that business women in Japan are paying up to $50,000 a night to spend time with hosts that CNN referst to as “geisha guys.”

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — At first glance, the man and woman at the nightclub look like any other couple on a date. He flirts and pours champagne. She looks at him and laughs.

Businesswomen in Japan pay up to $50,000 a night for male companionship from “hosts” like Yunosuke.

This isn’t a date, though. It’s business.

The woman, a successful executive, has joined a growing number of professional women in Japan in forking out from $1,000 to $50,000 a night for male companionship.

5 million yen per night for male companionship?

I guess it must be true. . . CNN wouldn’t post a report that is a load of BS, would it?

Thanks to John Serdy.

Steve Levenstein writes in to alert us to a new article he has written about Japanese beauty products made from the placentas of pigs and other creatures.

Lehman Brothers has filed a $350-million damage suit against the Japanese Marubeni trading company for fraud. Lehman claims that Marubeni employees helped secure a Japanese company for a loan.

Marubeni is claming that the employees acted on their own, that they are also victims, and so they should not be held liable for damages.

In early March, Marubeni fired two employees after discovering they had used a meeting room at the company’s office illicitly. Marubeni says the employees were used by the president of the LTT Bio-Pharma subsidiary in the alleged fraud, but were not directly involved in the document forgery. It did not provide details of what had happened in the meeting at its offices.

Any bets on how this will turn out?

Thanks to Vin Alsace

Today is the start of a new fiscal year in Japan and a host of new changes are set to kick in. . . some good for consumers and others not so good.

Gasoline
Gasoline prices will drop by about 25 yen per liter.

Clinical treatment fees
Costs for emergency, after-hours clinical treatment will go up.

Dependent elderly health insurance
Anybody 75 and older who is a dependant of their offspring will have to start paying health insurance from October.

Metabolic syndrome health checks
Medical clinics will begin offering regular check-ups and health advice related to metabolic syndrome for people 40 to 74.

National Pension bite
Will rise 310 yen per month to 14,410 yen for everyone.

Pension rights of divorced spouses
Spouses automatically entitled to half of pension payments for the term of their marriage.

Car liability insurance
Will rise for all vehicles by an average 22.2 percent.

New recycling laws
More separation categories for PET bottles.

Rewards for oldters who give up their driver’s licences
Oldsters who surrender licences will be entitled to discounts and higher savings rates.

Recording of interrogations
Suspect questioning to be recorded in audio and video.

Recognition of A-Bomb victims
Relaxation of rules will exapand the roles of recognized victims.

Part-time workers
No more wage discrimination against part-timers who perform duties of full-timers.

Here is a Japanese TV commercial from the 1980’s for athlete’s food medication, which seems to be trying very hard to make the most of the “tentacle sex” theme that has been so prevelant in Japanese pornography over the centuries.

Via Pink Tentacle (of course!)

With a looming global financial crisis it’s a very hands-on time for governors of national banks the world over. But in Japan, the top job is vacant while the government and opposition use the appointment as a political football.

That’s the view expressed in a Mainichi editorial published yesterday under the no-nonsense headline “Leaving top BOJ post empty is a crime“.

“To avoid a crisis in the financial system,” the editorial notes, “central banks in major countries are working and communicating closely together to deal with the situation.” Meanwhile in Japan, in its splendid isolation, there’s nobody at the helm.

The appointment of governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) requires approval from both houses of the Diet, but while the ruling coalition controls the lower house, control of the upper house is in the hands of the opposition.

If you ask the governing jimintou (LDP), they’ll tell you that the opposition led by the minshutou (DPJ) are simply vetoing any suggestion they make in order to obstruct the business of government. If you ask the opposition, they’ll tell you that the government are attempting to crowbar cronies into the governor’s office, thereby compromising the independence of the BOJ.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said this week

These are pretty turbulent times in the financial markets, and it is important for Japan to have a steady voice people can rely on. It is important for the world economic community to know whose hand is on the tiller at the Japanese central bank.”

Which is a fairly diplomatic way of saying “Stop pissing about”.

The government had first nominated Toshiro Muto, on the not unreasonable-sounding grounds of having been BOJ Deputy Governor. The opposition complained that as Muto had been a Ministry of Finance bureaucrat for 30 years, he “would not be as independent as a central bank chief should be”.

Tellingly though, the Mainichi continued,

They are also angry that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has rammed through other bills, which require approval only from the more powerful lower house.

So basically after not being able to oppose anything for a while, the opposition were using this opportunity to make a big show of baring teeth by sticking a spanner in a big one.

Then Koji Tanami (another former Ministry of Finance bureaucrat) was proposed. And rejected.

Senior Democratic legislator Naoto Kan said his party also wanted to avoid a vacancy at the central bank’s helm, but Tanami’s career was so similar to Muto’s, it wouldn’t have made sense to block one and not the other. “People would think that’s too illogical.”

So if you’re going to appear obstructive, at least be consistent.

The previous BOJ chief, Toshihiko Fukui, finished his term as governor on Wednesday. In the meantime Masaaki Shirakawa, who has already been approved as one of two deputy governors, is serving as acting BOJ governor as the political impasse continues.

One possible solution to the problem outlined by the Mainichi is that “the government could revise the Bank of Japan law to require only lower house approval for the personnel decision, allowing Fukuda to force through his initial choice, Muto. But the opposition is unlikely to welcome such a move. ” Unlikely indeed.

Remora has sent in a link to a story reporting that carmakers around the globe are struggling with designs to suit people who are getting larger, in both height and breadth, while reducing vehicle weight to help meet fuel efficiency standards.

In Japan, Nissan has created a “fat suit” that can be worn to allow physically smaller and healthier engineers to experience new designs the way fatter and older folks in other countries do.

The special suit makes the wearer less flexible at the neck, knees, ankles and elbows and, according to Nissan, a 5cm-thick waist belt does an excellent job of duplicating the middle-aged spread.
Design engineer Etsuhiro Watanabe said: “As we get older, it can become harder to perform physical maneuvers.

“It’s not always practical to recruit older motorists for product research, so these special suits allow Nissan’s engineers and designers to come up with solutions.”