JAPAN WUT PODCAST 210 "TECHNOCRACY AT OSAKA EXPO"

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Chappie (@Chapmano_TV) joins the podcast to discuss his boots on the ground analysis of the Osaka Expo 2025, and how it may be a training ground for our technocratic future. Do you want to live in a cashless society where the advanced technology is sequestered by the elites, the plebs are forced to eat soymeat okonomiyaki burgers, and everything is tracked by Blackrock-funded blockchain companies real time?

SHOW NOTES

Osaka Expo 2025 Society 5.0 and SDG Goals

Digitalized Osaka Expo Troubling Elderly Visitors

Future of aerial CO2 capture tech on display at Osaka Expo

Up to 200 people affected by Uzbek pavilion data leak at Osaka Expo

Self-driving bus at Osaka expo has minor collision with wall

'Flying car' demo flight canceled at Osaka Expo due to broken parts

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 209 "THE UNCONNECTED CONNECTED"

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Why are Japan’s automakers doing so poorly? Is it wise for Japan to use seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine? How will facial recognition be used to personalize your cancer medication?

SHOW NOTES

JAPAN 

Nissan to post biggest ever loss in fiscal 2024 amid restructuring

Toyota truck arm Hino posts record net loss for FY 2024 on data fraud

Quality scandal sends Toyota global output down for 1st time in 4 years

Mazda to seek early retirement volunteers as industry shifts

China's fast-growing EV makers pursuing varied routes to global expansion

BYD to introduce mini EV model designed for Japan in 2026

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Moscow slams 'treacherous' Japanese loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

U.S. Deploys Anti-Ship Missiles Near Taiwan in the Luzon Strait

Japanese warships dock at Cambodia's Chinese-renovated naval base

China Tests Novel Non-Nuclear Hydrogen Bomb - Generates Intense Fireball

China's Huawei to mass-produce new AI chips - sources

SOCIETY 5.0　

US unicorn venture ElevenLabs establishes Japanese subsidiary to strengthen Japanese language support for voice generation AI and as base for expansion into Asia

With Al removing accents

Artificial Intelligence in Telemedicine Market Projected to Grow from $18.7B to $157.3B by 2033, with CAGR of 26.7% Over Next 10 Years to Power Telemedicine and Diagnostic Solutions

NEC establishes secure cancer vaccine manufacturing process using facial recognition technology that does not store facial information

Japan's NTT Data partners with OpenAI to offer AI business tools

AI experiment to ease traffic congestion: Cameras detect vehicles and encourage detours　

New bill to promote AI development and utilization passed by House of Representatives plenary session, heads to House of Councillors

British self-driving AI company Wave opens development center in Yokohama, exploring collaboration with Japanese manufacturers

Turing, an autonomous driving tech company, borrows 1.3 billion yen from Mizuho Bank

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 208 "MECHANIZED PTERODACTYLUS FROM THE FUTURE"

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Is the Osaka Expo being used as a technocratic training ground? How can supply chains can be weaponized asymmetrically? Would you talk to an AI-resurrected family member at their funeral?

SHOW NOTES

JAPAN DEPOPULATION / MIGRATION 

Japan’s Population Declines for Fourteenth Straight Year: Over-75 Cohort Continues to Grow

Japan faces severe shortage of carpenters as home prices soar

Teacher helps Myanmar people learn Japanese, escape hardships

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan 'deeply concerned' about global economic fallout from Trump's trade tariffs: Kato

Japan protests to Russia over ship restrictions near disputed islands

China says it detected salmonella in imported American poultry meats and bone meal

SOCIETY 5.0 / AI MARKETS

Osaka-Kansai Expo to be a springboard for widespread adoption of cashless payments and facial recognition

AI revives the deceased: new services emerge, even for funerals

Seven Bank's ATM facial recognition service strengthens measures against deep fakes and launches a year late

Waymo, which has begun to slowly roll out in Japan as a self-driving taxi

Shocking facts revealed in an experiment where an AI agent books a hotel room: How does an AI view online ads?

"That's what an AI agent will do": The background to hosting an AI agent hackathon at AWS Summit Japan 2025

DXYZ Introduces Facial Recognition Platform "FreeiD" to Chuetsu Pulp Industry's Tokyo Headquarters

AI semiconductors evolve surveillance cameras: NTT develops new camera that can detect up to 150 meters ahead

4 arrested in Japan for selling explicit AI-created posters

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 207 “TREACHEROUS A.I. DOGS”

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Where are the treacherous A.I. dogs coming from? How do N. Korean IT scams affect Japan? Are Japan’s business leaders asleep at the wheel?

