Mitsui, Jianlong To Form Car Battery Tie-Up

Mitsui & Co. will form a car battery partnership with Jianlong Group, spending some 4 billion yen (47.8 million dollars) to acquire an over 20% stake in the Chinese company's lithium-ion battery subsidiary.

Established in 1999, Jianlong Group -- officially Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co. -- is China's biggest player in the shipbuilding and steel industries. It generated about 38 billion yuan (5.7 billion dollars) in sales in 2009.

Mitsui and Jianlong representatives are expected to sign the deal in China Thursday. It will be the first case of a Japanese company investing in a Chinese car battery manufacturer.

The deal will involve Mitsui helping Tianjin EV Energies Co. sell its batteries to Japanese automakers. The trading house will consider linking the firm with Japanese companies -- battery makers, for instance -- for a technological tie-up.

Tianjin EV Energies, set up in 2009, is building a factory that will be able to produce batteries for tens of thousands of vehicles per year.

China, the world's largest automobile market, is likely to become one of the world's biggest electric vehicle markets as well. This is because Beijing is considering spending 100 billion yuan by 2020 to boost the number of vehicles powered by new sources of energy -- chiefly, electric vehicles -- to 5 million to better protect the environment and nurture related businesses.

Panasonic Develops Hair-Washing Robot For Hospitals

Panasonic Corp. said Friday that it has developed a hair-washing robot for hospitals and nursing-care facilities.

The machine, which was designed to make life easier for both caregivers and patients, consists of a main unit and a reclining chair.

Washing hair with 16 fingers.

The main unit's wash sink is equipped with a pressure sensor for scanning the shape of the head in 3-D. Once the scan data is recorded, the machine sprays shampoo and warm water, washing the hair with 16 fingers while also giving a head massage. Washing times can be adjusted to between three and eight minutes.

Panasonic aims to commercialize the product around 2012. The price has yet to be decided.

The company sees welfare and nursing-care robots as a pillar of its new businesses. It aims to earn 100 billion yen in annual sales from such robots by fiscal 2015.

Dentsu, Nihon Unisys To Develop Japanese AI With MIT

-Dentsu Inc. and Nihon Unisys Ltd, in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., will develop artificial intelligence (AI) centering on the Japanese language.

Commonsense knowledge of words unique to Japanese will be programmed into a database to create conversation interfaces that appear natural. The database will make such inferences as "summer equals hot" and "a summer night equals muggy so it is hard to sleep."

The database will hold more than 1 million combinations. The partners will complete the database in two years. It will then be incorporated into AI technology.

Using the database, the technology will help supplement the machine's "understanding" of the intentions behind people's words. It is expected to be used for many applications, such as telephone answering systems.

MIT Media Laboratory, which develops cutting-edge information technology, will undertake the project.

GS Yuasa Eyes Future Expansion Of Elec-Car Battery Output

GS Yuasa Corp.  has decided to buy 4.4 hectares of land adjacent to the electric-vehicle lithium ion battery plant it will build in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture, in anticipation of expanding the facility.

GS Yuasa is gearing up for increased demand for electric-vehicle lithium ion batteries.

The GS Yuasa, Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. joint venture Lithium Energy Japan will break ground on the plant Wednesday. To be built on land once planned to be used for a Shinkansen bullet train station, the plant will be built on a 5.6-hectare lot.

GS Yuasa decided to go solo in buying the adjacent land. Although the company has yet to decide how to use the extra land, it is expected to expand the plant, ramping up output of lithium ion batteries, depending on market trends.

The Lithium Energy Japan facility is due to begin output at the start of fiscal 2012, churning out enough cells for 50,000 cars. Expansions to the plant could double production volume.

Besides the Ritto plant, GS Yuasa will form a joint venture with Mitsubishi and global autoparts maker Magna International Inc. to build an electric-vehicle lithium ion battery plant in Europe.

