Japan is all set to catch up with nations like India, China, and Russia in expediating the development and trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Asian nation is set to launch its digital currency in its pilot phase starting April. The development was announced on Friday, February 17, by Shinichi Uchida, the Executive Director of the Bank of Japan (BoJ). In its polit phase, the digital yen will be tested for how technically feasible it is for commercial uses.
Private companies will be onboarded by the BoJ to be participants in the testing of the digital JPY. The focus is to analyse and justify the fundamentals of the proof-of-concept (PoC) for this CBDC, which has been under testing in Japan since April 2021.
“The aim of the pilot program is twofold: first, to test the technical feasibility not fully covered by the PoCs, and second, to utilise the skills and insights of private businesses in terms of technology and operation for designing a CBDC ecosystem in the possible event of social implementation,” Uchida wrote in a blog post.
Japan will be developing a working financial network comprised of a central system, intermediary network systems, and endpoint devices — all configured in an integrated manner to test the end-to-end speed and efficiency of the digital currency.
The BoJ is exploring to identify touch points in its CBDC that could be improved.
“Topics on the agenda currently include measures and potential challenges for connecting the experimental system with external ones, alternative data models and architectures for offline payments, the optimal design of the CBDC system in providing value-added services, and challenges and technologies or functions that could become necessary where a touchpoint with users arises,” Uchida noted.
The BoJ will be creating a CBDC Forum that will serve as a platform for industry insiders to submit their observations and suggestions.
Japan could see a wider roll out of its digital JPY by 2026. Before that, the BoJ aims to check if the CBDC works efficiently under disaster-lie situation or no Internet connectivity.
A CBDC or a central bank digital currency is built on blockchain, works like cryptocurrencies, but are issued and regulated by the central bank.
CBDCs are being designed by several nations around the world with the aim of complementing, rather than replacing, current forms of money and provide an additional payment avenue to users.
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Coinbase on Wednesday announced that it has halted its operations in Japan. Crypto lenders and exchanges, struggling to emerge victorious of the ongoing crypto slump, are faced with drastic decisions to ensure that their businesses remain operational amid the ongoing crypto winter. Citing the ongoing challenges with the crypto market, Coinbase has given its users in Japan up to February 16 to withdraw holdings from their respective accounts. Not too long ago, popular crypto exchange Kraken , faced with similar market pressure, also exited the Japanese market.
“Due to market conditions, our company has made the difficult decision to halt operations in Japan and to conduct a complete review of our business in the country,” the multi-national crypto exchange said in its official statement.
Coinbase Japan will no longer allow fiat deposits starting from January 20.
After February 16, all of the holdings left in possession of Coinbase Japan will be converted to the Japanese Yen (JPY) and will be handed over to a Guaranty Account at the Legal Affairs Bureau as per the laws of the land.
“Customers can choose to withdraw their crypto holdings to any other Virtual Assets Service Provider, Coinbase Wallet or any other self hosted wallet of their choice. Alternatively, customers can choose to liquidate their portfolio and withdraw their JPY to a domestic bank account. If customers do not take any action before February 16th, they will have to coordinate with the Legal Affairs Bureau to retrieve their JPY balance,” the company added to its note.
Japan, in recent times, has begun to lean towards taking a pro-crypto approach to keep up with global fintech trends.
Despite its efforts to expand in the country, Coinbase is now the second crypto major after Kraken to leave the Asian market.
As per a CoinTelegraph report, the companies recorded a weaker crypto market in Japan in comparison with other nations.
Meanwhille, Japan’s financial regulators have urged that the crypto sector should be controlled just like traditional banks.
As per the Japanese authorities, the crypto technology is not to be blamed for risking the financial stability of crypto investors. Rather, it’s the lack of rules governing the sector that has not been able to make the sector safe to engage with.
In November last year, the Bank of Japan had said that it will be collaborating with mega banks to help finetune its CBDC, named the Digital Yen.
Japan could see a wider roll out of its digital yen by 2026. Prior to that, the BoJ aims to check if the CBDC works efficiently under disaster-lie situation or no Internet connectivity.
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Megyn Kelly, 52, pondered Wednesday whether Gwen Stefani, 53, “stepped over the line” by recently claiming to Allure magazine she is Japanese when she has no ethnic ties to the country.
During her SiriusXM show, the veteran conservative commentator called Allure Senior Editor Jesa Marie Calaor, who spoke with Stefani for the piece, a “very young reporter” and a “dumbass” as she accused her of sensationalizing Mrs. Blake Shelton’s words.