ECONOMY 

Japan bankruptcies in FY2024 top 10,000

SUCKERS & TRAITORS

2 Japanese men suspected of aiding N. Korean IT impersonator

Taiwan jails four soldiers, including three who worked in presidential office, for spying for China

Intel and Microsoft staff allegedly lured to work for fake Chinese company in Taiwan

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan MoD and MHI sign contract for the development of new standoff missile

U.S. forces to deploy large reconnaissance drones in southern Japan

SOCIETY 5.0　

'Firms asleep at the wheel won't survive': Biz leaders sound alarm on Japan's global decline

Fukui Prefecture uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify cracks and holes in roads to reduce the burden of maintenance

Bird Buddy, a smart home company, has launched the "Smart Feeder Pro," a smart bird watching camera equipped with high-performance AI.

Airports begin testing self-driving buses and facial recognition boarding systems

J21: Launch of retrofit side collision warning system combining radar and AI camera

TOPPAN Edge, Sinumy, and Mitsubishi HC Capital

begin demonstration experiments of smart authentication that combines face recognition and proprietary Bluetooth® technology

Salary payments via cashless apps struggle to gain traction in Japan

Japan Airlines’ new AI app will make it easier for cabin attendants to report inflight events with Microsoft’s Phi‑4 small language model

Manefo to introduce AI agent to improve business efficiency for small and medium-sized businesses

Microsoft shutters AI lab in Shanghai, signalling a broader pullback from China

Remote Access Backdoor Discovered in Chinese Robot Dog Unitree Go1

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 206 "DIGITAL BOOMERS"

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Can Japan escape its boomer trappings? How does control of the Panama Canal affect Japan’s long-term interests? Why are Japanese Farmers protesting in favor of rice-price hikes?

SHOW NOTES

JAPAN ECONOMY

Bank of Japan survey says big manufacturers gloomier

Japan enforces food supply emergency law amid soaring costs

Farmers march in downtown Tokyo, demand income security

20-40% of new apartments in the city center are purchased by foreigners. 

XRP For Real Estate? Leading Japanese Company Says Yes!

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR/SOCIETY 5.0

Toyota facing supply chain snarls

Japan-Australia flagship hydrogen project stumbles

White House weighs executive order to fast-track deep-sea mining, sources say

OpenAI says it raised $40 bil in new funding round

Chinese brain chip project speeds up human trials after first success

Japan's Rapidus gears up for test production of next-generation chips

Test operations under way for autonomously navigated vessels

China, Japan, S Korea will jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, Chinese state media says

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 205 "AI ATMOSPHERIC CONSCIOUSNESS"

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How did China surpass Japan as the world’s leading auto exporter? Is Japan poised for victory in the AI Chip War? Can we animate the atmosphere with AI?

SHOW NOTES

Poland's adjusted income to overtake Japan's by 2026

Rapidus teams up with Singapore's Quest Global to produce AI chips

Battery materials plant in Finland starts construction; jv with China’s Easpring

U.S. blacklists over 50 Chinese companies in bid to curb Beijing’s AI, chip capabilities

SoftBank strengthens AI strategy by acquiring data center semiconductor company Ampere Computing for approximately 970 billion yen in cash

OpenAI close to finalizing $40 billion SoftBank-led funding

Microsoft cancels up to 2GW of data center projects, says TD Cowen

DeepSeek-V3 now runs at 20 tokens per second on Mac Studio, and that’s a nightmare for OpenAI

China's SiCarrier emerges as challenger to ASML, other chip tool titans

ASML will open Beijing facility despite US sanctions on China

Toyota delays electric vehicle battery plant due to weak demand

China EV giant BYD soars after 5-minute charging platform unveiled

Honda and Subaru team up with semiconductor companies to develop proprietary SoCs for AI autonomous driving

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 204 "AI EXTRACTORS"

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Can Japan help financialize the Supply Chain War? Are missiles enough to deter grumpy neighbors? What are we supposed to pass down, if it’s all being extracted by someone else?

