Heading towards its smart future goals, Japan advances with the latest technologies to reach the goal ‘Society 5.0’ by 2030.

Despite Japan’s recent performance decline among global competitors in the technology field, the innovative country is presenting to the public its newest scientific advances, ranging from sea to space technology. These innovations are dedicated to ‘Society 5.0,’ the future society that Japan aims to cultivate.

The concept of ‘Society 5.0’ intends to widen and enrich discussions of scientific innovations to aid all socioeconomic activity. The Cabinet Office has defined Society 5.0 as “a human-centered society [helped] by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space.”

To demonstrate this aspiration, The Cabinet Office organised an event held in Tokyo’s landmark ‘Tokyo Skytree’, where more than 200 of the country’s latest technology innovations will be exhibited. All technology is noted as Japan-born creations and gives insights into what the society could be moulded into by the year 2030. Japan’s government has also invested in establishing several large-scale projects to support companies across all industries ranging from health care to energy. The aim of this exhibition is for businesses to invest more heavily into research and development at a higher level than pure technology.

The exhibition at Tokyo Skytree displays some of the successful achievements from these government-backed projects, including the world’s first wearable cyborg, ‘HAL by Cyberdyne. The Hybrid Assistive Limb, HAL, improves, enhances, and regenerates the wearer’s physical movements by sensing even the most faint bio-electrical signals from the brain to the limbs. At Skytree, the HAL is displayed on a treadmill to exhibit its mobility functions.

Wearable Cyborg_‘Society 5.0’ Japan’s Next Move to Advanced Tech and Science

Another noteworthy invention is SkyDrive‘s ‘flying car.’ Visitors can observe a full-scale model of the flying vehicle, SD-03. In August 2020, the SD-03 successfully performed manned flights, proving hopeful plans to offer commercial mobility services in the future.

In terms of space exploration gadgets, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is showcasing the reentry capsule of their asteroid probe Hayabusa2. After its initial launch in December 2014, Hayabusa2 returned with two samples of the 4.6-billion-year-old Ryugu asteroid in December 2020. JAXA is currently researching into the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life on Earth.

Flying car_Society 5.0 Japan’s Next Move to Advanced Tech and Science

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While such advances are taking place, the government acknowledges the challenges with maintaining Japan’s capabilities in scientific progress. Compared to the 1990s, Japan’s performance in publishing high-quality science papers has declined, partly due to the young generation’s hesitancy to pursue doctoral programs in science.

Despite such impediments, a total budget of JP¥30 trillion has been allocated to science in the country’s latest five-year plan, JP¥4 trillion more than the previous allocation. With these efforts, Japan strives to catch up with the U.S., China, and other Asian competitors.

 

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