I cannot believe it has already been a year!
I have started TÉKUNI in May 2020 in the middle of a pandemic, and I am so happy to announce we have now passed the first 100 subscribers 🙏
It may not seem much in today’s overly-connected world, but newsletters are a private medium, and they live and breathe through readers’ interaction and feedback. So I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for your support so far!
In other news, a premium version of the newsletter is in the making, and will feature some extra perks for tech people interested in working in Japan.
Just to clarify, the free version will keep going out every month, while the premium one will be a weekly one.
If you want to have your say on that, and the newsletter in general, you can reply directly to this email, and/or fill up this one-minute questionnaire 👇
The Best, The Worst, and the Quirkiest 🤖
Moving on! This is a special edition of TÉKUNI, and as such, I have asked some amazing people who contributed to it before to share their views about Japan’s best, worst and quirkiest tech of the last 12 months:
Natalie Meyer is the founder of Tokyoesque, and in the first-ever issue of TÉKUNI, she talked about how Japan’s tech space reacted to the pandemic.
Sasha Kaverina is a tech journalist in charge of partnerships and growth at Le Wagon Tokyo. She contributed to the newsletter by sharing her expertise of tech start-ups in Japan.
Yann Le Guilly is the CEO of zeteoh, an artificial intelligence startup. He has shared with TÉKUNI readers his knowledge about supercomputers and their applications.
Kohei Kurihara is the Co-founder of Privacy by Design Lab. He discussed big tech regulations in Japan.
Without further ado, here is the Q&A.
The Best 👍
Natalie: I would definitely say this electronic skin, developed by Takao Someya at Tokyo University, is pretty revolutionary in terms of health tech, particularly for the large population of elderly citizens in Japan. It simply attaches to a user and sends remote health stats to doctors and even family members via the cloud.
Sasha: As a community supporter of ImpacTech, the only English-speaking social accelerator in Japan, I witnessed plenty of amazing tech-for-good startups graduating with every cohort. They tackle all the sensitive issues in Japan, starting from a declining birth rate (platform for pregnant women Flora) and sustainability (Ekolokal map for eco-stores) to community revitalisation (Discover Deep). They are early-stage startups that are trying to make an impact and I sincerely hope their efforts will be recognised by the Japanese society.
Yann: Foodtech has the potential to affect billions of people. And I’m personally very interested in meat replacements. DAIZ, a Japanese company developed a new process using soybeans that they claim can mimic multiple types of meat. Can't wait to try it!
Kohei: It hasn’t been fully deployed yet, but I hope the government will use decentralised architecture to implement vaccine passports. We need data protection to be compatible with other national standards such as GDPR, to protect sensitive personal information. Otherwise, the technology won’t be able to provide adequate safety features and prompt an economical recovery.
The Worst 👎
Sasha: the necessity of remote work, called telework in Japan, has led to the rise of remote work surveillance. Having employees out of sight triggered an increase in micromanaging behaviour, and many IT services popped out offering surveillance packages. While checking in and out working hours might seem innocent, capturing screenshots at random intervals definitely raises privacy concerns.
Yann: Apprythm (アプリズム) has invented a solution aimed at identifying people’s nationality using a smart camera and AI. Their assumption is that a person’s race indicates their country. That’s definitely the worst way to use technology I saw in the last few years.
Kohei: Blockchain development has not progressed over the experimental stage in Japan. Data privacy is not an issue inherently connected to block-chain, but depends on how it is handled on the data controller side. We will see a change once data controllers start prioritising customer data safeguards, ultimately gaining their trust.
The Quirkiest 🤖
Natalie: With personal hygiene having become even more of a priority for Japanese citizens in light of the pandemic, I think the floating holographic toilet panel developed by Murakami Corporation and Parity Innovations is both a quirky and sensible idea.
Sasha: One of the funniest things I’ve stumbled upon recently is about AI translation company Rozetta which made headlines in Japan for releasing an official ban for speaking a foreign language at work. At first, I thought they were being racist but further reading claimed otherwise: actually, they built a software to ‘liberate humanity from the limitations of language’ and ease the burden of speaking Japanese for their international staff.
Yann: Yasuo Nakajima, a 50-yo biker, used deep fakes to increase his followers. He changed his face to resemble a young woman using Faceapp. Very beautiful views right?! Deep fake is a technology based on deep learning, which is able to generate fake media like pictures or videos.
Kohei: As privacy regulation become more strict and enable users to have better control over their data, upcoming digital identity applications are going to be more user-centric. This won’t be achieved by the use of blockchain by itself, but decentralised identity based on it will certainly feature more security features than centralised solutions.
❓ Want to find out more about the latest tech news in Japan?
🔗 Here is the newsletter’s monthly link selection:
4 astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX capsule - Kyodo
Six Tokyo museums have put their prized collections online - TimeOut
Japanese startup to carry UAE lunar rover to Moon in 2022 - Kyodo
Robots show better dexterity than humans- The Asahi Shimbun
Japan moves to increase data storage capacity - NHK
Online reservations for vaccinations in Tokyo, Osaka - The Mainichi
Toyota lab passes plants in photosynthesis rates - The Asahi Shimbun
ANA tests vaccination status app for travelers - NHK
Pandemic-hit people in Japan cry out for mobile 'IDs' - The Mainichi
Another security breach at TEPCO nuclear plant uncovered - Kyodo
Japan's coronavirus vaccine booking system crashes - Reuters
Japan's 1st reactor to operate beyond 40-yr limit to restart - Kyodo
Japanese government offices hacked - NHK
Sumitomo warned after weapon blueprints leaked to China - Kyodo
Japan’s Karoshi culture was a warning. We didn't listen - Wired
1.7 mil. customers' data likely leaked from dating app - Kyodo
Start-up strives to spread its wagyu evaluation tech using AI - Kyodo
Sony takes aim at gamers with Discord stake - Nikkei
Hotel lobby’s art changes with the seasons - Sora News 24
Kochi is offering a free Instagram tour using a ninja robot - TimeOut
Japan to develop spaceships linking world's major cities - Mainichi
TeamLab exhibition in Kyushu forest to return this summer - TimeOut
Akihabara: from consumer electronics to ‘Cool Japan’ capital- grape
The rise of Japan’s loyalty point influencers - Rest of the World
🙋 What did you think of this issue? Answer this email with any feedback!
✉️ Was this mail forwarded to you? You can subscribe here: