KAGAWA, Jun. 3 – “Bonsai is not just a grandpa’s hobby but something good for the entire family to enjoy.” To deliver such a message, Hanazawa Myoshun En, a bonsai and wild grass and tree grower based in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, created an animation film named “Family Bonsai” and posted it on YouTube. To make it free from fixed ideas, the characters in the story are a family of unidentified nationality. To make it open to non-Japanese visitors, all the conversations are written in English and have Japanese subtitles. It’s a story of a little girl naming and taking care of her own bonsai with her family. The simple … Continue reading →

SAITAMA, May 30 -　A mask sold by a Japanese tea grower and retailer in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, is drawing attention. It has an inner pocket to hold a teabag so that its wearer can enjoy a bit of incense of Japanese tea. The Saitama-based tea shop, Miyanoen, sells the product called “Ocha-Kaoru-Machi Sayama no Mask with Tea.” In English, it means “Mask with Tea from leading green tea producer Sayama City.” The product was developed by Miyanoen and a local clothing manufacturer, MM1. The city of Sayama has a plan to offer them to approximately 400 Olympic volunteers to promote the city. The polyester mask has an inner pocket … Continue reading →

GIFU, June 9 – A six-grade boy of Seki, Gifu Prefecture, has developed a trap to catch channeled apple snails using a plastic flower pot and a plastic bottle. Chihiro Kuriyama won the Seki mayor’s prize with the invention, and the city plans to use the trap to get rid of the agricultural pest. Kuriyama came up with the idea of developing a trap after a farmer told him that rice farmers are troubled by channeled apple snails causing damage to rice plants but they want to avoid using strong agricultural chemicals as much as possible. He was shocked to see the big size of the snails and their pink … Continue reading →

MIYAZAKI, May 30 – A research team of the University of Miyazaki and other institutions has developed a set of glasses equipped with a camera which enables wearers to measure pigs’ weight just by looking at them. By combining artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology, the device can estimate the weight in a matter of seconds, largely reducing the burden of pig farmers. They can get an estimated live weight and carcass weight of pigs while working on other tasks. The margin of error is within roughly 4 percentage points, and the team is aiming at commercializing the product. The system involves gathering data from a 3D camera and a … Continue reading →