KDDI Launches Bubble Motion's BubbleBlog -- Introduces Japan's First Voice-Blogging Service

Named "Koe-Now™" (meaning 'human-voice now'), Japan's only voice-blogging service makes it easy and fun for fans to follow their favorite celebrity voices through their phone.

Mobile audio social networking pioneer Bubble Motion is today announcing KDDI as its latest operator partner to deploy its industry-leading BubbleBlog voice-blogging platform. Deployed by systems integrator NEC, KDDI's "Koe-Now™" service launches today and is Japan's first consumer service in the explosive voice-blogging space.

Bubble Motion's BubbleBlog platform delivers a voice-blogging phone service so that people can share status updates in their own voice with fans and followers. These 'bubblers' just record their voice update into their phone, and instantly their followers everywhere are notified by SMS and prompted to click and listen. BubbleBlog, already hugely popular in India with more than 2-million users, has been described as a voice-based Twitter.

How It Works
Japanese stars such as actors, musicians, comedians and other celebrities have agreed to use the service as a unique and innovative way to connect with fans and followers. It's simple and fun for celebrity voice-bloggers to use; they simply dial a code, record their update and hang up their phone - and all of their fans and followers will get notified to listen to their update.

Canon To Build 2nd Inkjet Printer Plant In Thailand

Canon Inc. plans to spend about 15 billion yen to build a new inkjet printer plant in Thailand amid soaring demand in China and the rest of Asia.

Canon's share of the global inkjet printer market came to 23% last year.

Canon's second Thai inkjet printer factory will be located in Nakhon Ratchasima, 170km northeast of the existing facility in Bangkok, and employ some 5,000 workers. It is due to come online in October 2011. Churning out mostly low-priced products, it will have an annual production capacity of 5.5 million units, pushing up Canon's total inkjet printer output 40% to 27 million units a year.

Canon currently makes inkjet printers in Thailand and Vietnam. It produces 6 million middle- and top-of-the-line models in Thailand, with two Vietnamese factories churning out 13.5 million affordable offerings.

Although output is unlikely to keep up with demand for low-priced printers, personnel are growing scarce in Vietnam. The company opted for Thailand because of an abundance of workers and a concentration of parts manufacturers nearby. Expansions at the Bangkok facility will hike production there to 8 million units a year, up from 6 million.

The new Thai facility has room for another building and assembly line. So if demand for inkjet printers continues to grow, a second line could begin operating around 2016.

Canon was the No. 2 inkjet printer maker worldwide last year with a market share of 23%, according to U.S. research firm IDC. Driven by the booming Chinese and Southeast Asian economies, global demand is expected to hit almost 91 million units in 2013, swelling 18% from 2009.

Japan Rail Firms Laying Tracks Toward European Markets

BERLIN - Japanese railway-related manufacturers are rushing to cultivate foreign markets by establishing sales outposts in Europe and forming manufacturing tie-ups in China.

French and German manufacturers pitch their cutting-edge trains at a rail car fair in Berlin Tuesday.

Global demand for railway-related equipment is growing, but competition is intensifying, particularly with European rivals.

Toshiba Corp, which makes motors for railroad cars, will staff a U.K. subsidiary with dedicated marketing personnel next month.

And Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has established a U.K. sales force to promote its rail car information systems and air conditioning equipment. The company also plans to add maintenance engineers for air conditioning systems.

Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric will use their U.K. operations to cover Europe. Toshiba aims to double its railway-related sales to more than 200 billion yen by 2015, while Mitsubishi Electric seeks to lift its by 50% to 230 billion yen over the same period.

Kinki Sharyo Co. will try to crack the U.K. market, where German and French rail car manufacturers have a relatively small presence, by bidding on two contracts to supply light rail vehicles. The bids are expected to take place as early as this fiscal year.

Kinki Sharyo has already signed collaboration agreements with local railway consulting and engineering firms.