SHOW NOTES

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan eyes deploying long-range missiles in Kyushu

Japan commissions fourth Awaji-class minesweeper

Ship Wars: Confronting China’s Dual-Use Shipbuilding Empire
Marco Rubio Face the Nation on CBS 00:36-2:30

JAPAN SOCIETY 5.0
Sensory training robot helps pianists break skill limits

Kirin's "Harekaze" social contribution activities promote tree conservation with "Sakura AI Camera"

Tohoku University and others unveil a prototype of an AI robot for the lunar surface. It is versatile and can carry out missions autonomously

Multi-function utility poles to support autonomous driving at the Osaka-Kansai Expo--supplying information that is difficult to obtain with sensors

Launch of "Forest Survey Digital Transformation Service" using drones and AI analysis software

Japan's first "facial recognition" smart unmanned bookstore: a new challenge in a struggling industry

Cabinet approves AI bill with no penalties, exploring "Japanese model" to promote development and minimize risk

DXYZ introduces facial recognition platform "FreeiD" to Mitsubishi Jisho Residences' "The Park Habio Nagoya Matsubara"

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 203 "AI CUSTOMERS"

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Can Japan solve climate change with $3 million? Why are Japanese companies creating AI Customers? Why aren’t any of Japan’s Universities in the Global Top 100 for AI?

SHOW NOTES

JAPAN

IAEA Upbeat, but Niigata Governor Delays Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Restart

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan to give $3 mil to help Pacific islands fight climate change

China's EUV breakthrough: Huawei, SMIC reportedly advancing LDP lithography, eye 3Q25 trial, 2026 rollout

U.S. to levy fees on ships linked to China, push allies to do similar – draft executive order

SOCIETY 5.0　

Hitachi uses generative AI to create "AI customers" and generate catchy slogans

Nissan tests driverless vehicles in city streets filled with cars and people

Japanese university unveils AI program for medical student training

Japan research team develops technology to visualize acne-causing bacteria using AI

Once-reluctant builders now using unmanned machinery, AI

Ibaraki's Tsukuba and Tsuchiura cities to introduce AI into childcare facility admission selection process

Release of Japanese voice platform models "Izanami" and "Kushinada"

Trinity, the AI camera company, launches "unlimited SIM plan for security cameras" that does not require an internet connection

AI: The Future of Ibaraki - Part 1: Efficiency (3) Automatic detection of fires and floods, 24-hour non-stop safety monitoring

Osaka Metro to start offering "face recognition ticket gate" service from March 25th

NEC unveils completely contactless "face recognition payment" to be introduced at the World Expo

Wave, an autonomous driving startup backed by SoftBank Group, moves closer to launching commercial services

49 Chinese universities in the top 100 for AI, zero in Japan; half of top US researchers are from China

'Another DeepSeek moment'? Chinese start-up launches new AI agent, sparking widespread attention

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 202 "DARK AI HOSPITAL"

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Should Japan turn to tech or migrants to plug its draining demographics? How do Japan’s AI markets compare to China’s? Is the US trying to force a change in the Japan alliance?

MIGRATION / POPULATION DECLINE

Number of Japanese Births Continues to Fall in 2024

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan brushes aside US demand to boost defense budget to 3% of GDP

Trump Japan Comment

Trump accuses Japan of currency manipulation, hints at tariffs

China and Russia Expand Cooperation on Antarctic Drilling

A Shot Across the Bow: China Signals New Era of Sea Power in the Southwest Pacific

China Increases Bases with Missiles Capable of Striking All of Japan; Satellite Images Show Possibility of Further Facilities in Future

Japan Commissions Fourth Taigei-class Submarine

Wary of China, Vietnam to Buy Two Spy Satellites From Israel

SOCIETY 5.0

BYD to smash price with autonomous driving, "Level 2+" EV in the 1 million yen range

DJI and Car Manufacturer BYD Introduce Lingyuan – An Integrated Drone/Car Solution

China's first AI hospital town debuts

AI haters build tarpits to trap and trick AI scrapers that ignore robots.txt

Japan researchers develop highly sensitive scent-tracking drone using moth antenna

Arakawa Ward to purchase 220 million yen for new security cameras starting next month, with AI facial recognition to help locate lost children and elderly people

Launch of "AI threat camera" installation service to combat vehicle theft

"Next-generation salad vending machine" with AI-adjusted prices installed at Kyoto City Hall Station. Achieving both food waste reduction and health consciousness.

Seven Bank ATMs' facial recognition "FACE CASH" aims to make ATMs a "telephone counter"

The next-generation convenience store "min•naka" created by "Reiwa Tiger" President Iguchi has adopted the facial recognition system "FACE-SYSTEM"!

