All posts tagged: Japan

Ample is bringing the first-ever EV battery swap stations to Japan

Ample is bringing the first-ever EV battery swap stations to Japan

EV battery swap specialist Ample has announced it is bringing the first-ever modular swap stations to Japan with the help of partner ENEOS. The first Japanese swap stations will be erected in Kyoto and used by several local fleets. Ample is a California-based startup specializing in modular battery stations that are easy to install and move, all while occupying a minimal footprint. The company’s goal is to help enable 1 billion electric vehicles on roads worldwide someday. That process began win 2021, when Aaple began deploying its first generation of autonomous battery-swapping stations around San Francisco. From there, it gathered valuable data working alongside rideshare companies like Uber and last-mile delivery startup Sally. By May 2023, Ample had introduced its second-generation swap station, adding accommodations for larger EV models while cutting the entire process from ten to five minutes. This led to new OEM collaborations, including a global partnership with Mitsubishi Fuso and, most recently, an agreement to integrate EV battery swap capabilities into passenger vehicles built by Stellantis. Now, Ample is taking its technology international, introducing its battery swap stations …

Japan Moon Probe Survives Second Lunar Night

Japan Moon Probe Survives Second Lunar Night

TOKYO —  Japan’s unmanned moon lander woke up after surviving a second frigid, two-week lunar night and transmitted new images back to Earth, the country’s space agency said Thursday. “We received a response from SLIM last night and confirmed that SLIM had successfully completed its second overnight,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a post on the official X account for its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe. “Since the sun was still high in the sky last night and the equipment was still hot, we recorded images of the usual scenery with the navigational camera, among other activities, for a short period of time,” it added. A black-and-white photo of the rocky surface of a crater accompanied the post on X, formerly Twitter. The SLIM lander touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. Around three hours after the landing — which made Japan only the fifth nation to touch down on the moon — JAXA decided to switch SLIM off with …

Analysis:Bank of Japan may be less dovish than markets think

Analysis:Bank of Japan may be less dovish than markets think

TOKYO : The Bank of Japan has ditched its dovish forward guidance in favour of a more “data-dependent” approach to policy deliberations after ending negative rates, sources say, keeping the door open for another near-term hike in borrowing costs. The BOJ ended eight years of negative rates and unorthodox policy last week, making a historic shift away from decades of massive monetary stimulus. Despite the rate hike, the yen has tumbled more than 1 per cent since the policy pivot, as markets’ dovish reading of the BOJ’s communication reinforced expectations that another rate hike would be some time off. In its decision last week, the BOJ said it “anticipates that accommodative financial conditions will be maintained for the time being”. However, a close look at the BOJ statement shows the bank has made no promise to keep interest rates at current low levels but instead conditionally states that borrowing costs could stay low if economic and price conditions don’t change. “The BOJ has made no commitment about the future rate hike pace,” a source familiar …

Can anyone control AI? – POLITICO

Can anyone control AI? – POLITICO

Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, argued that policing AI was akin to building a plane already in flight — inherently risky and difficult work. Harris trumpeted Washington’s efforts to address the dangers of AI through voluntary business agreements as the world’s gold standard. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, who was also in attendance, urged others to follow Brussels’ new, legally binding rulebook to crack down on the tech.  The debate represented a snapshot of a bigger truth. For the past year, a political fight has been raging around the world, mostly in the shadows, over how — and whether — to control AI. This new digital Great Game is a long way from over. Whoever wins will cement their dominance over Western rules for an era-defining technology. Once these rules are set, they will be almost impossible to rewrite.  For those watching the conversation firsthand, the haggling in the British rain was akin to 19th-century European powers carving up the world. “It felt like an alternate reality,” said Amba Kak, …

U.S. eyes change to military command in Japan as China threat looms: Reuters

U.S. eyes change to military command in Japan as China threat looms: Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) will agree next month to tighter military cooperation, including talks on the biggest potential change to Washington’s East Asia command structure in decades, two sources said. Kiyoshi Ota | AFP | Getty Images U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree next month to tighter military cooperation, including talks on the biggest potential change to Washington’s East Asia command structure in decades, two sources said. Washington will consider appointing a four-star commander to oversee its forces in Japan as a counterpart to the head of a proposed Japanese Self Defense Forces, or SDF, headquarters overseeing all of the country’s military operations, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the plan. Biden and Kishida will unveil their plans when they meet on April 10 in Washington, the Financial Times reported. “We are in discussion about how our planned joint command can strengthen cooperation with the U.S. and South Korea,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday at a regular media briefing when asked about the reports. The agenda for the Biden-Kishida summit has not yet been decided, he …

