According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan has traditionally relied on coffee imports, but a steady rise in consumption has led one company to start growing the crop domestically in the hope of selling the beans for use in a premium version of the beverage.
Ajinomoto AGF, a subsidiary of Japanese food giant Ajinomoto, plans to sell one ton of the first homegrown beans in 2022.
Ajinomoto AGF President Hideaki Shinada said the company hopes to offer "Tokunoshima coffee," grown on the eponymous island in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima. The average annual temperature there is about 22 C with rainfall of around 2,000 mm, which makes it perfect for growing coffee.
Coffee consumption in Japan has risen to 470,213 tons in 2018 from 420,932 ton in 2011,according to All Japan Coffee Association, in part thanks to sales in convenience chain stores. Bottled coffee is particularly popular in Japan.
Ajinomoto AGF will plant 4,000 trees in 2020, 8,000 in 2021 and 15,000 in 2022. Ten different kinds of trees will be planted.
The company will test the different beans and plans to open a second plantation in March. It also plans to use equipment against adverse weather and fertilizer developed by its parent Ajinomoto.
Ajinomoto AGF hopes that its homegrown coffee will appeal to Japanese consumers, who have been found to prefer locally made products. According to a study by Japan Finance Corp. in January, over 60% of Japanese choose to buy homegrown goods even if their prices are higher.
"Our first target would be to reach domestic consumers in the next 10 to 20 years," Shinada said. In the long term, the company hopes to export to Asia.
Its biggest competitor, Nestle, has also started planting coffee trees in Okinawa prefecture in Kyushu in April. The coffee giant planted 240 trees in Nago city and hopes to harvest 200 kg of beans or about 10,000 cups, in 2022 at the earliest.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Ajinomoto-unit-grows-coffee-trees-in-Japan-as-consumption-rises

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/agf-22
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan intends to devote 220 billion yen (US$ 2.03 billion) to encourage private-sector research and development of technology that will succeed fifth-generation wireless communications.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government plans to create the fund as part of an economic stimulus package, Nikkei has learned. The stimulus proposal will be finalized early next month.
Japan is due to launch 5G service commercially next year, but domestic companies trail Chinese and South Korean peers in that field.
Some Japanese companies already have begun development of so-called 6G technology, which is expected to produce data transfer speeds 1,000 times faster than current networks. To support the research, Tokyo will create the fund under the state-backed New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.
The fund will collaborate with industries such as chipmaking, telecommunications, automotive and industrial machinery on R&D for state-of-the-art semiconductors and technology for associated systems. The effort will last three to five years, beginning in April with the new fiscal year.
The economic stimulus package will be Japan's first since 2016. The Abe government, hedging against risks to the economy, is focusing on support following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, investments into growth sectors and response to natural disasters.
Tokyo also will encourage domestic businesses to expand overseas. A framework dedicated to offshore mergers and acquisitions, as well as infrastructure investment, will be created within the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. By June 2021, roughly 4 trillion yen worth of public and private funds will be prepared to support companies seeking to develop overseas markets.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-readies-2bn-to-support-industry-research-on-6G-tech

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5g-2200 
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According to The Renew Economy, State and federal energy ministers in Australia on Friday have adopted the National Hydrogen Strategy, prepared by chief scientist Alan Finkel, but serious questions remain over whether it will position Australia as a “green hydrogen” leader, as hoped by some, or if it will instead be used as another prop for the coal industry and carbon capture technology.
Japan and South Korea have both established targets for growing their use of hydrogen, particularly in transport and industrial uses. With the ability for hydrogen to be produced using renewable electricity, it provides a pathway to decarbonising sectors beyond the electricity sector.
“An Australian hydrogen industry could generate thousands of jobs, many of them in regional areas. It could add billions of dollars to GDP over coming decades,” the strategy says.
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https://reneweconomy.com.au/finkels-national-hydrogen-strategy-gets-green-light-but-could-be-lifeline-for-coal-69939/

