According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will scrap a system in which solar and wind energy from major power companies is purchased at a predetermined price.
Increasing purchasing fees have translated into a greater burden for consumers, so the ministry will introduce a competitive bidding system as soon as 2020 in an effort to keep costs down.
The government wants renewable energy to become a major component of Japan's power mix, and it is trying to rush adjustments to the power grid to make that happen.
The ministry introduced a feed-in-tariff system in 2012 to promote greater development of renewable energy. The government set favorable prices for energy from wind and solar operators, but the higher rates are passed on to consumers via electricity bills.
Those purchasing fees have grown as solar and other forms of renewable power have gained. In fiscal 2019, they are expected to amount to about 3.6 trillion yen ($33.2 billion), with about 2.4 trillion yen being passed on to households and businesses. Policymakers decided reforms are needed as the corporate side has been reluctant to move ahead with cost reductions.
The new system will be along the lines of those used in Germany and other European countries. Mid-size operators that produce more than 50 to 100 kilowatts will be obligated to find their own customers and to sell on the wholesale market. Prices will not be fixed but rather negotiated based on market conditions.
While the merits of the old feed-in-tariff system will be lost, prices should drop rapidly on the wholesale market. Companies will only be compensated for losses if prices fall below a set standard. That standard will be based on the low-end prices that come from competitive bidding.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Japan-to-overhaul-renewable-energy-system-in-bid-to-lower-prices

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7115861 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the Reserve Bank could slash its key cash rate to as low as 0.5 per cent by this time next year, signalling further pain for savers and depositors but more gains for the sharemarket.
Markets are pricing in two 25 basis point cuts by the end of the year. But a growing number economists now expect the cash rate, which guides lending and deposit rates, could fall to a historic low of 0.5 per cent by next June from today's 1.25 per cent level.
As rate cut expectations grow and iron ore prices remain high, investors are piling into stocks, with the S&P/ASX 200 jumping to a fresh 11-year high last week.
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https://www.afr.com/news/economy/monetary-policy/rba-cash-rate-could-fall-as-far-as-0-5pc-20190614-p51xsg

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/05
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, specialist physicians will be able to use remote-controlled surgical-aid robots to operate on patients in far-off places under a revised health ministry guideline that lifted a ban on such procedures.
The Japan Surgical Society (JSS) is now compiling its own guidelines for the practice, which will enable, for example, a top surgeon in Tokyo to operate on a patient in a remote part of Hokkaido.
Although it may take a few years to prepare the environment, set up the infrastructure and ensure safety of remote surgeries, those involved are excited about the move.
“The revision of the guideline will enable legal preparations for remote surgeries, and Japan could become a world leader in this field,” said Kenichi Hakamada, a professor at Hirosaki University who is involved in setting up a JSS committee on the guidelines. “It would allow patients to receive high-quality surgery wherever they are located.”
Japan faces a severe shortage of surgeons, and some patients in serious condition who cannot travel have been forced to forgo operations.
A surgical-aid robot called “da Vinci,” developed by U.S. company Intuitive Surgical, is expected to be used for remote endoscopic operations.
More than 350 da Vinci robots have been set up around Japan. Health insurance covers 14 kinds of surgeries, such as removing stomach cancer, performed by the robots.
The robot consists of a main body with several arms that is connected by a communication line to another device, which the surgeon uses to operate the main body.
Cameras attached to the tips of the arms allow physicians to view the images on a monitor. The arms can also handle medical instruments used in the operations.
But up until now, the doctors operating da Vinci have been present in the surgery room.
The health ministry’s guidelines concerning online medical practice had said that doctors, in principle, must meet their patients at least once in person. The guidelines also prohibited doctors from performing surgeries by remote away from their patients.
However, the ministry drafted revised guidelines on June 10 to allow remote surgeries. The revisions are expected to take effect as early as July.
In response to the ministry’s move, the JSS will set up an expert committee to prepare its own guidelines on such topics as safety and which patients are eligible for remote operations.
The JSS will conduct demonstration surgeries by connecting robots in university hospitals via optical lines.
Two control devices connected to the main body of the da Vinci robot can be operated simultaneously.
This allows a specialist physician outside the operating room and a surgeon beside the patient to operate together. It is assumed that the specialist is in charge of the difficult parts of the surgery.
If a control device malfunctions or an optical line becomes disconnected, the surgeon in the operating room can still control the robot or continue the operation manually.
Remote surgeries have already started in China on a trial basis, but few have been performed elsewhere.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201906130045.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/4981601

