According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan looks to partner with the private sector to develop biodegradable plastic that causes little harm to the oceans, Nikkei has learned, as Tokyo encourages an environmental push both domestically and worldwide.
The proposal forms part of a campaign to rid the sea of plastic waste, and the overall plan will be presented Friday to cabinet members at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office.
Japan wants to focus on the burgeoning level of ocean plastic pollution during the Group of 20 gathering next month in Osaka. About 300 million tons of waste plastic are produced every year, the United Nations says, and estimates show that 8 million to 12 million tons end up in the oceans annually.
The Japanese plan calls for a public-private partnership to develop plastic material that creates minimal environmental impact on the oceans. Such material might dissolve in seawater, for example. This undertaking would include fishing gear, given that a survey by an environmental group found that fishing nets make up 46% of the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which lies between Hawaii and California.
The government also intends to share the plastics plan with attendees of the Tokyo International Conference of African Development, set for late August in Yokohama.
This proposal goes in tandem with Tokyo's goal of recycling all plastic bottles. The state will support installing recycling boxes beside vending machines, and increase the frequency of collections. Pickup of plastic containers left on the ground will be conducted more often. Abe's government plans to offer incentives such as subsidies to get municipalities and other groups on board. Japan recycles plastic bottles at a greater percentage than in the United States or Europe.
Enforcement against pollution will grow stronger nationwide. Local governments organize a week of patrols annually that search for illegal dumping, and this activity will be expanded. Japan also will help emerging nations develop legal frameworks to combat plastic pollution, as well as train monitors in Southeast Asia.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Japan-to-lead-global-push-for-ocean-friendly-plastic

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-g20
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the housing market will rebound early next year with property prices to rise by 3 per cent in 2020 and another 5 per cent in 2021, Capital Economics has forecast.
But before that occurs, dwelling values have another 3 per cent to fall from their current levels, with an accumulative 13 per cent fall from peak to trough expected, the economic research consultancy said.
Australia is in the midst of the largest downturn on record, with property prices across the capital cities having already dropped 9.4 per cent since they peaked in mid 2017.
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https://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/expect-house-prices-to-rise-in-2020-capital-economics-20190529-p51sec

