According to The Asahi Shimbun, ahead of its official opening, tech trade show SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 offered a glimpse of futuristic mobility, sustainable food and entertainment innovations in a preview event on 9 April.
The media preview featured a new compact tricycle, a water-sky versatile drone, beef-free hamburgers and other highlights from the show’s Showcase Program, which envisions “urban life in 2050.” “Experience a sustainable and high-tech Tokyo,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, promoting the event that will be held in multiple venues across the capital from 27 April to 26 May. SusHi Tech Tokyo, which stands for the Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo, is organized by the Tokyo metropolitan government. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15225540
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According to The Jiji News, Kirin Holdings Co. aims to become a leading group in health food-related operations in Asia, President Takeshi Minakata has said.
"We are eager to become the No. 1 or No. 2 player in Asia" in the sector, he said in a recent interview, indicating that the major Japanese food and beverage group plans to further strengthen its health food operations by leveraging the brand power of Blackmores Ltd., an Australian health supplements firm it acquired in 2023. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/32267
According to the Asahi Shimbun, JR (Japan railway) Tokai is trying to improve the hydrogen engine, which was originally used for automobiles, and to use it for railroads in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. If realized, it will be the first of its kind in the world. Why are they going down this difficult road when there are other environmental technologies that are being developed ahead of them?
In the development of environmental technologies using hydrogen, fuel cells are leading the way. Toyota Motor Corporation has installed them in its "Mirai" passenger car, and they are already on the market. In the railroad industry, JR East is also testing a train that uses batteries in combination. JR Tokai, however, has not concentrated on fuel cells, but has also branched out into hydrogen engines. The company wants to have a variety of options as a possibility in case fuel cell power increases come to a standstill. JR Tokai is also researching the use of vehicles that run solely on battery electricity and the use of biofuels, which are considered to emit virtually no CO2. The current situation, in which the company continues to expand its options, illustrates the difficulty of decarbonizing railroads. Hidemasa Tanaka, team manager in charge of the project, also says, "The cost is still very high for all of them, and we cannot make a decision yet”. https://digital.asahi.com/articles/ASS434DWBS43ULFA002M.html
According to The Asahi Shimbun, initiatives to have carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbed and captured in seaweed and seagrass are taking root across Japan, where the population is known for having a taste for a wide range of aquatic plants.
Those environmental efforts aim to not only combat climate change but also offer other benefits, including improving fisheries resources and seawater quality. A framework to trade blue carbon credits has already been adopted in the nation. A total of 26 programs were certified through fiscal 2022. Credits for a total of 3,800 tons of CO2 were issued. Credits are reportedly being traded this fiscal year for an average of 65,000 yen (US$438) per ton, six times higher than the approximately 10,000 yen per ton for forest-linked credits. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15191967
According to The Asahi Shimbun, following a prolonged and expensive failure, the Japanese government released a new strategy to develop Japan’s first passenger jet using increased public support and learning from past mistakes.
The strategy indicated the commercial aircraft industry is so important that a joint effort with the private sector to develop the jet merits attention. The strategy set a goal of commercializing a new passenger jet project after 2035. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. announced in February 2023 that it was withdrawing from development of the nation’s first passenger jet after failing to sell a single plane. MHI decided in 2008 to develop the passenger jet, later called SpaceJet, and the economy ministry provided support to the tune of 50 billion yen (US$330 million). The new strategy listed major reasons why the SpaceJet project failed. It said MHI lacked understanding about obtaining a “type certificate,” an essential piece of documentation confirming an aircraft is in legal compliance with airworthiness requirements. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15212570
According to The Asahi Shimbun, land prices rose 2.3 percent on average nationwide, a third consecutive year-on-year increase and the strongest rise since the financial crisis of 2008.
Land ministry figures announced are based on a survey of about 26,000 residential, commercial and other land plots as of Jan. 1. Sixty-five percent of those survey points registered increases from the year before. At 60 percent, land prices exceeded 2020 levels before the novel coronavirus spread. “All in all, land prices have returned to pre-pandemic levels,” a ministry official said. Residential land prices rose 2 percent on average nationwide. Increases in the three major metropolitan areas around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya averaged 2.8 percent. As apartment prices soared in Tokyo, prospective homeowners have been buying more affordable properties in neighboring prefectures. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15211533
According to The Jiji News, Japan's welfare ministry proposed to an expert panel a plan to conditionally allow foreigners to engage in home care services for the elderly.
Under the plan, aimed at expanding the scope of jobs available to such personnel and easing labor shortages in the sector, nursing offices that hire such foreign staff will be obliged to provide them with necessary training programs. Currently, foreign technical intern trainees and foreign workers with so-called specified skills are allowed to work at care facilities in the country. They are banned from engaging in home help services to provider one-on-one assistance to users, however, due to concerns about their communication skills in Japanese. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/31967
According to The Nikkei Asia, amid challenges posed by the weather, inflation-hit consumers and China, Japanese trading house Marubeni is attempting to increase its exports of beef to its home market from cows it fattens in the eastern part of Australia.
Three decades ago, almost all the beef Marubeni exported from Rangers Valley went to Japan; it now accounts for less than 10% of the company's sales. These days it mainly exports tongue and skirt steaks to Japan, which is one of the few countries that consumes these cuts. Faced with the global challenges of today, though, the Tokyo-based company is stepping up efforts to increase its beef sales in Japan. Beef from Rangers Valley, in the eastern Australian state of New South Wales, was praised for its palatability by visitors who tasted samples at Marubeni's booth at a food fair held in mid-February at the Makuhari Messe event hall in Chiba, south of Tokyo. The company displayed big hunks of red marbled meat that charmed visitors. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Japan-s-Marubeni-looks-to-hook-its-home-market-on-Aussie-beef
According to The Asahi Shimbun, a consortium of Japanese companies will set sail on domestically building an ammonia carrier ship that is fueled by ammonia, which emits no carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned.
The cleaner fuel source is part of an effort to decarbonize seafaring vessels, which are a major source of global CO2 emissions. The ship, scheduled for completion in 2026, is expected, following a demonstration voyage, to be the world’s first vessel of its kind and to be used in international shipping. The plan was jointly released Jan. 25 by four companies including shipping giant Nippon Yusen KK (NYK). Use of the ship, which co-fires ammonia with heavy fuel oil, can cut emissions of greenhouse gases, including CO2, by more than 80 percent as compared to when fuel oil alone is used. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15159500
According to The Jiji News, a Japanese power generation company, Jera Co and engineering firm IHI Corp unveiled to the press a test facility at a thermal power plant in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, for burning coal mixed with ammonia to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The test will run from March 26 to June 19, and based on its results, the commercial use of coal-ammonia fuel is planned to begin in the late 2020s at the earliest. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/31798 |
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