A critical announcement determining the fate of “independence” and “commercialization” in Japan’s private space development has been made. Space One Co., Ltd., a space startup headquartered in Tokyo, officially announced on December 15, 2025, that it will launch the third vehicle of its small solid-fuel rocket, KAIROS, on February 25, 2026.
On April 8, 2025, Japan’s regenerative medicine reached a historic turning point. Cuorips Inc., a biotech venture spun out of Osaka University, announced it had submitted a marketing authorization application to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for a “cardiomyocyte sheet” created from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. This is believed to be the world’s first marketing application aiming to commercialize a regenerative medicine product using iPS cells, and it has generated great anticipation across the scientific and medical communities.
At 5:30 p.m. JST on February 2, 2025, a streak of light shot into the sky from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s new flagship launch vehicle, the H3 (Flight 5), roared off the pad and left the earth behind. This launch was more than just another mission; it was the climactic chapter in a story of redemption and renewal for Japan’s space program. The cheers and applause that reverberated through the control room spoke more eloquently than anything else to the weight of this success.
January 2025, Las Vegas. More than 140,000 people flocked to CES, one of the world’s largest technology trade shows, in search of the future. In a corner of Eureka Park, the startup-only area, Japan’s technological innovation was breathing anew.
Immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 25, this man has continuously informed the world about the situation in Ukraine, using 3D processing technology and satellite images.
The CMOS image sensor (CIS), known as the "electronic eye," is a rare device among a variety of semiconductors because its market size continues to expand.
Toshiba Corporation’s next-generation film-based perovskite solar cell won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award’s the carbon-neutral category at Japan’s IT and electronics tradeshow CEATEC 2021, held on October 19-22.
"The [Japanese] government will soon launch a new initiative, the updated version of ‘Remodeling the Japanese Archipelago’ to promote digital transformation,” spoke Akira Minamikawa, a senior consulting director and semiconductor analyst at British research firm OMDIA.
Though mobility as a service (MaaS) using automated driving is currently spreading globally, many attempts at its integration remain as test programs set to test the cost and efficiency of such systems.
Drainage pumps at pump stations are for preventing rivers from flooding. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is drastically changing the way it orders the pumps.
There are global companies in the water business so called water majors. For a long time from the 19th to the 21st century, Veolia Environment , Suez both of France, and Thames Water of the U.K. were the three companies called water majors.
As the Xi Jinping administration intensifies its confrontational stance towards the U.S., it is speeding up domestic production of semiconductors which are “the rice of industry,” in fear of decoupling from the international supply chain.
On October 13, 2025, the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay was filled with the excitement and emotion of people reluctant to see the six-month festival end. On the final day of the Osaka–Kansai Expo, the venue was packed with visitors eager to etch one last memory before closing.
This article leads off the magazine’s special feature, “Prepare for the ‘Information Warfare Crisis.’” Yet, it is intended neither as an introduction nor as a summary of the other essays following this one.
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