Japan

Japanese experts on Tuesday began a discussion on rules for experiments with animal-human embryos, as scientists seek permission for tests that could see human organs produced inside the growing body of an animal. Researchers want to introduce a human stem cell into an animal embryo, to create a so-called "chimeric…

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday that 1,488 were hospitalized for heatstroke nationwide in the week from June 10 to June 16. The agency also said that four deaths had been attributed to heatstroke, Fuji TV reported. The agency said the number hospitalized is 1,000 more than the…

Those of us who blog about tech in Asia do our best to give adequate attention to all parts of the continent, but for various reasons, information about Japan’s startup scene sometimes remains a bit elusive. That’s why we’re glad Rick and the team at SD Japan have created this immensely informative interactive map charting the activity of over 100 Japanese tech firms. The map draws from SD Japan’s own database and organizes companies into broad sectors (like Entertainment or Social) and sub-sectors (such as Mobile Gaming or Photo Sharing). Rolling your mouse over the inner parts of the map reveals the specific sector or sub-sector, and clicking on a specific company within a sub-sector takes you to SD Japan’s database entry page for the firm. There, readers can find links to articles related to the firm in question. The brief demo below shows how the map works. It’s a clever way of organizing information, and provides a far more efficient method for learning about Japan’s tech industry than sorting through tags or relying on search. SD Net’s Japan Internet Map covers 100 companies at the moment, and the site says it may include more if a later update ensues. If you want to catch up on the mobile and internet space in Japan, we definitely recommend you spend a few minutes clicking through this excellent visualization.  Image Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images

Company Opens First Austrian Office WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. - ReachLocal, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLOC), a leader in local online marketing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), announced it has entered its seventh European country with an office in Vienna, Austria, marking the fourteenth country in which ReachLocal operates around the world. “We are continuing to grow our European footprint and help more local businesses throughout Europe acquire, manage and retain customers online” The company chose to expand into Austria because of the SMB market opportunity and consumer adoption of web and mobile search to find and buy local products and services. Austrian consumers have an Internet penetration rate of over70%, spurring SMBs’ use of online marketing solutions to reach them as evidenced by over $560 million spent on online advertising in 2011(1). “We are continuing to grow our European footprint and help more local businesses throughout Europe acquire, manage and retain customers online,” said John Mazur, CEO of ReachLocal Europe. “Austria is an attractive location for expansion with almost 300,000 SMEs in the country that generate $96 billion euros in turnover per annum.” Europe continues to be an important part of the company’s global operations and expansion plans. ReachLocal’s global presence now includes 14 countries. Along with its third-party agencies and resellers, it now includes the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. For more information about ReachLocal, visit http://www.reachlocal.com, follow us at http://www.reachlocal.com/social, or email info@reachlocal.com. (1) https://sites.google.com/site/globalbusinessmap/ About ReachLocal, Inc. ReachLocal, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLOC) develops online marketing and transaction solutions that power local commerce for SMBs, from lead generation and lead conversion to booking and buying. Our global distribution network includes local Internet marketing consultants and service professionals, along with select third-party agencies and resellers throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. ReachLocal is headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif. Subscribe to ReachLocal’s free newsletter to receive news, tips and other online marketing insights. Related articles: ReachLocal and Google Form Global Strategic Partnership Google and ReachLocal Sign First-of-its-Kind Global AdWords™ Agreement to Accelerate... PubMatic Expands Throughout Europe, Introduces International Reporting Technology for Premium Publishers Local Currency Reporting and New Offices Throughout Europe Meet the... Efficient Frontier Expands Its International Footprint with Acquisition of Downstream Marketing Leading Australian Digital Marketing Firm Accelerates International Growth SUNNYVALE, Calif....

Workers smoke cigarettes on the emergency staircase of an office building in Tokyo.

It's so nice to see Sony Studios Japan back in action a bit for the last year or so. It started with a quirky fun little title - Tokyo Japan - and has continued this E3 with the fantastic looking Puppeteer and Rain titles. Rain is made by Acquire and SCEJ and is looking like another fantastic little PSN gem. Rain's story is introduced through some beautiful water color paintings that tell the story of a boy excited to go to a circus. Unfortunately on the day of the circus it begins to rain and it looks like he's in for a day of boredom. As he gazes out into the rain he notices the outline of a young girl and their eyes meet before she is chased off by the outline of a creature. The boy quickly dashes after the two and finds that he too is now invisible. Now he must not only catch up with the girl, but discover how he has become translucent and how he might get back to normal. One thing I love about Rain is how the storyline is told through text that simply appears along with the gameplay. You'll walk along and on the wall you'll see the narration. I believe I saw this first in a Splinter Cell game and I think it's a brilliant way to keep the storyline from getting in the way of the gameplay. Contextual actions like “examine” are also presented in a similar way.This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Lose Yourself in Rain - Preview