Telecube, TOPPAN Edge and two other companies have launched "CloakOne Gate," a gate-type face recognition system using an all-weather movable booth.

Migaro HD---Facial recognition platform "FreeiD" collaborates with facial recognition device "Knoctoi Lite"

Keio Electric Railway conducts demonstration experiment of autonomous driving on the Inokashira Line

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 201 "DARK FACTORY"

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Should Japan be concerned about China’s patent for a undersea cable cutting device? Who stands to gain from Dark Factories? Can Japan’s AI startup hubs compete on the global stage?

SHOW NOTES
JAPAN

ANA places mega-order of 77 new jets

Japan’s Civil Aviation College to Have Female Applicant Quota from 2027; Quota Hopes to Secure More Female Pilots in Domestic Airlines

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Will the Self-Defense Forces be introduced to a "shocking new weapon"? New images of drone swarms being "neutralized at once" have been released

Japan, Philippines OK strategic talks between forces amid China rise

Chinese Navy penetrates deep into the Tasman Sea

A towed submarine cable cutting device and its cable cutting method

Chinese university applies for undersea cable cutter patent — device developed by coastal university located across the sea from Taiwan

China might be using cutting-edge AI to tilt the global power balance toward BRICS and away from the G7, zeroing in on Taiwan and the South China Sea to control supply chains. The twist? They could be slicing undersea cables to choke rival data flows—because in 2025, data’s the new oil. Let’s break it down with the evidence.

First, the cable incidents. Taiwan’s seen five undersea cable cuts this year, a sharp uptick from three each in 2023 and 2024, according to Taiwan’s Digital Ministry. On January 3, the Trans-Pacific Express cable—linking East Asia to the U.S.—snapped near Keelung Harbor at 7:51 a.m. A Chinese-crewed ship, the Shunxin-39, was spotted nearby, possibly dragging its anchor, though bad weather let it slip away to Busan. Then, on February 25, a cable to Penghu Islands went down at 3 a.m., with the Hong Tai 58—another Chinese-crewed vessel—detained after lingering suspiciously close. The other three cuts are murkier, likely hitting Matsu Islands cables in January or February, with repairs dragging into March, mirroring past Chinese vessel incidents in 2023. Taiwan’s 15 cables carry over 95% of its internet, so five hits in two months isn’t random—it’s a pattern screaming disruption.

Now, the AI angle. China’s got the tech to pull this off. The World Intellectual Property Organization reports they’ve filed over 38,000 AI patents from 2014 to 2023—six times the U.S.’s 6,276—spanning industrial applications like robotics and optimization. A 2020 patent from Lishui University for a cable-cutting device isn’t AI-driven, but pair it with over 3,000 AI patents since 2020 for underwater navigation—like Shanghai Jiao Tong’s 2022 seabed-mapping submersible—and you’ve got a system that could pinpoint and sever cables with precision. Huawei’s 2021 patent for network optimization could then reroute BRICS data, leaving G7 rivals scrambling. No patent explicitly says “AI cuts cables,” but the pieces fit—China’s AI could orchestrate this as a “grey zone” tactic, disrupting without declaring war.

Why Taiwan and the South China Sea? They’re supply chain goldmines. Taiwan’s TSMC pumps out 90% of the world’s advanced chips—vital for G7 tech—and the South China Sea handles 80% of global trade. Cut Taiwan’s cables, and you bottleneck G7 operations; control the sea’s sparse cables, and you redirect flows to BRICS-friendly nets like HMN Tech’s lines. Five cuts in 2025, all near Chinese ships, suggest intent—especially with China’s history of stalling rival cable projects there since 2022, per Foreign Policy. Data disruption hits G7 economies hard while BRICS builds alternatives, like the Belt and Road’s overland routes.

BRICS supply chain patents back this up. China dominates with roughly 60% of the bloc’s 25,000-30,000 AI-related filings since 2020—think Huawei and ByteDance’s logistics tweaks—designed to pivot flows post-disruption. Russia’s 2023 satellite monitoring and India’s 2021 port optimization add resilience. Compare that to the G7’s 30,000-40,000 patents—led by the U.S. and Japan with filings like IBM’s 2021 inventory rerouting or Toyota’s 2022 factory flow—which focus on surviving chaos, not starting it. China’s edge isn’t volume; it’s strategy—their tech could both cut and capitalize.

