Modern Japanese technology. Modern Japanese technology and tradition. Armament of the Japanese army

Innovative Japan has fallen out of focus in recent years, yet it remains the world's third largest economy behind the US and China, an impressive feat for a country of just 120 million people. The great Asian power does not stop on its way to create the innovations of the future. This review presents the latest developments in 13 areas where Japan continues to lead.

Disposal of radioactive waste of rare metals
The Japanese government has set up a fund worth more than $530 million to help the country become more competitive. Out of 12 research projects, one group of researchers was selected who are looking for a way to dispose and recycle highly radioactive waste. As part of this project, scientists are engaged in the extraction of rare metals from radioactive waste.

Plastic from natural gas
The rise in oil prices has hit Japan harder than the US because Japan has no natural resources. Mitsubishi Rayon is tired of dealing with high prices and the problems they cause, and is planning to build a gas-to-plastics plant along the US Gulf of Mexico.
As part of this project, Mitsubishi is partnering with Mitsui & Co., one of Japan's largest trading companies, to invest $490 million in the construction. When the plant is finally up and running in four years, it will be able to produce an annual capacity of 250,000 tons.

clean room salad
Fujitsu, a supercomputer manufacturer, is working on a digital patch to create a "Kirei Yasai" line for the production of pure vegetables and herbs.
The company's facility in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, in northern Japan covers approximately 2,000 square meters; there is a special clean room for crop production. This is the largest center of its kind, engaged in the production of low-potassium vegetables.
Fujitsu grows lettuces that contain 100 micrograms or less than 100 grams of potassium (regular lettuce contains 500 micrograms). Fujitsu salads are designed for people with chronic kidney disease who cannot physically digest this amount of potassium.

High tech freezer
Some foods cannot be frozen as easily as fruits without losing their nutrients. This is because during the freezing process, the ice crystals break down the walls and texture of the cells.
ABI Co. from the Japanese city of Chiba have developed CAS - Cell Revitalization System, which actually changes the physics of freezing. CAS uses 30% less energy than conventional freezers and can, depending on the product, freeze up to five times faster. Oxidation is reduced by 98% so fruits, vegetables and rice can be frozen without loss of flavor.

Tuna farming
The Japanese are very fond of bluefin tuna (maguro). The problem is that due to its popularity, bluefin tuna is on the verge of extinction.

Bluefin tuna do not breed in captivity, but the Japanese found a way. A team of researchers from Toyota Tsusho and Kinki University have found the right combination of salinity, water temperature and sunlight to finally start captive tuna farming.
These two organizations will be established in Nagasaki Prefecture new center, where the whole process is organized: from the stage of artificial incubation to breeding.

Entrepreneurship promotion
Life-Is-Tech is a camp for high school students who want to create software or service company working in virtual space. There, these talented guys will be helped to develop a business plan and launch a company to bring their business project to the market. About 100 participants, boys and girls, live in the camp at the same time, who go to classes, participate in various entertaining games and team up to develop their application.
Life-Is-Tech teaches courses such as iOS and Android platforms, game design, a framework written in the Ruby programming language, and HTML5. As part of the joint launch of some programs, Life-Is-Tech even collaborates with institutions and technology companies.

Return to the aviation business
Japan is back in the aviation business. Mitsubishi, the same company that created the A6M Zero combat aircraft during World War II, is preparing to launch the first commercial aircraft 50 years later.
Mitsubishi will release its new aircraft in 2017, and according to a press release, it will be the quietest and most environmentally friendly aircraft. SkyWest and Eastern Airlines are already among US customers.

Japan is changing the aviation business
The Japanese didn't invent carbon fiber, Thomas Edison did. But they definitely improved it. Three companies - Toray, Teijin and Mitsubishi Rayon - control 70% of the global carbon fiber market. Toray owns 40% of the market, thanks in part to Boeing. To meet growing demand, Toray is now building a $1 billion plant in South Carolina.

Uni-cube: the best Segway
Segway has not yet conquered the world, as its creators would like. Perhaps because you still have to stand on it. Honda came up with a solution: the Uni-Cube. The Uni-Cube is a battery-powered, self-balancing, zero-turn radius mobile seat that makes it more suitable for pedestrian areas because the new device is not much larger than a human.

