Japan’s largest esports park opened on Wednesday, with proponents hoping it will help transform the country behind video game classics such as Super Mario and Zelda into a champion that can take on China in competitive gaming. (inquirer.net)
Sony Group has decided to invest an additional $1 billion in Epic Games, the U.S. developer of the blockbuster Fortnite, in hopes of staking a bigger claim in the metaverse. (Nikkei)
Could robot pets replace dogs or cats in the family home? In this clip from Japan with Sue Perkins, Sue meets a Japanese family that have incorporated a number of robots in to their everyday lives and treat their robots like members of the family. (BBC Select)
Yoshi Sekiguchi was known as the “Japanese Hank Williams” and he had a life like a country song. (chicago.suntimes.com)
Japanese gaming giants Sony and Nintendo have halted shipments to Russia, joining a growing list of global brands that are exiting the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
Two big names in Japanese electronics and autos are joining forces to produce an electric vehicle together. (ctvnews.ca)
Microsoft Corp. threw down the gauntlet last week with its biggest-ever acquisition, agreeing to purchase Activision Blizzard Inc. for a whopping $68.7 billion (Y7.8 trillion) in a deal that could preclude major shakeups in the lucrative video game industry. (Japan Times)
Japanese golfer Matsuyama Hideki has clinched his eighth PGA victory, beating his own record for the most tour wins by a Japanese male player. (NHK)
As the first Japanese winner of a men’s major, Hideki Matsuyama’s victory at the Masters in April is expected to making a lasting impact in golf crazed Japan. But the reverberations from his rise to international golfing star can already be felt in two of the country’s most promising talents. (golfweek)
Sony Group Corp. will set up a new unit in the spring for electric vehicles as it explores the possibility of launching them commercially, its CEO said Tuesday. (Kyodo)
The year-end and New Year’s shopping blitz is lacking steam in Japan due to stalled goods production blamed on shortages of semiconductors and other parts and components. (Japan Times)
Sony Group has unveiled its latest robotics and other technologies for use at factories and stores. (NHK)
Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation division is planning a new subscription service to compete with rival Microsoft Corp.’s popular Xbox Game Pass, according to people familiar with Sony’s plans and documents reviewed by Bloomberg. (Japan Times)
When it was built in 1972, it was the capital’s only example of the metabolism architectural movement – but time has caught up with the structure (theguardian.com)
Demand for analog music records has been surging in Japan, in contrast to declining demand for CDs stemming from growing online music distribution services. (NHK)
Japan aims to hike its 2030 renewable energy target as part of efforts to slash emissions, according to draft documents released Wednesday, but activists described the planned goal as "disappointing". (AFP)
When Tokyo last hosted the Olympics, in 1964, the unveiling of a bullet train capable of the improbable speed of 210 kilometers an hour heralded the dawn of a high-tech era in Japan. (taipeitimes.com)
Japan Studio was a special place. While many other games publishers chased profits, Japan Studio had the privilege of being able to make creative decisions with the full backing of Sony. (The Canipa Effect)
Japan’s robotics market is booming thanks to the need to avoid in-person contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Japan Times)
SoftBank Group Corp. has suspended production of its Pepper robot, shelving for now a project Masayoshi Son once personally championed as a symbol of his conglomerate’s ambitions in AI and technology. (Japan Times)
Companies are showing off the latest drone technology for a trade show near Tokyo. Over 100 firms from Japan and elsewhere are taking part. (NHK)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced on its website that the agency has plans to put a Transformable Lunar Robot on the moon. (phys.org)
It is common to see non-Korean members in K-pop groups these days, but they were not really considered by the agencies that create such bands until recently. (Korea Times)
Inspired by his grandfather’s passion for airborne personal transport, Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s current president, has not just inherited the world’s largest car company but also his grandfather’s vision – to make cars fly. (scmp.com)