Nipponica

The Mobile Software Competition Act is expected to come into force by December 2025. With Japan joining the EU and UK, there are now three jurisdictions where Apple will be required to permit browsers to run their own engines. As Japan prepares for enforcement, it is likely studying the regulatory approaches and challenges already unfolding in Europe and the UK.

As the EU and UK have already shown (UK MIR, CMA SMS case, EU DMA enforcement), enforcement will be a long and difficult process.

Now that Japan, the EU, and the UK all require Apple to support third-party browser engines, 2026 may become the decisive year in restoring browser competition on iOS. But much depends on regulators’ resolve, and on Apple’s willingness to comply in substance, not just form.

First person to port IE6 to iOS gets a free case of Mountain Dew Code Red on me.

A July survey in Japan found that 84.2% of respondents make use of code payments for purchases, using a barcode or QR code displayed on a smartphone. The survey was conducted by Kufū Company Holdings on 2,559 users of its household budgeting app and related services.

Code payments have become a standard for cashless transactions in Japan, even surpassing the 76.3% of respondents who use physical credit cards. The next most popular form of payment, at 69.8%, is electronic money, which includes systems used on public transportation such as Suica and Pasmo, or money issued by retailers like Aeon. Meanwhile, only a minority of respondents, at 14.7%, use debit cards.

QR and barcodes seem like a step back when we already have contactless payments like Suica. It is more expensive to support FeliCa but all terminals support it by now.

Fujitsu aims to develop a superconducting quantum computer on a par with the world's most powerful machines by fiscal 2030 using advanced cooling methods, as the country looks to catch up with the U.S. and China.

Fujitsu is partnering with the government-backed Riken research institute and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology to develop a new model with around 250 logical quantum bits, or qubits -- a measure of a quantum computer's capabilities.

This would exceed the world's current most powerful planned quantum computer, under development by IBM with completion scheduled for 2029, by 25%.

[insert reference about running Doom on it here]

The Japanese government is ramping up efforts to combat foreign election interference after the spread of misinformation by bots on social media became a problem in the recent upper house vote.

"Foreign interference in elections is commonplace around the world, and other countries are responding in various ways," said Masaaki Taira, minister for digital transformation, at a press conference on Tuesday. "Japan is not immune to this issue."

One thing I never really realized is that Japan lacks a CIA-like organization in the central government to collect and centrally distribute intelligence. The new National Cybersecurity Office will take on this work but relying on such a new office to take a lead on a new initiative might not lead to quick fixes to this.

Japan's antitrust watchdog on Tuesday announced guidelines under a new law to regulate monopolistic practices in the smartphone app market, mainly targeting U.S. tech giants Apple Inc. and Google LLC.

The core of the guidelines issued by the Japan Fair Trade Commission is a ban on discriminatory treatment of app stores not operated by the two platform companies. If more app stores compete and lower the commissions they charge developers, app prices for users could also fall, analysts said.

Somewhere in Cupertino, a rich executive is crying.

Energy company Eneos will soon launch a pilot initiative with printing group Toppan Holdings to recycle discarded paper into bioethanol, part of an effort to find a stable supply of the decarbonized fuel.

The field test is due to take place in early 2027. If successful, the companies aim to commercialize the technology as soon as fiscal 2030.

Cool tech, but the real money maker is to somehow convert all the waste plastic bags and packaging in this country into something useful.

Mirai II, a Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) research vessel, is capable of breaking through sea ice up to 1.2 meters thick. The 128-meter-long Mirai II will help open marine transportation routes and conduct weather observations that previously had been difficult because sea routes were unavailable in the Arctic Ocean.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has poured ¥33.9 billion into construction of the Mirai II, which is Japan’s first research vessel equipped with ice-breaking capabilities. Construction began in 2021, the vessel was launched in March this year and it will be completed in autumn 2026. The ship’s ability to smash through thick ice will enable it to sail through the Arctic Ocean almost all year round.

A very cool ship that will help Japan secure itself as both an Arctic and Antarctic nation. With the Americans pulling funding for their science programs, Japan has the opportunity to step into the red, white, and blue void to be a leader in Arctic research.

Japan’s only passenger hovercraft service carrying riders between Oita Airport in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, and Oita City was launched on Saturday.

The service takes just 35 minutes to travel between the two sites, compared to about an hour by road, making the airport more accessible than it was before.

I know they are fairly commonplace now, but the word hovercraft still excites the 10 year old in me.