How to make Japan in Infinite Craft

How to make Japan in Infinite Craft

Japan is super popular in culture at the moment, from the excellent Shogun TV series to Godzilla, Tokyo Vice, Rise of the Ronin, and Ghost of Tsushima, we don’t seem to be able to move for the Land of the Rising Sun. Surely you can make it in Infinite Craft though. Of course you can. How to craft Japan Konnichiwa Infinite Crafters, today we are going to make one of the most popular countries in the game, but one a lot of people seem to be struggling with. We can get there in just over 23 stages and as ever, if you have been playing for a while you probably have some of the needed items in your inventory already, so have a scan through the list first to see if you can save yourself a little work. Earth + Water = Plant Plant + Plant = Tree Earth + Wind = Dust Dust + Tree = Wood Water + Water = Lake Fire + Wood = Campfire Lake + Water = Ocean Campfire + …

North Korea Says Japan’s Prime Minister Proposed Summit

North Korea Says Japan’s Prime Minister Proposed Summit

SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea said Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, made the comments in a state media dispatch. She said Kishida used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person at an early date. Kim Yo Jong said whether to improve bilateral ties hinges on Japan. She said if Kishida sticks to his push to resolve the alleged past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, he cannot avoid criticism that he would only pursue talks to boost his popularity. Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Kishida also wants better ties with North Korea to increase his declining approval rating at home. The U.S. and South Korea have been expanding their military drills and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korea’s provocative run of …

Shōgun: why the English samurai’s life and legacy still grip Japan 400 years on | Japan

Shōgun: why the English samurai’s life and legacy still grip Japan 400 years on | Japan

On a backstreet in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo, between a seafood wholesaler and a jewellery shop, stands a simple monument. It marks the former site, the inscription reads, of the home of William Adams, the first English person to reach Japan, and the inspiration for one of the standout TV series of this year. Though it says Adams rendered “valuable services in foreign affairs”, the memorial is a strangely inconspicuous tribute to a man who, more than 400 years after his death, remains an unbreakable thread running through Anglo-Japanese relations, and whose on-screen portrayal continues to trigger debate. The release this month of the Disney+ series Shōgun has reignited interest in the navigator from Kent whose talents were endless: shipbuilding, gunnery, mathematics, geography, trade negotiation and diplomacy, and, most notable of all, personal skills that saw him become friend and trusted adviser to the feudal warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu. Born in Gillingham in 1564, Adams was the sole Englishman aboard Dutch merchant ship De Liefde when it drifted into Usuki Bay in south-west Japan in …

Iniesta pays additional tax owed in Japan

Iniesta pays additional tax owed in Japan

TOKYO: Andres Iniesta said he has paid additional tax owed in Japan over his failure to declare part of his income, but claimed that he had also declared the earnings in Spain. Spanish World Cup winner Iniesta, who spent five years with Japan’s Vissel Kobe until 2023, was found to have failed to declare approximately 860 million yen (US$5.7 million) in income for 2018, according to public broadcaster NHK and other media. If a foreign player’s contract is for less than one year and they are not accompanied by family members, Japanese authorities classify them as non-residents and they pay less tax than residents, reports said, citing the National Tax Agency. The Osaka regional tax bureau judged that during 2018 Iniesta was a resident as he lived with his family members and was on a multi-year contract. He was issued with an additional tax demand of approximately 580 million yen as a result. “In fiscal 2018, I reported my income from all of the world to taxation authorities in Spain,” Iniesta said in a statement …

North Korea cancels World Cup qualifier against Japan | North Korea

North Korea cancels World Cup qualifier against Japan | North Korea

North Korea has abruptly cancelled its 2026 World Cup qualifying match with Japan next week, leaving organisers frantically searching for an alternative venue. North Korea reportedly decided it would no longer host the match, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, a day before the teams met in Tokyo on Thursday in the first of their two Asian qualifying Group B qualifiers. Minutes after that game, which Japan won 1-0, Kozo Tashima, the president of the Japan Football Association, told reporters that the return match in the North Korean capital would not go ahead. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said the match had been called off due to “unforeseen circumstances”. “The decision, taken in consultation with Fifa and relevant stakeholders, comes after the AFC was informed on 20 March by the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] Football Association of the need to move the match to a neutral venue due to unavoidable circumstances,” it said in a statement on Friday. The AFC did not give a reason for …