According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Nissan Motor on Wednesday gave the media a preview of its new auto-driving system that will become the first to be offered by a Japanese automaker when the Serena minivan debuts in the domestic market in late August.
The ProPilot system is designed for highway use in single-lane traffic. It can handle steering, acceleration and braking on its own, even when there is congestion.
"With autonomous driving technologies, we offer comfort and peace of mind," Executive Vice President Hideyuki Sakamoto said. "We want to propose new value" to society, he added.
A camera attached to the upper part of the windshield allows the system to track the car in front and lane line markers together to maintain appropriate distance from the car ahead. Drivers can choose a speed between 30kph and 100kph, in 5kph increments, and specify a desired distance from the preceding car, such as 30 meters, 45 meters and 60 meters, when the vehicle moves at 100kph. When this reporter tried it on a test course, the ride felt similar to regular driving, with the vehicle stopping smoothly with plenty of room to spare when the car in front stopped.
Germany's Mercedes-Benz and Tesla Motors of the U.S. have offered comparable features in their products, mainly high-end vehicles. Nissan is different in that it employs the system in a minivan -- often used by families -- to appeal to a broad array of consumers. The new Serena is expected to start at between 2.5 million yen and 3 million yen (US$23,932 and US$28,719).
The Japanese company plans to apply the technology in its Qashqai sport utility vehicle set to debut in Europe next year, and intends to also introduce the system in the U.S. and China.
With the dawn of autonomous driving technology, one of the challenges is to revamp traffic rules. At present, Geneva Convention driving guidelines and various countries' rules assume that a driver is present in a vehicle. So when an accident occurs, the primary responsibility lies with the driver.
With fully automated driving -- which the Japanese government expects to see in the market in 2025 -- the automaker likely would be fully responsible. But with partial auto-driving, determining who is responsible is more difficult.
The Geneva Convention is already being re-examined and Japan's National Police Agency in May announced guidelines for auto-drive testing on public roads. Traffic rules in Japan are being reviewed as well.
When this reporter tried out Nissan's ProPilot technology, the tricky part was the transition from auto-driving to manual mode. Self-driving mode shuts off when the vehicle is idle for more than three seconds. And a button on the steering wheel or a light touch on the acceleration pedal can reinstate the auto mode.
The driver must keep his or her hands on the steering wheel. If the hands are off for five seconds, an alarm will sound, and in about 10 seconds, the auto-driving mode turns off. The system analyses the car in front and lane lines together, so if a sharp curve approaches when there is no car ahead, the system shuts off and the driver needs to assume control. The same is true for inclement weather or light shining directly into the camera, preventing it from recognizing lane lines.
Automakers face the daunting challenge of explaining the scope of their autonomous driving systems to customers, with the limits and risks in mind.

Ref: http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/Nissan-showcases-self-driving-tech-for-new-minivan
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a remote-controlled mobile robot that can safely work in flammable gas-filled spaces too dangerous for humans has been developed in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Chiba Institute of Technology.
The robot will be useful in confirming the situation at the sites of accidents in tunnels or conducting inspections at chemical plants and electric power plants, MHI and CIT officials said in Tokyo on July 12.
The robot has been safety certified and will not spark fire or explosions, even in places filled with flammable gas, they added.
To date, when accidents have occurred in tunnels and flammable gases have leaked, workers have had to install ventilation devices before going into the tunnels and confirm concentrations of gas with detectors.
The newly developed robot, however, can investigate the situations inside the tunnels immediately.
The robot is equipped with monitoring cameras, lighting equipment and a gas detector, and can take images and transmit them through the Internet. It can work continuously for up to two and a half hours on lithium-ion batteries.
It will be priced in the 20 to 30 million yen range (US$192,000 to US$288,000) and will also be sold overseas. MHI and CIT plan to secure similar safety certifications in other countries.

