2016

A groundbreaking meals-on-wheels service provides the sick with bento meals tailored to their individual medical requirements by trained dieticians, who also offer over-the-phone nutritional advice. We meet Kosuke Abe, …

Yuya Nakamura is President and CEO of a company currently drawing attention from around the world through the development of compact satellites. The advantage of the firm's microsatellites is their low cost, with the pr…

Hirofumi Seo uses cutting-edge computer graphics to visualize the most complex medical data. After securing the University of Tokyo President's Grand Award for his work as an expert forensic witness, elucidating exact d…

In 2010, Toru Tokushige founded Terra Motors with the goal of being largest producer of two and three-wheeled electric vehicles in the world. Operating from a tiny office, he managed to capture the Japanese market after…

Kohei Hayamizu is the founder of Soundpower, a company trying to solve the energy problems facing the global community through entirely novel means. His kinetic energy generation system converts the vibrations from ever…

With mottainai, the Japanese word for "waste", gaining currency around the world, one Japanese entrepreneur is using the term as the inspiration for an innovative web-based business. Akiko Nishiura runs a website which …

Japan's corporate culture has a reputation for discouraging independent thinking. Daichi Konuma created International Corporate Volunteering Program. It connects workers from some of Japan's most recognizable companies …

When the Olympic games come to Tokyo in 2020, robot taxis may already be a common sight. Led by Hisashi Taniguchi, robotics venture company ZMP caused a major stir by announcing a collaboration with the company DeNA to …

As Japanese tea grows in popularity around the world, more and more people from overseas are being drawn to a plantation on the outskirts of Kyoto. From a base in Wazuka, an area famed for high-quality ujicha tea, Akihi…

With Japan's population aging, around 2 million adults now use diapers, and incontinence management is a major burden for many elderly citizens and their carers. We follow the work of professional carer Yoshimi Ui, who …

To many in Japan, industrial waste disposal carries an image tarnished by practices such as illegal dumping. Since inheriting her family recycling business aged 30, Noriko Ishizaka has overseen reforms intended to trans…

In recent years, economic pressures have seen numerous Japanese watch brands send the production of their devices overseas, forcing the closure of domestic plants that had long upheld Japan's watchmaking tradition. To p…

Orihime is a desktop avatar robot that can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world. Its creator, Kentaro Yoshifuji was inspired by his own childhood experiences of suffering from loneliness to produce a robot …

Creative director Hiroyuki Mizuno traveled to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to find out the fate of discarded and used military uniforms. He was faced to see historical background of the country and started to turning them i…

With many children across Japan unable to find a place in nursery daycare, Hiroki Komazaki, CEO of NPO Florence, is leading efforts to meet the childcare needs of working families. From 2010, using empty urban propertie…

In Bangkok, Thailand, a Japanese-style dry cleaning and laundry service is currently attracting widespread attention. Driving this success are the efforts of local factory manager Makoto Seino, and sales representative …

Toshihiro Nakamura founded a social business providing simple, durable, affordable technology to developing countries. The goal is to improve lifestyles while boosting both productivity and income.

At-home medical care. But unlike traditional on-call emergency care, this service sees doctors and nurses visit patients regularly, as part of a treatment plan. With some 26% of Japan's population now aged 65 or over, m…

In Switzerland this fall, athletes and the technologies behind their prosthetic limbs were put to the test at the world's first Cybathlon. The competition attracted researchers from around the world. Masahiro Kasuya bri…

To rent an apartment in Japan, tenants have long needed to name a guarantor - usually Japanese, with a steady income. But this rule, intended to safeguard owners against non-payment of rent, can exclude non-Japanese fro…

As diets in Japan become increasingly Westernized, obesity and lifestyle diseases are on the rise. Average daily intake of fruit and vegetables is well below the recommended minimum, and falling year by year. Ryozo Kawa…