After suggesting Calaor, who is Asian American, should simply “get over” being called racial slurs, Kelly tried to relate Stefani’s comments to a transgender person coming out.
“No problem for Gwen Stefani to come out tomorrow and say, ‘I am a man,’” Kelly stated. “She can say it no problem. But ‘I am Japanese’ has caused the people at Allure to ‘tsk-tsk’ her with all these experts weighing in, saying she’s culturally appropriated again, and they’re angry.”
The 53-year-old “Hollaback Girl” singer has found herself in hot water for her Allure interview. Casey Durkin/NBC via Getty ImageKelly likened Stefani’s comments to transgender people coming out.YouTube/Megyn Kelly
Kelly went on to say that Stefani’s controversy “is not a Hilaria Baldwin situation,” referencing Baldwin’s Spanish heritage scandal that rocked the internet two years ago.
“Gwen Stefani clearly didn’t try to misrepresent that she’s in fact Japanese. She was saying … obviously the implication was, ‘In my soul, I connected with these people and their culture’ and how beautiful it was,” Kelly said.
“That is a compliment, you dumbass Allure writer. It is not a Hilaria Baldwin situation, where she claims she’s from Spain, and she’s not. Anyway, I think it’s funny.”
Calaor asked “The Sweet Escape” singer about these accusations in herpiece — a topic she claimed Stefani spoke about for much of their 32-minute conversation.
“In that time, she said more than once that she is Japanese,” the writer noted in her article.
Stefani, who was born to an Italian American father and Irish American mother in California, told Allure she identifies as “a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl.”
“[It] should be OK to be inspired by other cultures because if we’re not allowed, then that’s dividing people, right?” she mused to Allure.
Calaor claimed that a rep for “The Voice” judge contacted her after the article was published and tried to convey that the journalist had misunderstood what Stefani was trying to say.
Allure responded by asking for an on-the-record comment, which Stefani and her team reportedly declined to give.
The year 2022, while not having been positively eventful for the crypto sector, did emerge as a milestone year for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Turkey has become the latest member of the CBDC club, that has touched a significant point in its CBDC trials. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), that started its CBDC trials earlier this year, has completed its first phase before the year of 2022 ends. Turkey’s CBDC is named the Digital Turkish Lira.
For now, Turkey has been conducting closed circuit pilot tests of its CBDC. In the first three months of 2023, the CBRT plans to take this CBDC trial to select banks and fintech companies, which will continue till the end of next year.
“Studies on the legal aspects of the Digital Turkish Lira demonstrate that digital identification is of critical importance for the project. Therefore, studies on the economic and legal framework of the Digital Turkish Lira as well as its technological requirements will be prioritised throughout 2023,” the Turkish central bank said in an official statement.
Built on the blockchain, the CBDC of any nation is just a digital representation of its fiat currency. As opposed to traditional digital transactions, blockchain networks record all transactions with more transparency while keeping them shut to being altered or changed. CBDC transactions could prevent cases of financial frauds.
This year, a bunch of nations expanded their roots into the CBDC sector.
India, for instance, marked some crucial landmarks in its CBDC trials. Earlier this month, India’s digital rupee CBDC, officially stepped into its retail trial period in four cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar in partnership with the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC.
The RBI, that is overseeing the digital rupee trials, is testing the CBDC with select merchants and customers for day-to-day retail purchases.
The official roll out of India’s CBDC could see the light of the day sometime in 2023.
China also, that launched its e-CNY CBDC for broader trials this year, has begun to push its adoption among the masses.
This week, the Chinese authorities introduced a feature for existing CBDC users to let them send financial gifts to their friends and family as ‘red packets’. Considered as a symbol of ‘good luck’, the ‘red packets’ — also called the ‘Hongbao’ — are used for presenting people with money as a gesture of luck around festivals in the Asian nation.
Kazakhstan and Pakistan are looking to facilitate the gradual roll out their respective CBDCs around 2025.
Japan and South Korea also are moving forward with its CBDC pilots.
Meanwhile, some countries have already released their CBDCs in full force this year.
Nigeria, for instance, launched its CBDC named the eNaira earlier this year. In a bid to promote the use of this CBDC, the Nigerian government has banned weekly ATM withdrawals over $225 (roughly Rs. 18,565) and daily ATM withdrawal at $45 (roughly Rs. 3,710) in the African nation.