Ref: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607130055.html

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According to The Australian Financial Review, housing finance rose in May as loans to investors picked up 3.9 per cent, their biggest monthly gain in a year, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed.
Investment finance picked up to $11.7 billion in May from $11.3 billion in April, the first increase in three months.
While the slowdown in housing finance has been driven largely by investors, as lenders have tightened credit, investor borrowing is showing signs of stabilising, UBS economist George Tharenou said.
"Home loans have moderated over the last year," Mr Tharenou wrote in a research note after the figures. "That said, today's data shows signs of stabilisation (particularly investors), which suggests that price growth is likely to cool over the coming year, but does not indicate a collapse."
Concerns are rising about whether Australia's housing market is likely to suffer a fall in prices due to an oversupply of apartments, particularly in Melbourne and Brisbane.
The total monthly new lending figure of $32.3 billion was 1 per cent higher than April's $32 billion. Loans to owner occupiers - excluding refinancing of existing loans - ticked up 0.4 per cent to $13.5 billion.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a record low 1.75 per cent in early May. The numbers follow earlier figures last week showing approvals of new dwellings fell 5.2 per cent in May, led by an 11.3 per cent decline in the apartments, townhouses and semi-detached dwellings traditionally favoured by investors.
The housing industry remains hopeful that with the election out of the way, demand for homes will increase.
"With the federal election result now clear, potential homebuyers are likely to return to the market with a great deal more certainty," Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garratt said. "The prospect of another interest rate reduction later in the year will be welcomed by those looking to enter the market. We expect new home lending volumes to strengthen over subsequent months as a greater number of apartments currently under construction reach settlement."
Loans to first home buyers also picked up in May. The 8,488 new loans issued was the biggest number since December's 9,367, the ABS figures showed.
In the 12 months to May, loans to first home buyers rose 3.6 per cent from a year earlier to $34.5 billion.

Ref: ​http://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/housing-finance-picks-up-in-may-biggest-rise-in-investor-loans-in-a-year-20160711-gq2x6b

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According to The Australian Financial Review today, Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill Holdings says its namesake iron ore project remains on target to hit full production by the end of the year, after loading 12 shipments in the month of June.
The first shipment of iron ore from the $10 billion Pilbara project departed Port Hedland on December 10, 2015. After a slow start, the project's ramp-up appears to be on track to reach a 55 million-tonne-a-year output target after a significant increase in shipments over the past few months.
It is understood Roy Hill loads about 170,000 tonne capacity ships, which means that it was running at an annualised run rate of about 24.5 million tonnes in the month of June – almost half its target.
Roy Hill is 70 per cent owned by Mrs Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, with the remaining 30 per cent held by Posco, Marubeni Corporation and China Steel Corporation.
Macquarie analysts said in May the ramp-up had been "faster than we were expecting", but despite this, the project was unlikely to meet its end-of-year target.
"We still expect a 40 million tonne per annum average shipment rate to be achieved in the December quarter," Macquarie said.
Roy Hill's shipping figures were reinforced by strong June shipping data from Port Hedland Port released on Monday that showed a record volume of iron ore shipped through the port.
After a slow start to 2016, 41.8 million tonnes were shipped through the port in the 30  days of June.
The previous record was set in March, when 39.53 million tonnes were shipped.
A total of 454.2 million tonnes were shipped through Port Hedland in the 2016 financial year. That was also a record, and was 3 per cent more than was shipped in the previous financial year.
UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock estimated in a note on Friday that BHP had shipped 257 million tonnes for the year to June 30.
He estimated that Fortescue had exported 170 million tonnes, which would be better than the 165 million tonnes forecast by the company.
Iron ore was fetching $US55.17 per tonne on Monday morning.

