This is alist of Japanese inventions and discoveries. The Japanese have made contributions across a number of scientific, technological and art domains. In particular, the country has played a crucial role in thedigital revolution since the 20th century, with many modern revolutionary and widespread technologies in fields such aselectronics androbotics introduced by Japanese inventors and entrepreneurs.
Adam L. Kern has suggested thatkibyoshi, picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books. These graphical narratives share with modernmanga humorous, satirical, and romantic themes.[1] Some works were mass-produced as serials usingwoodblock printing.[2]
In ancient Japan, the first hand fans were oval and rigid fans, influenced greatly by Chinese fans. The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century AD, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was invented in Japan, with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries and later exported to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the West. Such a flourishing trade involving Japanese hand fans existed in the Ming dynasty times, when folding fans almost absolutely displaced the old rigid type in China.[3][4]
Thehistory of manga has origins in scrolls dating back to the 12th century, and it is believed they represent the basis for the right-to-left reading style. During theEdo period (1603–1867),Toba Ehon embedded the concept of manga.[5] The word itself first came into common usage in 1798,[6] with the publication of works such asSantō Kyōden's picturebookShiji no yukikai (1798),[7][8] and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa'sManga hyakujo (1814) and theHokusai Manga books (1814–1834).[9][1]
Invented for the Kabuki theatre in Japan in the 18th century, the revolving stage was introduced into Western theater at theResidenz theatre in Munich in 1896 under the influence ofjaponism fever.[10]
The first postcyberpunk media work in an animated/film format wasGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex in 2002. It has been called "the most interesting, sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence."[12]
The first capsule hotel in the world opened in 1979 and was the Capsule Inn Osaka, located in theUmeda district ofOsaka, Japan and designed byKisho Kurokawa. From there, it spread to other cities within Japan. Since then, the concept has further spread to various other territories, including Belgium, China, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, and Poland.
A post-war Japanese architectural movement developed by a wide variety of Japanese architects includingKiyonori Kikutake,Kisho Kurokawa andFumihiko Maki, Metabolism aimed to fuse ideas about architecturalmegastructures with those of organic biological growth.[19]
The first scale designed to measuretornado intensity, the Fujita scale, was first introduced byTed Fujita (in collaboration withAllen Pearson) in 1971. The scale was widely adopted throughout the world until the development of theEnhanced Fujita scale.[22]
The Fujiwhara effect is an atmospheric phenomenon where two nearbycyclonicvortices orbit each other and close the distance between the circulations of their correspondinglow-pressure areas. The effect was first described bySakuhei Fujiwhara in 1921.[23]
Jet streams were first discovered by Japanese meteorologistWasaburo Oishi by trackingceiling balloons. However, Oishi's work largely went unnoticed outside Japan because it was published inEsperanto.[24][25]
The microburst was first discovered and identified as a small scaledownburst affecting an area 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter or less byTed Fujita in 1974. Microbursts are recognized as capable of generating wind speeds higher than 270 km/h (170 mph). In addition, Fujita also discoveredmacrobursts and classified them as downbursts larger than 4 km (2.5 mi).[21]
In 1988,Keiichi Tsuchiya alongsideOption magazine founder andchief editor Daijiro Inada organised the first contest specifically for sliding a car sideways. In 1996, Option organized the first contest outside Japan[26] which began to spread to other countries.