​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1087195
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a research team has found that applying zebra-like pattern to the bodies of cattle helps stave off flies and their irritating bites, potentially curbing the spread of disease.
For bovines on stock farms, such a measure, unusual as it may appear, would also help lower stress in the animals, according to scientists from the Aichi Agricultural Research Center and Kyoto University.
"Productivity is crucial for livestock farmers, so I want the method to be of help not only in Aichi Prefecture, but also across Japan," said Tomoki Kojima, a chief researcher at the cattle lab in the center’s Animal Husbandry Division.
Kojima learned that livestock farmers have been troubled by their animals being bitten by insects when he worked in a section that supports people who raise domestic animals.
The horsefly, stable fly and other such bugs can cause leukemia and other conditions, while the pain and itchiness can increase stress in cows, leading to insufficient growth.
Having read a treatise showing how a zebra's stripe pattern drives away bugs, Kojima started an experiment after being deployed to his current lab. He took images of the animal at the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya’s Chikusa Ward with his family to study its design,
In the study, one cow was painted like a zebra with white spray paint, one was given black stripes, and the third was left as it is to confirm which received more bug bites.
After the animals were tethered to a fence for 30 minutes, one side of their body was photographed to count the number of insects on the skin.
The results showed that 128 and 111 bugs were found on average on the surface of the non-treated and black-striped cows, respectively.
However, the zebra-patterned one was assaulted by just 56 insects, about half the number.
Kojima noted that the stripe design apparently makes it difficult for flies to land on the skin. He is currently researching how to prevent the stripe from fading between June and October, when horseflies and other biting insects are active.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201911210012.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6626791
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz says the residential property downturn has "passed the bottom", and the company expects the turning tide to translate into sales in due course.
Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said home sales inquiries have increased across all of Mirvac's projects and that there were "now clear signs of improvement" in the Sydney and Melbourne residential markets.
Mirvac has moved into its next phase of residential development, buying up new land sites in Sydney and Melbourne.
In Melbourne, the company struck a deal with construction materials giant Boral to develop a 171-hectare quarry site at Wantirna South in Melbourne into a 1700-lot housing community.
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https://www.afr.com/property/residential/the-residential-market-has-passed-the-bottom-mirvac-20191119-p53bw1
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If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/3035004
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan's north-eastern prefecture of Fukushima, devastated during the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, is looking to transform itself into a renewable energy hub.
A plan is under way to develop 11 solar power plants and 10 wind power plants in the prefecture, on farmlands that cannot be cultivated anymore and mountainous areas from where population outflows continue.
The total cost is expected to be in the ballpark of 300 billion yen, or US$ 2.75 billion, until the fiscal year ending in March 2024.
The government-owned Development Bank of Japan and private lender Mizuho Bank are among a group of financiers that have prepared a line of credit to support part of the construction cost.
The power generation available is estimated to be about 600 megawatts, or equivalent to two-thirds of a nuclear power plant. The produced electricity will be sent to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The plan also envisions the construction of an 80-km wide grid within Fukushima to connect the generated power with the power transmission network of Tokyo Electric Power Co. That part of the project is expected to cost 29 billion yen.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Energy/Fukushima-to-be-reborn-as-2.7bn-wind-and-solar-power-hub

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5319239
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Mike Henry knew he wanted to work for BHP a decade before he joined the company. But as CEO, he will face some tough calls.
Mike Henry was 25 years old when he first came across BHP.
After a stint teaching English in Japan, where he met his wife of 30 years, Henry landed a job back in his hometown in Vancouver with the Japanese trading giant Mitsubishi.
"I still remember all the materials I was looking at, the people I was speaking with,” Henry recalled on Thursday. “I still remember now just how impressed I was at the time. I knew then that this was a company I wanted to work for.
“Almost 30 years on, to be afforded the opportunity to run BHP is pretty special."
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https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/mike-henry-s-30-year-journey-to-bhp-s-top-job-20191114-p53aoz

