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☆ ChatGPT’s boss claims nuclear fusion is the answer to AI’s soaring energy needs. Experts say not so fast
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Yet according to Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, there is a clear solution to this tricky dilemma: nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and other stars — is likely still decades away from being mastered and commercialized on Earth. A section of JT-60SA, a huge experimental nuclear fusion reactor at Naka Fusion Institute in Naka city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on January 22, 2024. The sector was responsible for around 2% of global electricity demand in 2022, according to the IEA. But, he cautioned, this doesn’t necessarily mean AI’s electricity demand will fall.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Altman, “, Lex Fridman, ” Altman, —, Alex de Vries, ”, Aneeqa Khan, ” Khan, Philip Fong, Vries, ” de Vries, Michael Khoo, “ We’re, Khoo, Yiannis Kourtoglou, Sen, Ed Markey, ” Markey, ” Khoo Organizations: CNN, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Manchester, “, JT, Naka Fusion, Getty, International Energy Agency, Boston Consulting, Reuters, Microsoft, OpenAI, Boston Consulting Group, Google, Princeton, ” Locations: “, Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, AFP, Pascal, Nicosia, Cyprus

More than 8.5 million abandoned homes in rural Japan are creating a "ghost town" problem. There are more than 8.5 million akiya , or abandoned homes, in rural Japan, according to the country's 2018 Housing and Land Survey, its most recent on record. The institute predicts akiya could exceed 30% of homes in Japan by 2033. As Richard Koo, the chief economist at NRI, told them at the time, the Japanese countryside has been hollowing out since the mid-'90s. Why aren't more Japanese people buying abandoned countryside homes?

Persons: —, who've, Richard Koo, There's, Chris McMorran, Koo, Douglas Southerland, McMorran, Natasha Durie, Durie, Eric McAskill, McAskill, Jaya Thursfield, Chihiro, Kurosawa, Joey Stockermans, akiya Organizations: Service, Survey, Nomura Research Institute, Business Insider's, NRI, National University of Singapore, of Anthropology, Ethnography, Oxford University, Canadian Real Estate Association Locations: Japan, Business Insider's Singapore, Gifu, Vancouver, Canada, Nagano Prefecture, England, Ibaraki Prefecture, London, North America, Kyushu, akiya

☆ People are buying cheap, abandoned homes in Japan and living their dreams free of financial burden
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Japan has more than 8 million abandoned homes, with no restrictions on foreign buyers. Homeownership in Japan isn't the same path to financial freedom as in other countries. AdvertisementTake Kurosawa spent summers in Japan as a kid, and always dreamed of owning property there. In January, Kurosawa and Stockermans launched Akiyamart , a website to help foreigners find and purchase abandoned homes in Japan. It's a money-maker that has worked in the US but isn't necessarily a surefire way to generate income in Japan.

Persons: —, Kurosawa, Joey Stockermans, Stockermans, It's, Eric McAskill, McAskill, Jaya Thursfield, Chihiro, Eric McAskill Anton Wormann, Bethany, Bitsii, Nakamura, homeownership, Bethany Nakamura, Jordan Pandy Organizations: Foreigners, Service, Survey, Business Locations: Japan, Homeownership, Beppu, Kyushu, Santa Cruz , California, Nova Scotia, Canada, Italy, Portugal, —, California, Bali, Nagano Prefecture, Jaya, Ibaraki Prefecture, London, America, jpandy@businessinsider.com

“After China's ban on Japanese seafood, we are seeing more customers buying not only Fukushima fish but also Japanese seafood in general to support the industry." Despite the wastewater discharges, auction prices at Fukushima fish markets have remained stable — or even occasionally higher than normal. While individual consumers favor ordering fish by mail and shopping at seafood markets, prefectural government cafeterias have started serving Fukushima seafood for lunch. In Kyoto, a group of world-renowned Japanese “Kaiseki” cuisine chefs, will develop menus that primarily use Fukushima fish starting early next year. “I wish I could sell more local fish,” Haga said.

Persons: Kazuto Harada, “, ”, “ I'm, it’s, Futoshi Kinoshita, Katsuya Goto, ” Goto, Yoshinori Tanaka, ” Tanaka, Haga, ” Haga Organizations: —, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Tokyo Electric Power Company, United States Embassy, TEPCO, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Japanese Culinary Academy Locations: IWAKI, Japan, Onahama, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tokyo, South Korea, Beijing, China, Kyoto, Toriyone, Asia, asia

☆ Japanese restaurant owners in Hong Kong brace for Fukushima seafood ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japanese restaurant owners in Hong Kong are grappling with a looming ban on seafood imports from 10 Japanese prefectures because of Tokyo's plan to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima plant into the sea from Aug. 24. Hong Kong is Japan's second largest market, after mainland China, for agricultural and fisheries exports. Although the details of Hong Kong's ban remains unclear, Halry Yu, 42, owner of Japanese restaurant Hassun, said more than 90% of seafood sent to Hong Kong is gathered in Tokyo. “If they ban imports that come via Tokyo, I think all sushi restaurants in Hong Kong will be in trouble. Advertising executive Hilda Lee, 30, said she enjoys eating Japanese seafood, and dines at Japanese restaurants two to three times each month.