Jujutsu, the "way of yielding", is a collective name for Japanese martial art styles including unarmed and armed techniques. Jujutsu evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent without weapons. Due to the ineffectiveness of striking against an armored opponent, the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.[28]
It began as a common fighting system known as "ti" (or "te") among thepechin class of theRyukyuans. There were few formal styles ofti, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is theMotobu-ryū school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara.[29] Early styles of karate are often generalized asShuri-te,Naha-te, andTomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged.[30]
Developed by groups of people mainly from theIga Province andKōka, Shiga ofJapan. Throughout history, many different schools (ryū) have taught their unique versions ofninjutsu. An example of these is theTogakure-ryū. Thisryū was developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure escaped to the region of Iga. Later he came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi who taught him a new way of viewing life and the means of survival (ninjutsu).[31]
In the 14th century, when the three kingdoms on Okinawa (Chūzan,Hokuzan, andNanzan) entered into atributary relationship with theMing dynasty ofChina, Chinese Imperialenvoys and other Chinese arrived, some of whom taught ChineseChuan Fa (Kempo) to the Okinawans. The Okinawans combined Chinese Chuan Fa with the existing martial art of Te to formTō-de (唐手,Okinawan: Tū-dī; Tang hand), sometimes calledOkinawa-te (沖縄手).[32] By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages –Naha,Shuri, andTomari. The styles were named Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Practitioners from these three villages went on to develop modern karate.[33]
According to theNihon shoki, published in 720, the origin of sumo is the contest of strength betweenNomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya in 26 B.C.[34]Haniwa of sumo wrestlers are made in theKofun period (300–538).[35] The imperial family often watches sumo as a form of entertainment in the Heian period (794–1192). It has evolved over the centuries with professional sumo wrestlers appearing in the Edo period (1603–1868).[36]
Hiroyuki Ito introduced the "Active Time Battle" system inFinal Fantasy IV (1991),[37] where thetime-keeping system does not stop.[38]Square Co., Ltd. filed a United Statespatent application for the ATB system on March 16, 1992, under the title "Video game apparatus, method and device for controlling same" and was awarded the patent on February 21, 1995. On the battle screen, each character has an ATB meter that gradually fills, and the player is allowed to issue a command to that character once the meter is full.[39] The fact that enemies can attack or be attacked at any time is credited with injecting urgency and excitement into the combat system.[38]
The first game to feature fist fighting wasSega's boxing gameHeavyweight Champ (1976), but it was Data East's fighting gameKarate Champ (1984) which popularized martial arts themed games.[40] The same year,Hong Kong cinema-inspiredKung-Fu Master laid the foundations for scrolling beat 'em ups with its simple gameplay and multiple enemies.[40][41]Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, released in 1986 in Japan, deviated from the martial arts themes of earlier games and introduced street brawling to the genre.Renegade (released the same year) added an underworld revenge plot that proved more popular with gamers than the principled combat sport of other games.[42]Renegade set the standard for future beat 'em up games as it introduced the ability to move both horizontally and vertically.[43]
The bullet hell ordanmaku genre began to emerge in the early 1990s as 2D developers needed to find a way to compete with 3D games which were becoming increasingly popular at the time.Toaplan'sBatsugun (1993) is considered to be the ancestor of the modern bullet hell genre.[44] TheTouhou Project series is one of the most popular bullet hell franchises.
Sega's black and white boxing gameHeavyweight Champ was released in 1976 as the firstvideo game to feature fist fighting.[45] However,Data East'sKarate Champ from 1984 is credited with establishing and popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre, and went on to influenceKonami'sYie Ar Kung-Fu from 1985.[46]Yie Ar Kung Fu expanded onKarate Champ by pitting the player against a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style.[46][47]Capcom'sStreet Fighter (1987) introduced the use of special moves that could only be discovered by experimenting with the game controls.Street Fighter II (1991) established the conventions of the fighting game genre and, whereas previous games allowed players to combat computer-controlled fighters,Street Fighter II allowed players to play against each other.[48]
Gunpei Yokoi was the creator of the Game Boy and Virtual Boy and worked on Famicom (and NES), the Metroid series, Game Boy Pocket and did extensive work on the system we know today as the Nintendo Entertainment System (called the FamiCom in Japan).