Nabtesco Corp. has developed a door operating system tailored to the European market and will launch sales this fall. In China, the company has decided to establish a joint manufacturing venture with a local firm by the end of March.

Fuji Electric Holdings Co, which makes drive equipment and door systems, will enter China by licensing technology to local firms. It will also place sales personnel focusing on the railway business in the U.S. by the end of March.

Kyosan Electric Manufacturing Co has developed a wireless signal control system, a mainstream technology overseas, for sale mainly in emerging nations.

The Japanese market for rail cars is not expected to expand beyond 200-300 billion yen a year, but overseas growth has been steady.

Major Japanese rail car manufacturers Hitachi Ltd and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. are also pushing global expansions.

Ito-Yokado Opens Japan's Largest LED-Lit Shopping Center

Ito-Yokado Co. opened the doors on a new large shopping center Friday that is equipped with 13,000 LED lights providing some 70% of the total illumination.

The Ario Hashimoto shopping center is equipped with 13,000 LED lights.

The Ario Hashimoto in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, is fitted with more LED lights than any other shopping center in Japan and consumes around half of the electricity it would consume if the facility were illuminated by regular lighting instead. Over the course of a year that will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 554 tons.

The Ario Hashimoto is equipped with 1,178 solar panels, which is the most of any shopping center operated by Ito-Yokado. It also has a charger for electric cars.

Haier Group to aggressively target Japanese market

White goods maker, the Haier Group, based in Qingdao, China, has announced that it plans to significantly expand its business in Japan, focusing on high end washer/dryers and refrigerators. To date, Haier has sold lower end products, and in 2009 recorded sales of JPY7.5bn (US$87.8m), to chip out a market share of just 3%. However, the firm has decided to create products specifically designed and made for Japan, starting with a washer/dryer that can take a full 10kg load -- enough to wash a futon. Pricing, however,will be the main competitive point, set at about 20% less than comparable Japanese products.

Toyota To Launch 6 New Hybrids By 2012

Toyota Motor Corp. will introduce six new hybrid, gasoline-electric vehicles by 2012 on a global basis, the company's chief engineer said Monday in a presentation in Detroit.

The auto maker also will show off its new RAV4 electric sport-utility vehicle developed in conjunction with Tesla Motors Inc., said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's global chief of engineering and product development. Toyota expects pure electric cars to be a small portion of its overall fleet - and concentrated on very small, shorter-range vehicles and motor scooters.

Toyota plans two new Lexus models and four Toyota models with hybrids. There will be some that are only hybrid models - like the Prius - and some that have a gasoline-engine variant. All of the hybrids will be new, and not next-generation versions of existing hybrid models, Mr. Uchiyamada said.

"Based on the current battery technology, it is not feasible to have all-electric vehicles" for the entire fleet, Mr. Uchiyamada said. "As battery technology gets better, that transition will lead to more pure electronic vehicles. Liquid fuels are still a superior fuel because of their energy density."

Toyota will begin selling the plug-in Prius, which isn't included in the six new models, in the spring of 2012. The Prius will get 13 miles on a full charge of electricity before the gasoline engine kicks on. Later models may offer the option of paying more for a longer range on the battery charge, he said.

Mr. Uchiyamada is considered the "father" of the hybrid-electric vehicle by Toyota, leading the first Prius program. He also is leading the company's efforts to integrate Tesla Motors technology into the new RAV4 electric vehicle, which will be shown at the Los Angeles auto show in November and is due out in 2012.

The auto maker also is working on a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered electric vehicle that would go on sale in 2015. Mr. Uchiyamada said the company intends to reduce production costs of the hydrogen vehicle dramatically.

In July, Mr. Uchiyamada announced changes at Toyota to lengthen product-development times by at least a month to do extra inspections on vehicles. He also oversaw the move of 1,000 engineers into a product quality division and is trying to limit the use of outside contract engineers. The auto maker has been plagued by safety recalls in the past year for unintended acceleration, engine, steering and brake problems. More than nine million vehicles in total have been affected by the recalls.

