Tag Archives: Japans

Making Each Moment Count: Japan’s Gen Z Strives for Just 2 Hours of Smartphone Use

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Even while employed full-time in Tokyo, Moriyama Shoki still dedicates eight hours daily to his smartphone.

“You need a mobile device to navigate the information age,” Moriyama states. At just 25, he represents a generation that cannot envision life without continuously scrolling through news, social media, messaging platforms, and casual video clips.

He’s not alone. The excessive use of smartphones is a worldwide trend, yet Japanese officials are stepping in as concerns rise over the physical and mental impacts, particularly affecting children and youth.


Last week, Toyoake, a central city in Japan, implemented measures to restrict smartphone usage for its 69,000 residents to just two hours a day. Authorities state this aims to tackle growing evidence of digital addiction and lack of sleep, although the town council’s ordinance does not impose penalties on those who disregard it.

Moriyama was one of several individuals in their twenties who accepted a challenge from the Guardian to limit smartphone usage to two hours while sharing their experiences.

Results varied from impressive successes to significant failures.




Moriyama Shoki remarked that limiting phone use to two hours daily feels “too little.” Photo: Justin McCurry/Guardian

Moriyama, who regularly checks LINE—a “super app” for messaging, news, and entertainment, along with TikTok, Instagram, and X—admitted that abstaining from these platforms or significantly reducing usage is challenging.

“I typically spend about eight hours on my phone, so two hours is insufficient. I can’t stay current with everything,” he explains. “In the end, I managed to limit my smartphone usage to an hour and 50 minutes, which is a noteworthy decrease from my usual screen time. I used the extra time to read books, study, and hit the gym, so I didn’t waste my day.”

My colleague Hanaoka Tomomi also succeeded in curbing this habit. “I usually spend about three hours on my phone during the week and six to seven hours on weekends, so two hours felt very restrictive. Most people need at least three to four hours,” Hanaoka notes. Previously, avoiding LINE, TikTok, and Instagram felt impossible.

“I adhered to the two-hour limit and spent my free time reading and pursuing other activities.”

University student Saito Akari realized early on that “the more restrictions you impose, the more I want to engage.”

Saito appreciates Toyoake’s initiative as a starting point for broader conversations about smartphone usage, but believes the focus should be on quality of use rather than the quantity of screen time. “However, finding a line between education and entertainment can be tricky.”

Despite his determined efforts, Saito found it tough to limit daily phone use to three or four hours. “I especially struggled to put my phone down while commuting or walking. But using my phone less could make the day feel longer and more significant.”


Yuri* has attempted to limit her smartphone usage before exams by hiding Instagram and implementing password protections.

She uses her phone for checking social media, searching recipes, texting, and accessing educational materials, yet too much screen time often leads to headaches and eye strain.

“I wonder why the ordinance explicitly recommends limiting smartphone usage. If the goal is to encourage people to reconsider their usage, they should foster individual rules,” she contends.

“Overall, I’m supportive of the proposed methods for smartphone use, as I don’t rely on it for hobbies. Nonetheless, such measures could be unacceptable for those who primarily use smartphones for entertainment and stress relief.”




A man uses his smartphone to take pictures in Suzuka city. Photo: Anadoll/Getty Images

Mayor Koki Masafumi of Toyoake has defended the new regulations despite receiving numerous complaints from residents about government interference in their personal lives.

Kouki mentioned that while he frequently uses his smartphone to check baseball scores and navigate, he sets it aside during meal times and expressed concern that children and young individuals are compromising sleep and family interactions due to excessive scrolling, emailing, and posting.

In response to the criticism online, including misinformation suggesting strict enforcement of the two-hour rule, he explained to the Mainichi Shimbun, “When you hear ‘two hours,’ it prompts you to reflect on your actual usage. That’s significant.”


A recent survey from the Children and Family Agency indicates that Japanese youth spend an average of just over five hours online on weekdays.

Aya* exceeds the national average, typically logging around eight hours each day.

“We couldn’t restrict ourselves to two hours, but just being aware of the challenge made a difference. Ultimately, we managed to reduce our standard smartphone usage by approximately 60%, which was substantial,” the university student reported, acknowledging that she still consulted a travel planner and checked emails and messages.

She expressed support for Toyoake City’s initiative and speculated that the absence of penalties could be its greatest strength.

“That’s what makes it sensible… establishing personal rules is crucial. It’s an invaluable chance to reflect on daily habits, rather than just thinking abstractly.”

She mentioned she often spent time “scrolling aimlessly.”