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/20206807732 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a research group in Japan has succeeded in developing “miniature livers,” or organoids, through using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which will greatly assist researchers in developing treatments for liver diseases.
The team, headed by a professor of Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), created organoids that replicate livers as they develop into an inflammatory condition marking the first time that such "organs" were made from iPS cells.
The finding was published in the online Cell Metabolism journal on May 30.
“By creating ‘miniature organs’ from iPS cells, it is possible to reproduce the state of difficult diseases," said Takanori Takebe, professor at the Institute of Research, Division of Advanced Research of TMDU, who headed the research team. "It is likely a technique that can be applicable to diseases of the lungs or intestines in the future.”
The researchers developed a reproducible method to derive multicellular human liver organoids composed of hepatocyte-, stellate-, and Kupffer-like cells, in which inflammation can develop, leading eventually to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a fatty liver disease.
NASH can be developed even though a patient does not drink alcohol. Recently, the number of such cases has increased, and millions of people are thought to be suffering from NASH in Japan.
If the disease progresses, it can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Very little is known about how NASH develops and there is no effective treatment.
The team developed an artificial liver, measuring 0.2 millimeters in diameter, which shows the state of fat accumulating in the liver, similar to what is occurring in a human body.
The researchers placed fatty acid into a miniature liver and it accumulated as fat, making the organ hard, which is the same condition as seen in cirrhosis.
After a certain chemical compound was placed onto the liver, fat was prevented from accumulating. Thus, researchers can seek an effective treatment for NASH through trial and error with livers created from iPS cells.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905310058.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/ips7595040
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, through artificial intelligence, a team of Japanese scientists has developed software to create avatars of crowds of people filmed with a video camera, giving commercial facilities and transportation operators information on congestion and other data in real time.
The technology can identify the clothing colors and motions of shoppers and passers-by to make their graphical representations, and display how many people are in locations as well as what kind of individuals are present. Through the use of avatars, this can be done without invading people's privacy.
Working with the Tokyo-based Japan Image Analysis Association, an electronics maker and other parties, Hironori Yamauchi, a professor of image recognition engineering at Ritsumeikan University’s College of Science and Engineering, invented the software.
“If security cameras are equipped with the software, the congestion degree and atmosphere of stores can be shown in public places without invading people’s privacy,” Yamauchi said. “It is therefore expected to help ease congestion at commercial facilities and roads.”
Under the system, raw images taken by cameras are examined by AI to detect people so that all individuals in the images can be converted into computerized alter egos.
Not only the colors of people’s hair and clothing but also their postures and ways of walking are categorized into groups, enabling those features to be reproduced in the avatars.
Hiroshi Miyanaga, a technology management professor at the graduate school of the Tokyo University of Science, who is well-versed in image processing and commercial use of images, called the invention “the pioneering software among other commercially applicable technologies.”
The research team said it will develop an improved version of the software to reflect filmed individuals’ height, body size and gender in their representations by analyzing such personal features with AI by the summer at the earliest.
Under the system, only characteristics whose collection would not violate the personal information protection law will be displayed so that filmed individuals cannot be identified.
“Introducing multiple cameras to record only avatars will make it possible to display slight changes in the number of passers-by in numerical format in real time,” Miyanaga said. “For example, places that are popular among women can be more promptly spotted and the popularity of shops evaluated quantitatively.
“The technology will thus bring significant value to commercial facilities and real estate agents, as they can currently rely only on employees’ gut instinct and questionnaire surveys.”
Miyanaga also said the new system can be used for a wide range of purposes such as attending online meetings and receiving online counseling services anonymously.
Conventional video camera footage cannot precisely express the depth of space, so existing image analysis systems often fail to track individuals when there are many passers-by around.
The recently developed system can identify and recognize each individual, making it possible to spot a person who leaves a suspicious object behind in crowded areas though the task is difficult for conventional technology, according to the scientists.
The researchers said the new technology can be used to help identify who the avatars represent by closely analyzing limb and body movements of walking people. As individuals can be identified and recognized at lower costs under the method, the research team is also developing a security system separately from the software.
“Cheaper and more precise surveillance mechanisms can be established (based on the new technology),” said Miyanaga. “Because of that, public discussions may be needed over raw image deletion and details of data to be reflected in some fields of application.”
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905260001.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1795900
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According to The Australian Financial Review, convenience chain 7-Eleven has opened its first “cashless and cardless” store in Australia.
The store, which officially launched in Richmond in inner-city Melbourne on Wednesday, has no physical counter and customers shop by choosing physical items from the shelves, scanning the barcode and transacting via the 7-Eleven app linked to a debit or credit card.
The launch follows a trial at Melbourne’s Exhibition Street store, where the app was tested alongside a traditional point of sale system before getting approval.
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https://www.afr.com/business/retail/7-eleven-opens-its-first-cashless-and-cardless-store-in-australia-20190531-p51t2p

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9321290
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Kawasaki Heavy Industries looks to bring the first hydrogen liquefier made by a Japanese company to market around 2020, Nikkei has learned, a development that could spur wider use of the fuel in power generation and cars.
The heavy equipment maker has been developing equipment that liquefies the gas by cooling it to negative 235 C. Although the liquid requires specialized ships to transport, it is high purity and can be immediately used in fuel cells and power plants, according to the company.
Liquefaction allows hydrogen to be transported in bulk by shrinking its volume to one-eight hundredth of its gaseous state. Hydrogen produced as a byproduct overseas -- at a chemical plant, for example -- could be shipped to Japan as clean energy.
Kawasaki Heavy's prototype equipment improves liquefaction efficiency by nearly 20% compared with existing models, and increases daily output to 25 tons from 5 tons. The company will begin selling the equipment after further testing.
Using its expertise in natural gas liquefiers and storage, Kawasaki Heavy will offer everything from tanks to piping for a hydrogen energy supply chain.
Buyers will likely include energy companies. Construction costs for a hydrogen liquefier producing 5 tons daily range from 3 billion yen to 4 billion yen (US$ 27.3 million to US$ 36.3 million), according to Kawasaki Heavy. The company aims for annual hydrogen-related sales of over 100 billion yen in fiscal 2030.
The adoption of hydrogen energy is still to come. The Hydrogen Council, a global initiative led by Royal Dutch Shell and Japan's Toyota Motor, estimates that investments of $190 billion in production and transport infrastructure is needed to create a worldwide "hydrogen society" by 2030.
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Hydrogen-power-in-Japan-poised-for-boost-from-new-supply-tech