Space Panic, a 1980 arcade release, is sometimes credited as the first platform game.[49] It was clearly an influence on the genre, with gameplay centered on climbing ladders between different floors, a common element in many early platform games.Donkey Kong, anarcade game created byNintendo, released in July 1981, was the first game that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps, making it the first true platformer.[50]
The first Sony PlayStation was invented byKen Kutaragi. Research and development for the PlayStation began in 1990, headed by Kutaragi, a Sony engineer.Controller of thePlayStation 2, thebest-selling video game console of all time
Silent Hill (1999) was praised for moving away survival horror games fromB movie horror elements to thepsychological style seen inart house orJapanese horror films,[51] due to the game's emphasis on a disturbing atmosphere rather than visceral horror.[52] The originalSilent Hill is considered one of the scariest games of all time,[53] and the strong narrative fromSilent Hill 2 in 2001 has made the series one of the most influential in the genre.[54]Fatal Frame from 2001 was a unique entry into the genre, as the player explores a mansion and takes photographs of ghosts in order to defeat them.[55][56]
Dance Aerobics was released in 1987, and allowed players to create music by stepping on Nintendo'sPower Pad peripheral. It has been called the first rhythm-action game in retrospect,[57] although the 1996 titlePaRappa the Rapper has also been deemed the first rhythm game, whose basic template forms the core of subsequent games in the genre. In 1997,Konami'sBeatmania sparked an emergent market for rhythm games in Japan. The company's music division,Bemani, released a number of music games over the next several years.
The firstplatform game to usescrolling graphics wasJump Bug (1981), a simple platform-shooter developed byAlpha Denshi.[58] In August 1982,Taito releasedJungle King,[59] which featured scrolling jump and run sequences that had players hopping over obstacles.Namco took the scrolling platformer a step further with the 1984 releasePac-Land.Pac-Land came after the genre had a few years to develop, and was an evolution of earlier platform games, aspiring to be more than a simple game of hurdle jumping, like some of its predecessors.[60] It closely resembled later scrolling platformers likeWonder Boy andSuper Mario Bros. and was probably a direct influence on them. It also had multi-layeredparallax scrolling.[61][62]
Space Invaders is frequently cited as the "first" or "original" in the genre.[63][64]Space Invaders pitted the player against multiple enemies descending from the top of the screen at a constantly increasing speed.[64] As with subsequent shoot 'em ups of the time, the game was set in space as the available technology only permitted a black background. The game also introduced the idea of giving the player a number of "lives".Space Invaders was a massive commercial success, causing a coin shortage in Japan.[65][66] The following year,Namco'sGalaxian took the genre further with more complex enemy patterns and richer graphics.[63][67]
The term survival horror was coined byCapcom'sResident Evil (1996) and definitely defined that genre.[68][69] The game was inspired by Capcom's earlier horror gameSweet Home (1989).[70] The earliest survival horror game wasNostromo, developed by Akira Takiguchi (aTokyo University student andTaito contractor) for thePET 2001 and published byASCII for thePC-6001 in 1981.[71]
The visual novel genre is a type ofInteractive fiction developed in Japan in the early 1990s. As the name suggests, visual novels typically have limited interactivity, as most player interaction is restricted to clicking text and graphics.[72]
A generic process management philosophy derived mostly from theToyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s.[73][74]
Japanese chemistJōkichi Takamine and his assistant Keizo Uenaka first discovered epinephrine in 1900.[82][83] In 1901 Takamine successfully isolated and purified the hormone from the adrenal glands of sheep and oxen.[84]
Mutsuo Sugiura was a Japanese engineer famous for being the first to develop a Gastro-camera (a present-day Esophagogastroduodenoscope). His story was illustrated in the NHK TV documentary feature, "Project X: Challengers: The Development of a Gastro-camera Wholly Made in Japan". Sugiura graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University in 1938 and then joined Olympus Corporation. While working at this company, he first developed an esophagogastroduodenoscope in 1950.
