japan

Japan’s cuteness phenomenon is hundreds of years old

You’ve seen the pictures and the products: Japanese teenage girls in a pastel little-girl world, and children and adults who love Hello Kitty products. They’re all part of the Japanese kawaii phenomenon, which actually started several hundred years ago.

Finding life — and farming minerals — deep under the sea

Japanese researchers have access to the largest scientific vessel ever constructed, one that has a 120 metre tall derrick capable of drilling to 7500 metres below the seafloor. They’re using it to hunt for life deep under the seafloor and explore for mineral deposits at the bottom of the ocean — topics that are of great interest to Norwegian researchers.

Going deep to learn the secrets of Japan’s earthquakes

The 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake was the largest and most destructive in the history of Japan. Japanese researchers — and Norwegian partners — are hard at work trying to understand just what made it so devastating.

Putting Bluefin tuna back on the menu — by farming them

The Japanese eat one in ten of the world’s fish, and 80 per cent of the planet’s prized —and critically threatened — Bluefin tuna. Tuna aquaculture pioneered at Kindai University in Japan offers hope for both fish lovers and the fish.

Robots that look like us

Japan is at the forefront of building all kinds of different robots, from industrial machines to robots that look like humans and can talk to us. The only purpose for these humanoid robots is to make us happy.

Green cooling with CO2

Man-made refrigeration gases threaten the Earth’s climate. The use of natural compounds like CO2 is an effective counter-measure.

Japan-Norway Arctic Science and Innovation Week

Representatives from Japanese and Norwegian universities, research institutions, government agencies and industries interested in polar issues will gather in Tokyo in early June to present research results and build partnerships.