China's robot makers aim to automate Japan's industrial heartland
Shanghai-based JAKA Robotics has opened a development hub in the city of Toyohashi, and Shenzhen's Dobot has set up a testing center in Nagoya.
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The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Which countries do most travelers to Japan come from, and how much money do they spend?
More than 20 million foreign visitors arrived in Japan from January to June 2025, a new high for the first six months of the year. The Mainichi Shimbun briefly answers some questions readers may have about the increase in foreign tourists and how they spend their money here. Question: I heard the number of foreign visitors to Japan has increased. By how much? Answer: The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan between January and June this year was 21,518,100, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year. At this pace, the annual total could top 40 million visitors, which would be a record. Q: Which countries or regions have the most travelers coming to Japan? A: South Korea leads with 4.78 million visitors during the same period, followed by China with 4.71 million, Taiwan with 3.28 million and the United States with 1.7 million. Q: Why is there an increase in travelers? A: The record-breaking depreciation of the yen and the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai are contributing factors. Q: What is yen depreciation? A: Yen depreciation means the value of the Japanese currency decreases compared to foreign currencies. This makes shopping and traveling in Japan appear cheaper to visitors from abroad. Q: It would be great if they spent a lot of money. Do you know how much they spend? A: The spending by foreign visitors from April to June, announced together with the number of visitors, reached 2.525 trillion yen (roughly $16.99 billion), marking the highest ever quarterly figure. The total for the first half of the year was 4.8053 trillion yen (about $32.33 billion), the highest recorded so far. Q: Which country or region's visitors spent the most money? A: Travelers from China spent 516 billion yen (approx. $3.47 billion), accounting for 20% of the total, followed by visitors from the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea. Q: What are they spending the most money on? A: Accommodation was the highest at 971.4 billion yen (some $6.53 billion), making up 38.5% of the total, followed by shopping at 662.3 billion yen (roughly $4.45 billion) and dining at 530.9 billion yen (about $3.57 billion). Q: Which country or region had the highest spending per person? A: Tourists from the United Kingdom spent the most per person at 444,000 yen (approx. $2,980), with Italy and Germany also around 400,000 yen (some $2,690). Chinese travelers' spending was 248,000 yen (roughly $1,660) each, a 12% decrease from last year. (Mainichi)
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
China's ASML endeavor and India eyes Taiwan ties
Hi everyone, this is Lauly, waving hello from drizzly Tokyo, where I am on a short business trip. It's been a while since I last visited this vibrant city. That was in spring 2023, shortly after the lifting of COVID quarantine controls. We had a company teambuilding event that almost every overseas correspondent attended. We took a dinner cruise on a traditional boat in Tokyo Bay and later sang karaoke. Touching down in Haneda Airport yesterday reminded me how joyful it is to see colleagues that you work closely with despite living far away. I am hosting this week's #TechAsia from Tokyo just as our special visual project about extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, the world's most complicated chipmaking equipment, goes online. The idea for the story actually emerged roughly two years ago from discussion with my colleague Annie Cheng Ting-fang. We decided we should dissect China's efforts to build its own ASML, the Dutch company that is the exclusive maker of EUV machines. However, we were sidetracked by other big projects and major news developments, such as the great nanometer chip race, China's subsea cable drive, Huawei's mission to boost China's tech prowess, not to mention the industrywide earthquake set off by Trump's tariff war since April. Looking back, however, all these projects are linked to one another, and together they build a sweeping tale about China's tech capabilities under the pressure of U.S. restrictions. Our years of accumulated industry knowledge and the latest scoopy details about little-known Chinese players all became part of this latest story. I am very happy that we finally told this story, with massive help from our industry sources and analyst friends, as well as our editors and designers. This is a very good read that I'm sure you will enjoy. Separately, the tech supply chain has been waiting anxiously for the final results of the Trump administration's tariff policy. Without further details, it is impossible for companies to make their next moves. "The clients have not yet told us what to do or made any order adjustments, as there are so many details not yet disclosed," Jeff Lin, CEO of Wistron, a maker of Nvidia servers and HP and Dell notebooks, told reporters this week. "The market for AI servers would be less impacted due to the continued robust demand, but it is hard to say for consumer electronics products like personal computers and notebooks." The last, greatest challenge Ever since Chinese tech champion Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S., China has stepped up efforts to boost its self-sufficiency in tech, particularly in chipmaking equipment, a segment dominated by suppliers from the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China's top contract chipmaker, is aggressively expanding the output of 14-nanometer and even 7-nm chips in Beijing, with a mission to even build them entirely with Chinese chipmaking equipment, according to this special project by Nikkei Asia's Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li. But while China has made progress in almost every chipmaking machine over the past few years, one daunting challenge remains: lithography. This essential step in the manufacturing process determines the ultimate performance of the chip. The Chinese central government, local governments and top national research institutes are supporting the creation of the country's own supply chain ecosystem for lithography machines, including the development of critical components, optical parts