Japan Business

I-O DATA is releasing USB3.0 compliant colorful mini USB memory series in late June. The USB memory is ultra small fingertip size (3.2g, W14.5 x D24 x H7.5mm). The capacity is 8GB or 16GB. It comes with the 3 changeable caps in different colors, and there are 4 different color combinations available for each capacity model. As a security measure, it’s compatible with the file encryption software “Quick Secure”. Price: Open price Size: W14.5 x D24 x H7.5mm Weight: 3.2g

Yokohama National University professor emeritus Akira Miyawaki, who to date has planted over 40 million trees in 1,700 locations in Japan and overseas, is continuing his tree planting activities not only in Japan but also on twice monthly overseas trips. “After 60-plus years of local research, currently in areas inhabited by 92.8% of Japan’s population of 128 million, the remaining evergreen forests consisting of deep and straight-rooted trees including shrine forests only make up 0.6% of Japanese land.” Iwanumi City in Miyagi Prefecture suffered tremendous damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake. To prepare for the next disaster, Miyawaki is promoting natural selection through mixed and dense planting of multiple types of trees as he advocates the creation of forests that do not require oversight. Iwanuma City has incorporated Miyawaki’s philosophy in establishing the “1,000-year Kibonooka Project” in preparation for the next disaster. “A big challenge was how to resurrect the areas affected by the disaster. Given this background, we launched the “1,000-year Kibonooka Project” as something that will last forevermore into the future. One of the goals is to limit the destructive force of tsunamis, as well as to use the forest as an emergency shelter and on a regular basis as a place where children can come to learn about protecting lives. We also want to make this a memorial park that will remember the tragedy for a thousand years into the future. We encountered various limitations, but we created this project also with the goal of achieving efficient use of debris.” Tide protection forests to date have primarily consisted of a single type of tree such as red or black pine. But shallow-rooted pine trees were uprooted by the tsunami and did not serve their purpose. Miyawaki proposed to efficiently use the tremendous amount of debris created by the disaster as a resource excluding toxic and non-decomposable material. Sorted debris is mixed with dirt and used to fill dug-out holes to create large mounds that are further covered with dirt. In planting trees, primary constituent trees are selected that grow long, deep roots and match the potential natural vegetation of an area. Three to five saplings of various other vegetation that make up the forest in addition to the main constituent trees are planted per square meter. This will require weeding for the first two to three years, but no maintenance is required after that. Twenty years after the tree planting there will be an abundant forest that will remain generation after generation until the next ice age predicted to occur in 9,000 years. The forest will function as a green barrier, and by making the mound high it will also protect against large tsunamis. By reducing the energy of a tsunami, the mound will reduce the height and speed of the tsunami, thereby increasing the potential to protect people and property. “To date, based on decisions made by leaders of companies with foresight, we have created Miyawaki-type forests in Japan and abroad.” “38 countries including those where we have conducted local surveys. We have planted trees on four continents.We talk about greening deserts, but two-thirds of the deserts on earth have been created by humans. The remaining 10% or so of absolute deserts will not support forests. These absolute deserts should remain as is. But areas that have been destroyed by humans can support forests.” Pride One Entertainment’s Yasushi Akutagawa, who has expressed interest in Miyawaki’s simple efforts to protect the environment, is thinking of supporting the forest building movement through film. “We want the people of the world to become aware of Dr. Miyawaki’s great work. We are thinking of using film as a way to make this possible. We want to assemble a group of leading Japanese actors, screenwriters, and film staff members to depict Dr. Mi

Those who have ever visited Japan in the summer time must remember how brutal Japanese summer is. It’s very hot and humid so that you pour sweat all over your body right after leaving home. Japanese salarymen (meaning corporate employees in Japanese) are poor things because many of them have to put on a tie even in the hottest month of August. So, we would like to recommend the “USB Necktie Cooler 3″ released by Thanko. It looks like a regular tie at first sight, however you can pull the knot down and a fan shows up. Once you connect the tie to your PC’s USB port with the accompanying USB cable, the fan starts running and cooling down your neck area. With a portable battery (sold separately), you can run the fan anywhere and anytime without a PC. This practical tie with some light humor could be a great belated gift for your salaryman dad for Father’s Day. Price: ¥2,980 (including tax) Size: 480 x 95 x 24mm (tie part) Weight: 120g Power source: USB bus power Accessory: USB cable