Ref: http://www.afr.com/business/mining/australias-iron-miners-shipped-record-volumes-during-june-20160711-gq2whn

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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, a container ship with a hemispherical-shaped bow, which can significantly reduce wind drag, is under construction at Japanese shipbuilder Kyokuyo Shipyard, at its facility about 7km northeast of the Kanmon Straits in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
The ship's distinctive design, which was patented in Japan, the U.S., South Korea, China and seven European countries, helps improve fuel efficiency.
Kyokuyo Shipyard's first such ship, which was delivered in 2010, was a car carrier that can transport 2,000 automobiles at a time. The vessel originally featured a traditional angular bow, but the company overhauled the design to address rising fuel costs and cut carbon dioxide emissions. The semispherical bow has less resistance to wind and greater strength. Anchors are stored belowdecks.
Wind-tunnel tests have shown that the futuristic "SSS bow," or Semi-Spherical Shaped bow configuration, reduces wind resistance by up to 50%. The operation in the North Atlantic route revealed that the new bow can reduce fuel consumption by 807 tons a year and energy by 11%, cutting CO2 emissions by 2,500 tons.
The feature can be applied to car carriers, container vessels, general cargo ships and passenger vessels. It is particularly effective for taller vessels, which are more affected by strong winds.
President Katsuhiko Ochi continues to inspire employees to make new designs and hull forms that cannot be copied by other companies.

Ref: http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/Innovative-container-ship-features-hemispherical-bow
 
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, ad agency Dentsu and others will collect and analyse information on foreign visitors and their movements in Japan via smartphone, aiming to sell the resulting intelligence to businesses and municipalities.
Data will be obtained through a Navitime Japan smartphone app that offers foreigners GPS-based navigation as well as information on sightseeing spots and public transportation routes. A calendar-organizer app from fellow Tokyo startup Jorte will also be used. Data will cover nationality, gender, where visitors stay in Japan, and what locations they visit via what routes.
Navitime's app logs user locations hourly. This will let the new service provide data on the number of visitors in a particular area at a given time, with hour-by-hour changes. The service will also be able to show routes popular among foreigners for moving between two locations, such as Tokyo and the popular tourist destination of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Jorte's app has a push function for targeting handsets that meet particular criteria. A store in Tokyo's Shibuya district could distribute Chinese-language digital coupons exclusively to Chinese nationals nearby, for example.
The service is slated to launch in early August and will likely cost roughly 3 million yen (US$29,750) for a basic package providing such data as foreign visitors' demographics and movements. More detailed analysis and data will cost extra.
The partners also include Blogwatcher, a Tokyo startup that specializes in marketing solutions using data on individuals' internet histories.

Ref: http://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Japan-Trends/New-service-to-keep-tabs-on-foreign-tourists-in-Japan
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According to The Australian Financial Review today, the latest batch of new partners at the big four firms is a stark illustration of how far the companies have drifted from their accounting roots and into consulting, technology and digital services.
Only one in five partners appointed to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, EY and KPMG in the past year were in the traditional businesses of audit and assurance.
In contrast, about one in three new partners was in the fast-growing consulting areas, showing just how fast these firms are re-orienting themselves to compete against giant technology consulting firms such as Accenture, IBM and InfoSys.
The transformation at the Big Four has been driven, in part, by acquisition, said Lynn Kraus, the head of markets at EY Oceania.
"Over the last two years, the acquisitions that the big four firms have been making are hugely different to four or five years ago," she said.
"At EY, we've made six acquisitions over 24 months, all with a lens for this whole concept for digital and cyber skills.
"We're out buying businesses that have skills that we don't have in-house."
"We're not just an accounting firm," said Holly King, one of PwC's new partners.
Ms King runs the firm's Project Delivery services, an area that implements large-scale technology projects and lends out teams of technology staff to clients.
"PwC hasn't worked in that business implementation role for some time," she said.
"What this enables us to do is have strategy to execution skills."
Ms King said she expected to double the revenue her division generates and her team size – currently at 86 – over the next year.