Androids: Kodomoroid and Otonaroid
The Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation has two new employees. These are Kodomoroid and Otonaroid, two androids that look frighteningly realistic.
Androids can be controlled remotely, but they are not yet able to walk on their own. Mostly they sit at tables and communicate with visitors. The creator of androids Hiroshi Ishiguro (an employee of Osaka University and the Institute for International Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR)) has already created an android clone of himself and called it Geminoid.

Robotics: Pepper
Like many Japanese firms, Softbank operates across multiple industries at the same time and has now added robotics to its portfolio. The company recently introduced latest development Pepper is a robot that can communicate through emotions, words or body language. It has special microphones and sensors - they not only understand what you are saying, but also sense the intonation of your voice, which helps them to recreate a picture of your mood. The robot's vocabulary is 4,500 words, currently only Japanese.

FabCafe: Starbucks with a 3D printer
Don't have access to a 3D printer but have some cool ideas? Then if you are in Tokyo, be sure to visit FabCafe. It looks like any other coffee shop, until you notice the unusual equipment installed in the premises, which can allow you to create anything from a phone case to greeting cards.

High Performance Computing RISC Adoption
Much of the world is moving away from RISC computer systems, with the exception of some IBM clients. Still - it's a whole iron tank-processor involved in sales. In Japan, many giant computers are being created. For example, the RIKEN Institute for Advanced Computing Sciences created its main monster computer, the famous K, in 2011, which (as of today) is housed in 864 rooms and has 88,000 processors.

Made in Japan.
This inscription on the goods is known and appreciated all over the world. The domestic Japanese market is somewhat different from the external one. The goods that the Japanese produce for themselves are also unusual.
This is a real quality from the samurai!
Let's take a look at what the Japanese themselves prefer to buy and use at home.

Here, for example, is a two-screen phone-book from the Japanese operator Docomo and Nec-Casio - Docomo N-05E Medias W. The smartphone consists of two halves, each of which has a 4.3" color display with a resolution of 960x540 pix, Android 4.1 axis. 2 Jelly Beans and 1.5 GHz dual core processor.

This is a Fujitsu phone. This is a top device in terms of innovation and technical equipment.

Here is another miracle - the phone.

You can also meet such a miracle of technology as a mini thermal power plant in Japanese stores. It is designed to charge cutting-edge smartphones using coal or fir cones :)

You can easily buy a Toshiba hard drive in Japan, which easily fits in your breast pocket, and you can upload a whole terabyte to it !!! Or 1000 gigs of information.
By the way, he processes information almost at the speed of light :)

This beauty is the Pentax Camera.

Everything ingenious is simple! It's just a super organizer. No junk in tables and luggage. No forgotten gadgets and cords. The order is just military.

And this is a unique digital binoculars from Sony
In addition to being able to follow the subject using autofocus, image stabilization and digital zoom, it can also record AVCHD 2.0 movies with stereo sound and take 20.4-megapixel still images even in low light.

What do you think - what is it? This portable planetarium is not only good way entertain the family and relax, but also an astronomy teaching tool.

A very necessary thing in Japanese homes is a household seismograph. Such devices look like a regular desktop clock with a digital display. On a wide LCD screen, the device displays the strength of the shocks. Its value lies in the fact that weak ground shaking can be noticed not immediately, but thanks to this gadget, its owners will be warned immediately after the start of the earthquake.

Another exotic is an electric toilet. In fact, this is a nozzle worn on the toilet, which has built-in heating and other, more intimate, functions. Except without vertical takeoff :)

This device is made specifically for bikers. What is it - think for yourself :)

Such cars are designed for glamorous Japanese girls.

This is a washing machine that is controlled by a mobile phone.
You just need to download a special application to your smartphone, and the washing process can be carried out even while lying on the bed! Directly from your smartphone, you set the desired mode, and the machine starts working.

Electric bidet from Panasonic. By the way, it is controlled by remote control :)

The transparent refrigerator is traditional in its shape and internal construction, but made completely transparent. The owner does not need to open the door to assess the fullness of the products; guests who love to look into other people's refrigerators will also be happy.

For example, the Seiko SARB059 Alpinist watch. Very popular among those who conquer the highest point in Japan - Mount Fuji.

This watch: SEIKO SARB065 Cocktail Time - A kind of evening dress, appropriate even during the day in a hateful office, saying that everything is passing and an evening filled with colors is just around the corner. At their core, they are the king of parties.

