Technology – Japan’s Gift to the World

CEBU, Philippines — Once, it was Germany that came to mind when technology was mentioned. With names like Porche, Benz, Braun, Diesel, Bosch, and Siemens, to name a few, German technology ruled unrivaled for quite a long time. If one wanted innovative, good quality “anything,” he’d look for a German brand.

It’s a fact that people tend to take after people they admire. And perhaps the popularity of German technology has inspired other nations. Japan is a leading example of a country that has, in time, moved up the technology ladder. Japanese technology has since conquered the world – from cars to industrial equipment to home appliances to personal gadgets.

Stéphanie Thomson writes at www.weforum.org, that “few places have done more than Japan to define today’s technological landscape.” She cites Toshiba as the first to produce laptop computers for mass market. She adds that the emojis people in their emails are also a Japanese invention.

While many people would instead think of Silicon Valley or Tel Aviv for cutting-edge technological innovations, Japan’s creative prowess in the field cannot be underestimated. In fact, according to a Forbes analysis, Japan is home to almost 10 percent of the world’s most innovative companies. Thomson pints out that Japan has given the world far more than karaoke, Pokémon and instant ramen noodles.

Filipinos have long recognized Japan’s capability for technological breakthroughs. And Thomson gives five of significant Japanese innovations:

Bullet Train (1964). Before the Hikari No. 1 was launched in October 1964, travelling by train between Tokyo and Osaka – Japan’s two largest cities – would take the best part of one’s day. But with a top speed of 210 kilometers per hour, the world’s first bullet train reduced the journey to a mere four hours. Today, thanks to further technological developments, the trip takes just over two hours, still soon to be reduced to around an hour.

Pocket Calculator (1970). Today when out for dinner with a group of friends and the bill arrives, one would grab his smartphone and tap the calculator app. This handy little tool has its origins in a Japanese invention: the pocket calculator.

But the first models needed enormous pockets to actually carry around – these were instead designed to keep on one’s desk – but it was probably easier than lugging an abacus to the restaurant.

Walkman (1979). The millennial generation may think that the iPod revolutionized the music industry. Wrong. When Apple’s product hit the market in 2001, the revolution was already well under way, thanks to a Japanese invention that came decades earlier: Sony’s Walkman.

Before the Walkman, the only way to listen to music on-the-go was by using a portable radio. The idea that one could pick his own tunes and listen to them everywhere would transform the music industry. “Mobility – the concept that you could take music with you – was huge,” according to Americus Reed of Wharton.

Blue LED Light (early 1990s).  In the early 1990s, three Japanese scientists – Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura – set off a lighting revolution when they produced blue LED light from their semi-conductors.

The discovery paved the way for energy-efficient TV, mobile and computer screens, and power-saving light bulbs. It has been described as having the potential to revolutionize the 21st century, and the three scientists were awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Android Robots (2003). Once limited to the realm of science fiction, androids – robots that look, speak and act like humans – are now very much a reality, thanks to Japanese inventors.

In 2003, researchers from The Intelligent Robotics Lab at Osaka University unveiled the DER 01, the first all-talking, blinking and breathing, human-like robot.

These robots are already transforming their country of origin. In the summer of 2015, a hotel with an almost entirely robot personnel opened in Nagasaki. Two years earlier, Kirobo became the world’s first robot astronaut to speak in space.

These five are, for sure, not the whole list. The Japanese technology industry is very dynamic, regularly turning up new things and vast improvements to already existing technologies. And who can tell what other amazing, groundbreaking devices are yet to come from the Japanese mind? (FREEMAN)