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/2737761
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Indian energy giant Adani could begin construction of its controversial $2 billion Carmichael mine within three weeks after the Palaszczuk government announced its final deadlines for environmental approvals.
In what could be the end of a decade-long struggle to gain approvals for the thermal coal mine in central Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday said the deadline for the final two environmental approvals would be resolved by mid-June.
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https://www.afr.com/business/mining/adani-mine-could-start-by-mid-june-20190524-p51qq9

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-62210559

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, stock prices for Japanese and Australian producers of minor metals shot up on Wednesday as investors bet on alternatives to Chinese rare-earth suppliers amid speculation that Beijing could restrict exports to the U.S. as part of the ongoing trade war.
Japan's Toho Titanium and Osaka Titanium Technologies rose 3.8% and 3.6%, respectively, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
"Indirect cash flows through exchange-traded funds [that invest in minor-metal companies] were considered a positive factor as well," said Takehiko Masuzawa of Macquarie Capital Securities (Japan). The VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF fund jumped 5% in the U.S. on Tuesday.
Australian miners Lynas and Pilbara Minerals enjoyed gains of 7.5% and 7.1%, respectively, on Wednesday.
But other analysts do not expect potential export restrictions to provide a boon to minor-metal producers.
The trend was triggered by Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to a rare-earth processing facility in China on Monday. China is the world's largest producer of rare-earth metals and minerals, as well as a processor of rare-earth ores. These materials are used in the production of electronics, electric vehicles and defense equipment.
"Japanese companies deal with products like titanium for use in aircraft, and have little overlap with Chinese players," said Emiri Shigeoka of Daiwa Securities. "They probably will see a limited boost from those seeking alternatives to China."
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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Minor-metal-stocks-gain-on-fears-of-Beijing-rare-earth-ban

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5400298 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, for the 28th straight year, Japan's net assets overseas are larger than any other nation.
The position is calculated by subtracting the value of assets in Japan held by foreigners from the amount abroad owned by the Japanese government, companies and individuals.
For the end of 2018, the net international investment position was 341.556 trillion yen ($3.1 trillion), an increase of 12.254 trillion yen, or 3.7 percent, over 2017.
At the end of 2018, overseas assets held by Japanese reached 1,018.038 trillion yen, an increase of 0.5 percent from the end of 2017. It marked the seventh straight year for record overseas assets. Among the reasons for the increase are direct investments by companies through mergers and acquisitions. The increase is also a sign of the diminishing size of the market in Japan that has forced many companies to look overseas for business opportunities.
The figures on the international investment position were released on May 24 by the Finance Ministry.
The total direct investment overseas at the end of 2018 was 181.704 trillion yen, an increase of 6.563 trillion yen over the previous year.
The amount of assets in Japan held by foreigners was 676.482 trillion yen at the end of 2018, a decrease of 7.58 trillion yen, or 1.1 percent. Much of the decrease was attributed to the falling prices of Japanese stocks held by foreign companies and individual investors.
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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905250045.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-282191651 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, when it comes to diagnosing serious health issues, computers are beginning to outpace human experts. A new study by Google and several medical centres has found the machines are as good as, or better than, doctors at detecting tiny lung cancers on CT scans.
The technology is a work in progress and is not ready for widespread use, but the report, which was published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, offers a glimpse of how artificial intelligence will be used in medicine.
One of the most promising areas is recognising patterns and interpreting images – the same skills humans use to read microscope slides, X-rays, MRIs and other medical scans.
By feeding huge amounts of data from medical imaging into systems called artificial neural networks, researchers can train computers to recognise patterns linked to a specific condition, like pneumonia, cancer or a wrist fracture that would be hard for a person to see. The system follows an algorithm, or set of instructions, and learns as it goes. The more data it receives, the better it becomes at interpretation.
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https://www.afr.com/business/health/google-ai-can-spot-lung-cancer-like-an-expert-20190521-p51pj7

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/ai5716505
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