This Rockoon/Kawai Fat Stratocaster is a freaky guitar for the domestic Japanese market, made of natural wood - alder-maple-rosewood. Musicians will appreciate and understand.

In short - well done Japanese!

The imperialist guns are now roaring in the Far East. The guns of the Japanese imperialists are smashing the Manchurian cities, they are smashing Shanghai. Genuine battles took place between the Japanese and Chinese armies in the vicinity of Shanghai.

What are Japan's military forces?

The answer to this question is given by Comrade Ya. Lebanon's article.

The Japanese army is an instrument of the military-police unlimited monarchy in a country where government parties operate under the slogan "to be the master of Asia or the slave of Europe", where the feudal landowners barbarously exploit 2/3 of the peasants, and the industrial bourgeoisie exploits the almost slave labor of the workers.

The Japanese chauvinist bourgeoisie dreams of creating a "great Japan" (at the expense of the USSR and China). Now she is defending her violated predatory "rights" in China with weapons. At the same time, bearing in mind the all-pacifying Kellogg Pact, Japan does not declare official war on China, which did not prevent the Japanese imperialists from already seizing Manchuria and destroying the most populous Chinese regions of Shanghai with their cannons. The Chinese army has lost several thousand killed, and the population of China has suffered millions of losses, etc. War is not declared, the imperialists of today are "creeping" into the war.

General characteristics of the Japanese army

The armed forces of Japanese imperialism consist in peacetime of a 250,000-strong land army and a strong navy (3rd place after England and America, but in terms of the quality of ships and the training of personnel, the Japanese fleet is higher than the American one).

In wartime, Japan can put up an army of several million. The main thing on which the size of the army in wartime will depend is armament and technical supply army. The reserve of military-trained is huge. Of the 1 million people subject to annual conscription, up to 100,000 people enter the army, the rest of those fit for military service are trained on a non-military basis (recruit reserve). Almost two-thirds of the Japanese youth, beginning in 1926, undergo compulsory pre-conscription training. The militarization of the population through schools, universities, the press, etc., increases the supply of military-trained privates and officers. Fascist and semi-fascist organizations "work" especially hard on the militarization of the youth and the population in general, leading "unions of youth", "unions of reserve", etc. These unions, like other organizations for the militarization of the population, strive to instill love for the army, for soldiers which the Japanese proverb says: "there is no flower more beautiful than a cherry, there is no man better than a soldier."

The mass of soldiers consists mainly of peasants, followed by workers, artisans and the petty bourgeoisie.

For 2 years of service in the army, a Japanese soldier has time to train well for offensive operations under enemy fire. In battle, before an attack, he is soldered with vodka for greater courage. Infantrymen are very hardy in the campaign: without much effort they make a daily 30 - 35 - kilometer transition. With a forced march, they make transitions up to 50 km. per day, which indicates their great physical hardening and endurance. However, they can hardly tolerate the cold. In the Manchurian operation of 1931 - 1932. the Japanese army suffered significant losses from frostbite, despite the fact that the soldiers were dressed warmly. Under conditions of the strictest and cruelest discipline (up to and including face-killing), the Japanese soldier has no rights, does not have his own face. Non-commissioned officers are the "internal enemy" of the soldiers, since all the "dirty deeds" associated with the physical punishment of soldiers are blamed on the non-commissioned officers. Nevertheless, cases of scuffles also take place on the part of officers.

Unter - officers - representatives of the kulaks of the village and the petty bourgeoisie of the city - all long-term service. Serving until the age of 40, they study their business to the subtlety and may well replace officers, up to and including company commanders.

Officers - bourgeois - landowners, especially its older categories. Recently, representatives of the rural kulaks and the urban petty bourgeoisie are beginning to more and more replenish the cadres of officers.

The officers are heterogeneous in their military and political training: old men, wise from the experience of the Russian-Japanese war, are generals who look at the war of the future from the point of view of the Russian-Japanese war and underestimate the new forms of military art and technology; general staff officers - supporters of modern views on war based on the experience of the world war, who are the leading principle in the army; the average Japanese officer, who, having a limited operational-tactical outlook and being insufficiently familiar with new technical means, shows a tendency to a pattern in tactical actions, and sometimes to the old linear battle formations, especially in those military units led by old generals - Pupils of the Russo-Japanese War. In general, the Japanese officer knows military affairs well: he knows how to act in a field situation, knows how to keep his unit in his hands and is capable of boldly and resolutely carrying out a military order. The political development of officers is weak. They are deprived of voting rights, which excludes them from active external participation in political life.