Stationary Observation System for High-speed Flying Objects This camera system can track very fast moving objects, keeping them in the center of the screen at all times. Currently under development by the Ishikawa Oku Lab. at the University of Tokyo, this latest version captures Full HD video and can be used outdoors. “Ordinarily, to change the direction a camera faces, you move the camera mechanically. But in this system, it’s not the camera that moves, it’s the mirrors. This makes it possible to change where you’re looking really quickly. In this demonstration, we’re tracking a table tennis ball. The ball moves extremely fast, but this system can keep compensating for the ball’s motion, so the ball stays in the middle of the image.” This device consists of two mirrors for pan and tilt, and a group of lenses. The Saccade mirrors can be controlled at high speed, on the order of milliseconds. The mirrors move independently, so this system doesn’t lose its high-speed response even if it’s connected to a large, heavy camera. Also, by connecting a projector instead of a recording device, images can be projected onto a fast-moving object. This could also be used in AR applications, showing interactive content on moving objects. “Using a rotating mirror is a common method, but usually, the mirror is in front of the camera, so a very large mirror is needed. But a feature of this system is, it can even capture wide-angle images with a small mirror. That’s because the system contains special optics called a pupil shift system.” “Another important point is, this system does very fast image processing to recognize the subject. It captures and processes an image every 1/1000th of a second. In this way, it can track the subject stably and continuously, simply by feeding back the subject’s position, without particularly predicting its behavior.” “For example, this system can record, in great detail, the instant a player hits a home run, including how the bat bends and the ball reacts, and the ball’s subsequent path. Or in soccer, it can record things like penalty kicks in amazing detail. We think this will make it possible to shoot sports in a really compelling way.” “Right now, we’re actually taking this outdoors to where sports are played, to check how accurately it works. We hope it will be usable for actual broadcasting in about two years.” Event: The 19th Symposium on Sensing via Image Information (SSII2013) This content is provided by DigInfo.tv, AkihabaraNews Official Partner. Via: Ishikawa Oku Laboratory The University of Tokyo

Sony is releasing a hand-cranked battery charger/emergency radio (ICF-B88/ICF-B08) on July 20. It will be extremely helpful as an emergency energy supply or as part of outdoor gear. “ICF-B88″ is particularly useful – able to be charged up not only with the handle but with a USB AC adapter – either the accompanying USB cable or a USB AC adapter (sold separately) is necessary. It can also be charged with solar light. It’s drip-proof (JIS IPX4) so that you can feel at ease while using it in areas with water exposure or outside in wet conditions. Price: Open Size: (ICF-B88) 132×79×58mm, (ICF-B08) 132×77×58mm Weight: (ICF-B88) 338g, (ICF-B08) 329g Color: (ICF-B88) Silver, (ICF-B08) Orange, White Accessories: microUSB cable, plug adapter for charging a mobile phone, hand strap, emergency whistle, portable pouch

Nikon Imaging Japan is releasing a new backpack for shooting equipment in September. The backpack is called “Smart Camera Ryukku” (Ryukku means backpack in Japanese). It is not only excellent in design but also in usability. It can open wide so that equipment can be organised and placed neatly. Some examples of the equipment that you can put in the backpack: D600 (AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR) AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S 50mm f/1.8G Speed light SB-910 13 inch laptop Estimated price: ¥17,325 Size: (Outer size) W310 x H470 x D200mm, (Inner size) W260 x H430 x D140mm Weight: 1,350g

Nikon Imaging Japan is releasing a robust and water-shedding high-end camera bag – the “Shooting Master Shoulder Bag L” on June 27. Its material is the same as that used in a bulletproof vest. Inside of this camera bag, there is enough room for a digital single-lens reflex camera with a standard lens, a few interchangeable lenses, and a speed light, all carried together. And although it holds a lot of things together, the shape is narrow-designed so that the camera bag looks very stylish. When it starts raining, you can take out a rain cover that is built into the bottom pocket and put it on the camera bag. Estimate price: ¥40,950 Size: (Outer size) W520 x H280 x D240mm, (Inner size) W420 x H250 x D180mm Weight: 2,600g Accessories: Name tag with the “Nikon” logo on, rain cover, large-sized shoulder pad

Evergreen released a smartphone stand “DNSB-18630″ today (June 17th). It is a robot-shaped stand, that comes in 5 colors and which can hold the smartphone by using a sanction cup on the bottom. There are two 3.5mm stereo mini-pin holes when the head of the robot is opened. When the robot stand is plugged into the 3.5mm earphone port, it is possible to connect two separate earphones or headphones at the same time so that you and your friend can listen to music together. Main body size: diameter: 33mm, height: 52mm. Weight: 10g Colors: red, blue, green, black, white

