Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
The survey was conducted by The Nippon Foundation in May and asked 1,000 Japanese aged between 17 and 19 about their attitudes on the issue, with 55.7 per cent saying they have little or no interest in the imperial family and 53.4 per cent saying they have no sense of closeness to the emperor or his family.
Not surprising considering the general disinterest in government & elections.
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
Japan has announced plans to construct a network of hi-tech, automated conveyor belts to transport goods more than 500km between Tokyo and Osaka as a solution to a looming cargo logistics crisis.
The proposed network of massive conveyor belts, dubbed the Autoflow-Road, would use tunnels beneath major highways that link Japan’s two largest cities, as well as above-ground tracks in the middle of the roads. it is the brainchild of a panel at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
This is such a cool idea and a great way to get a lot of freight traffic off of roadways. Whether it actually gets built is another matter. 回転貨物。
Shaun McKenna & Alex K.T. Martin from The Japan Times:
On this week’s Deep Dive, we speak to Alex K.T. Martin who has done a series of pieces exploring what lies beneath the surface of Tokyo. Hidden rivers, ancient artifacts and crumbling infrastructure are just a few of the discoveries he made during his reporting. And while it’s important to know how we’re going to manage these things as climate change — or more importantly, the possible flooding that comes with it — worsens, sometimes it’s just fascinating to learn about the world under our feet.
Very interesting episode on one of my favorite subjects: urban infrastructure. To keep a city the size of Tokyo running (mostly) smooth, a lot of systems are needed to manage the services we all take for granted.
From The Japan Times:
Logistics companies in Japan are trying to come up with ways to reduce parcel redeliveries as they face serious shortages of truck drivers due to new overtime regulations that took effect in April.
In contrast with floppies in government, the package delivery sector is Japan is surprisingly advanced compared to other places I lived (as long as you read Japanese as English interfaces are minimal or nonexistent). Any improvement is welcome but maybe loan some of your engineers to the Digital Ministry.