News On Japan

AI Finds Diverse Roles in Relationships

TOKYO - Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, with people using conversational systems for everything from relationships and parenting to health concerns and online searches.

East Japan Railway began a trial on July 20 using generative AI to help customers purchase tickets at its staffed Midori no Madoguchi ticket counters.

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive of SoftBank Group, said last week that AI could replace about 20% of global gross domestic product by 2040. "To understand how large 20% is, it would amount to 7 quadrillion yen," Son said.

That figure is equivalent to roughly 60 years of Japan's national budget.

AI's growing influence is also evident in financial markets. When shares of AI-related companies fall sharply, the losses can pull down the broader Nikkei Stock Average.

An era in which AI moves both the economy and people's daily lives has already begun.

Among the various forms of generative AI, conversational services such as ChatGPT are likely the most frequently used.

The July 20 program examined how different generations can improve the way they ask AI questions and how the technology could transform the world, including the possibility of a future in which every household has its own robot-style AI assistant.

Source: FNN

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Northern Japan experienced record-breaking cold on the morning of November 11th, with temperatures plunging to minus 20.2 degrees Celsius in Horokanai, Hokkaido, marking the first time in Japan's recorded history that temperatures have fallen below minus 20 degrees during the first half of November.

East Japan Railway (JR East) announced on November 10th that it will introduce touch-free ticket gates at 40 stations, including every station on Tokyo's Yamanote Line, from spring 2028, allowing passengers using Mobile Suica to pass through without taking their smartphones out of their pockets or bags.

Japan's Children and Families Agency unveiled its first national guidelines on November 10th for parental involvement in children's internet use, dividing those aged 0 to 18 into six developmental stages as the government considers tighter regulations on social media platforms to protect young people from online bullying, exploitation, and other growing risks.

As of 3 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11, Typhoon No. 32 was moving east-northeast over waters east of Chichijima in the Ogasawara Islands, gradually heading away from the Japanese archipelago after passing near the island between late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

Odakyu Electric Railway unveiled images of its next-generation Romancecar limited express train on November 10, revealing a striking blue-green design featuring enormous circular windows that will allow passengers to enjoy panoramic views from ceiling to floor when the new trains enter service in March 2029.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Web3 NEWS

Japan's stock market remains vulnerable to sharp swings as uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence investment intensifies, with Masamitsu Oki, investment director at Five Star Asset Management, warning that AI-related stocks have entered an era resembling gambling and that investors face considerable uncertainty over the industry's long-term prospects.

SoftBank Group has announced plans to invest $1 billion in a major artificial intelligence infrastructure project in Malaysia, joining Singapore-based technology giant Grab and a local energy company in a $1.85 billion initiative aimed at developing one of Asia's largest AI infrastructure networks.

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond computer screens and into factories and logistics centers, where robots capable of interpreting their surroundings and making independent decisions are emerging as a potential solution to Japan's chronic labor shortages, with Japanese unicorn startup Mujin and industrial robot manufacturer Yaskawa Electric leading efforts to develop the next generation of intelligent machines.

Japanese agricultural technology startup Oishii Farm is seeking to transform global food production through artificial intelligence, robotics and fully controlled indoor farming, having succeeded in mass-producing Japanese strawberries in the United States and now joining forces with leading Japanese manufacturers to develop plant factories for export worldwide.

Japanese monthly magazine Nikkei Trendy has unveiled its ranking of the top 30 products and services expected to become hits in 2027, with "anti-AI" emerging as the central theme as consumers increasingly seek ways to distinguish genuine human activity from artificial intelligence-generated content.

Six thousand yen. That's the charge a Japanese citizen, or a foreigner who lives in the country, will pay at the casino door of the resort now going up on Yumeshima, the reclaimed island in Osaka Bay that hosted Expo 2025.

The AI Film Festival Japan 2026, one of Asia's largest international film festivals dedicated to works created using artificial intelligence, held its awards ceremony in Tokyo on November 1, attracting more than 730 submissions from over 60 countries and regions, with short films and animation accounting for the majority of entries.

A visitor stands outside a small restaurant in Kyoto trying to work out three things. Whether the place takes cards. Whether they need a reservation. And whether walking in without Japanese is going to be awkward for everybody.