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/bhp6522155 
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo is partnering with two robotics startups to automate the last tasks still handled by human workers at its warehouses, a process that the company hopes to complete within five years.
The company signed strategic global partnership agreements with Mujin of Japan and France's Exotec Solutions, parent company Fast Retailing announced, the latest step in a 100 billion yen (US$ 917 million) supply chain transformation project launched last year.
Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai said the company will leverage the startups' technology to achieve full automation at its warehouses "within three to five years."
Uniqlo has already made strides toward this goal. In October 2018, it partnered with Daifuku, a Japanese material-handling equipment company, to help automate its flagship Ariake warehouse in Tokyo. The number of workers at the warehouse has since been slashed by 90%.
One step that still requires human hands, however, is selecting and packaging items to be shipped to customers or stores.
To automate that process, Mujin will provide an AI-equipped robot controller that enables industrial robots to "think and move on their own," said Mujin CEO Issei Takino. "We can keep creating innovation together with Fast Retailing."
Exotec Solutions, founded in 2015, produces small robots that can climb up to 10 meters and collect items from racks. The company has sold its robots to French e-commerce and grocery giants including Carrefour and Cdiscount and aims to double its robot production to 1,000 next year.
Fast Retailing produces 1.3 billion item of clothing yearly and sells them at 3,500 stores in 26 countries and regions. A more flexible and responsive supply chain has become critical for the company as its expands and strives to meet growing demand across diverse markets.
As part of its supply chain transformation project, Uniqlo last year partnered with Accenture and Google to develop a demand forecasting system.
Uniqlo is also aiming to cut down on waste and aims to become a company that "does not produce, carry or sell wasteful things," Takuya Jimbo, Group Executive Vice President of Fast Retailing, told a news conference. To this end, the company will build-up systems to produce clothes based on market trends and then agilely deliver them to the stores and consumers.
"In terms of sustainability, we will make clothes that are [only] truly necessary for customers," Yanai said.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Retail/Uniqlo-taps-robot-startups-to-take-humans-out-of-its-warehouses

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9258496 

According to The Asahi Shimbun, a car that floats on water is expected to go on sale next year in Japan, with the company behind the electric minivehicle hoping it will save lives during floods and other disasters.
The semi-amphibious FOMM One was developed by a start-up launched by an engineer who was shocked to see so many vehicles engulfed by the tsunami triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
The compact car, which can also travel on water at a speed of 2 to 3 kph, went on display at Tokyo Motor Show 2019 from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4 at Tokyo Big Sight, in the waterfront district of Ariake.
Kawasaki-based FOMM Corp. was founded in 2013 by Hideo Tsurumaki, who was involved in the development of a motorbike at Suzuki Motor Corp. and the small electric model Coms at Toyota Auto Body Co.
Tsurumaki said he decided to start his own business after seeing motorists in cars swept away by the tsunami or failing to escape due to traffic jams in the 2011 disaster. At the time, he said he wanted to create a car that could float.
The FOMM One, measuring 2.6 meters long and weighing 620 kilograms, can accommodate up to three passengers other than a driver. With a recharge time of 7.5 hours, it can travel up to 166 kilometers under normal road conditions on a single charge. Its maximum speed is 80 kph.
When roads are flooded, FOMM One can travel on water to escape to safety, though it is not designed for prolonged use in water.
The wheels have blades to absorb water and discharge it to the rear, allowing the vehicle to travel on the surface of the water. To secure sufficient space for the legs and feet of motorists, the accelerator is operated with a device on the steering wheel.
The company unveiled the FOMM One in March 2018.
In November that year, the company started accepting orders for the model, priced at 2.2 million yen (US$ 20,200), in Thailand, which is frequently hit by floods. While it began mass-producing the car in March 2019, orders for 1,600 units have come in as of late October, according to FOMM representatives.
FOMM is looking to pitch the minivehicle to Japanese consumers between March and April next year.
With torrential rain and typhoons causing flooding in many parts of Japan in recent months, FOMM has received an increasing number of inquiries from local governments and people who live in coastal areas.
"We've just finished preparations at long last," said Tsurumaki. "During an emergency, the FOMM One can be used to avoid being submerged in water. I hope to see it on streets across Japan."

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201911150003.html
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/4625063

According to The Australian Financial Review, the Australian start-up makes products from construction rubble otherwise destined for landfill, which is retrieved from building sites and pulverised before being transformed into stone paper.
Karst has since 2017 produced a range of notebooks made from a material known as 'stone paper', which requires none of the tree-felling or intense water use of traditional wood pulp paper.
At $25 for a single A5 size notebook, the environmental savings make Karst costly compared to A5 notebook competitors, available at Officeworks for as little as $2.
However, Karst co-founder Jonathan Tse said that corporate gifting from clients keen to show an eco-friendly face, including Dermalogica, Facebook and WeWork, had become a major revenue driver.
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https://www.afr.com/companies/manufacturing/start-up-makes-paper-from-construction-rubble-20191113-p53a79

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9373822 
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