Technology and Japan
World may remember Japan for its Anime, Sushi and Cherry Blossoms while the intellectuals will talk about Murakami and Kurosawa. Further search on google will give us a thousand results about its elaborate history, its condition during the World Wars, its ancient cultures, moral values, literature but mainly its fast globalization leading to a massive growth in technology. Although in terms of economics, Japan stands behind the United States of America and China, it is undisputedly ahead in terms of automation and robotics.
Japan is a country which intrigues all of us because we get to know something new about it every time. Features like “text-to-speech” conversion which is now common was developed in Japan way back in the 1960s. The country at any given time stretch has been living in the future. AI and robotics companies flourish at an unexpected rate of 18% per annum and account for 60% of total sales. Japan can be called the pioneer of electronics and automation with companies like Canon, Toshiba, Panasonic, Fujitsu and so many more and automobile companies like Toyota and Nissan.
Advanced AI has helped Japan become automated in various fields as one may find more vending machines than shopkeepers (including clothing shops). Exoskeletons help paralyzed patients in movement, fully automated warehouses with smart sensors slow down when humans are near by (as a part of safety procedure) and AI has replaced waiters and receptionists and even house nurses. Such ground breaking machinery is not only in factories but is also present in a household level and is not seen in any other first world country. This isn’t only because of innovation that one can see massive amount of technological use in Japan but also because of the population. Japan has most aged society having workforce population lesser than any average country.
This makes innovation in automation a necessity which has been taken so far that an entire “robot revolution” was started in 2015 with the aim of automation in just about everything: from agriculture to automobile, and disaster relief services to food and cosmetic- as “the New Robot Strategy”. The revolution has been planned to such an extent that there is even a fear of the Galapagos syndrome (the technological phenomenon whereby electronic devices for the domestic market thrive, while the foreign market is almost non-existent) in Japan (by the METI).
As the pop-culture portrays automation, showing a world were man-made intelligence takes over humanity- in movies like The Transformer and Terminator, trepidations take over us. Although engineers and entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are also pessimistic about AI calling it “the biggest existential threat”, Japan has its own way of dealing with it. Its robots are designed after cartoon characters with eye catching colors giving it an over all friendly demeanor.
Cultural influence has also helped in shaping the automation industry of the nation. Shinto religion(Japanese originated) believes that objects, places and living beings, all possess spiritual essence and life. This ideology has emerged into its own concept of “techno-animism”. An example of this is the robot designed by Honda called ASIMO, whose space explorer form along with spiritual values makes it a techno-animism AI.
With the raise of big data and AI, there is no doubt that the technology will expand worldwide but the fact that Japan has been commandingly ahead is noteworthy! One can be inspired by Japan to innovate and create by blending Cultural influence and economic and humane needs to a degree as that but the crucial question of “what must be automated and what not” still remains.