Jamaica also released its Jam-Dex CBDC for commercial uses.
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Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2023 hub.
The Line mobile messaging service has decided to roll out a Web3 platform in Japan. Named ‘Game Dosi’, this blockchain gaming platform will allow Web3 game firms to launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and provide an easy-to-use development kit tool. The aim of Game Dosi is to accelerate the Web3 gaming culture among players, as well as developers. Japan has been investing heavily in Web3 to establish itself as a pioneer in adopting this technology.
As part of its service offerings, Game Dosi will provide legal support and risk management solutions via Line’s support team. Consultations to optimise game-centric token economics will also be provided via the platform, Line said in a blog post.
“With the slogan ‘Gamer First, Web3 Next,’ Game Dosi is a Web3, blockchain-based gaming platform that aims to provide fun and engaging games that users can enjoy without worrying about understanding the details of decentralised or crypto technology,” the post noted. “In addition, Game Dosi provides solutions to enable game developers to conveniently create their own blockchain-based Web3 games and build communities.”
A teaser site for Game Dosi has been launched that invites users to “Experience the Revolution” in the backdrop of colourful, moving graphics.
A recent Chainalysis report highlighted that in the second quarter of 2022, 58 percent of web traffic from Asian nations to crypto services was NFT-related. Another 21 percent traffic was related to play-to-earn blockchain games.
As per Statista, Japan’s revenue contribution to the global video gaming segment is projected to reach $52.43 billion (roughly Rs. 4,25,700 crore) by 2027.
Hence Japan’s interest in the Web3 gaming industry does not come across as a surprise, given that its prime minister, Fumio Kashida, has been on a hunt to find ‘new capitalism’ solutions to boost the country’s economy and Web3 tools have emerged as national favourites.
Last week, NTT Docomo that is touted as Japan’s largest telecom company teamed-up with IT major Accenture to fund the country’s Web3 exploration with $4 billion (roughly Rs. 39,100 crore).
“Web3 has the potential to form a new digital economy with a greater social impact than conventional economies, providing clearly defined benefits and secure environments for success,” a press statement from both the companies had claimed at the time.
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Japan is accelerating efforts to utilise the next gen Web3 technology for a broader array of use cases. NTT Docomo, that is touted as Japan’s largest telecom company, has teamed-up with IT major Accenture to fund the country’s Web3 exploration with $4 billion (roughly Rs. 39,113 crore). As part of the collaborative effort, both NTT Docomo and Accenture will be providing training courses for engineers as well as business developers looking to enter the sector.
Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kashida has been on a hunt to find ‘new capitalism’ solutions to boost the country’s economy and Web3 tools have emerged as national favourites.
“Web3 has the potential to form a new digital economy with a greater social impact than conventional economies, providing clearly defined benefits and secure environments for success,” said a press statement from both the companies.
The top two points of focus for this partnership will be to create a tech platform, capable of supporting all Web3 infrastructures and assist developers that wish to contribute to the Web3 ecosystem.
For Accenture, this is an opportunity to create an industry platform leveraging the potential of the blockchain technology.
“We will help accelerate adoption of Web3 by leveraging the expertise we have gained in regional development through our collaborations with stakeholders from industry, government and academia,” said Atsushi Egawa, a senior managing director at Accenture.
The collaboration will also explore ways to use Web3 to solve issues around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns.
“Web3 is the most impactful technological development since the Internet. We are glad to be promoting the Japan-developed Web3, and we welcome individuals and companies to join us in the global development of Web3 services,” Motoyuki Ii, the President and CEO, NTT Docomo said in a statement. The mobile operator claims to have over 84 million subscriptions.
This partnership keeps in line with the vision of the Japanese PM, who back in May had said that Japan would develop and foster a promotional environment for Web3, blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse.
This is not the first time however, that a telecom major has stepped up to dabble in the Web3 space.
In June this year, South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom decided to create and operate a crypto wallet, powered by advanced Web3 capabilities.
With its wallet service, SK Telecom could be looking to stitch different elements of Web3, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse, together in one thread.
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It’s sad to say that in many cultures, it’s still considered scandalous when women enjoy anime, video games, and eating delicious food. Those are things for “other” people. For “ugly” girls who’ll never find romance. These antiquated ways of thinking are embarrassing enough, but imagine being forced to give up the things you actually enjoy doing as a woman because some irritating little fairy needs you to help raise the birth rate in Japan. It sounds disgusting, but that’s the situation in Romantic Killer. It’s supposed to be funny, a way to turn rom-com clichés on their head, but it ends up falling more than a little flat. It’s also quite creepy when you really think about it.