According to The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese research team has discovered a “switch” that may someday be used to shift a person's circadian cycle, or internal clock, which determines behavioral rhythms such as sleep patterns.
A research team including members of Kyoto University announced the finding on June 12. The study result was published the same day in the British scientific journal Nature Communications.
The team said that it discovered for the first time that DNA arrangement plays a role as a switch to controlling a mice's internal clock. It is believed that humans also have the same mechanism.
“This is a vital step to understanding the mechanism of the biological clock,” said Masao Doi, a professor of Kyoto University specializing in chronobiology.
The finding could be a clue to unlocking the mechanism of a morning person and a night person or treating sleep disorders, the study said.
In terms of a biological clock, three U.S. researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2017 for their discovery of a gene related to the circadian clock.
The gene was found to cause increases and decreases of a protein over an approximately 24-hour cycle and create body temperature rhythms. But the detailed mechanism of the gene’s movement had not been determined.
Hitoshi Okamura, a specially appointed professor of Kyoto University, specializing in chronobiology, and other researchers changed the DNA arrangement of mice, which was located in the edge of the gene and whose role was not yet defined.
As a result, the mice were able to create protein, but became unable to decrease it. The biological clock of the mice was placed in disarray and its behavior became irregular.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201906130057.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-dna 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, city workers will soon be able to step onto a Melbourne CBD rooftop and book a 10-minute, ride-sharing flight to the airport for less than $100, after Uber Air announced Melbourne will be the first international city to trial the service.
The plan will be revealed by Uber on Wednesday (AEST) at its Elevate summit in Washington, after striking partnerships with Macquarie Capital, Telstra, Scentre Group and Melbourne Airport to construct city skyports to support vertical take-off and landing.
The new type of aircraft - a piloted, electric passenger aircraft designed by Uber's manufacturing partners, including Bell and Boeing - are designed to carry four passengers with hand luggage of up to 18 kilograms.
Melbourne will join Dallas and Los Angeles as pilot cities for the program, with test flights due to start from 2020 and plans for commercial operations to commence from 2023.
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https://www.afr.com/business/transport/uber-air-to-launch-in-melbourne-20190611-p51wew

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9943853
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Japanese-headquartered J Power is set to buy up to a 19.99 per cent stake in Genex Energy, and will pay a significant premium for the privilege.
J Power is listed with about a $US4 billion market capitalisation and operates coal hydro and solar assets, as well as being experienced pump storage operators.
The Japanese company is expected to bring its expertise to Genex's hydro power project in North Queensland and, along with its funding, should prove to be one of the final steps to allowing the project to proceed.
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https://www.afr.com/street-talk/j-power-snaps-up-genex-power-stake-20190605-p51uv8

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/j-powergenex-power
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha will install automated kites to help pull its large bulk carriers, starting with one vessel by late 2021, under plans announced Friday by the Japanese shipping company.
The kite rig is expected to reduce fuel costs by about 20% and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 5,200 tons per ship per year.
Kawasaki Kisen will use the SeaWing system developed by France-based AirSeas, a spinoff from Airbus. The system analyzes weather and maritime data in real time and notifies the vessel's crew when wind conditions are suitable for flying the kite. The kite itself can be deployed or pulled back with the press of a button.
The two companies also agreed to improve the system by making use of data gathered by Kawasaki Kisen's performance management system, such as fuel consumption and ship speed.
The International Maritime Organization has set a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions in international shipping from 2008 levels by 2050.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Kawasaki-Kisen-to-sail-wing-towed-ships-to-cut-fuel

