Airport Automated Face Recognition Tests Begin

A facial recognition test program began at automated gates for immigration at Narita and Kansai airports on Monday. In the tests, the faces of incoming and outbound travellers will be automatically checked against passport photographs at the immigration gates. The tests target Japanese travellers and are intended to improve the performance of the automated gate system. One such gate is installed at each of four international airports--Haneda, Narita, Central Japan and Kansai. The system has so far checked travellers’ fingerprints for identification.

4 Held Over Software to Copy DVDs

Four employees, including one executive, of a Tokyo-based publisher were arrested Tuesday for allegedly selling a DVD-copying guidebook bundled with software able to remove DVDs' copy protection. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Yoshiaki Kaizuka, 43, an executive of Chiyoda Ward publisher Sansai Books Inc., and three other company employees on suspicion of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, and sent papers on the firm to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. According to a senior police official, these are the nation's first arrests over the distribution of software to remove copy protection.

Visit Ancient Temples of Japan with Google's World Wonders Project

A new site from Google puts its Street View tools to work to showcase some of the most storied and beautiful places on Earth. Google unveiled this morning a new undertaking from its Cultural Institute called the World Wonders Project. On the site, viewers can explore a map with pins marking famed places around the world and then, aided by visuals from Google's Street View technology, they can go in and explore "in 360 degrees just as if you were there." The project currently includes 132 destinations from 18 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. No sites from Africa have yet been included, and the offerings from South America and Asia are noticeably sparse. Google did not say how it had made decisions about what to highlight, but that the selection would expand over time. Partners including UNESCO and World Monuments Fund provided information that runs alongside the virtual destinations.

74 people visit eye clinics after observing eclipse

TOKYO — MAY. 22, 2012 - 04:00PM JST  At least 74 people sought help for eye problems at eye clinics in 18 prefectures across Japan after observing the annular solar eclipse on Monday, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society reported on its website Tuesday. Doctors and education officials had warned of eye injuries from improper viewing beforehand. Education Minister Hirofumi Hirano demonstrated the use of eclipse glasses in a televised news conference on the weekend. The society said most of the complaints were solar retinopathy due to not properly using special protective glasses. Of the 74, 16 were children younger than 12.

PayPal, Softbank to Form Japan Joint Venture, Launch PayPal Here Service

PayPal and Softbank said Wednesday they will form a new joint venture to pursue online transactions business in the country. The two companies said they will each invest ¥1 billion (US$12.5 million) in the newly established firm PayPal Japan which will be a 50:50 joint venture. The companies also said they would launch PayPal Here, a platform that uses small card swiping attachments to allow smartphones to be used as mobile credit card readers, in Japan. For Softbank, which owns Yahoo Japan, a portal with dominant domestic auction and shopping properties, the deal will provide access to an established global e-payment platform. Yahoo Japan is largely independent from its troubled cousin in the U.S.

EU and Japan to Make the Internet Safer for Children

Europe and Japan will work together on a strategy to make the Internet safer for children and teenagers. The new strategy was announced by Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Wednesday. On Thursday, she met with Tatsuo Kawabata, Japanese minister for Internal affairs and Communications to discuss how the European Union and Japan could collaborate on such plans. Although the strategy is for industry self regulation, the digital agenda spokesman said in an email that the European Commission would intervene if self regulation does not deliver. However "a regulation-only approach would fail," he said. Apple, BSkyB, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netlog, Nintendo, Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung and Vodafone have all signed up to the initiative, which aims to improve content for children and create a safer online environment.

Sumida River to light up with LED fireflies

By MAAYA KONAGAI Staff writer Japan isn't a difficult place to live. If you want to eat Mexican food, there are Mexican restaurants. If you want to buy brand-name British clothes, there are shops and websites that deliver. So Tokyo Hotaru Festival asks the question: What does Tokyo, where you can get anything, really need now? The answer, organizers say, has to do with a return to the past. Long ago, the Sumida River, which runs through Tokyo's east end, was one of the life sources of the community. The Hotaru Festival will try to draw attention to an effort by locals to beautify the river and its precincts. As May 5 is Children's Day in Japan, there will be a lot of activities for families to do by the river.

Scam websites on the rise across Japan

Online scams in which victims are deceived into taking part in long friendly e-mail conversations that eventually cause them to lose money are increasing rapidly across Japan. The websites, many of which are paid online dating or job-hunting sites that are based on e-mail exchanges, have been collectively labeled "sakura (decoy) websites" due to the means their operators use to scam their victims. When people register to one of these websites, they are later approached by a "user" of the website, who is actually a decoy. In a series of e-mails, the victims are tricked into endless "friendly" talks. The victims are not aware at the time that the more e-mails they exchange with the decoy, the more money they are later demanded to pay for using the websites. Among common deception techniques "sakura websites" use is making people believe that those they exchange e-mail with wish to befriend them or that they have enough money to invest in their businesses or projects if they become acquainted. That tricks them into sending as many e-mails as possible, which the operators of the scam websites make money from.