Ref: http://www.afr.com/business/accounting/the-big-four-firms-now-more-technology-than-accounting-20160701-gpwsd7

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According to The Asahi Shimbun, after a change in preference among the nation’s imbibers, Fukushima Prefecture rapidly gained ground as the top sake-producing area in Japan.
And then the nuclear disaster struck in March 2011.
But the triple meltdown that forced entire towns to flee and scared consumers off Fukushima products ended up fueling the rise of sake brewers in the prefecture.
Using its traditional system of public-private cooperation, Fukushima Prefecture not only took over the sake-brewing crown from Niigata Prefecture, the northeastern prefecture has also widened its lead.
Any sympathy that sake brewers had for their Fukushima rivals after the nuclear disaster has now been replaced by competitive words in the field.
Inokichi Shinjo, 65, chairman of the Fukushima Prefecture Sake Brewers Cooperative, could not hide his delight on May 18 while seeing the results of the Annual Japan Sake Awards.
“This achievement will help establish Fukushima’s reputation as the best sake-producing area in the country,” Shinjo said.
In the contest, in which the quality of young sake is judged, 18 products from Fukushima Prefecture were among the 227 brands that won the gold prize for having exceptionally good quality.
It was the fourth straight year for Fukushima to be the top prefecture in terms of number of gold prize-winning products in the competition.
The Annual Japan Sake Awards started in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and sake from Hiroshima and Hyogo prefectures, as well as other traditional sake-producing areas, dominated the competition until the 1980s.
In the 1990s, more consumers turned to “tanrei karakuchi” (clean and dry) sake. Niigata Prefecture, known for its tanrei karakuchi products, placed first for four consecutive years starting in 1998.
Most of the sake entered in the contest are specially brewed for the occasion. But Fukushima Prefecture has overwhelmed Niigata Prefecture in the Sake Competition, where commercially available sake are evaluated.
Last year, 20 breweries in Fukushima Prefecture entered the Sake Competition.
The prefecture topped the list, with 18 brands from Fukushima, including Aizu Chujo, Nagurayama, Sharaku, Aizu Homare and Hiroki, among the 103 products selected as winners. None of the products from the 13 breweries from Niigata Prefecture were chosen.
Fukushima-brewed sake rose in popularity after drinkers switched to “hojun amakuchi” (mellow and sweet) sake, noted for a natural flavor of rice, from tanrei karakuchi.
The turning point came in 1994, when the Juyondai sake brewed in Yamagata Prefecture, north of Fukushima Prefecture, was marketed and introduced in a magazine. The sake immediately won high praise, and prompted many brewers to produce hojun amakuchi sake, particularly in other parts of the Tohoku region.
The “Fukushima-style” system, in which citizens and public officials work together, was established to improve the quality of sake through the effective use of advanced brewing technologies.
The characteristics of rice for sake change each year, depending on the climate.
Under the system, the Aizu-Wakamatsu technical assistance office of the prefecture-run Fukushima Technology Center analyzes the year’s rice in advance and advises each brewer on the best way to produce sake.
“The mechanism enabled breweries to produce high quality sake unlike in the past,” said Kenji Suzuki, 54, head of the office’s brewing and food division.
Kenji Hiroki, 49, president of the Hiroki Shuzo Honten brewing company in Aizu-Bange, which makes Hiroki, one of the most famous sake brands in Fukushima Prefecture, said the system has also helped to prevent a trend that has hampered other traditional businesses: a lack of successors.
“Young people in their 20s and 30s have returned to local breweries to take over their parents’ businesses,” Hiroki said.
He also noted that many sake products brewed in Fukushima used to be traded at very low prices.
“The trend encouraged brewers to share their techniques to improve their circumstances together,” Hiroki said. “Even the (2011) nuclear crisis worked as a springboard for us.”
After the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, companies in the prefecture had difficulty selling products because of persistent fears of radiation contamination.
The prefecture’s sake brewers cooperative has been emphasizing the safety of Fukushima-made sake, saying “both rice for sake and water are carefully examined according to strict standards.”
Such thorough checks also helped to ensure the rice and water were top quality.
Noted Fukushima breweries started joint advertising campaigns to sell their products in Tokyo. The publicity not only helped to increase sales but also spread the word about high quality of Fukushima Prefecture’s sake.
Rivals in other parts of Japan have been inspired by the efforts of Fukushima sake makers.
“Brewers from Fukushima Prefecture always point out each other’s problems when they meet, and it provides me with a good stimulus,” said Tadayoshi Onishi, 41, president of the Kiyasho Shuzo brewery in Mie Prefecture, which produces the popular Jikon brand.
Although sake production has generally declined around Japan, Fukushima brewers’ production is 10 percent higher than the level before the nuclear accident.
Shuichi Mizuma, 66, representative director of the Niigata Sake Brewers Association, expressed confidence that his prefecture would reclaim the title of “the kingdom of sake.”
“The tide often changes,” he said.
Koichi Hasegawa, 60, president of Hasegawasaketen Inc., a major sake retailer in Tokyo, said Fukushima Prefecture’s top position is not secure.
“People will soon be fed up with hojun amakuchi sake,” he said. “Shochu recently made waves as well. And Japanese consumers are frighteningly swayed by the latest trends.”