Opening Shot: A young woman stands in the doorway of her home clutching a bag of snacks and a box containing a video game. She rubs the box all over her face affectionately and recounts her childhood spending time playing games with male friends and eating plenty of snacks, talking about how she’s always eschewed relationships.
The Gist: Anzu Hoshino (Deneen Melody) is a high school girl who absolutely loves gaming. Strike that. It’s kind of her life. She also loves chocolate, snacks, and her cat. She prefers staying home and playing games instead of finding romance in the real world, and she isn’t about to give all that up at random to go out on a date.
But a magical fairy named Riri (Courtney Lin) is trying to change all that. One day, Anzu plays the wrong game — and she finds her favorite hobbies, cat, and snacks taken away so she can live life as if she were in a dating sim game. Riri comes to Anzu straight out of her TV, warning the high schooler of Japan’s declining birth rate, and how she’s been selected as part of an “experience” to help improve things.
The fairy race Riri belongs to can’t run a business without the innocent hearts of additional children in the world. Riri’s plan goes like this: By forcing people who the fairies believe will be “forever single” to find love, the birth rate will skyrocket and things will get back to business as usual. With that, Anzu is forced to live in a world straight out of a shoujo manga. Sure, there’ll be plenty of “hot guys” and all that as well as situations you only see in romantic anime, but Anzu doesn’t want that. So she’ll fight tooth and nail against it to the bitter end.
Source: Netflix
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? You’ll undoubtedly have visions of Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, or even Teasing Master Takagi-san, both romantic comedies with decidedly pushy characters and some frustratingly unlikable personalities vying for your attention.
Our Take: On one hand, Romantic Killer is meant to be parodic to a fault and satirical. However, it has a bizarre premise that fails anyone looking for any scrap of feminist ideals. While it’s obviously trying to make light of stereotypes from time to time and doesn’t paint Riri in a positive light, it’s hard to get into a story where the entire goal for this fairy is to ensure a high school girl enters a relationship and eventually gets pregnant so the fairy race can benefit. It’s a little strange, right?
If the premise hasn’t set you off the series by now, the way everything plays out just might. Anzu steels herself against falling in love to defy the fairy who’s forcibly changed her life, but that isn’t how things play out. Almost immediately, the seemingly perfect (and totally hot) Kazuki Tsukasa (Jason Griffith) appears in her life, with all the perfect conditions in place for them to fall for one another.
Riri keeps trying to force the two together in so many cliche and pained ways, and while Anzu is adamant that she won’t fall for these tricks, we all know what’s going to happen. The writing’s on the wall: the pair are going to get together, and this is going to be a painfully slow descent into shoujo manga tropes. Except the heroine has to throw away the things she enjoyed in her life to do so, for…reasons?
Sex and Skin: None in this episode, but the story’s implications, despite being parodic, are frankly quite strange and may not be appropriate for younger viewers.
Parting Shot: Having taken shelter in the rain in a playground, Anzu wears one sandal and one Croc while waiting out the storm. As the rain pours and she sits beneath an oversized slide, Kazuki walks up to her carrying an umbrella and a bag from the convenience store. The pair stare at each other for a beat.
Sleeper Star: Courtney Lin ensures Riri is one of the most irritating characters I’ve seen in an anime series since Madoka Magica’s Kyubey. She’s great at her job, lending Riri this insistent and patronizing personality that quickly grates on the nerves as you question why Riri thinks they have the authority to suddenly do all this to Anzu. That’s a testament to how convincing Lin can be, as she plays Riri fantastically.
Most Pilot-y Line: “We’re here to solve Japan’s extremely serious low birth rate problem,” Riri tells Anzu. There it is, folks. That’s why Anzu has to give up what she enjoys doing so she can…let’s check our notes here…have a child she hasn’t even thought about having.
Our Call: SKIP IT. The first episode won’t convince anyone that Romantic Killer is more than just a reverse harem and the creators’ commentary on what women should be doing with their lives. And despite having read the manga source material, it does tend to add a bit more nuance later on – with Riri having a few changes in store – but you likely won’t want to stick around to see it through. Sure, some of this pilot might elicit a few chuckles, but in the current world climate where women’s bodily autonomy is challenged on a daily basis, the laughs tend to come too slowly to make Romantic Killer a satisfying watch when you really look deeper.
Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.
Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners is a story based in the world of Night City, straight out of CD Projekt RED’s game, Cyberpunk 2077. That universe itself is based on a world created by cyberpunk legend Mike Pondsmith. This anime adaptation is the brainchild of CD Projekt RED and Studio Trigger, the anime outfit that brought us classics like Kill la Kill and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This anime series features original characters not seen in the game, but the world is just as richly detailed as it would be if you were hopping back into it yourself — as well as a few surprising cameos. It’s a high-octane, neon-soaked thrill ride that has a bit of a traumatizing first episode for its protagonist that ultimately escalates into a nonstop parade of giddy violence, adolescent rage, and – you guessed it – true cyberpunk realness.
Opening Shot: The camera pulls back on a multihued city at night, eventually focusing on a man with cybernetic ocular enhancements. A series of police cars with cops talking about their shifts (and their wives) can be seen. Suddenly, someone opens fire on the men in the cars. It’s a bloodbath, and it’s ugly.
The Gist: David Martinez (Zach Aguilar) is a student at Arasaka Academy in the flashy yet corrupt Night City who lives with his mother Gloria (Gloria Garayua). David doesn’t care much for school and prefers to spend most of his time braindancing (essentially viewing interactive footage akin to VR) with discs containing “experiences” from those with cyberpsychosis — a mental illness derived from the constant replacement of body parts with cybernetics.
While David clashes with his fellow classmates, his mother works as a first responder with the medical Trauma Team division. When tragedy strikes, David comes into possession of a military-grade piece of cybernetic tech known as a Sandesvistan. He plans to use it to teach a set of bullies a lesson. But in the meantime, he’s jobless, broke, and without any future prospects. Life seems like it has no purpose for him in Night City…but he’s going to take revenge on those who wronged him on the way to get to this lowly state, that’s for sure.
Photo: Netflix
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As this is a Studio Trigger anime, the parallels between shows like Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill can’t be ignored, from top to bottom. Visually, it also resembles the more recent Trigger film, Promare. If you enjoy the studio’s other productions, there’s no doubt you’ll be on board with this one as well.
Our Take: David’s tale is one that will be familiar to stories with a down-and-out protagonist, but that just makes it easier to root for him. Seeing Night City through his eyes really illustrates just how dismal life can truly be there, even if it’s painted as the ultimate utopia by some of those who live there. It’s even easier to get into his head and root for him as the underdog than it was for protagonist V in the video game, because you know how worn down David is by everything from the very beginning. In fact, this is the story that should have been told from the start in the Cyberpunk video game.
It’s relatable, easy to digest, and you can feel for David as he’s filled with anger, hurt, and confusion – where to go next? Who’s responsible? Who will pay for the hurt he’s endured? That’s more powerful than any heist gone wrong, and a story that would have made the perfect playable set of missions. It’s also what makes this series so watchable right off the bat. That, and its impossibly cool vibes. It might be the coolest series Trigger has done yet.
Sex and Skin: There’s full-frontal nudity a few minutes into the episode with a glimpse of a woman having sex. It’s pretty quick, but it’s detailed – you can’t mistake what’s going on. It happens again later in the episode with additional nude women, who are revealed to be part of a braindance program a ripperdoc is — ahem –– enjoying alone. Also, the character Lucy (seen briefly) is wearing what looks like a thong akin to Ghost in the Shell’s Major Motoko Kusanagi.
Parting Shot: An enraged David, now fed up with the cards life has dealt him, is sick of being bullied. He takes the military-grade Sandevistan cybernetic implant to the ripperdoc he saw at the beginning of the episode and, instead of trying to sell it, demands that the doc install it so he can defend himself. He’s not going to let anyone step on him any longer.
Sleeper Star: Gloria Garayua brings warmth and understanding to Gloria Martinez, whose role is shorter than it should have been. She’s a believable concerned mother to David and wants what’s best for her son. Still, the first episode reveals she may have had some secrets as well. Garayua’s tone fits the character perfectly — and here’s hoping we see more of her again at some point for a repeat performance.
