Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
July 20, 2015
Miyazaki says his new film is about a caterpillar, his first CG
KOGANEI, Japan (AP) — The master of animation, Hayao Miyazaki, has
revealed that his new short film is about a tiny, hairy caterpillar and will be his
first fully computer-generated film. In a rare public appearance at his office in
Tokyo’s western suburbs, Miyazaki told foreign journalists that the new film is
for screening at the Ghibli Museum and is planned for completion in about three
years. Miyazaki said he wants to focus on the basics of life over millions of years
instead of short spans of history. Miyazaki, one of animation’s most admired and
successful directors and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, won an Oscar in 2003 for his
masterful, disturbing critique of modern industrialism in Spirited Away. He
announced his retirement from feature-length films in 2013.
Rights group condemns bill on interfaith marriage
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — An international human-rights group has
accused Myanmar’s parliament of playing with fire by passing a bill regulating
the right of women from the country’s Buddhist majority to marry men from
outside their religion. Phil Robertson of New-York-based Human Rights Watch
said the bill was related to a campaign by extremist Buddhist groups that have
incited anti-Muslim hatred. Religious tensions have led to deadly violence,
especially against Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, who have felt
compelled to flee abroad. The bill passed is one of four known as the Protection of
Race and Religion Laws, which have been criticized as discriminatory by rights
groups. It mandates that Buddhist women register their intent to marry outside
their faith, and that they can be stopped if there are objections.
CYBORG STAFF. A cloak robot, left, moves a box containing a suitcase left by a hotel employee at the cloak window
during a demonstration for the media at the new robot hotel, aptly called Henn na Hotel, or the Weird Hotel, in Sasebo,
southwestern Japan. Staying at Henn na Hotel starts at 9,000 yen ($80), a bargain for Japan, where a stay in one of the
nicer hotels can easily cost two or three times that much. Japan is a world leader in robotics technology, and the govern-
ment is trumpeting robotics as a pillar of its growth strategy. Robots have long been used here in manufacturing, but inter-
est is also high in exploring the potential of robots in human interaction, including helping care for the elderly. (AP Photo/
Shizuo Kambayashi)
Beijing government to move part of functions to suburb
Continued from page one
BEIJING (AP) — Beijing’s city government says it is going to move part of its
administrative functions out of the city center as part of a plan to better link the
Chinese capital with surrounding areas. The municipal government’s
Communist Party committee also agreed to stick to its target to limit Beijing’s
population to 23 million, according to the government’s information office
microblog. Its population was 21.5 million at the end of 2014. The “subsidiary
administrative center” will be in Tongzhou, a district in Beijing’s eastern
suburbs about a 40 minute car ride from downtown Beijing without heavy
traffic, and will take shape by 2017. The new center is part of a plan to
integrate Beijing with neighboring Hebei, an industrial province from where
much of the capital’s pollution wafts in, and the port city of Tianjin. Officials
want to develop high-quality resources such as hospitals and universities in the
whole area, rather than have them concentrated in downtown Beijing. They
believe that moving part of the municipal government and its services out of
central Beijing to neighboring regions will help ease traffic congestion and
population growth.
Why a simple coin locker won’t do isn’t the
point.
“I wanted to highlight innovation,” Sawada
told reporters. “I also wanted to do something
about hotel prices going up.”
Staying at Henn na Hotel starts at 9,000 yen
($80), a bargain for Japan, where a stay in one
of the nicer hotels can easily cost two or three
times that much.
The concierge is a doll-like hairless robot
with voice recognition that prattles breakfast
and event information. It cannot call a cab or
do other errands.
Japan is a world leader in robotics
technology, and the government is trumpeting
robotics as a pillar of its growth strategy.
Robots have long been used here in
manufacturing, but interest is also high in
exploring the potential of robots in human
interaction, including helping care for the
elderly.
Robotics is also key in the decommissioning
of the three reactors in Fukushima, northern
Japan, which went into meltdowns in 2011,
in the worst nuclear catastrophe since
Chernobyl.