The theory holds water because it aligns with China’s goals: a BRICS-led order challenging the G7. Taiwan’s five incidents, tied to Chinese presence, match the capability of their AI ecosystem—over 54,000 total patents by 2023—and their supply chain ambitions. It’s not ironclad—no leaked AI directive proves it—but the spike from three to five annual cuts, paired with patents suggesting sabotage and rerouting, paints a picture. Data’s the lifeblood; disrupt it, and you shift the game. 
SOCIETY 5.0　

AI chip giant Nvidia reports blockbuster revenue

Dark factories are spreading. Factories are becoming unmanned and people are no longer there.

Dark Factory

Toyota to build autonomous roads and underground passages in Woven City

Ericsson completes smart transformation of its Nanjing factory

Japan's digital deficit hits record ¥6.5 tril as U.S. tech reigns

Officials from each country meet in person for the first time to set rules for generative AI

NEC develops biometric digital signature technology that enables facial authentication without storing facial information

 Versclesia IDZ Chiyoda Iwamotocho Residential Condominium Units Sold Out

3 Japan teens arrested over fraudulent mobile contracts, aided by ChatGPT

Fukuoka greengrocer uses facial recognition to enter and exit the store without staff, and the reason why there has been no shoplifting so far

TIGEREYE Co., Ltd. has strengthened security at the entrance to "The Square Hotel Ginza" operated by Solare Hotels.

Released "Speed AI Messenger," a smartphone app that works with the AI camera system to provide real-time notifications

Christie's first-ever AI sale angers some artists

The World As You Know It Is About to End

Goldman Sachs projects that AI will automate about 300 million jobs within the next decade, while the CEO of Anthropic, creator of leading AI platform Claude, predicts human-capable AI could replace 30% of human labor in just the next two years.

 Last year alone, 150,000 tech workers lost their jobs across major companies, many due to AI-driven efficiencies. That’s still far from the projected 300 million jobs or 30% of global labor being replaced, but it’s where we’re headed. Consider these details…

• JPMorgan’s AI system, COIN (Contract Intelligence), can process 12,000 commercial-loan agreements in seconds – a job that would take humans roughly 360,000 hours.

• Morgan Stanley rolled out an AI assistant called Debrief for its 15,000 wealth advisors. It handles notetaking and meeting summaries, saving about 30 minutes per meeting. With around 1 million company Zoom calls a year, that adds up to 500,000 hours saved.

• Companies using AI for their marketing strategies have seen response rates jump by 40% while cutting deployment costs by 25%.

• At Goldman Sachs, AI can now draft 95% of an IPO prospectus in minutes –a job that used to take a six-person team weeks to complete.

• Mark Zuckerberg, on a recent Joe Rogan podcast, said that this year – 2025 – Meta will have an AI assistant that works like a “mid-level engineer writing code.” To give you an idea of the savings, Meta has 15,000 mid- and low-level software engineers making $175,000 to $260,000 a year.

Allganize launches AI agent "Alli Agent." Four AI agents are released in advance to support sales and advertising review operations.

Asahi Town in Yamagata Prefecture collaborates with DENSO to conduct demonstration experiment of AI-based pest detection and crime prevention system

JAPAN WUT PODCAST 200 "A.I. HAPPY POINTS"

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Did Tokyo implement a social credit score? Why are Japan Banks using A.I. models with blue hair? Who steals a stomach?

SHOW NOTES

JAPAN

Japan's total debt hits record ¥1.3 quadrillion in 2024

SUPPLY CHAIN WAR

Japan launches fourth Hibiki-class auxiliary ocean surveillance ship for the JMSDF

Seven cities in Fukuoka prefecture plan to accept 47,000 evacuees in case of Taiwan emergency;

Taiwan subsea cable breaks, Coast Guard probes nearby ships

SOCIETY 5.0　

Release of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's official app, "Tokyo App,"

European Man faces years in prison for social media posts deemed "hateful" by AI

Mabuchi Motor introduces generative AI service for in-house operations to all domestic bases

AI cameras used to guide traffic at construction sites, trial introduced in Rifu, Miyagi

A project to install AI cameras to prevent shoplifting at 15 24-hour unmanned Kiyose offal direct sales stores will begin on February 5th on "READYFOR"

Dataiku Releases 2025 Generative AI Trends Report: AI Agents Will Determine Companies' Competitive Advantage

Miyazaki Bank promotes its business by using AI-generated women as exclusive talent