Most Pilot-y Line: “‘Bout time I chrome the f**k up,” David seethes when he bursts into his ripperdoc’s office and asks that his newfound equipment be fused to his spine. From this point forward, we know he’s never going to take being abused and mistreated by his peers lying down again. And that means plenty of action is to follow, so you’d better stay in your seat and see how it all goes down.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners is a fantastic addition to the Cyberpunk universe. Its narrative is even more engaging than the original game in certain respects, with a protagonist it’s easy to get behind and root for. It’s rife with stylistic decisions that keep it 1:1 with its source material, from the language to the in-game call system, colors and fonts included. The animation is gorgeous, dynamic, and colorful, just as in-your-face as Night City should be. And it’s a shame it wasn’t a playable story in-game, because this is the epitome of what Cyberpunk in-universe storytelling could be.
(Note: If you do watch, unless subtitles are required for your viewing, you’re best left keeping them off, as Netflix’s subs are completely inaccurate, with a good 90% of the lines incorrect in ways that completely change the meaning of a sentence. Hopefully this is a problem that’s resolved going forward, but this may be the worst case of Netflix subtitling issues seen in an anime series on the platform and that’s not an exaggeration.)
Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.
The investigation into the assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed on Sunday that the man behind the killing checked YouTube when making the firearm used in the attack, local media reported citing sources.
According to the Japan Times, the investigative sources said that Tetsuya Yamagami, the gunman has stated that he tested a homemade gun at a facility connected to a religious group he harboured a grudge against. Yamagami said his mother made a “huge donation” to the organization, which he believes Abe was associated with.
Following Abe’s assassination, the police found items that are believed to be explosives and multiple homemade guns at Yamagami’s home, similar to the one used to kill Abe. Nara prefectural police said it appears that the suspect checked YouTube ahead of the attack in repeated attempts to make firearms, the Japan Times reported.
The gun Yamagami made to shoot Abe was “designed to fire six projectiles at a time,” sources said. The weapon was composed of two metal pipes held together with tape and employing projectiles placed in small plastic shells fired from both barrels. It was similar to a shotgun, they said.
The sources also said that multiple wooden boards, measuring around 1 square meter each, with holes apparently made during weapon testing were found in Yamagami’s car.
The suspect has said an aluminium-covered tray found in the vehicle was used to dry gunpowder, according to the sources. Yamagami was also quoted as saying he had attempted to make a bomb and he appears to have gone through a process of trial and error to produce such a device, the Japan Times reported.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old resident of Nara City, in western Japan shot Abe while he was delivering a campaign speech on Friday.
The man denied that he committed the crime because he was opposed to Abe’s political beliefs, according to the police.
The police said that Abe died from blood loss. The police also said that the autopsy determined that there were two gunshot wounds, on his upper left arm and neck.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons.
He was prime minister of Japan twice, from 2006-07 and again from 2012-20. He was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga and later by Fumio Kishida.
NASA will soon be scaling up its documentation of environmental and societal changes on Earth. The space agency will achieve this by working in collaboration with its partners in Europe and Japan, namely ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The collaboration will include utilising all the Earth-observing satellite data available so far. This will be used to document and expand resources and understand a wider range of changes that are taking place in the environment and human society around the globe. The dashboard will include six areas of focus — atmosphere, agriculture, biomass, water and ocean, cryosphere, and economy.
The expanded documentation will widen the scope of online resources available to us. This will in turn help in the making of more data-driven stories. The information can also be used to explore relevant datasets.
Karen St. Germain, NASA Earth Science Division director, said in a statement, “With our partners at ESA and JAXA, this is another important step to get the latest information to the public about our changing planet, in an accessible and convenient way, which can inform decisions and planning for communities around the world.”
The dashboard aims to provide an accessible and objective resource to people like public scientists and decision-makers who may not yet be familiar with satellite data. Here’s what NASA’s website has to say about this project, “It offers a precise, objective, and comprehensive view of our planet. Using accurate remote sensing observations, the dashboard shows the changes occurring in Earth‘s air, land, and water and their effects on human activities. Users can explore countries and regions around the world to see how the indicators in specific locations change over time.”
For this purpose, the collaborators need to find satellite data streams that can be rendered to simplified and objective resources. Current computing infrastructure has to be updated to share the information across the agencies. The six focus areas will deal with different aspects of life on Earth.
The atmosphere focus area looks into air pollution and climate change, while the agriculture will seek more insights into agricultural production, crop conditions, and food supply. How do trees and plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? We’ll know that through the biomass focus area. Cryosphere will deal with the impact of global warming on sea ice. The water and ocean area will explore the richness of this natural resource. The economy focus area will connect Earth’s social and economic systems to the environment.
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