“I found it easier to engage in conversations and pay more attention to my surroundings, which enriched my day.”

This will surely resonate with Koki. On the eve of his town’s controversial social engineering experiment, the mayor stated he believes it’s worthwhile. “It’s about sleep, family, and health,” he asserts. “This ordinance will encourage more people to pause and discuss their habits, even briefly, and it will prove effective.”

*Names have been changed upon request.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Japan’s Sturdy Lunar Lander Successfully Touches Down on the Moon

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The surface of the moon as captured from orbit prior to the crash

ISPACE SMBC X Hakuto-R Venture Moon

On June 5th at 7:13 PM, a Japanese space endeavor aiming to be the third private lunar landing failed as ISPACE’s Resilience lander succumbed on the moon’s surface.

The lander began its descent from around 20 km above the moon, but ISPACE’s mission control quickly lost communication after the probe activated its main engine for final descent, receiving no further signals.

The company announced that the laser tool used to gauge the distance to the surface seemed to malfunction, leading to inadequate slowing of the lander and likely resulting in a collision.

“Given the absence of a successful lunar landing at this time, our top priority is to analyze the telemetry data collected so far and diligently investigate the cause,” stated ISPACE CEO Mr. Takeshi.

Had it succeeded, Resilience would have marked the second private moon landing of the year and the third overall, making it the first non-U.S. company to land on the moon after ISPACE’s prior attempt, the Hakuto-R mission, failed in 2023.

The Resilience Lander embarked on its lunar journey aboard a SpaceX rocket on January 15th, alongside Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander. While the Blue Ghost successfully landed on March 2, Resilience took a more circuitous route, moving into deeper space before returning on May 6 to enter lunar orbit. This complex trajectory was essential for targeting the challenging northern plain called Male Frigolis, which had not been surveyed by previous lunar missions.

Equipped with six experiments, the lander included a device for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, a module for algae-based food production, and a radiation monitor for deep space. Additionally, it housed a five-kilogram rover named Tenesial, designed to explore and capture images of the moon during the two weeks that Resilience was set to operate.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Japan’s First “Major Earthquake Warning” and Its Significance

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summary

  • Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever “major earthquake warning” on Thursday.
  • The warning came after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern part of the country.
  • This raises the risk of an even bigger earthquake in the Nankai Trough, an undersea subduction zone that scientists believe could produce a quake of up to magnitude 9.1.

After a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan’s southern islands on Thursday, the country’s Meteorological Agency issued an ominous warning: More powerful quakes are possible, with the risk especially high over the coming week.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issues its first-ever “major earthquake warning,” warning that the Nankai Trough is a subduction zone where a magnitude 8-9 earthquake is likely to occur, and that there is a higher-than-usual risk of strong shaking and tsunamis. It urges people in the area to prepare.

The message is not a prophecy but an outlook for increasing risk, and it shows how far seismologists have come in understanding the dynamics of subduction-zone earthquakes.

Here’s what you need to know about the situation.

Dangerous subduction zones

The Nankai Trough is an underwater subduction zone where the Eurasian plate collides with the Philippine Sea plate, causing the latter to subduct beneath the Eurasian plate and sink into the Earth’s mantle.

Faults in subduction zones build up stress, and when the locked faults slip and release that stress, so-called megaquakes occur. “Mechatronics” is the shortened form of the name. These zones have produced some of the most powerful earthquakes in Earth’s history.

The Pacific “Ring of Fire” is a collection of subduction zones. In the United States, the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the West Coast stretches from Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Mendocino in California.

The Nankai Trough fault is divided into several segments, but if the entire edge of the fault slips at once, Japanese scientists say the trough will It could cause an earthquake of up to magnitude 9.1.

In the southwestern Japanese city of Nichinan, beaches were closed on Friday after the country’s first warning of a possible major earthquake was issued.
Kyodo News via Reuters Connect

If a major earthquake were to occur off the coast of Japan, the Philippine Sea Plate would likely shake 30 to 100 feet near the country’s southeast coast, causing violent shaking.

Vertical displacement of the ocean floor could trigger a tsunami, sending waves crashing onto the coast of Japan that Japanese scientists estimate could reach heights of nearly 100 feet. Published in 2020.

History of major earthquakes

Large earthquakes occur in the Nankai Trough approximately every 100 to 150 years. In last year’s surveyJapan’s Earthquake Research Committee announced in January 2022 that there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of a major earthquake occurring in the next 30 years.