Hanaoka Seishū was the first surgeon in the world who used the general anaesthesia in surgery, in 1804, and who dared to operate on cancers of the breast and oropharynx, to remove necrotic bone, and to perform amputations of the extremities in Japan.[86]
The induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) is a kind ofpluripotentstem cell which can be created using a mature cell. iPSCs technology was developed byShinya Yamanaka and his lab workers in 2006.[91]
Methamphetamine was first synthesized fromephedrine in Japan in 1894 by chemistNagayoshi Nagai.[92] In 1919, methamphetamine hydrochloride was synthesized by pharmacologistAkira Ogata.[93]
Okazaki fragments are short, newly synthesized DNA fragments that are formed on thelagging template strand duringDNA replication. They are complementary to the lagging template strand, together forming short double-stranded DNA sections. A series of experiments led to the discovery of Okazaki fragments. The experiments were conducted during the 1960s byReiji Okazaki,Tsuneko Okazaki, Kiwako Sakabe, and their colleagues during their research onDNA replication ofEscherichia coli.[95] In 1966, Kiwako Sakabe andReiji Okazaki first showed that DNA replication was a discontinuous process involving fragments.[96] The fragments were further investigated by the researchers and their colleagues through their research including the study onbacteriophageDNA replication inEscherichia coli.[97][98]
Pulse oximetry was developed in 1972, byTakuo Aoyagi and Michio Kishi, bioengineers, at Nihon Kohden using the ratio of red to infrared light absorption of pulsating components at the measuring site. Susumu Nakajima, a surgeon, and his associates first tested the device in patients, reporting it in 1975.[101]
The statin class of drugs was first discovered byAkira Endo, a Japanese biochemist working for the pharmaceutical companySankyo.Mevastatin was the first discovered member of the statin class.[102]
A form ofdiastase which results from the growth, development and nutrition of a distinct microscopic fungus known as Aspergillus oryzae.Jōkichi Takamine developed the method first used for its extraction in the late 19th century.[103]
Thiamine was the first of the water-solublevitamins to be described,[104] leading to the discovery of more such trace compounds essential for survival and to the notion of vitamin. It was not until 1884 thatKanehiro Takaki (1849–1920) attributedberiberi to insufficientnitrogen intake (protein deficiency). In 1910, Japanese scientistUmetaro Suzuki succeeded in extracting a water-soluble complex ofmicronutrients from rice bran and named itaberic acid. He published this discovery in a Japanese scientific journal.[105] The Polish biochemistKazimierz Funk later proposed the complex be named "Vitamine" (aportmanteau of "vital amine") in 1912.[106]
Urushiol, a mixture of alkyl catechols, was discovered byRikou Majima. Majima also discovered that Urushiol was anallergen which gave members of the genusToxicodendron, such aspoison ivy andpoison oak, their skin-irritating properties.[107]
Candlestick charts have been developed in the 18th century byMunehisa Homma, a Japanese rice trader of financial instruments. They were introduced to the Western world by Steve Nison in his book, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques.
Although popular in Western Chinese restaurants, fortune cookies did not originate in China and are in fact rare there. They most likely originated from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. The Japanese version had a fortune, but not lucky numbers, and was commonly eaten withtea.[109]
Umami as a separatetaste was first identified in 1908 byKikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University while researching the strong flavor in seaweed broth.[112]
Studied bySeki Kōwa and published after his death, in 1712.Jacob Bernoulli independently developed the concept in the same period, though his work was published a year later.[113][114][115]
In Japan, determinants were introduced to studyelimination of variables in systems of higher-order algebraic equations. They used it to give shorthand representation for theresultant. The determinant as an independent function was first studied bySeki Kōwa in 1683.[115][116]
In 1683 (Kai-Fukudai-no-Hō),Seki Kōwa came up with elimination theory, based onresultant.[116] To express resultant, he developed the notion ofdeterminant.[116]
Japanese geometrical puzzles inEuclidean geometry on wooden tablets created during theEdo period (1603–1867) by members of all social classes. The Dutch JapanologistIsaac Titsingh first introducedsangaku to the West when he returned to Europe in the late 1790s after more than twenty years in the Far East.[122]
Building off the work ofNicola Cabibbo,Makoto Kobayashi andToshihide Maskawa introduced the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix which introduced for three generations of quarks. In 2008, Kobayashi and Maskawa shared one half of theNobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature".[125]
The world's first camera phone (it also had a real-time-video-call functionality. It could send an email with a picture), the VP-210, was developed byKyocera in 1999.[131]
Japanese companyHirox created the first ever digital microscope. A variation of a traditional microscope using optics and a digital camera to output an image to a monitor.