Ref: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607050001.html
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According to The Australian Financial Review today, the redevelopment of a small apartment in an old housing block took out one of the top WA architecture awards on Friday night.
Perth-based vittinoAshe architects won the state's top award for small project architecture for showing how existing housing stock can be repurposed to meet the country's growing need for accommodation suitable for an ageing population.
With the ABS predicting the number of people over 85 to more than double from 420,300 in 2012 to 842,500 by 2031, reusing existing homes will be one of the most cost-effective ways of allowing people to keep living independently within familiar communities.
In the case of the unit in East Perth's Causeway Gardens complex, the architects redesigned a 45-square-metre apartment with a central cupboard unit that provided storage, enclosed the laundry facilities and also provided a handrail to navigate between kitchen-dining space and bedroom.
It was a very successful transformation of an old unit, which last sold for $290,000 in July 2014, in the 1940s building, said WA awards jury chairman Brian Wright.
"They are certainly showing their age and yet the architect was able to convert this thing, with some very clever design, into a very lovely little single-bedroom unit," Mr Wright said.
The ability of older people to choose where they want to live will be crucial to ensuring the healthier ageing of Australia's population, the Productivity Commission said in a 2011 report Caring for Older Australians.
The aged care system should focus on promoting the independence and wellness of older Australians and their continuing contribution to society, the commission said.
The apartment redesign that permitted the elderly resident of this Adelaide Terrace unit to stay in the middle of the city did just that, Mr Wright said.
"It certainly is a model of how you can take old stock," he said. "There are hundreds of units within this block that potentially could be redone the same way this unit was to provide housing for the elderly, certainly. It was a great little job."

Ref: http://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/wa/ticking-all-the-boxes-architect-redesigns-old-unit-for-ageing-in-place-20160630-gpvl9y
 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a team of researchers has succeeded in immobilizing selected genes of common marmoset using genome editing technology, a breakthrough that could help research on human diseases.
The scientists, from the Central Institute for Experimental Animals (CIEA), Keio University and other institutions, reported the first successful case of such experiments with primates in the world.
Their paper was published in the online edition of U.S. journal Cell Stem Cell on 1 July.
Until now, methods of genome editing to disable particular genes in mice have been established, but there was no similar success with primates.
The team, including Erika Sasaki, the head of the CIEA's Marmoset Research Department, and Hideyuki Okano, a professor of physiology at Keio University, believes that their technique can be applied to design marmoset models with different types of genetic disorders, which will speed research for humans as the common marmoset has a closer gene makeup to humans than mice.
“It will allow us to edit genome more efficiently,” Sasaki said. “(The genetically modified marmoset models) will help researchers unravel the causes of and develop treatment methods for psychological and neurological disorders that are difficult to study in mice.”
In the experiments, the team destroyed genes that relate to the immune system in the fertilized ova of common marmoset using genome editing technology and transferred grown embryos to the wombs of mother monkeys.
Eight of nine babies born from the implanted embryos developed immunodeficiency, which confirmed that the targeted genes were successfully destroyed.
At least two of the babies have survived more than a year after birth. The team confirmed the same genetic modification is evident in semen sampled from the model, meaning that the modification is possibly inheritable.

Ref: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607010071.html
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