One area where Henn na Hotel still relies on
human beings is security.
The place is dotted with security cameras,
and real people are watching everything
Widow of ex-South Korean leader to visit North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The 92-year-old widow of late South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung, who was a strong proponent of Korean reconciliation,
will visit North Korea early next month, according to ex-aides to Kim. Lee
Hee-ho’s planned August 5 to 8 trip comes amid continuing animosity between
the rival Koreas following the opening of a U.N. office in Seoul tasked with
monitoring what activists call the North’s widespread abuse of its citizens’
rights. Pyongyang, which calls any criticism of its rights record a U.S.-led
attempt to topple its authoritarian government, has said the U.N. office is a
provocation and warned that Seoul and Washington would face unspecified
consequences. A detailed itinerary hasn’t been settled, but Lee’s trip could help
ease tensions if she meets with top North Korean officials such as leader Kim
Jong Un. Last year, Kim Jong Un invited Lee to visit after thanking her for
sending condolence flowers on the third anniversary of the death of his father,
former leader Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae-jung held the first-ever
summit between the two Koreas in 2000. Their meeting spawned a flurry of
cooperation projects, which have mostly been put on hold since conservatives
took power in Seoul in 2008 and mostly ended big aid shipments to North Korea.
Kim Dae-jung, who died in 2009 at the age of 85, was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2000 for his reconciliation efforts with Pyongyang. The two Koreas
remain in a technical state of war since their three-year war in the early 1950s
ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Robots do check-in and check-out
at cost-cutting hotel in Japan
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Fatal fire on Japan’s airtight bullet train exposes lapses
TOKYO (AP) — A fatal fire on Japan’s bullet train, started by a man who
self-immolated, has revealed blind spots in a system renowned for its speed,
punctuality, and safety record. Riding the Shinkansen feels like being in an
airplane: at 186 miles per hour, it goes so fast in an out of tunnels that it must be
airtight. Windows cannot be opened, and doors open only when the train fully
stops, which takes several minutes. Yet, in a country with strict gun control and
low crime rate, security is lax — no identification or baggage checks required.
This month, Haruo Hayashizaki, a 71-year-old retiree, poured a flammable
liquid over himself and lit it while riding a bullet train heading to Osaka from
Tokyo. He died on the spot, and smoke filled the coach, choking a female
passenger to death. It was the first fire in the train’s 50-year history. Experts say
it is a wake-up call for something more disastrous, potentially a terrorist attack,
and it’s time to step up risk management ahead of the G-7 summit in Japan next
year and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While Japan strives to keep its bullet trains
in perfect condition, reducing the risk of fire, arson on the train was not
anticipated.
through a monitor to make sure guests stay
safe and no one makes off with one of the
expensive robots.
“And they still can’t make beds,” said
Sawada, who has also engineered the rise of a
popular affordable Japanese travel agency.
He has big ambitions for his robot hotel
concept and wants to open another one soon in
Japan, and later abroad. He is also eager to
add other languages, such as Chinese and
Korean, to the vocabulary of the robots.
A block-shaped robot that was scuttling
around in the lobby had been brought in to do
room service, delivering beverages and simple
snacks. But it wasn’t ready to do that yet.
Outdoors, Sawada also demonstrated a
drone that flew in to deliver a few small jars
filled with snacks. He said he wanted to
eventually have drones perform in shows for
guests.
In the hotel’s rooms, a lamp-size robot in the
shape of a fat pink tulip called Tuly answers
simple questions like, “What time is it?” and
“What is the weather tomorrow?”
You can also tell it to turn the room lights on
or off. There are no switches on the walls.
Sawada is keeping the hotel half-filled for
the first few weeks to make sure nothing goes
wrong.
He also cancelled at the last minute the
overnight stay planned for media. The robots
simply weren’t ready.
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77.775
4070.2
6.2095
2.1229
7.7505
63.474
13353
29160
124.11
8135.5
3.7967
101.63
101.83
2.7662
45.24
56.988
3.7502
1.3675
1147.5
133.88
31.077
34.19
21814