Officers receive military training at the only Tokyo military school in the army (training for 2 years). Those who graduate from a military school complete their training at various advanced courses or receive higher education at the military academy.

Armament of the Japanese army

Before 1925 - 1928 the Japanese army was technically backward in comparison with the advanced capitalist armies: the role of tanks, aviation, chemistry, and automobiles was underestimated. The old generals, brought up in the Russo-Japanese War and influenced by the old German school (admiration for the morale of the troops at the expense of technology), ignored the experience of the world war and gravitated more towards linear tactical forms of combat. As a result of a series of reorganizations, and especially the last one in 1931-1932. the Japanese army is already approaching the level of advanced capitalist armies. The army is significantly saturated today with various samples of foreign and domestic equipment, old weapons are being modernized. The military industry of the country strives, and not without success, along with the improvement of foreign models, to manufacture its own tanks, aircraft, cars, etc.

However, one should not overestimate the technical equipment of the Japanese army for two reasons: 1) Japan's own military equipment is still relatively young, not always High Quality; 2) old models of weapons are made in huge quantities, so it will take a lot of time and effort to rearm a large army in wartime.

The infantry is armed with: Arisaka rifle, model 1905, weight - 9 kg, aiming range - 2.400 m, clip - 5 cartridges;

light machine gun. 1922, weight - 9 kg., effective range 2.000 m., clip - 30 rounds: 1914 Hotchkiss easel machine gun (modified), weight - 38 kg., effective range - 2.000 m., clip 30 rounds. All - caliber 6.5 mm.

Artillery is divided into incoming infantry. divisions and individual art. units, such as mountain, field heavy, anti-aircraft, fortress, coastal artillery. Artillery calibers from 75 mm. up to 150 mm. Range - from 8 to 12 km.

Aviation consists of heavy and light bombers, fighters and reconnaissance aircraft. In land aviation - 938 aircraft, in naval aviation - 500 hydroplanes (according to official Japanese data). Old planes have a speed of 150 - 200 km, flight duration 2 - 5 hours; the latest - speed 170 - 290 km. (heavy bombers 170 km., light 230 - 250 km., fighters 280 - 290 km., scouts 220 - 230 km.), flight duration 2 - 6 hours. Armed with both old and new aircraft 2 - 4 machine guns. Bombers and scouts have a load of bombs from 100 to 1,000 or more kilograms.

Tanks. Japanese tanks are of the light French Renault type, and medium and heavy tanks of the English Vickers type. Armored vehicles are armed with heavy machine guns and a small-caliber cannon.

There are several chemical units, the existence of which, and even more so the weapons, are kept very secret, as Japan seeks to prove that it complies with peace treaties on the non-use of OM gases.

Composition and organization of the Japanese army

In peacetime, the Japanese army has 17 infantry. divisions (of which 1 guards - protects and amuses the emperor with parade grounds),

4 sec. cavalry brigades, up to 30 regiments of various calibers and types of artillery, 6 aviation regiments, 1 tank regiment and 1 training tank detachment, technical and special units.

The cavalry is divided into strategic (not included in the infantry division and consists of 4 separate cavalry brigades) and divisional (part of the infantry division). A separate cavalry brigade consisting of: 2 cavalry regiments, 4 squadrons, a mountain or horse artillery division and an armored car detachment (4 vehicles). Cavalry regiment of the infantry division 2 - squadron composition. Like all advanced capitalist armies, the Japanese is beginning to create motorized mechanized units, and in particular in 1932 it is planned to form 1-2 mechanized brigades. Part of the field heavy artillery should be motorized, the wagon trains - transferred to mechanical traction.

The Japanese Navy consists of 3 squadrons, of which the 3rd squadron was organized in January 1932 specifically for service in Chinese waters. The Japanese navy compares favorably with the British and especially the American one in that it was built to a large extent after the World War and, therefore, taking into account the experience of this war, while the American navy is relatively old.

Japanese army tactics

The army is brought up in a sharply expressed offensive spirit. The principles of the offensive prevail over all types of combat operations. Only in extreme cases is it allowed to go on the defensive. The defender must be ready to go on the offensive at any moment. Therefore, offensive elements are also incorporated in the defense.

