Industrial and humanoid robots, drones, and autonomous machines.
Washing a jet at Narita still takes eight people and six hours of night work. JAL is bringing in the AW3, a Swedish robot, in service by the end of 2026. Japan once had a car wash for jumbo jets; now it buys.
Japan signed a mass-production contract for the Terra B1 interceptor drone on August 25, 2026, three months after opening the tender. Three foreign entries were tested too; only the Japanese aircraft got a contract.
ZEALS opened orders for D1, a 129.3 cm Japanese humanoid, from 5 million yen (about $32,000). Why the company calls it semi-domestic rather than fully Japanese, and why 100 units and 10,000 hours is a modest goal.
At a July 28, 2026 briefing, Kawasaki said its four-legged CORLEO has no steering or brakes planned. Force sensors in the stirrups become the controls, NVIDIA physics engines build a virtual off-road course, and the rider becomes part of the machine.
FANUC, Yaskawa and Kawasaki are teaming up with Fujitsu and NVIDIA to bring Physical AI to factories, warehouses and hospitals. What each firm is really after, how they plan to bridge simulation and real machines, and whether Japan can keep its lead against US and Chinese humanoid makers.
Kushiro Airport in Hokkaido is the first in Japan to fully deploy WOLF-GUARD, a self-driving version of the famous Monster Wolf robot. In trials, the Monster Wolf cut small-animal intrusions by about 60 percent. Here's how the red-eyed, howling patroller works, and how it compares with the falcons, border collies and radar used at airports abroad.
Japan's Rangle Pro hovers hands-free in pipes and sewers where GPS dies. A racing team turned its autonomous-control tech into an inspection drone taking on DJI.
Loss-making mobile-game studio KLab has signed an MOU to bring an undisclosed partner's counter-drone system to the UAE. Inside a game company's pivot, UAE royal money, and Japan's neutral-broker play.
Toyota, Shinshu University and 11 partners are building a self-driving lab where robots run experiments and AI picks what to try next. Here is how Japan's closed-loop materials push compares with Berkeley's A-Lab and China's robot chemist.
Sony is ending Japan sales of its aibo robot dog (ERS-1000), then said it isn't quitting and teased a next-gen model. Here is the panic, the history of AIBO funerals, and Sony's physical-AI plan.
Japan's Terra Drone has taken controlling stakes in WinnyLab and Amazing Drones, two Ukrainian firms whose interceptor drones have downed Shahed attack drones in combat. Here's why moving from investor to owner matters, and how the cheap, 3D-printed interceptors are rewriting the cost of air defense.