Toshiba exits mobile phone business

Toshiba Corp. has pulled out of the mobile phone business by selling its 19.9 percent stake in Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications Ltd. to Fujitsu Ltd., the two companies said Monday. The company, which sells and markets mobile handsets, was originally set up in October 2010 by taking over Toshiba's mobile phone operations. It has since been renamed Fujitsu Mobile Communications Ltd. and is now under the full control of Fujitsu. The Regza Phone and some other Smartphone under the Toshiba brand will continue to be sold by Fujitsu Mobile for the time being, they said. Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120403a8.html

Japanese computer programming language Ruby approved as global standard

The computer programming language Ruby, invented by a Japanese, has been approved by the International Organization for Standardization as a global standard, the government's Information-technology Promotion Agency said Monday. Ruby, conceived by software engineer Yukihiro Matsumoto in 1993, is a scripting language that executes tasks for software and runs on Unix, Dos, Windows and Mac operating systems. Matsumoto, a fellow at Network Applied Communication Laboratory Ltd., said he welcomes the decision and hopes for the further spread of the programming language.                                      Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120403p2g00m0dm049000c.html

Toshiba exits mobile phone business

Toshiba Corp. has pulled out of the mobile phone business by selling its 19.9 percent stake in Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications Ltd. to Fujitsu Ltd., the two companies said Monday. The company, which sells and markets mobile handsets, was originally set up in October 2010 by taking over Toshiba's mobile phone operations. It has since been renamed Fujitsu Mobile Communications Ltd. and is now under the full control of Fujitsu. The Regza Phone and some other Smartphone under the Toshiba brand will continue to be sold by Fujitsu Mobile for the time being, they said. Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120403a8.html

Official cherry blossom fete nixed

The government will cancel a cherry blossom viewing party in Tokyo scheduled for April 14 following North Korea's announcement that it plans to launch a rocket, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Friday. The government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made the decision "to prepare for any contingencies," Fujimura said. Last week, Pyongyang announced it plans to launch a "satellite" from April 12-16 to mark the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, on April 15. The event at Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is held annually but also was cancelled last year due to the March 2011 natural and nuclear disasters. Around 10,000 luminaries would have attended the event hosted by Noda, including members of the Imperial family, the Cabinet, diplomats and other invitees from various fields.

Facebook reaches 10M in Japan, doubles users in 6 months

Facebook is 10 million monthly active users strong in Japan, the company announced today at a marketing conference in Tokyo. This figure indicates Facebook has about 10 percent penetration among Japanese Internet users and is quickly gaining on Mixi, Japan’s most popular social network. Mixi reported in February that it has 15.2 million monthly active users. Japan is one of the few countries where Facebook has lower than 20 percent penetration. Russia and South Korea are others, as well as China where Facebook is banned. But Facebook is growing rapidly in Japan. The latest MAU figures are double the 5 million the social network reported in September 2011. Facebook got serious about Japan in 2010, and developed a number of initiatives to increase usage there. The social network began to let users syndicate their Facebook posts on Mixi. It created a job search app for university students. And it prompted users to complete “missions” to fill out their profiles. Judging from a graph shown at fMC Tokyo, Facebook had about 1 million MAU at the start of 2010 and 2 million in 2011.

YouTube Ferrari driver in Japan faces speeding charges

A doctor in Japan has landed himself in trouble with the police after posting footage of his drive in a Ferrari sports car on YouTube. He is facing charges of exceeding the speed limit after the footage showed him driving at 124km/h (77mph) in a 40km/h (25mph) zone, police say. The 50-year-old doctor, from Okawa in Fukuoka Prefecture, was reported to police by angry YouTube users. He reportedly said he "wanted people to understand the beauty of a Ferrari". The six-minute video is titled "Ferrari 458 Italia Drive in Japan 2011" in Japanese, and was filmed using a camera positioned behind the driver. It shows the car leaving an underground car park and driving along highways and coastal roads in Fukuoka, southern Japan, on the morning of 24 April 2011.

Anti-nuke protests erupt in Japan

Thousands of antinuclear protesters took to the streets of Tokyo and other cities Sunday, the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. Near the head office of Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the crippled complex, demonstrators called for the country to abandon nuclear power and restore the prefecture, where more than 100,000 residents were forced to relocate. In Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, some 16,000 people attended an antinuclear gathering in the city and called for scrapping all of Japan's 54 commercial reactors, which provided a third of its electricity before the Fukushima disaster.