Toyota's sales in the U.S. have been hurt as a result. The Toyota brand market share in the U.S., excluding Lexus, has fallen this year to 13.3% through August, compared with 14.7% in the same period a year earlier.

New Japanese Coca-Cola Vending Machines Come With Green Roofs

Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. has unveiled a new vending machine topped with a mixture of artificial turf and moss to help the machine stay cool.

A sheet of artificial turf with sunagoke, which can tolerate a dry environment and is easy to maintain, is fixed onto the top of the machine. This mechanism works in the same way that a garden rooftop keeps a building cooler during hot spells.

An internal test has shown that the green roof improves the cooling efficiency of the machine, with the cooling device that refrigerates beverages inside using less electricity than a conventional machine. The new machine's higher cost can be recovered in five years in the form of lower electricity bills, says the company.

Two machines have been installed in Tokyo's Jiyugaoka area. A portion of proceeds will be donated to a local environmental foundation.

GS Yuasa Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation and Magna International Inc. will jointly manufacture lithium-ion batteries for EVs. The factory will be built in either Spain or Austria.

GS Yuasa Corp. Mitsubishi Corp. and No. 1 North American autoparts manufacturer Magna International Inc. are planning joint European production of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles.

Negotiations are under way to set up a joint venture as early as this year, with GS Yuasa seen taking a majority stake. Magna will likely have a stake of 20-40% and Mitsubishi the rest.

Costing 40 billion yen or so, their factory will likely be one of the largest electric-vehicle lithium ion battery plants in Europe and is to be built in Spain or Austria. Construction will likely begin early next year, with the plant operational as early as 2012. Output capacity is to be hiked gradually to roughly 50,000 vehicles. The trio could also build a similar plant in North America.

The lithium ion batteries will likely be used for a new electric vehicle that French firm PSA Peugeot Citroen Group plans to produce in Spain. The three companies also aim to provide them to such Magna customers as Ford Motor Co. and German firm BMW AG.

As part of a joint venture with Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, GS Yuasa has been making lithium ion batteries in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, since last year for Mitsubishi Motors' i-MiEV electric car. Mitsubishi Motors will not participate in the European joint venture.

Denso Corporation will invest about 3 billion yen in the establishment of a technical development base in India in late 2011.

Asahi

Eurus Energy Japan will build a solar power generation plant in Osaka.

Nikkei

Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd and Panasonic Electric Works Co. will join hands with Japan Wind Development Co. to launch smart grid demonstration tests in Aomori Prefecture this week.

 [NIKKEI]

Toyota Tsusho Corp. acquired an equity stake of 30% in an Indian stainless steel tube manufacturer

Tokyo Electric Power Co. unveiled '2020 vision' medium-term management plan. TEPCO plans to invest up to 1 trillion yen in overseas business over the next ten years.

Japan's Kakaku.com moves Tabelog to subscriber service

After having built the eating out recommendation engine site into a monster traffic magnet, operator Kakaku.com is now planning to start charging users JPY315/month to use the service, which will be upgraded to work on the iphone. Until now, the free audience-ranked restaurant site has been attracting tens of thousands of visitors a week to see the best places to eat out. Currently Tabelog has mainly advertising income, amounting to JPY 285m (3.3M USD, 2.2M GBP) for the 3 months through to June. 

- Lithium Energy Japan based in Kyoto will construct a plant for battery in Europe

- Toyota held a ceremony for inaugurating construction of its new plant in Brazil.

