ILEA000021392: (1)Major quakes jolt Hokkaido

Powerful quake rocks northeastern Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News plane shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture on March 17, 2022. Japan's nuclear regulator said data shows no abnormalities with reactors and facilities at the complex after a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit off northeastern Japan late March 16.

Kelp harvesting season

NEMURO, Japan Kyodo - Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 2, 2021. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's harvesting season started.

Japan after lifting of coronavirus state-of-emergency

Photo taken at a port on Sado Island off Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, on June 6, 2020, shows a ferryboat that links the island with the mainland. The number of ferry passengers has fallen following the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Test plant that started operation at Subaru

SUBARU (Shikokuchuo City, Ehime Prefecture) will make a full-scale entry into the business of paramylon nanofiber (PNF), which is made from paramylon, a unique ingredient of fruit fly. The company plans to build a production system aiming at an annual production of 1,000 tons in five to seven years. The company will use an indoor facility to stably cultivate a highly proliferative greenbug strain discovered by Professor Masahiro Hayashi of Miyazaki University, the University of Miyazaki. (Photo taken on May 14, 2020, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Oita Prefecture's experiment in using drones to deliver packages to remote islands

With the participation of local companies, the project aims to be put to practical use as a mechanism for dealing with the logistics and shopping needs of the aging population in remote island areas. A single-rotor drone provided by ciRobotics (Oita City) was used in the experiment. S.T.K. Technology (same) installed a luggage storage box equipped with a drone port on a solid island. Oita Prefecture has been conducting drone verification experiments in mountainous areas and other areas, but this is the first time the maritime route has been used. There are no shops or clinics on Mukujima, and the island is served by a regular service that makes one or two round trips a day, six days a week, but the annual cost of the service exceeds 10 million yen. (March 19, 2020, Tsukumi City, Oita Prefecture; Credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

Drone delivery to remote island in Japan

A drone carrying a box of commodities takes off from Shima in Mie Prefecture, central Japan, for a remote island on Jan. 10, 2020, during a demonstration of home delivery service for the islanders. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

NEC's vector-based simulated annealing machine

NEC is making a full-scale entry into the quantum computing domain. From April to June 2020, the company will launch a co-creation service to solve combinatorial optimization problems, including the use of annealing machines that employ the SX Aurora Tsubasa vector supercomputer. Prior to this, the company will establish a new 20-person Quantum Computing Promotion Office in January 2008 to promote the development of applications and technologies through joint demonstrations with customers. The company plans to invest about 1 billion yen in Canada's D-Wave Systems for collaboration. On the other hand, the quantum annealing system will be based on a domestically developed machine jointly developed with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and D-wave, which will be a collaborative partner. The joint development with AIST is currently verifying the operation of a basic quantum cell. Photo taken on December 20, 2019, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

Orevo, a convenience store, has introduced an AI-based automatic checkout system for side dishes.

In the convenience store industry, where intensifying competition has been combined with a shortage of labor, the three major companies are workingto demonstrate unmanned cash registers and review 24-hour operations. In such a situation, Ishida (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City), a long-established weighing scale manufacturer, has teamed up with Orebo, a regional convenience store in Fukui Prefecture, to develop a new system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to save labor at the cash register. The price of the system, excluding consumption tax, is about 3 million yen. Although it is more expensive than Ishida's regular scales, it is expected to save labor in processing and cooking areas of supermarkets in addition to stores that handle side dishes, and inquiries are strong. Photo taken on November 13, 2019, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

Large-scale equipment developed by Rinashimetari

Rinashimetari (Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City) has developed a large-scale device that uses metal processing heat treatment technology. It can handle bars up to 70 mm in diameter, and heats and shears the metal to increase its strength. The company aims to use the equipment for processing parts for aircraft and railroads, as well as frames for small electric vehicles (EVs). The technology used in the equipment is called "RMA-CREO," which heats metal bars at high frequency, rapidly cools both ends, and then applies torsion and shearing to refine the crystal grains. The equipment will be installed by Mimatsu (Chikushino City, Fukuoka Prefecture) at its Yosu Plant (Chikuzen Town, Fukuoka Prefecture), and Mimatsu will undertake the production. (Mimatsu's Yasu Plant in Chikuzen-cho, Fukuoka Prefecture, November 11, 2019; Credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

P&G's Joy Ocean Plastic kitchen detergent

Procter & Gamble (P&G) Japan will launch Joy Ocean Plastic in early November, a product made by recycling marine plastic waste and turning it into kitchen detergent containers. About 6 tons of plastic washed up on the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture was collected, processed, and used to make 25% of a kitchen detergent bottle. The content of the detergent is the same as the conventional product, and the production scale is 550,000 bottles. The sales price is open. P&G has been focusing on reducing environmental impact as part of its sustainability efforts, and this initiative was taken in response to the global problem of marine plastic waste. P&G Japan President Stanislav Becerra explained, "We want to play a role as a lighthouse in the daily necessities industry, making consumers aware of the garbage problem and leading to solutions. Photo taken on November 6, 2019, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

(1)Major quakes jolt Hokkaido

KUSHIRO, Japan - Grave stones at a cemetery in Kushiro, Hokkaido, collapse after two powerful quakes, one with a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale, jolted Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido on Sept. 26. (Kyodo)

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