The purpose of the battle is to surround and destroy the enemy. According to Japanese regulations, this requires a blow to the flanks with one or two strong fists. A maximum of forces and resources is concentrated on the main direction of the strike due to the weakening of the secondary, fettering direction. But even a secondary, weakened direction receives an active offensive task, and not just pinning down the enemy.

Mobility, which is so important in making detours and envelopment of the enemy, is especially characteristic of the Japanese troops. Infantrymen are capable of making forced marches up to 50 km per day, while maintaining comparative combat capability.

The Japanese cavalry, which is not very mobile, can envy such "foot cavalrymen".

Mobility at night is widely used by Japanese forces for surprise attacks. At night, not only movements and preparations for battle are made, but also sudden attacks are made. So, during the night, Japanese troops can transfer part of their forces from one flank to the other and at night or at dawn unexpectedly fall on the enemy in a new direction. In order to achieve surprise, the Japanese command also often resorts to all sorts of tricks in order to more accurately and decisively strike at the enemy flank and rear.

Attaching great importance to the combination of movement and strike with manpower with fire of all kinds, Japanese regulations require the officer and soldier to bring the battle to a bayonet fight. It is believed that a strike with bayonets is the best and most decisive way to defeat the enemy.

Tanks are used in the main direction of attack and are usually attached to the infantry in small units (tank platoon per infantry battalion, company per infantry regiment, battalion per infantry division). Offensive. The battle order of the advancing infantry, although built according to the principles of group tactics, is not deep and usually consists of the first line and the reserve (from 1/3 to 1/6 of the attacking unit is assigned to the reserve). The squads advance at an interval of 30 - 40 - 50 meters from each other; at a depth of 100 - 200 m, support moves in 1 - 2 compartments. Before the attack, the support squads are pulled up to the first line, and from a distance of 40 - 50 m, the platoon, assisted by the fire of the company's heavy machine guns and their own light machine guns, goes on the attack. If unsuccessful, the attack is repeated.

During the offensive, a company builds a battle formation from the first echelon and a reserve with a frontal extension of up to 1/2 km. and to a depth of 250 - 350 m. The reserve (usually a platoon) acts in the interval between the platoons of the first echelon, developing success, or destroys enemy groups that impede the advance of the company. The battle formations of the battalion and regiment are roughly built in the same way.

Meeting engagement. In a meeting engagement, Japanese troops seek to envelop the enemy by actions on a broad front. This is achieved by advancing from a division moving in one column, two vanguards. Vanguards follow parallel roads - ledges or in one line. One vanguard provides the main direction, the second is essentially a tank detachment advanced forward and moves on one of the flanks. When a battle is started by one of the vanguards, the other avant-garde develops a blow to the flank and rear of the enemy.

Having got involved in the battle, the vanguards by decisive actions force the enemy to deploy his main forces against him. The vanguards must at all costs hold the captured line until the approach of the main forces. The main forces enter the battle immediately upon approaching the front. As a rule, the charter recommends the simultaneous deployment of all forces into battle, but the situation may sometimes require the deployment of forces in parts.

For closer interaction between infantry and artillery in a meeting engagement, part of the artillery is assigned to the vanguard, and part moves in a separate column between the vanguard and the main forces.

The defense is organized on lines that provide the flanks of the position with hard-to-reach terrain and thereby hamper enemy maneuvers. Lines should provide a quick transition from defense to offensive of their units. Characteristic of the Japanese defense is the system of detachments advanced to different distances forward, except for outposts.

The task of these detachments and outposts is reduced to exhausting the enemy and bringing him to the main position in unfavorable conditions. The guard is usually located at such an angle with respect to the main defensive position that the enemy exposes his flank during the offensive. Graphically, this can be explained as follows:

The exit from the battle is carried out first under the cover of private reserves (companies, battalions), and then by special covering units. Sometimes these covering units are combined under a common command.

The main goal during the retreat is to quickly break away from the enemy and in the future, clinging to a line that is unfavorable for the enemy, go on the counteroffensive ourselves. The departure takes place mainly at night. When departing during the day, smoke screens are widely used. The Japanese command does not disdain to add poisonous fumes to ordinary smoke.