Epistem plc announce agency agreement with Veritas Japan

Epistem plc, the UK biotechnology company, announced today that its Contract Research Services division has entered into an agreement with the Veritas Corporation to exclusively market and distribute Epistem’s scientific research services in Japan.
Located in Manchester England, Epistem’s contract research division provides specialised preclinical and scientific research services to drug development and personal care companies in the areas of oncology, mucositis, inflammatory bowel disease, wound healing and skincare. Epistem have an established customer base in Western Europe and the U.S and the Veritas agreement will provide Epistem with a sales and marketing presence in Japan and the opportunity to extend its research services, and respond rapidly to market demand.
Epistem’s CEO Matthew Walls commented “We are delighted to be working with Veritas. They have a strong scientific sales team and established distribution network. The Japanese drug development market provides us with an important opportunity for growth and the agreement with Veritas will allow us to develop closer links with existing Japanese customers.”
Sinsaku Iida, Veritas CEO said ”It is our great pleasure to work with Epistem. Epistem's Contract Research Division has a strong preclinical and scientific research service capability which will benefit Japanese pharmaceutical and personal care companies. Veritas’ sales network has the scientific experience necessary to introduce Epistem's high quality services to potential Japanese customers and will make for more efficient marketing and easier access for Japanese customers to Epistem.“

Zeria Pharmaceutical Co. will purchase Biofac Esbierg, a Danish pharmaceutical company, in the middle of September

• Investment into Japan by the companies in 11 emerging nations (excluding China) has increased by 1.5 times in the past five years

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will establish a new company in Singapore for environment/chemical plants

• Japan's imported auto sales in August increased by 74% compared to the year earlier.

• Panasonic aims at increasing sales of environment/energy related projects in Europe to 30% of its entire business in Europe by 2018 when it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Japanesde kidnap victim pulls off tweet trick

A Japanese journalist who was held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out reassuring messages via Twitter. Kosuke Tsuneoka fooled his captors when they asked him how to use a new cell phone. While demonstrating how it worked he sent two tweets that revealed he was alive.

He told a news conference in Tokyo yesterday: "I'm sure they never thought they were tricked."

Tsuneoka, who was held by members of a group called Hizb-e-Islami, believes he was freed because he is a Muslim. He converted to Islam in 2000.

He was kidnapped in April after travelling to a Taliban-controlled area in northern Afghanistan and was released on Saturday.

Tsuneoka was previously abducted while on assignment in Georgia in 2001. He was held for several months by an unidentified gang and freed during a military operation.

Japan / China sets a new trade record in H1 2010

Japan's total trade with China (imports and exports combined) rose 34.5% (year-on-year) to US$138.4 billion in the first half of 2010, setting a new record.

This was the first increase (on half-year basis) since the second half of 2008.

Japan's exports to China rose by 47.1% to US$68.4 billion during this period, while imports rose 24.2% to US$69.9 billion.

• JGC Corp. will tie up with a Spanish solar energy company to enter the solar heat power generation business

Australia-based Dyesol, a Leading Supplier of 3rd Generation Solar Technology, Establishes Japan Arm

Dyesol Limited, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, established Dyesol Japan Co., Ltd, and launched full-scale operations from its office in Tokyo.
Dyesol develops and manufactures modules, materials and manufacturing equipment for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), which have been hailed as a next-generation energy source. Despite reports of the difficulties involved in this kind of commercial production, Dyesol has been quick to commence manufacturing. Additionally, Dyesol offers a total solution to those companies wishing to commercialize in the DSCs field.

The Japanese operation joins Dyesol's other overseas affiliates in the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Switzerland, Singapore and South Korea.

Dyesol also exports to China, Taiwan, the U.A.E. and New Zealand via agents, to further develop their business.

The firm has had a presence in Japan via its agents to offer technical support for customers' projects and supply materials, they made the decision to establish a Japanese arm based on its assessment of Japan as an important future market. Dyesol Japan will attempt to expand the market while enhancing support for its partner agencies. Furthermore, Dyesol will perform R&D activity in Japan and will emphasize assistance in commercializing DSCs.