In 1921,Junichi Miura created the first double-coil bulb using a coiled coil tungsten filament while working forHakunetsusha (a predecessor ofToshiba). At the time, machinery to mass-produce coiled coil filaments did not exist. Hakunetsusha developed a method to mass-produce coiled coil filaments by 1936.[132]
The original tactile paving was developed bySeiichi Miyake in 1965.[139] The paving was first introduced in a street inOkayama city,Japan, in 1967. Its use gradually spread inJapan and then around the world.
Commercial digital recording was pioneered in Japan byNHK andNippon Columbia, also known asDenon, in the 1960s. The first commercial digital recordings were released in 1971.[142]
In 1971, Heitaro Nakajima resigned from his post as head of NHK's Technical Research Laboratories and joined Sony. Four years earlier at NHK, Nakajima had commenced work on the digitization of sound and within two years had developed the first digital audio tape recorder.[143]
Invented by Shuichi Obata, an engineer atMatsushita (nowPanasonic),[144] based inOsaka.[145] In 1969, Matsushita released it as theSP-10, the first in their influentialTechnics series of turntables.[146] The Technics SL-1100, released in 1971, was adopted by earlyhip hopDJs forturntablism,[146] and the SL-1200 is still widely used bydance and hip hop DJs.[145]
There are various disputes about who first invented the namekaraoke (a Japanese word meaning "empty orchestra"). One claim is that the karaoke styled machine was invented by Japanese musicianDaisuke Inoue[147] inKobe,Japan, in 1971.[148][149]
Perpendicular recording was first demonstrated in the late 19th century by Danish scientist Valdemar Poulsen, who was also the first person to demonstrate that sound could be recorded magnetically. There weren't many advances in perpendicular recording until 1976 when Dr. Shun-ichi Iwasaki (president of the Tohoku Institute of Technology in Japan) verified the distinct density advantages in perpendicular recording. Then in 1978, Dr. T. Fujiwara began an intensive research and development program at the Toshiba Corporation that eventually resulted in the perfection of floppy disk media optimized for perpendicular recording and the first commercially available magnetic storage devices using the technique.[150]
Akira Yoshino invented the modern li-ion battery in 1985. In 1991,Sony andAsahi Kasei released the first commercial lithium-ion battery using Yoshino's design.[158]
The first portable calculators appeared in Japan in 1970, and were soon marketed around the world. These included theSanyo ICC-0081 "Mini Calculator", theCanon Pocketronic, and theSharp QT-8B "micro Compet". Sharp put in great efforts in size and power reduction and introduced in January 1971 theSharp EL-8, also marketed as the Facit 1111, which was close to being a pocket calculator. It weighed about one pound, had a vacuum fluorescent display, and rechargeableNiCad batteries. The first truly pocket-sized electronic calculator was theBusicom LE-120A "HANDY", which was marketed early in 1971.[160]
On August 25, 1981 Sony unveiled a prototype of the first still video camera, theSony Mavica. This camera was an analog electronic camera that featured interchangeable lenses and aSLR viewfinder. Atphotokina in 1986,Nikon revealed a prototype analog electronic still SLR camera, theNikon SVC, the first digital SLR. The prototype body shared many features with the N8008.[161]
Chindōgu is the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everydaygadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, Chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant socialembarrassment, that effectively it has noutility whatsoever. Thus, Chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful." The term "Chindōgu" was coined byKenji Kawakami.
