Japan

'Time-saving' toilet finder app for Japanese workers

According to telecom operator KDDI, Japanese employees spend far too much time waiting for a lavatory to become available, so it has developed an app which shows the nearest vacant loo, the Japan Times reports.

Milner-Skudder to miss season opener

Milner-Skudder injured his hamstring playing against the Crusaders in their final pre-season game last weekend and didn't make the trip to play the Sunwolves in Tokyo.

Also missing is prop Loni Uhila who has a calf injury.

Coach Chris Boyd's 25-man touring squad includes all four of the Hurricanes 2016 All Blacks with captain and hooker Dane Coles, openside Ardie Savea, wing Julian Savea and star first five Beauden Barrett all on the plane to Japan.

Can this radio detect your mood and play songs to match?

Many roboticists and computer engineers seem to think so, because they're always trying to make their creations more human.

Take Solo, the "emotional radio", for example. A wall-mounted device that resembles a large clock, it features a liquid crystal display at its centre. When you approach it, the pictogram face shows a neutral expression.

But it then takes a photo of your face, a rod or antenna on the side cranks into life, and the LCD display indicates that it's thinking.

Nabana No Sato: Japan's most extravagant light display

Every winter, towns and cities across the country glow with impressive festivals featuring millions of colorful bulbs.

Best of all, these festivals keep going long after holiday cheer has passed, some carrying on well into spring.

Among the biggest and most impressive of them all is Nabana No Sato.

KitKat sushi: Has Japan gone too far?

The bars come in three flavors, which fortunately don't taste anything like the varieties of sushi they're modeled to look like -- unless you count the seaweed.

There's tuna sushi, which actually tastes like raspberry. The seaweed wrapped sushi omelet is really a pumpkin pudding KitKat.

Lastly, the sea urchin sushi is a Hokkaido melon with mascarpone cheese KitKat.

All three have a base made of puffed rice with white chocolate and a hint of wasabi.

Inspired by an April Fool's Day joke

Tokyo 2020 Olympics Medals to be made from mobile phones

The Japanese public will be asked to donate old phones and small appliances to gather two tonnes of gold, silver and bronze for the 5,000 medals.

The project hopes to promote sustainability and reduce costs.

"A project that allows the people of Japan to take part in creating the medals is really good," said Tokyo 2020 sports director Koji Murofushi.

"There's a limit on the resources of our earth, so recycling these things will make us think about the environment."

Strong BOP connection with Samoa and Japan sevens teams

The Japanese team wanted some physical contact in a game situation and they got plenty of that from the eager Samoan squad, who don't mind hitting hard in the tackles.

Both teams have strong Bay of Plenty links.

Samoa are coached by Sir Gordon Tietjens with Japan under former Steamers backs Damian Karauna (head coach) and Steve Miln (assistant coach).

Bay of Plenty sevens rep Danny Kayes is the latest connection with the talented ball runner called into the Samoan squad following the Bayleys National Sevens held in Rotorua last weekend.

Japan's hi-tech toilets to get standardised symbols

Japan's hi-tech toilets famously include features such as lid and seat controls, flush strength, front and back bidets, and air drying,

Different manufacturers all use their own pictograms for each function.

But the Japan Sanitary Equipment Industry Association says this confuses foreign tourists.

The organisation said (in Japanese) that it hoped its eight new pictograms would make things easier for non-Japanese speakers and create "a toilet environment that anyone can use with peace of mind".

Pacific countries in Japan to discuss development and climate change

The meeting is one of several precursors to Japan's eighth Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting or PALM to be held in 2018.

Japan has been holding the summit every three years since 1997.

16 countries are expected to attend the meeting which will review progress since the last summit and prepare for the next one.

Speaking on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum chair the Federated States of Micronesia's foreign secretary, Lorin Robert, said he was looking forward to discussing the Pacific's relations with Japan in the areas of climate change and ocean management.

Japan recalls diplomats from South Korea over statue

Tokyo will also halt talks with South Korea on a planned currency swap and delay high-level economic dialogue as part of its "initial" response to the statue, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press briefing Friday.

The statue was erected by a civil group in December and represents "comfort women," women who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

"The fact that the girls' statue was set up has an unfavorable influence on relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and it is extremely regrettable," Suga said.