Latest news with #ManamiYamada
.jpg%3Fwidth%3D780%26fit%3Dcover%26gravity%3Dfaces%26dpr%3D2%26quality%3Dmedium%26source%3Dnar-cms%26format%3Dauto&w=3840&q=100)
Nikkei Asia
6 days ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Asia's 'peak polarization' is yet to come, says Taiwan's Audrey Tang
Audrey Tang speaks during an interview on July 22 in Tokyo. (Photo by Manami Yamada) RYOHTAROH SATOH TOKYO -- Audrey Tang, Taiwan's cyber ambassador, warned that the peak of Asia's political polarization is "yet to come" and that the region must use digital technology to bolster public trust in democracy. The former digital minister of Taiwan, speaking to Nikkei Asia on the sidelines of the Nikkei Global Digital Summit on Tuesday, said Asia "did not succumb to the first wave of polarization" that hit Western democracies in 2024, due to the region's cultural tendency to prioritize personal relationships over individualism. This means, however, that Asia "may not be yet over peak polarization," she said.
GMA Network
20-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Japan heads to polls in key test for Prime Minister Ishiba
Candidates' posters for the Upper House election are displayed outside a polling station in Tokyo, Japan July 20, 2025. REUTERS/ Manami Yamada TOKYO — Japanese voters headed to the polls on Sunday in a tightly contested upper house election that could unleash political turmoil, with rising prices and immigration concerns threatening to weaken Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's grip on power. Opinion polls suggest Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito may fall short of the 50 seats needed to retain control of the 248-seat upper house of parliament in an election where half the seats are up for grabs. The polls show that smaller opposition parties pushing for tax cuts and increased public spending are set to gain, among them the right-wing Sanseito, which vows to curb immigration, oppose foreign capital inflows and reverse gender equality moves. "I am attending graduate school but there are no Japanese around me. All of them are foreigners," said Yu Nagai, a 25-year-old student who said he voted for Sanseito. "When I look at the way compensation and money are spent on foreigners, I think that Japanese people are a bit disrespected," Nagai said. Voting ends at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), when media are expected to project results based on exit polls. A poor showing by the coalition could shake investor confidence in the world's fourth-largest economy and disrupt critical trade talks with the United States, analysts said. Ishiba may have to choose between making way for a new LDP leader or scrambling to secure the backing of some opposition parties with policy compromises, said Rintaro Nishimura, an associate at the Asia Group in Japan. "Each scenario requires the LDP and Komeito to make certain concessions, and will be challenging, as any potential partner has leverage in the negotiations." After the election, Japan faces a deadline of August 1 to strike a trade deal with the United States or face punishing tariffs in its largest export market. Such import levies could squeeze the economy and further pressure the government to give financial relief to households already reeling from inflation, including a doubling of rice prices since last year. With an eye on a jittery government bond market, the LDP has called for fiscal restraint and rejected opposition calls for major tax cuts and welfare spending to soften the blow. Ishiba's administration lost its majority in the more powerful lower house in October. That was the LDP's worst showing in 15 years, roiling financial markets and leaving the prime minister vulnerable to no-confidence motions that could topple his administration and trigger a fresh general election. "The LDP has been running the government without resolving anything," said Kaoru Kawai, a 59-year-old novelist who voted for the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Ruled by the LDP for most of the post-war period, Japan has so far largely avoided the social division and fracturing of politics seen in other industrialized democracies. — Reuters
DW
06-06-2025
- Business
- DW
Japan's ispace fails second lunar landing mission – DW – 06/06/2025
Japanese startup failed to land its unmanned Resilience craft on the moon. The mission was aborted as it was likely the craft had crashed after losing contact. Japan'sprivate moon mission was aborted on Friday after it was presumed that the unmanned Resilience spacecraft had crashed. Tokyo-based startup ispace had launched the mission in hopes of becoming the first private company outside the United States to achieve a controlled lunar landing. Lunar lander crashed into moon The Resilience spacecraft had begun its final descent, successfully firing its main engine "as planned to begin deceleration," ispace said. Mission control reported that the craft's position was "nearly vertical," but contact was then lost. ispace stated that the spacecraft had likely failed to decelerate sufficiently to reach the speed required for a soft lunar landing. "Based on the currently available data... it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing. It is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored, so it has been decided to conclude the mission," ispace said in a statement. Before signing off, the livestream announcers said, "never quit the lunar quest." A new time: Clocks on the moon To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Less than two minutes before the scheduled landing, the once-celebratory gathering of 500 ispace employees, shareholders, sponsors, and government officials fell into stunned silence as contact with the spacecraft was lost. ispace had also organized a public viewing event. Image: Manami Yamada/REUTERS "Expectations for ispace will not waver," Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba posted on X. Second failed attempt Two years ago, another lunar missionby the company had also ended in a crash. CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters he took the second failed attempt "seriously" and intended to use the outcome to inform future missions. He said they had a "strong will to move on, although we have to carefully analyze what happened." Resilience carried a four-wheeled rover built by ispace's Luxembourg subsidiary, along with five external payloads valued at a total of $16 million. The planned landing site was Mare Frigoris, a plain about 900 km (560 miles) from the moon's north pole. Lunar landings remain challenging due to the moon's rugged terrain. To date, only five nations have successfully achieved soft lunar landings: Russia, US, China, India and Japan. Private companies have recently entered the race to the moon, and ispace would have been the third such company to achieve it. The mission wanted to collect two lunar soil samples and sell them to NASA for $5,000 (€4373). In January, Resilience shared a SpaceX rocket launch with Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, which touched down successfully in March. A moon landing attempt by US-based company Intuitive Machines failed in March this year. IDEFIX rover and JAXA's mission to the moons of Mars To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Louis Oelofse