The Japanese troops are pursuing with the strain of all their forces and means, regardless of any difficulties and hardships. Started on the initiative of junior commanders, who are usually the first to detect a direct withdrawal on the enemy front, the pursuit is then developed by specially detached detachments.

The detachments operate on a broad front and, by striking at the rear, try to cut off the escape routes. Although the Japanese cavalry is not very mobile, but in pursuit, and especially in parallel pursuit, it can do a lot, striking in the rear of the retreating enemy.

Political processing of the Japanese army

The political processing of the Japanese soldier begins long before entering the army. Family, school, pre-conscription training bring him up in the spirit of submission to elders, love for the emperor and the monarchical system as a whole. The thought of “Great Japan” is hammered into the head, which is “destined from above” to free the yellows from the whites and unite all of humanity into the “great state of Japan”. Since the expansion of "Great Japan" in the first place should occur at the expense of the USSR and China, then education goes under the sign of hatred for Russians and Chinese. In this way, a literate, disciplined and educated future soldier of the imperialist army is prepared for service. In the army, this "preliminary" training is deepened by a whole system of events: lectures, conversations of officers, excursions to museums - temples, literature, cinema, etc. Severe discipline, 11 - 12 - hour working day, almost complete isolation from the outside world, communication with whom it is allowed extremely rarely and under strict control, etc., they are developed from a peasant, a worker, an obedient, downtrodden craftsman, a faithful servant to an officer and an emperor.

The officer, in turn, also does not have his own face. He is brought up in the spirit of the old samurai requirements - to be selflessly devoted to his master, the feudal lord (ie, the emperor). In the struggle for the interests of one's feudal lord, both lies and murders are permissible, and in relation to one's emperor (lord) - only truthfulness, courage, contempt for death, etc.

The Japanese army today still faithfully and reliably serves the interests of the bourgeois-landlords, but it no longer represents the stronghold that the bourgeoisie of other countries so hoped for. In the ongoing war against China and the "digestion" in the imperialist stomach of Manchuria, the Japanese army has had a combat test, which it cannot especially boast of. This check revealed hundreds of soldiers who did not want to obey their officers and generally fight against China and the USSR. The proletariat, the peasantry, the students - this multimillion-strong rear of the Japanese army - are about the same tuned in to the Japanese-Chinese war as the proletariat and peasantry of tsarist Russia are in the Russian-Japanese war. You can’t shoot all the disobedient, there are too many of them.

In the field of operational - tactical, the Japanese army did not shine with success in Manchuria and completely disgraced in the battles near Shanghai. A lot of equipment, many soldiers, prominent generals and officers were concentrated in the Shanghai area, but apparently these rabid invaders and robbers of the Chinese people have little experience in the use of technology, control of large masses of troops and too much arrogance.

Japanese imperialism, with the benevolent assistance of the League, is "digesting" Manchuria and at the same time is preparing war against the USSR and Soviet China at an accelerated pace. The small but heroic Communist Party of Japan and the proletariat of the whole world are waging an anti-imperialist struggle to prevent an attack on the USSR. Let the invaders of Manchuria remember that the Red Army knows what it will fight for.

The Land of the Rising Sun has always been at the forefront of high technology. Since the Japanese live on small (relative to other states) islands, which, among other things, are constantly subjected to seismic activity, it is difficult to deal with nature without the development of technology. Japanese culture is famous for its love of technology: in this country, not only is the constant development of the latest technical means, but even the toilets in residential buildings are equipped with the latest technology.

We all heard about people like kamikaze. There was no end to those who wanted to try their hand at this business, because for their people they were heroes, and they terrified the enemy. What else was the mass nature of such a phenomenon connected with, what imprint does it leave on the modern inhabitants of the island state, and which manufacturers put their hands on this? In this article, we will talk about other kamikaze -. Not everyone has heard of them, but this page was also in the history book of Japan.

This week, Japanese railway company JR East unveiled a new Alfa-X high-speed bullet train capable of a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour, promising to make it the fastest commercial passenger train in the world. According to the Ars Technica portal, during daily operation, the train will carry passengers at a speed of 360 kilometers per hour. This Friday, JR East conducted the first test of the Alfa-X without passengers on board.

Japan is considered to be a leading country in the field of technology and electronics. For recent years both in the press and on television, one can increasingly hear about the stupid, funny and completely incomprehensible inventions of Japanese engineers. And this is true, since the world market was occupied in most cases by impractical and useless "inventions" of the craftsmen of the country of the rising sun. However, some will be able to influence the life of a person and the life of future generations in one way or another. They amaze Western society with engineering.