Created by Toshiba in 1981 as an alternative to the standard home windowAir conditioner, With the difference being in the compressor that is able to cool or warm a room to the intended temperature as quickly as possible while efficiently maintaining the desired temperature unlike standard AC units in which the compressor frequently turns off. Inverter AC units do not turn off only operating at a certain consistent speed while also being able to adjust its regularity.[167]
Yukio Yokozawa, an employee forSuwa Seikosha, a branch ofSeiko (nowSeiko Epson), invented the firstnotebook computer in July 1980, receiving a patent for the invention.[175] Seiko's notebook computer, known as theHC-20 in Japan, was announced in 1981.[176] In North America,Epson introduced it as theEpson HX-20 in 1981, at theCOMDEX computer show inLas Vegas, where it drew significant attention for its portability.[177] It had a mass-market release in July 1982, as the HC-20 in Japan[176] and as the Epson HX-20 in North America.[178] It was the first notebook-sized handheld computer,[179][176][178] the size of anA4 notebook and weighing 1.6 kg (3.5 lb).[176] In 1983, theSharp PC-5000[180] andAmpere WS-1 laptops from Japan featured a modernclamshell design.[181][182]
Toshiba developed a close relationship with Ford for the supply of rectifier diodes for automobile AC alternators. In March 1971, Ford unexpectedly sent a set bulky specifications asking Toshiba to join a project to make an electronic engine control (EEC) in response to US Clean Air Act (sometimes known as the Muskie Act).[183]
Eiichi Goto invented the parametron in 1954 as an alternative to thevacuum tube. Early Japanese computers used parametrons until they were superseded bytransistors.[184]
Futaba introduced the FP-T2F in 1974 that was the first to use a steering wheel onto a box transmitter.[186]KO Propo introduced the EX-1 in 1981 that integrated a wheel with apistol grip with itstrigger acting as the throttle. This became one of the two types of radio controlled transmitters currently for surface use.[187][188]
The ETL Mark III began development in 1954,[191] and was completed in 1956, created by the Electrotechnical Laboratory.[192] It was the first stored-program transistor computer.[192][193][194]
From 1934 to 1936,NEC engineer Akira Nakashima introduced switching circuit theory in a series of papers showing thattwo-valuedBoolean algebra, which he discovered independently, can describe the operation of switching circuits.[195][196][197][198]
The first machines (the VP-1100 videocassette player and the VO-1700 videocassette recorder) to use the firstvideocassette format,U-matic, were introduced bySony in 1971.[199]
In 1982,Nintendo'sGunpei Yokoi elaborated on the idea of a circular pad, shrinking it and altering the points into the familiar modern "cross" design for control of on-screen characters in theirDonkey Kong handheld game. It came to be known as the "D-pad".[200] The design proved to be popular for subsequentGame & Watch titles. This particular design was patented. In 1984, the Japanese company Epoch created a handheld game system called theEpoch Game Pocket Computer. It featured a D-pad, but it was not popular for its time and soon faded. Initially intended to be a compact controller for theGame & Watch handheld games alongside the prior non-connected style pad, Nintendo realized that Gunpei's design would also be appropriate for regular consoles, and Nintendo made the D-pad the standard directional control for the hugely successfulNintendo Entertainment System under the name "+Control Pad".
