Robotics

Tsubame Industries' Archax is a 4.5-meter, 3.5-ton piloted robot that transforms between robot and vehicle modes, priced at 400 million yen. What that buys, the CTO who engineered Yokohama's moving life-size Gundam, the Shoji Kawamori special edition, and how Unitree's $650,000 GD01 changed the competitive picture in May 2026.

JAL launches Japan's first humanoid robot trial at Haneda Airport in May 2026. Chinese-made Unitree G1 and UBTECH Walker E will handle cargo loading and cabin cleaning, Japan's bipedal answer to its aging workforce and aviation labor crisis.

JISDA (Japan Integrated Security Design Agency) has launched the Shiraha, a wooden fixed-wing drone costing just 70,000 yen (about 440 USD). Built on three years of field research within 20 km of Ukraine's front line, it targets Japan's training-attrition gap. How it differs from AirKamuy's cardboard drone and why Japan's defense mindset is finally shifting.

Kyoto University's AI-powered robot monk Buddharoid now offers spiritual guidance at a Kyoto temple, trained on ancient Buddhist scriptures. With 30% of Japan's 77,000 temples projected to vanish by 2040, can artificial intelligence save Buddhism? From the $1M Mindar android to BuddhaBot chatbots reaching Bhutan, we explore where faith meets technology.

SoftBank Group is betting big on Physical AI, merging telecom infrastructure with robotics. From its $5.4B ABB acquisition to AI-RAN partnerships with NVIDIA, Arm, and Yaskawa, here's how Japan's tech giant plans to make robots think and move in real time.

University of Tokyo's MEVIUS2 is a Spot-sized open-source quadruped robot built from sheet metal and e-commerce parts. With full hardware and software on GitHub, LiDAR and HDR camera perception, and reinforcement learning locomotion, it aims to democratize advanced robotics, at a fraction of Spot's $74,500 price tag.

FANUC, the world's largest industrial robot maker, partners with NVIDIA for Physical AI while deliberately avoiding humanoid robots. We break down its historic open-platform shift, the NVIDIA Isaac integration, and how it plans to compete against ABB, KUKA, and China's robot surge.

Space Entry Inc. launches 'Minna no Haro,' an autonomous space robot inspired by Gundam's iconic Haro, bound for the ISS Kibo module. Designed by legendary mecha designer Kunio Okawara and running Zephyr RTOS, the project achieves three world firsts and invites public participation through crowdfunding.

As drone warfare extends to the seas, Japan leads the world in autonomous ship technology. From the MEGURI 2040 project to combat-support USV development and lessons from Ukraine, explore the future of maritime security.