8 Revolutionary Vending Machines

It is unlikely that vending machines, attributes of the past two centuries, can be considered as examples innovative technologies that can change the world. But we must pay tribute to the Japanese, who improved the machine and adapted it to different areas of life, forcing them to appreciate the power of comfort and convenience. While the world enjoys using vending machines to buy snacks and coffee, the Japanese have gone one step further and created a new generation of machines that can buy everything from umbrellas and eggs to fresh salad and underwear. Perhaps this is not an outstanding invention for mankind, but it has occupied its niche in the market.

To gain access to the control of the human brain is a pipe dream of most inventors. Japanese engineers have developed a portable camera Neurocam, which records the waves emanating from the activity of neurons in the human cerebral cortex and transforms them into a digital image. The camera is powered by a connected iPhone, which is attached to a special cuff and put on the head, and special sensors receive brain signals. The Neurocam device interprets the received signals according to the developed algorithms and displays the digitized images on the iPhone screen. This technology, although not yet completely perfected, was the first step towards major developments in the visualization of dreams, memory and ideas, which in turn will seriously affect the way we communicate and transmit information.

Obtaining and using environmentally friendly energy sources has become the number one problem in the era of worldwide struggle against cardinal climate change on Earth. That's why Power Japan Plus is interested in creating sustainable power sources in the form of a fully rechargeable Dual Organic Carbon Battery. It is more powerful than conventional analogues and lasts longer. Its charging time is 20 times faster than most modern batteries. In addition, the housing is environmentally friendly and can be easily disposed of or recycled.

What can really help people with disabilities is a robot that will become an indispensable assistant when walking, running and at work. Panasonic, a Japanese company, is improving exoskeletons, specially designed robots that humans can put on like a suit. What was previously only available in the field of military technology will now serve ordinary people in everyday life. This exoskeleton costs $7,000 and weighs 40 kg. This lightweight, compact, and strong suit will have the potential to revolutionize the way people can work and recover from physical injury in the near future.

Imagine a television screen with such a clear image that you feel the reality of the images and the desire to touch them. Revolutionary ultra-high-definition imaging technologies are available from companies such as Sharp and Sony, whose TVs feature 1080 ppi concave screens to improve picture quality. When these TVs become available to the mass buyer, they will completely replace traditional counterparts. Japan became the first country in the world to start broadcasting 4K digital television in July 2014, previously scheduled for 2016.

3. Androids: Kodomoroid, Ontonaroid, Telenoid

Robots can not only change our understanding of everything we know, such as communication and work, but also provoke a philosophical question about human consciousness. Hiroshi Ishiguro and his team at Osaka University have created three female robots, Kodomoroid, Ontonaroid, Telenoid, whose skin color, hair, facial features and even clothing are identical to human ones. Robots are presented in different age categories and they are delegated the functions of an information bureau on the museum's work. The information is available in different languages. In addition to being able to talk, robots can move like humans, gesticulate, pick up objects, blink and smile.

Japan has been a leader in the construction of robotics for 15 years. Honda's ASIMO robot is a giant leap in this area (and doesn't look as shocking as Kodomoroid). The robot is capable of performing many different human actions, including welcoming visitors, opening bottles, serving drinks. In 2014, it was improved with additional features - now it can jump and run at a speed of 5 km/h. It is difficult to say how the world will change culturally, socially and economically with the advent of robots of this class. One thing is clear that they will become indispensable for people with disabilities.

There is an unspoken rivalry in the world regarding the creation of the first space elevator. In the period of the 19th-20th century, Russian scientists were concerned about this issue. American scientists also contributed to the development of its creation. In 2007, a $500,000 award for the best design was announced, but so far there has not been a single nominee. Since then, Japan has also decided to tackle the problem of creating the first functional space elevator. Obayashi Corporation of Tokyo plans to create a working device before 2050. With the help of this elevator, space tourists will be delivered to space stations through a block system of carbon nanotubes. Using only solar energy, the elevator will be able to deliver up to 30 people into orbit at a speed of 200 km/h. If successfully completed, this innovation will revolutionize engineering, tourism and space exploration. In the meantime, you will have to use the services