We try out the new CatEye Stealth 50 bike computer CatEye Stealth 50 £99.99 cateye.com / zyro.co.uk Cateye’s Stealth unit is barely bigger than a standard wireless computer but both the £79.99 Stealth 10 and £99.99 Stealth 50 have a GPS sensor with a programmable log rate of one, two or five seconds to tune accuracy and battery life. The 50 is also ANT+ enabled to pull data from heart-rate belts and power, cadence and speed sensors. The GPS speed data is impressively accurate and sensor syncing is easy too. The totally sealed unit uses a dock to connect to your PC, where the functional but basic CateyeAtlas site lets you upload rides onto a map or straight onto Facebook, Strava or Training Logs for post-ride analysis. There’s no programmable screen option so the top line is always current speed – irritating if you want to display heart rate and timer together. The power button on the back is a neat idea to stop accidental presses, but can be a pain for pre-ride resets. We also had problems with Mac compatibility in the UK, although we’re assured it works fine in the US and Japan.

In one of the biggest-ever showdowns between an automaker and the government, Chrysler on Tuesday is expected to file papers explaining its refusal to recall 2.7 million older Jeep SUVs that are at risk of catching fire in rear-end collisions. The government says 51 people have suffered fiery deaths in…

Nariman Behravesh is chief economist at economic forecasting and analysis firm IHS and develops the economic outlook and risk analysis for the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and other emerging markets. Harlan Levy: From the most recent data, including robust retail sales, slightly declining consumer confidence, and weak manufacturing, what is keeping the U.S. economy recovering at its subpar pace? Nariman Behravesh: This year the strongest headwind and constraint on growth is the federal spending sequester and also the tax hikes we had at the beginning of the year. When you put those two together they probably reduced the growth rate by one full percentage point. Instead of growing 3 percent we are growing closer to 2 percent right now.The good news is that by and large consumers don't seem that spooked by the sequester, and housing is booming. Between them they're creating a foundation for a pretty solid

It's hard to keep a good fighter down, and even while healing up a broken jaw, UFC Stefan Struve is already eyeing his return to action later this year where he hopes to face a true legend in the sport. Struve is currently spending some time in Los Angeles training and just waiting for a doctor's appointment in a few weeks to hopefully gain clearance to get back into MMA sparring for his return to the Octagon in the late summer or early fall. "The first couple of weeks weren't too good, couldn't really chew or whatever, but from the start, I could eat," Struve told Bleacher Report about his recovery on Monday."I just put it in a blender and eat that way. I thought it would be a lot worse. The worst part was I had to wait nine days for surgery when I got back from Japan because they thought I might have a bacteria with me from the hospital over there, so that was the hardest part, the waiting. The rest, it's healed really good. I go home in two weeks to Holland, and the week after I have an appointment to get cleared. "I plan to be back in September/October, so no need to rush it. That's what I'm looking at, and hopefully, that's going to work." Even in the short time that Struve has been inactive, healing his jaw, the heavyweight division has changed dramatically. Junior dos Santos is once again the top contender in the division, Fabricio Werdum is storming his way up the rankings, and Stipe Miocic, whom Struve defeated in 2012, just put on a dominant performance over top five-ranked heavyweight Roy Nelson. Struve knows, when he jumps back into the fray later this year, the division could be changed yet again, but he's hoping to get back on winning track while facing one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. "A fight I always wanted to have is a fight with Big Nog," Struve said about his desire to face former UFC and Pride champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. "I would still love to have that fight. I think it makes a lot of sense right now since we're both coming off a loss. That's definitely a fight I would love to have around then." Nogueira has been a mainstay around the top 10 of the heavyweight division for more than a decade, and while he is coming off a defeat in his last fight against Werdum at UFC on Fuel 10, Struve knows he's still as dangerous as he's ever been. One thing he wants to make clear, however, is that he doesn't want his desire to face Nogueira to be perceived as a "call out." He wants to face the former champion because it would be an honor to share the Octagon with him and believes they would put on a fight to remember in heavyweight history. "I've got a ton of respect for him, and he knows that I respect him a lot," Struve stated. "I've been watching him since I was 10 or 11 years old. I remember waking up Sunday mornings in Holland and putting on the computer trying to get my Pride stream going to watch Nogueira." "He's always been one of my favorites, if not my favorite fighter. The way he fights with that much heart and always finding a way to win. It's been awesome to watch him fight, and I think the fans would really want to see that matchup too. I think it's a really great fight to make. Fireworks are guaranteed in my opinion." Over the last few years, Nogueira has gone just 3-3 while dealing with a mounting list of injuries that have slowed him down for several months at a time during certain points. Despite the .500 record, Struve believes that Nogueira is still one of the best heavyweights in the world and that's exactly why he wants to face him next. "People change their opinions every single minute. Especially in this sport, you lose one fight, and you're the worst fighter in the world, and then, you win your next one and you only have to beat Cain (Velasquez) or Junior (dos Santos) to become champ in their opinion," Struve commented."He's a great fighter. I've got a ton of respect for him and things change really fast, especially in this division. One punch can change everything." Noguei