Daily Japan Headlines: Wednesday, Sept 14, 2011
Photo Source: Christian Science Monitor
Uncanny Valley: Will we ever learn to live with artificial humans?
At certain angles, the machine could easily be mistaken for a Japanese woman. Once it starts moving, however, the illusion is shattered. Repliee has perhaps the most sophisticated set of motors and joints in an android to date. Yet it’s still obviously a machine.
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THERE are many heroes in post 3/11 Japan. The mayor of Rikuzentakata, who ensured the safety of city residents only for his wife to perish, is one, as are the Tokyo firefighters who streamed up to Fukushima to spray water on the out-of-control reactors. But among those who deserve honour is also a humble bureaucrat at the trade ministry. In a system that prizes remaining nameless, faceless and not rocking the boat, Shigeaki Koga chose to step forward and reveal some of Japan’s ugliest secrets.
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In Big Global Push, Uniqlo Aims for Retail Gold
The head of Fast Retailing Co. said Wednesday his company will sharply accelerate overseas expansion of its Uniqlo stores in a bid to become the world’s top apparel manufacturer and retailer.
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Releasing 70,000 Psychiatric Patients Shows Japan Debt Task
“The only thing the government has in mind is cutting medical costs,” said Yugo Miyata, who runs Yokohama Camellia Hospital on the outskirts of Tokyo. “If hospitals force out 70,000 patients immediately, we must be ready for several thousand of them to be homeless on the street.”
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Japan Plans Floating Wind Power Plant to Help Rebuild Fukushima
Japan plans to build floating wind power turbines off the Fukushima coast to help reconstruct the region devastated by this year’s earthquake and tsunami.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will spend as much as 20 billion yen ($260 million) on a pilot project of six 2-megawatt wind turbines, Masanori Sato, an official in charge of promoting clean energy, said by phone. The feasibility study will run through March 2016 before a possible larger wind farm.
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Ishikawa fined by Japanese Tour despite earthquake relief fundraising efforts
Ryo Ishikawa’s efforts to raise money for the Japanese earthquake relief fund may have been hit after he was fined £16,500 by the Japanese Tour for pulling out of two tournaments.
Japan’s golfing superstar is giving his entire earnings for 2011 to the fund, which was set up after the huge quake and tsunami devastated the east coast of the country earlier this year. Ishikawa will also add a further £750 for every birdie he makes this season.
The Japan Golf Tour Organisation took a dim view of the 19-year-old’s decision to withdraw from the Kansai Open in August and last week’s Toshin tournament, which he missed for the second year running, citing a sore shoulder.
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