Persons: Hong, Halry Yu, ” Yu, barbecued, Yu, Hong Kong, Hilda Lee, dines, Lee, Jim Smith, there's, Smith, Dino Leung, Leung, Edmond Ng, Joyce Zhou, Farah, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Japan, Hong, University of Portsmouth, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Wan Chai

☆ Japan has millions of cheap abandoned homes. Here's what to know before you buy one.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

With the population in Japan shrinking and Japanese buyers vastly preferring new over used homes, older homes are often abandoned when owners die or younger generations refuse to inherit them. The Japanese government estimated in 2018 that there were nearly 8.5 million abandoned homes in the country. Jaya Thursfield and his wife, Chihiro, moved from London to Japan after buying an abandoned Japanese farmhouse in Ibaraki, a Japanese prefecture about an hour's drive northeast from Tokyo. With many Japanese buyers preferring newly built houses, some homes are demolished after only 20-30 years. And while houses in the US typically appreciate in value, houses in Japan tend to gradually depreciate in value over time.

Persons: Jaya Thursfield, Chihiro, Richard Koo, Koo, Bethany Nakamura, Nakamura, it's Organizations: Service, Privacy, Japan, Japan's Ministry of Land, Transport, Tourism, YouTube, Law, Nomura Research Institute Locations: Wall, Silicon, Japan, Infrastructure, London, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Jaya, America

☆ Fukushima wastewater: Hong Kong poised to ban Japanese seafood over treated water
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Hong Kong, one of the world’s biggest buyers of Japanese fish, says it will ban seafood imports from 10 prefectures in the country if Tokyo presses ahead with its plan to release treated radioactive water from Fukushima into the sea. Japanese food is hugely popular in Hong Kong, which has more than 2,000 Japanese restaurants. The move comes less than a week after Beijing announced a similar ban on Japanese seafood exports to mainland China, citing concerns over health and safety. Customers wait to get into Japanese sushi chain Sushiro in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on July 13, 2023. The 10 prefectures facing a seafood ban are Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gumma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, he said.

Persons: Tse Chin, Let’s, ” Tse, Chris Lau, Tse, ”, “, Rafael Grossi, Fumio Kishida, Grossi, Sandy Yu, Timothy Lo Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Beijing, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, CNN, Hong, South, UN, HK Locations: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Fukushima, Japan, China, South Korea, United States, Causeway Bay, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gumma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Hong, Causeway

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop 'war' on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Argentina found the virus in wild birds, while dead swans in Uruguay tested positive. The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said.

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said. Berkowitz said he is bracing for March and April when migration season will pose an even greater risk to poultry.

☆ Keeping up with the Morohoshis: Buying a bomb shelter in the Tokyo suburbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Rocky Swift | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/7] Megumi Morohoshi, a Japanese mother of three, poses for a photo inside her family's newly installed bomb shelter in Saitama, Japan December 5, 2022. But the invasion of Ukraine followed by a barrage of North Korean missiles convinced her the threat was urgent. And the following month an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) landed just 200 km (130 miles) from the northwestern coast. The shelters, custom-built at Nao's factory in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, cost 6 million yen ($44,000) before installation expenses. Morohoshi's unit, delivered late last month, is an austere white box with "CRISIS-01" emblazoned on the side, with external cameras mounted on it.

☆ Femeie arestată în Japonia după ce a încercat să stingă flacăra olimpică cu un pistol cu apă
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-05 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Sursa foto: captură videoFemeie arestată în Japonia după ce a încercat să stingă flacăra olimpică cu un pistol cu apăO femeie din Japonia, în vârstă de 53 ani, a fost arestată după ce a încercat să stingă flacăra olimpică cu un pistol cu apă, luni, în momentul trecerii ştafetei prin prefectura Ibaraki. Legenda fotbalului brazilian Zico a dat startul ştafetei în prefectura Ibaraki, duminică. Fostul mijlocaş al Selecao, în vârstă de 68 ani, şi-a încheiat cariera de jucător în Japonia, înainte de a prelua conducerea tehnică a selecţionatei acestei ţări, în 2002. Zico este în prezent director tehnic la clubul din oraşul Kashima, unde a şi alergat câteva sute de metri cu torţa. Flacăra olimpică urmează să viziteze cele 47 de prefecturi ale Japoniei până la ceremonia de deschidere a Jocurilor Olimpice, programată pe 23 iulie.

Persons: reţinută, Ea, Zico, El Organizations: Asiei, Cupa Locations: Japonia, Ibaraki, Japoniei, desfăşurată, Germania, Zico, oraşul Kashima

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