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7448322 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese researchers developed a special pig whose body could be used to grow human internal organs for future transplants.
Eiji Kobayashi, a specially appointed professor of regenerative medicine at Keio University, and other scientists removed organs that produce immune cells from the pig’s body so that it would not reject the human organs as foreign substances.
The breakthrough was published in the British scientific journal Nature Communications on May 21.
Since swine’s organs are as large as those of humans, scientists have been trying to graft human organs in pig bodies using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
One big problem in previous efforts was that the pigs’ immune cells attacked the human organs as alien substances.
However, halting all functions of the pig’s immune system through gene manipulation left it vulnerable to infection by viruses and other pathogens. The challenge was how to protect such pigs from infectious diseases to extend their short life.
Kobayashi and his colleagues surgically removed the pig’s thymus gland and spleen, which produce T cells and B cells that attack the human organs. Drugs were also used to inhibit the activity of other immune cells remaining in its body.
The researchers transplanted artificial blood vessels derived from human cells into the pig. The grafts were not rejected and vascular tissue was regenerated.
The pig, which was kept under conditions containing germs, lived for more than five months, according to the scientists.
“We succeeded in creating a pig that is not easily affected by pathogens but does not reject human-derived cells by not suppressing all functions of its immune system,” Kobayashi said.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201906040010.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5624241 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, comparisons to horse or piggy-back riding are apt, but the real aim of the "Rodem" wheelchair is to provide mobility while "feeling more positive in your life."
The brainchild of robot products maker Tmsuk Co. (pronounced "Temzak"), the device can be easily mounted from the rear and features an adjustable seat.
It can also be summoned with a smartphone.
The groundbreaking product, for which Tmsuk has obtained patents in a host of countries, has overturned the conventional notion of a wheelchair.
A proposal was made at an in-house meeting to call the unique product the "Rodeo" owing to its association with riding a horse, but ultimately it was decided to replace the last letter with "m" for "mobility."
Others, however, have a different theory. They attribute the name to the main character's companion, Rodem, in the old anime "Babel II" from the 1970s. Rodem has the ability to physically transform and sometimes carries the main character on its back.
A Tmsuk employee is said to have been humming or singing the song to himself around the time the company had just started developing the product.
Whatever the origin, Tmsuk President Yoichi Takamoto hopes the Rodem will be used not only by those who have difficulty walking, but also by others as a next-generation means of transportation.
“You lean forward when you are on a Rodem, which makes you feel more positive in your life,” he said at the company’s Kyoto Robotics Lab in the ancient capital.
Tmsuk worked with NTT Docomo Inc. and other companies to conduct trial runs in March in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district, where tourists were invited to ride on a Rodem mounted with a device for providing tourist information on surrounding areas.
Tmsuk is currently working on the development of maps that will allow the Rodem to be used as an autonomous vehicle.
While maps have been developed for use by self-driving cars, which are being tested around the world, few are available for sidewalks and building interiors, which would likely be the main sites of the device's use.
Even a small step can present an obstacle, so the company is collecting vast amounts of data on the locations and types of existing steps.
Akifumi Inoue, 29, an engineer with Tmsuk, said he mounted the Rodem’s front wheels with cushioning to improve rider comfort when the vehicle passes over a step.
The company plans to update the Rodem’s self-driving, self-charging, collision avoidance and other features in the future.
"Having always studied programming, I am determined to manufacture a robot that will always be a friend," Inoue said. "I'll put all my passion into the Rodem."
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201906080001.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6200209
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According to The Australian Financial Review, late last month, BHP confirmed it was conducting a feasibility study on the automation of the 500-strong haul-truck fleet that speeds across its iron ore mines in the Pilbara in Western Australia, its coal mines in central Queensland and in NSW's Hunter Valley.
That the Pilbara was ready for the next iteration of its digital future was no surprise. That BHP was getting ready to roll out the robots across the coal fields was. For a host of reasons physical, technical and social, replacing people power with thinking machines in coal country is a very different challenge to the automation of BHP Iron Ore.
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https://www.afr.com/business/mining/how-bhp-is-preparing-kids-for-the-rise-of-the-robots-20190606-p51v9h

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8304004
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