Great Nankai Trough earthquakes tend to occur in two separate events, with the second often occurring within two years of the previous one, recent examples being the “twin” earthquakes that occurred in the Nankai Trough in 1944 and 1946.

This phenomenon is due to the segmented nature of the fault, where a shift in one segment can put strain on other segments.

Thursday A magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred at or near a subduction zone.According to the U.S. Geological Survey.

People stand outside after escaping a building following an earthquake in Miyazaki on Thursday.
Kyodo News via Associated Press

Harold Tobin, a professor at the University of Washington who studies the Nankai Trough, said the magnitude 7.1 quake occurred in a segment that shakes more frequently than other earthquakes. The regular quakes reduce stress, so there’s less concern that the segment itself could cause a big one. What’s concerning is the quake’s proximity to a segment that’s been building up stress since the 1940s.

“This one is adjacent to the Southwest Sea region and is obviously sealed off, so that’s a reason for caution and concern,” Tobin said.

Predictions, not predictions

Scientists cannot predict earthquakes, but they are developing the ability to forecast when danger is heightened, especially in areas like Japan where tremors occur frequently and monitoring is well established.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Japan’s lunar lander “Slim” miraculously persevered through three lunar nights

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The SLIM lander continues to take photos of the moon's surface.

JAXA

Somehow, Japan's Smart Lunar Survey Lander (SLIM) survived three lunar nights. This is an amazing feat. The moon's nights are so cold that the spacecraft's batteries and electronics fail, so a lunar lander can typically survive one day on the moon, or about two weeks on Earth.

The lunar lander is built to withstand the moon's nighttime temperatures, which can drop to -133°C (-208°F). SLIM is no exception. There are no heaters or special insulation designed to keep the spacecraft's electronics warm.

The original plan was for the lunar night to mark the end of the lander's mission, so no one expected to wake up again when night fell less than two weeks after SLIM's January 19 landing. I wasn't expecting it. But on February 25, the sun rose over SLIM's resting place near the moon's south pole, lighting it up again.

Alarmed, the SLIM operations crew on Earth began instructing the lander to image and measure its surroundings until the next lunar night, when the mission would truly end. In late March, the sun rose again and the lander powered on and began transmitting data to Earth.

By all standards, the mission was a shocking success, even after a difficult landing left the spacecraft tilted. But yet another surprise awaited – three nights later on April 23, SLIM was revived again.

X's SLIM official account Posted“SLIM maintained its primary functionality even after a three-night stay, which was not envisioned at the time of its design.” New photos of the lunar surface accompanying that post show that the lander once again understands the moon. It also shows that they are working hard to collect data that will not only help them do this, but also help them create a spacecraft that can withstand moonlit nights.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

SLIM, Japan’s Lunar Lander, Astonishingly Survives Second Night on the Moon

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View of the lunar surface taken from the tilted position of the SLIM lander

JAXA

Most landers we send to the Moon will operate for one lunar day, or about two weeks on Earth, until they die from the extreme cold of the lunar night. But Japan’s Smart Lunar Lander (SLIM) has now survived two nights on the moon and continues to send images back to Earth, an amazing feat.

SLIM is Japan’s first lunar lander and becomes the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface. When the plane landed on January 19, it was tilted and the solar panels could not provide enough power to continue operating for more than a few hours. After nine days, the sun began to move again, moving across the sky.

But just three Earth days later, the lunar night began. Nighttime temperatures on the moon can drop as low as -133°C (-208°F), potentially damaging the spacecraft’s batteries and electronics. Normally, the lunar lander shuts down on a lunar night and never wakes up again, but it started up again on February 25 as the sun rose above Slim.

This in itself was a surprise. The lander was not specifically designed to withstand lunar nights, and its original mission was scheduled to end at night. So, as night approached again, this seemed to be the end of SLIM.

However, on March 27th, the SLIM official account I posted an image above X has the following caption: “Last night, we received a response from SLIM confirming that SLIM achieved its second success during the night. Last night, the sun was still high and the equipment was hot, so I quickly turned on my navigation camera. It looks like the lander will be able to resume analyzing its surroundings within the next few days.

Its survival is especially surprising because while some spacecraft use radioactive elements to stay warm, SLIM does not. “This is a significant achievement considering we are not using radioisotope heaters,” he says. Haim Benaroya at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “This result is important and impressive, given that this is a major design consideration for electronics (and people) to survive moonlit nights.” SLIM has failed while many other spacecraft have failed. Analyzing how they survived may help us understand how they stay warm on the moon.

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  • moon/
  • space exploration

Source: www.newscientist.com