Key FactorsTECHNOLOGY

Background

In the 20th century, Japan established itself as a technological leader, particularly in the field of electronics. Constantly building on this success, Japan is looking to spearhead progress in years to come in much the same way as it did in the 20th century. A significant step towards that ambition was the selection of Osaka as host of Expo 2025. The exhibition will be a showcase for innovations that will play a key role in people's lives, under the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives."

Recent News

Japan is in the vanguard of the burgeoning robotics sector, with expertise in fields like artificial intelligence and smart connectivity. Cutting-edge robots have been put to work in realms ranging from healthcare and hospitality to manufacturing and agriculture. Examples of practical applications are abundant, from special films for growing crops without any soil, to robots that select crops by ripeness, with the accuracy of an experienced farmer. Such innovations could form part of the solution to the nation's aging farming population. A private firm has even unveiled a robot farm, where the processes of growing and picking lettuces are performed almost entirely without human labor. Automation takes agriculture to a new level, with more and more tools and vehicles benefitting from the Internet of Things.

Meetings & Events

The status of Japan as a tech hub is a reason why many international congress organizers continue to choose to bring their events to Japan. For example, the World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control selected Yokohama to host its 2023 edition, with the organizer noting that "the enthusiasm and future vision of Japanese scientists played a major role."

Other examples of prominent international technological conferences include the 51st Annual IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture in Fukuoka (2018); the 11th ACM SIGGRAPH Asia (Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) in Tokyo (2018) and Kobe (2015), and the IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits and Systems Okinawa (2014).

Destinations

Nagoya is another city that is well-equipped for conferences with a focus on international technology. Home to many businesses and factories, it is known as an industrial and technological powerhouse, with records from the 17th century of the development of sophisticated karakuri ningyo or mechanical puppets: often considered the ancestors of robots.

The city has twice hosted RoboCup, an annual robot soccer tournament, with the lofty goal of defeating the winners of the FIFA World Cup with a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot players within the next 50 years. Similarly, the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality has also chosen Nagoya for their November 2018 edition.