GMA Network
06-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Japan's ispace fails again: Resilience lander crashes on moon
A model of the lunar lander "Resilience", operated by 'ispace', is displayed at a venue where employees of 'ispace' monitored its attempted landing on the Moon, in Tokyo, Japan, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/ Manami Yamada TOKYO, Japan - Japanese company ispace 9348.T said its uncrewed moon lander likely crashed onto the lunar surface during its touchdown attempt on Friday, marking another failure two years after an unsuccessful inaugural mission. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to join U.S. firms Intuitive Machines LUNR.O and Firefly Aerospace in making successful commercial moon landings amid a global race that includes state-run lunar missions from China and India. Although the failure means another multi-year pause in Japan's commercial access to the moon, the country remains committed to the U.S.-led Artemis program and a wide range of Japanese companies are studying lunar exploration as a business frontier. Resilience, ispace's second lunar lander, had problems measuring its distance to the surface and could not slow its descent fast enough, the company said, adding it has not been able to communicate with Resilience after a likely hard landing. "Truly diverse scenarios were possible, including issues with the propulsion system, software or hardware, especially with sensors," ispace Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie told a press conference. A room of more than 500 ispace employees, shareholders, sponsors and government officials abruptly grew silent when flight data was lost less than two minutes before the scheduled touchdown time during a public viewing event at mission partner Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp in the wee hours in Tokyo. Shares of ispace were untraded, overwhelmed by sell orders, and looked set to close at the daily limit-low, which would mark a 29% fall. As of the close of Thursday, ispace had a market capitalisation of more than 110 billion yen ($766 million). "We're not facing any immediate financial deterioration or distress because of the event," CFO Jumpei Nozaki said in the press conference, citing recurring investor support. In 2023, ispace's first lander crashed into the moon's surface due to inaccurate recognition of its altitude. Software remedies have been implemented, while the hardware design was mostly unchanged in Resilience. $16 Million payload Resilience was carrying a four-wheeled rover built by ispace's Luxembourg subsidiary and five external payloads worth a total of $16 million, including scientific instruments from Japanese firms and a Taiwanese university. The lander had targeted Mare Frigoris, a basaltic plain about 900 km (560 miles) from the moon's north pole. If the landing had been successful, the 2.3-metre-high lander and the rover would have begun 14 days of planned exploration activities, including capturing of regolith, the moon's fine-grained surface material, on a contract with U.S. space agency NASA. Resilience in January shared a SpaceX rocket launch with Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, which took a faster trajectory to the moon and touched down successfully in March. Intuitive Machines, which last year marked the world's first commercial lunar touchdown, also landed its second Athena lander in March, although in a toppled position just as with its first mission. Japan last year became the world's fifth country to achieve a soft lunar landing after the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India, when the national Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency achieved the touchdown of its SLIM lander. The government last year signed an agreement with NASA to include Japanese astronauts in Artemis lunar missions and has supported private companies' research projects for future lunar development, assuming ispace's transportation capabilities. "Expectations for ispace have not faded," Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in an X post. Although ispace will likely remain Japan's most advanced lunar transportation company, some Japanese firms may start to consider transport options from foreign entities to test their lunar exploration visions, said Ritsumeikan University professor Kazuto Saiki, who was involved in the SLIM mission. For its third mission in 2027, ispace's U.S. unit is building a bigger lander as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services for the Artemis program. The company projects six more missions in the U.S. and Japan through 2029. "NASA increasingly needs private companies to improve cost efficiency for key missions with limited budgets," ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts. "To meet NASA's expectations, we'll support our U.S. subsidiary to keep up with development and play a role." ($1 = 143.5600 yen) — Reuters
GMA Network
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- GMA Network
Toyota revamps RAV4 SUV for global launch, debuts new software system
Toyota Motor's all-new RAV4 SUVs are displayed during its world premiere event in Tokyo, Japan May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Manami Yamada TOKYO - Toyota unveiled an overhauled RAV4 on Wednesday and said the compact sport utility vehicle would be the first Toyota model to be equipped with the Japanese automaker's Arene software development platform. Toyota plans to launch the new RAV4 in North America, Japan and Europe in the current business year to end-March 2026. The sixth-generation RAV4 will come in variants with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains. —Reuters