Belgian Building Material Manufacturer StoneTech Establishes Japan Office in Tokyo

Belgium-based StoneTech bvba established a Japanese subsidiary, StoneTech Japan KK, in Tokyo in June 2010. StoneTech developed a paving system for fast and cost-effective paving with natural stones.
StoneTech's core products include bluestones, which have a very small global output, and European antique paving stones (recycled from old stone pavements.) StoneTech Japan imports and sells these products to Japanese construction companies, construction materials suppliers and similar outfits. They will also seek commercial development projects and other opportunities in the landscaping industry and others.

To set up its Japan arm, StoneTech made use of JETRO's Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) in Tokyo, utilizing free temporary office space, consultations with experts including corporate registration and tax matters, as well as introductions to an administrative scrivener, a certified public accountant and recruiting companies.

Japan's largest pharma company,Takeda buys license for obesity drug

Japan's largest pharma company, Takeda, has struck a potentially major deal with US-based Orexigen Therapeutics, involving the Americas marketing rights for Orexigen's obesity drug Contrave. Takeda will pay Orexigen an upfront fee of US$50m for exclusive marketing rights in the USA, Mexico, and Canada, and will pay out up to US$1bn if Orexigen is able to get the drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.  (Source: thepharmaletter.com, Sep 3, 2010)

Olympus Buys U.S. X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer Maker for 77M USD

Olympus Buys U.S. X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer MakerTOKYO (Nikkei)--Olympus Corp. (7733) said Friday that it has purchased a 100% stake in Innov-X Systems Inc., a U.S. boutique firm specializing in X-ray fluorescence analyzers, for roughly 77.5 million dollars. The acquisition will enable the Olympus group to expand its lineup of industrial testing equipment, such as videoscopes. X-ray fluorescence analyzers enable users to identify the types and volumes of elements contained in an object by irradiating small amounts of X-rays. Innov-X has been enjoying strong sales of its portable X-ray fluorescence analyzers.The Japanese precision equipment maker sees demand for X-ray fluorescence analyzers growing worldwide for use in detecting harmful substances in electronic devices and building materials, as well as for evaluating mineral resources. Headquartered in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, Innov-X was established in 2001. Employing roughly 120, it reported 40 million dollars in sales for 2009.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Barclays team up for private banking in Japan

The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and the UK's Barclays have announced that they will team up to start a private banking business in Japan. The companies will create a joint venture to be named the SMBC Barclays Wealth Division, and will target individuals with at least JPY500m of assets. Also involved will be Nikko Cordial Securities, which is now owned by SMFG. ($1=88.54 Yen) (Source: TT commentary from reuters.com)

Google ousts Microsoft as Japan's top brand

A Nikkei survey of 33,033 shoppers and 14,184 executives has found that Google now has the most respected and recognized brand in Japan. In being so ranked, Google has surpassed last year's leader, Microsoft. Sony came in third, followed by Yahoo, then other famous indigenous brands in the top 20, such as Canon, Panasonic, Casio, and Sharp. (Source: TT commentary from warc.com, Aug 27, 2010)

NEC Corp. will launch a medical check business in the United States next summer

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd will sell its HQ building in Tokyo to Odakyu Electric Railways for 34 billion yen

Mazda Motor Corp. and Ford Motor will co-invest $ 350 million in Auto Alliance Thailand. The production of new pickup trucks at a factory in Thailand will begin in mid-2011

Kobe Steel Ltd will join hands with NMDC to build a new environment-friendly steelworks in India

Asahi Breweries Ltd will buy P&N Beverages Australia in November for about 27.2 billion yen

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd will sell its HQ building in Tokyo to Odakyu Electric Railways for 34 billion yen

Kyusai, the manufacturer of green vegetable juice, will become a subsidiary of Co ca-Cola West Japan Co. on 1 October

Sumitomo Corporation will join a shale gas development project in the United States

Source Nikkei

Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation will develop a large-scale wind power generation plant in Scandinavia

Source Nikkei

'Swinging London 50s - 60s Design and Culture Revolution' is now being held at the Museum of Modern Art in Saitama

Source - Sankei