Robot built to explore nuclear plant

The Yomiuri Shimbun - A Tokyo company has developed a small, highly mobile robot that will be sent into the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to take photos inside reactor buildings and measure radiation levels. Topy Industries Ltd. said the "Survey Runner" robot will be used to help with repair work at the plant after checking its performance and other details. The Survey Runner is expected to be able to maneuver around areas where other robots could not. It can even go up and down steep, wet stairs--an essential feature because coolant water has been injected into the reactors since the crisis at the plant began--and can turn around in a space just 70 centimeters square.

The Weekend Xbox Japan Conquered Akihabara

On a chilly afternoon this past weekend, well over 100 people waited in line in Akihabara to see Microsoft’s “Xbox 360 Kansyasai in Akiba” (Xbox 360 Festival of Thanks in Akihabara). The event was a joint effort between Microsoft and Capcom, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Japanese release of the original Xbox (February 22nd, 2002), and to promote some of the upcoming titles to the Xbox 360. Aside from game demo machines, the event included a raffle, on-stage interviews, and demonstrations for Dragon’s Dogma, Crimson Dragon, Diabolical Pitch, Biohazard Operation Raccoon City and Steel Battalion.

Across Japan with just a Smartphone for money

Most of us don't leave the house without checking that we have our keys, wallet and phone. But soon our pockets may be a little lighter. New technology will let us leave our wallets behind and pay for goods and services with our mobile phones. But mobile-wallets have now been available in Japan for more than six years, so it is an ideal place to see how this technology works. Over 70 million people in Japan own tap-and-go phones, and their use is on the rise. The country's rulers and other vested interests have pushed the new technology hard so a robust network is now in place. However, despite the availability of this technology, this is still a country that loves cash – and plastic cards, particularly the dreaded foreign visa/debit card, can be looked on askance.

Japan will have a space elevator by 2050

It might be the stuff of science fiction dreams, but a Japanese construction company has announced that it will build a working space elevator by 2050. According to the Daily Yomiuri, construction company Obayashi Corp has announced it will build a space elevator capable of shuttling passengers 36,000 kilometers above the Earth by 2050. The company plans to use carbon nanontubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, to produce the cables required for the elevator. Those cables will be stretched to a counterweight 96,000 kilometers above our planet, about one-fourth of the distance between the Earth and the moon. The terminal station, 36,000 kilometers above Earth, will be reached by cars that can carry 30 people and travel at 200 kilometers per hour. Source:  http://gizmodo.com/5887210/japan-will-have-a-space-elevator-by-2050

VOCABULARY

1.       Stuff (n) - exactly the kind of that dream

2.       Fiction (n) - something that people want you to believe is true but which is not true

3.       Shuttling (v) - to move people from one place to another place  

4.       Cable (n) – rope or wire for support

5.       Counterweight (n) - a weight that is as heavy as something else, so that the two objects can balance

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What can you say about the article?

2.       What do you think is the purpose of this space elevator?

3.       Would you ride on this elevator? Why? Why not?

4.       Talk about science fictions.

5.       Were you ever interested in studying about space?

Japan shuts down nuclear reactor

Japan on Monday began a process that will see another one of the country's nuclear reactors go offline, leaving just two of 54 in operation. Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO), the largest utility firm after Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), began lowering power generation in unit three at the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, a KEPCO spokeswoman said. The reactor is expected to be shut down completely by midnight, leaving all 11 reactors around the country owned by KEPCO idle, she said. The move comes on the day that Japan announced a record trade deficit in January as fuel imports soared for the resource-poor nation following the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March. Before the accident, which was caused by a deadly earthquake and tsunami, Japan had relied for one third of its power supply on nuclear energy. But power companies including KEPCO, which provides electricity to the major western cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, have not been able to resume reactors after inspection due to the safety concerns of local residents. Once the Takahama reactor goes offline it will leave one unit operational at TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in central Japan and one at the Tomari plant in northern Hokkaido. Those two units are expected to be closed down for inspection by late April. Source: http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/94812.php

VOCABULARY

1.       Nuclear Reactors(n) - a large machine that produces nuclear energy, especially as a means of producing electricity

2.       Generation(v) - to produce heat, electricity, or another form of energy

3.       Deficit(n) - the difference between the amount of something that you have and the higher amount that you need

4.       Relied(v) - to depend on something in order to continue to live or exist

5.       Resume(v) - to start doing something again after stopping or being interrupted

6.       Inspection(n) - a careful examination of something to find out more about it or to check for anything wrong

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What is nuclear energy?

2.       Discuss about the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

3.       What are the effects of radiation?

4.       What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power plant?

5.       After the nuclear crisis in Japan, are you in favour of nuclear energy? Explain.