In 1981, Hideo Kodama ofNagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute invented two additive methods for fabricating three-dimensional plastic models with photo-hardeningthermoset polymer, where theUV exposure area is controlled by a mask pattern or a scanning fiber transmitter.[202][203]
Hydrographics, also known variously as immersion printing, water transfer printing, water transfer imaging, hydro dipping, or cubic printing has an somewhat fuzzy history. Three different Japanese companies are given credit for its invention. Taica Corporation claims to have invented cubic printing in 1974. However, the earliest hydrographic patent was filed by Motoyasu Nakanishi of Kabushiki Kaisha Cubic Engineering in 1982.[204]
Waseda University initiated the WABOT project in 1967, and in 1972 completed the WABOT-1, the world's first full-scale humanoid intelligent robot.[205] Its limb control system allowed it to walk with the lower limbs, and to grip and transport objects with hands, using tactile sensors. Its vision system allowed it to measure distances and directions to objects using external receptors, artificial eyes and ears. And its conversation system allowed it to communicate with a person in Japanese, with an artificial mouth. This made it the firstandroid.[206][207]
DER-01, a Japaneseactroid (anandroid intended to be very visually similar to humans)
DER 01 was developed by a Japanese research group, The Intelligent Robotics Lab, directed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, and Kokoro Co., Ltd. TheActroid is ahumanoid robot with strong visual human-likeness developed byOsaka University and manufactured by Kokoro Company Ltd. (theanimatronics division ofSanrio). It was first unveiled at the 2003 International Robot Exposition inTokyo, Japan. The Actroid woman is a pioneer example of a real machine similar to imagined machines called by thescience fiction termsandroid orgynoid, so far used only forfictional robots. It can mimic such lifelike functions as blinking, speaking, and breathing. The "Repliee" models are interactive robots with the ability to recognise and process speech and respond in kind.[208][209][210]
Karakuri puppets (からくり人形,karakuri ningyō) are traditionalJapanese mechanizedpuppets orautomata, originally made from the 17th century to the 19th century. The wordkarakuri means "mechanisms" or "trick".[211] The dolls' gestures provided a form of entertainment. Three main types of karakuri exist.Butai karakuri (舞台からくり, stage karakuri) were used intheatre.Zashiki karakuri (座敷からくり, tatami room karakuri) were small and used in homes.Dashi karakuri (山車からくり, festival car karakuri) were used in religious festivals, where the puppets were used to perform reenactments of traditionalmyths andlegends.
The first HAL prototype was proposed byYoshiyuki Sankai, a professor at Tsukuba University.[212] Fascinated with robots since he was in the third grade, Sankai had striven to make a robotic suit in order "to support humans." In 1989, after receiving his Ph.D. in robotics, he began the development of HAL. Sankai spent three years, from 1990 to 1993, mapping out the neurons that govern leg movement. It took him and his team an additional four years to make a prototype of the hardware.[213]
The compact disc was jointly developed by Philips (Joop Sinjou) and Sony (Toshitada Doi).Sony first publicly demonstrated an optical digital audio disc in September 1976. In September 1978, they demonstrated an optical digital audio disc with a 150 minute playing time, and with specifications of 44,056 Hz sampling rate, 16-bit linear resolution,cross-interleavederror correction code, that were similar to those of theCompact Disc they introduced in 1982.[217]
The DVD, first developed in 1995, resulted from a cooperation between three Japanese companies (Sony,Toshiba andPanasonic) and one Dutch company (Philips).
Norikazu Sawazaki invented a prototypehelical scan video tape recorder in 1953.[222] In 1959, Toshiba released the first commercial helical scan video tape recorder.[223]
In 1926,Kenjiro Takayanagi invented the world's first all-electronic television, precedingPhilo T. Farnsworth by several months.[224] By 1927, Takayanagi improved the resolution to 100 lines, which was not surpassed until 1931.[225] By 1928, he was the first to transmit human faces in halftones. His work had an influence on the later work ofVladimir K. Zworykin.[226]
In 1970,Panasonic released the firsttelevision that was small enough to fit in a large pocket, the Panasonic IC TV MODEL TR-001. It featured a 1.5-inch display, along with a 1.5-inch speaker.[229]
Sakichi Toyoda invented numerousweaving devices. His most famous invention was the automatic power loom in which he implemented the principle ofJidoka (autonomation orautonomous automation). It was the 1924 Toyoda Automatic Loom, Type G, a completely automatic high-speed loom featuring the ability to change shuttles without stopping and dozens of other innovations. At the time it was the world's most advanced loom, delivering a dramatic improvement in quality and a twenty-fold increase in productivity.This loom automatically stopped when it detected a problem such as thread breakage.[235]