Toshiba is going to release tablet “REGZA Tablet AT703″ on June 21. “REGZA Tablet AT703″ features Toshiba’s original handwriting notebook application “TruNote”, that enables you to take a maximum of 1 million pages of notes, using any colors or kinds of lines you like, categorize them and keep them in order. Also, those notes can be convertible to the text for emails and Microsoft Office files, etc. easily. Toshiba says users will definitely enjoy the feel of writing and says that it feels as if you were writing on paper. With the “TruCapture” app, you can take a photo of a note on a whiteboard with “REGZA Tablet AT703″ after the meeting and digitize the note. It features a high-resolution WQXGA (2560×1600 dot) 10.1 inch LC display, and famous European audio manufacturer harman/kardon’s stereo speaker to bring powerful sounds. Price: Open price Size: 260.7 x 178.9 x 10.5 mm Weight: 671 g Platform: Android 4.2 CPU: NVIDIA Tegra 4 mobile processor Memory: 2GB Communications: IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE802.11ac (Wi-Fi, WPA/WPA2, WEP, AES, TKIP), Bluetooth Ver.4.0 Interface: USB2.0, HDMI output terminal. 3.5mm mini jack Charging time: 4.5 hours Battery life: 9.5h Accessories: Bluetooth keyboard, Digitizer pen, micro USB cable, AC adapter, Power cord

The massive Tohoku earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, 2011 was a reminder of the seriousness of seismic activity in Japan.  It can, and does, strike anywhere in the country, and in fact, many experts predict that the next big earthquake may hit in the middle of the east coast of the country, near Tokyo. So, as one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, it should be no surprise that truly remarkable technologies have been developed and put to use, here in Japan, to protect people and assets from the effects of earthquakes. Earthquake Countermeasure Technology There are roughly 3 primary technologies employed to combat the effects of earthquakes, with many variations and combinations of these: Resistance – Engineering a structure to improve the ability of pillars and beams to withstand seismic force – basically architecting structures to absorb the force of an earthquake. Damping – A number of methods are employed here such as rubber fittings or “viscous dampers” under structures to help absorb the force of shocks. Seismic Isolation – Here, systems are put in place between buildings and their foundations, eliminating direct transmission of earthquake shocks to buildings by compensating for the movement of the ground below, passing on literally little to no movement to buildings or mounted objects above. Seismic Isolation I had the good fortune of seeing, first-hand, a demonstration of Seismic Isolation technology recently at the 23rd FINETECH JAPAN convention at Tokyo Big Sight and I was absolutely impressed. The demonstration was given by THK Co., Ltd. of Nishi-Gotanda, Tokyo.  On display was their Seismic Isolation Table (Model TSD). It was a platform of about 1.5 square meters with a server rack on top of it.  The plate under which the table was sitting was moving to simulate the magnitude of the Great Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011, in the area of the greatest shaking.  The Isolation Table was absorbing virtually all of the movement below, illustrated by a bottle of water mounted on the table – there was virtually no sloshing of the water inside. This isolation table showed how this technology is put to use to protect important delicate machinery, robots, server racks, computer systems, etc.  It is also used by wine collectors to protect their collections and by art museums to protect priceless artwork. THK Seismic Isolation Table THK’s technology is also put to use in Seismic Isolation foundations for new buildings.  The idea is the same, on a large scale.  Whole buildings are isolated from the shaking below on a series of seismic isolation mounts.  This technology is optimal for structures up to 10 stories high, and is effective, in conjunction with Damping Systems, in protecting high-rise buildings. THK’s Seismic Isolation for buildings Seismic Isolation – How it works THK’s core expertise is using ball bearings to develop “Linear Motion Systems” – converting a mechanical component’s linear motion into a “rolling” motion, which greatly improves the fluidity and smoothness of movement. They have developed high-precision rolling tracks, using ball bearings, in various combinations, to allow for motion in any lateral direction as dictated by an earthquake.  Vertical motion is also compensated for as the table or foundation provides a solid base to be anchored to as motion continues.  Once movement has ceased, the systems have springs that are used to restore original positioning. THK’s technology is used under new buildings built in Japan and other seismically active areas. Based on the company’s ball bearing and high precision movement technology, building positioning literally compensates for various lateral and vertical movement of the ground, dramatically dampening the perceived movement and shaking caused by earthquakes and reducing potential damage. A couple high profile