and light sources. Huawei-linked chipmaking equipment supplier SiCarrier, as well as Shanghai Yuliangsheng and Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment, are among the most eager to see the effort succeed, with the trio's ultimate goal being to build the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. "It could be in five years, it could be in 10 years, it could be in 15 years. We don't really know," said Didier Scemama, head of EMEA IT hardware research at BofA Global Research. "Is that going to be competitive with what ASML does? [That is] highly unlikely. But it's good enough for China." Nvidia's aims for China Nvidia chief Jensen Huang said it would "accelerate the recovery" of its China sales, after a detente between Beijing and Washington allowed the AI chipmaker to resume shipments of a key processor specifically designed for the Chinese market, writes the Financial Times' Eleanor Olcott. Huang told a press conference in the Chinese capital on Wednesday the company had not yet received export licenses from Washington to restart shipments of its H20 product, but he expected them "to come through very shortly." Nvidia had reported a $4.5 billion write-down in its April quarter, as the Trump administration tightened export restrictions on advanced chips and it was left with a huge H20 inventory it could no longer ship. "Some of what we wrote off is hard to recover, but what we put on reserve will not be scrapped permanently," said Huang. The company would make a final decision about whether it needed to restart production of its previous Hopper generation, of which the H20 was part, once customer orders came through, he said. Huang has met President Donald Trump and policymakers this month, as part of intense lobbying in the U.S. and Chinese capitals by the $4 trillion company. He has warned that America risks forfeiting its leadership in AI to Chinese companies, including Huawei, if it cuts off exports of critical technology. Beyond tech ties India, the world's most populous country, is looking to forge deeper economic ties with Taiwan on top of the tech-oriented island's growing manufacturing presence in the South Asian subcontinent, Nikkei Asia's Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li write. The country sent a ministerial-level delegation to Taipei this week to promote the building of an international financial services hub, the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City. Also nown as GIFT City, the project would, among other things, enable flexibility in financing domestic tech projects. "We are here to expand the India-Taiwan business relationship, which is very important in this new world order," said K. Rajaraman, the head of the delegation and chairman of the International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA), the body that is overseeing the hub's development and regulation. "In the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi]'s vision of 2047, one of the most important pillars is technology, and I think Taiwan is the place to be. ... This partnership is completely complementary," Rajaraman said. There are already more than 250 Taiwanese tech suppliers invested in India, and "all" of them are expanding their footprints, making India one of the key beneficiaries of the supply chain diversification amid the U.S.-China tensions. China's food fight China's price war in the food delivery industry continues to spiral out of control, with the three main platforms -- Alibaba Group, Meituan and -- competing head-to-head to become the ultimate gateway for consumer spending in the world's second-largest market, writes Nikkei Asia's Cissy Zhou. The battle, ignited by JD, intensified further over the weekend as platforms announced heavier subsidies to woo users, with Alibaba's Taobao pledging to distribute a limited number of coupons worth up to 188 yuan and Meituan trying to match Taobao's offer. JD offered 100,000 servings of premium crawfish for 16.18 yuan, around $2, each to users across the country. But with the subsidy war lasting longer than expected, it is set to hamper platforms' profits for the second quarter as well as the full fiscal year, analysts warn. Morgan Stanley, for instance, last week lowered its target price for Alibaba's American Depositary Receipts (ADR) to $150 from $180. The bank noted that Alibaba invested approximately 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in food delivery and instant retail services in the April-June quarter, saying the move has put its short-term profitability under pressure. South Korea pushes limits of AI in gaming and entertainment Welcome to the Tech Latest podcast. Hosted by our tech coverage veterans, Katey Creel and Akito Tanaka, every Tuesday we deliver the hottest trends and news from the sector. In this episode, Katey speaks with Seoul correspondent Kim Jaewon about how South Korea is deploying AI in its gaming and entertainment industries. Find us on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Voicy | YouTube | YouTube Music Suggested reads 1. Singtel-led group to build 8,900km Asian subsea cable with NEC (Nikkei Asia) 2. US probes imports of drones and critical material in chips and solar panels (FT) 3. How BYD caught up with Tesla in the global EV race (FT) 4. AI will not change humans, says 'Ghost in the Shell' creator (Nikkei Asia) 5. Post Office scandal clouds Fujitsu's AI rally (FT) 6. Panasonic opens second US battery plant in state of Kansas (Nikkei Asia) 7. China approves $35bn Synopsys chip software deal after US eases export curbs (FT) 8. China's top lithium firms trim losses but warn of volatility (Nikkei Asia) 9. US rare-earth refiner bets on chemistry to break China's dominance (Nikkei Asia) 10. China's ecommerce giants battle for instant delivery crown (FT)
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Chinese drone battery makers 'revitalized' by Russia-Ukraine war
Thirty DJI Matrice 300 RTK drones purchased by Ukraine are presented on Aug. 2, 2022. China has since clamped down on drone sales to Ukraine and Russia. © AP CISSY ZHOU HONG KONG -- Small Chinese drone battery makers pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by fierce domestic competition have found a lifeline in the Russia-Ukraine war, as the conflict -- now in its fourth year -- looks set to drag on. Multiple companies in China's Guangdong province told Nikkei Asia that business is booming as they sell batteries, which can be assembled into drones used in battlegrounds, to both Russia and Ukraine.