The second man-made fiber to be invented, afternylon. It was first developed by Ichiro Sakurada, H. Kawakami, and Korean scientistRi Sung-gi at the Takatsuki chemical research center in 1939 in Japan.[236][237]
The Myriad year clock (万年自鳴鐘 Mannen Jimeishou, lit. Ten-Thousand Year Self-ringing Bell), was a universal clock designed by the Japanese inventorHisashige Tanaka in 1851. It belongs to the category of Japanese clocks calledWadokei.[239]
The world's first quartzwristwatch was revealed in 1967: the prototype of theAstron revealed bySeiko in Japan, where it was in development since 1958. It was eventually released to the public in 1969.[240]
Awatch movement which was first conceived by Yoshikazu Akahane working forSeiko in 1977 and was patented in 1982. It features a true continuously sweeping second hand, rather than the traditional beats per time unit, as seen with traditional mechanical and most quartz watches.[241]
In early 1987,Subaru launched theJusty in Tokyo with an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission (ECVT) developed byFuji Heavy Industries, which owns Subaru.[243]
The first self-driving car that did not rely upon wires under the road is designed by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in 1977. The car was equipped with two cameras that used analog computer technology for signal processing, aided by an elevated rail.[244][245]
In 2014,Toyota launched the first production hydrogenfuel cell vehicle, theToyota Mirai.[247] The Mirai has a range of 312 miles (502 km) and takes about five minutes to refuel. The initial sale price was roughly 7 million yen ($69,000).
A two or three-wheeled passenger cart seating one or two people that serves as a mode ofhuman-powered transport pulled by a runner draws a two-wheeled cart. The rickshaws was invented in Japan around 1869,[250][251] after the lifting of a ban on wheeled vehicles from theTokugawa period (1603–1868),[252] and at the beginning of a rapid period of technical advancement across the Japanese archipelago.[251][253]
Mitsubishi Electric unveiled the world's first practical spiral escalator in 1985. Spiral escalators have the advantage of taking up less space than their conventional counterparts.[254]
The insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) realized increased switching frequency and reduced magnetic noise in the motor, which eliminated the need for a filter circuit and resulted in a more compact system. The IGBT also allowed the development of a small, highly integrated and highly sophisticated all-digital control device, consisting of the combination of a high-speed processor, specially customized gate arrays, and a circuit capable of controlling large currents of several kHz. Today, the inverter-controlled gearless drive system is applied in high-speed elevators worldwide.[255]
Kawasaki were the first to develop stand-up personall watercraft under their trademarkJet Ski. While experimentation with personal watercraft preceded this. The Jet Ski was the first commercially successful and practical PWC.[256]
The katana were traditionalJapanese swords used by samurai warriors of ancient and feudal Japan. The swords originated in theMuromachi period (1392–1573) as a result of changing battle conditions requiring faster response times. The katana facilitated this by being worn with the blade facing up, which allowed the samurai todraw their blade and slash at their enemy in a single motion. Previously, the curved sword of the samurai was worn with the blade facing down. The ability to draw and cut in one motion also became increasingly useful in the daily life of the samurai.[258]
The Yagi-Uda antenna was invented in 1926 byShintaro Uda ofTohoku Imperial University,Sendai,Japan, with the collaboration ofHidetsugu Yagi, also of Tohoku Imperial University. Yagi published the first English-language reference on the antenna in a 1928 survey article on short wave research in Japan and it came to be associated with his name. However, Yagi always acknowledged Uda's principal contribution to the design, and the proper name for the antenna is, as above, the Yagi-Uda antenna (or array).[262]
Simulated food was invented after Japan's surrender ending World War II in 1945. Westerners traveling to Japan had trouble reading Japanese menus and in response, Japaneseartisans andcandlemakers created wax food so foreigners could easily order something that looked appetizing.[269]
The Yoshizawa–Randlett system is a diagramming system used for origami models. It was first developed byAkira Yoshizawa in 1954. It was later improved upon bySamuel Randlett andRobert Harbin.[271]
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