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EXCLUSIVE!
A pop-up manga cartoon titled Maruichi's Tea Time designed specially
for TIME by popular artist Nozomi Yanahara
COVER: Gizmo Nation
For the past 50 years Japanese have embraced the notion that salvation
is to be found through technical innovation--and the world has benefited
from their ingenuity
Timeline:
A look at the rise of technology in Japan (photo essay)
My Robot,
My Friend:
Japanese love not only to give their machines names, but also to make
them pals
Viewpoint:
Let no one say these citizens are automatons
Birth of
a Robot: TIME takes an exclusive inside look at the design,
construction and assembly of "Pino" (photo essay)
Land of
the Rising Gadget: At times, this can seem like an almost
fully automated society (photo essay)
The 10 Smartest
Machines: These whiz-bang doo-dads are just around the corner;
plus, the 5 dumbest head-scratching devices (photo essay)
Lonely Inventors:
Surprisingly, the country doesn't always reward its most creative
scientific minds
The
Old Ways: Some tasks are still done better by humans
Local
Talent: Ota ward remakes itself
Cellul-Oids:
Japanese cinema is full of mechanical monsters, mayhem and monkey
business
On the
Boards: An interactive Shakespeare
Essay:
Ryu Murakami bemoans the alienation of youth
Essay:
Pico Iyer on why the new is old in Japan
ALSO IN TIME:
CINEMA: Hong Kong's
It Girl
Nervy, gifted and terribly precocious, actress Cecilia Cheung may
be the local film industry's next great hope
Web-only
Interview: Cecelia shuns fame, rarely goes out, and has already
moved house five times this year to escape press attention
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Jun
Takagi for TIME
Sony's wearable TV.
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The
Ten Smartest Machines
As
new technologies add brains to nearly everything we use, these super-intelligent
Japanese gizmos promise to help shape our not-too-distant future
By DONALD MACINTYRE Tokyo
Japan may have lagged behind in the technology of the moment, the Internet.
But the country's traditional strength - designing and producing gadgets
that are chic, convenient and comically small - will likely become more
and more important as consumers harness the Net's power with devices other
than the stodgy personal computer. The high-tech wonders pictured on the
following pages are already taking shape in the R. and D. labs and design
centers of Japan Inc. What they promise is a future where so-called "smart" machines
really can do it all-a world of radical advances not just in consumer electronics
but in manufacturing and medicine and even in the nation's mighty auto industry.
Here is a look at 10 gizmos that will shape that world:
Click here for photo essay
Features
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