Robots
A country that has been building automata since the Edo period and now builds them because there are not enough people. The karakuri tea-serving doll, Honda's walking prototypes, nursing and care robots pitched at a shortage of carers, humanoids for the warehouse floor, and Rapidus betting the industrial base on a 2nm chip.
Part of Japan
10 moments in this segment.
- - KarakuriBritishMuseum. Japan robot robotics humanoid. Japanese Karakuri, circa 1800
- - TOPIO 3. Japan robot robotics humanoid. TOPIO ("TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot") is a bipedal humanoid robot designed to play table tennis against a human being. TOPIO version 3.0 at Tokyo International Robot Exhibition, Nov 2009
- - Honda prototype robots Honda Collection Hall. Japan robot robotics humanoid. Honda prototype robots; P1, P2, P3, and P4 (from left to right).
- - Bloomberg: how Japan made robots part of everyday life. Bloomberg Originals documentary with Haslinda Amin on robots and AI in Japanese agriculture and industry, from crop drones to unmanned harvesters.
- - Reuters: ageing Japan turns to AI robots for elder care. Reuters on the AIREC care robot and the search for technological answers to a severe shortage of care workers as the working-age population shrinks.
- - Al Jazeera: nursing robots pitched to fill Japan's care gap. Al Jazeera on AI-powered nursing robots proposed for elderly care in Japan, and the questions of integration and public acceptance that remain.
- - Rapidus and Japan's bet on 2nm chips. Semiconductor analyst Satoshi Oyama on Rapidus, the state-backed venture that has taken 1.72 trillion yen in government support to build 2-nanometre production in Japan, and whether it can challenge TSMC.
- - Newsweek Japan: after the 2nm prototype, can Rapidus mass-produce?. Economic commentator Keiichi Kaya on Rapidus's July prototype of a 2-nanometre transistor, its 2027 mass-production target, and why Japan's earlier semiconductor dominance collapsed.
- - Tokyo bets on 'physical AI' to answer the labour crisis. WION report on the Japanese government's push into AI-powered robotics, framed as a response to a shrinking workforce across healthcare and logistics.
- - A domestically built humanoid robot for Japanese workplaces. Nippon TV on a Japanese firm's humanoid robot designed for indoor use in hospitals and factories facing severe labour shortages, first aired 5 August 2026.