JR East's new four-legged landscapers are proving to be a hit An East Japan Railway worker alongside one of two goats that the railway company has deployed to an area near Tokyo's Yotsuya Station in order to trim excess growth | Johan Brooks In a city with countless food options, a new spot in Tokyo is drawing lunchtime crowds, although it's the four-legged workers in the area who are doing most of the eating. Atop a wrought-iron bridge next to Yotsuya Station, clusters of smartly dressed students and workers linger in amazement at the rather unusual site below: a pair of sprightly, cream-colored goats nibbling overgrown greenery. One-year-old Nagi, a male, and Pokke, a 2-year-old female, are the key "employees" in a new environmentally friendly initiative by East Japan Railway to tackle overgrowth near the bustling train hub. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

'I live with a ghost': Japan's haunted homes attract bargain hunters From the moment Ryua first walked into her rental apartment in Tokyo she believed it to be haunted. When I visited the place for a viewing there was a man standing there, glaring at me, she says. Since the estate agent couldn't see him, I realised he must be a ghost. While someone more squeamish would probably have quickly left the flat never to return, Ryua chose to go ahead and move in. I'm a bit of a contrarian, so I decided I wanted to become friends with this glaring male ghost, adds Ryua, who works as an aidoru, a young entertainer, and who doesn't wish to share her surname.

Our articles, videos, and infographics inform our readers about developments in technology, engineering, and science. A public charity, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Access to Spectrum's Digital Edition is exclusive for IEEE Members Create an account to access more content and features on IEEE Spectrum, including the ability to save articles to read later, download Spectrum Collections, and participate in conversations with readers and editors. For more exclusive content and features, consider Joining IEEE . Join the world's largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences and get access to all of Spectrum's articles, archives, PDF downloads, and other benefits.

Takanari Ono, CEO of Valt Japan, at Next Hero DIC Marunouchi, a digital work support center created with Mitsubishi Estate. In Marunouchi, one of Tokyo's central business districts, a new model of digital work infrastructure is testing how people who face barriers to employment can contribute to real business needs, and to the city's wider economy. For Takanari Ono, CEO of Valt Japan Co., Ltd., the question of work began in the pharmaceutical industry. Before founding the company in 2014, Ono worked at a pharmaceutical company, where he believed medicine could improve people's lives by stabilizing symptoms and supporting health. Then, at a patient advocacy group meeting, he heard something that changed his perspective.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the yen is displayed outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday. The yen is becoming less vulnerable when global yields move higher, according to Goldman Sachs. The yen is becoming a more effective hedge against an artificial intelligence-driven market shock as changes in Japan's policy backdrop reduce the risk of the currency weakening sharply when global yields rise, according to Goldman Sachs. "The yen now looks like a more attractive hedge for procyclical portfolios than it has been over recent years, despite the global backdrop still arguing for further JPY weakness," strategists including Kamakshya Trivedi wrote in a note dated Friday. The call comes after the yen showed renewed signs of its traditional haven characteristics during last week's global technology stock rout.

As of August this year, the number of registered Japanese language teachers was about 20,000. Tokyo - Japan is facing a shortage of Japanese language teachers for foreign workers ahead of the introduction next April of a new system for accepting foreign workers, according to a recent government survey. Under the new Employment for Skill Development program, which replaces the Technical Intern Training program, foreign nationals are required to pass the A1 level or higher on Japanese proficiency tests or attend at least 100 hours of Japanese language classes before working in Japan. The survey, jointly conducted by the Immigration Services Agency and the labor ministry, asked organizations that will support foreign workers and recipient companies about their progress in securing Japanese language teachers. The survey covered 1,880 such organizations included in the mailing list of the government-affiliated Organization for Technical Intern Training and received valid responses from 348 organizations over the three days through Oct. 7 Of the respondents, 125 organizations, or 35.9%, said they had not secured sufficient numbers of registered teachers and had no prospects for doing so.

SoftBank Group's market value halved from its peak in June. SoftBank Group's market value halved from its peak in June, as higher borrowing costs fuel investor concerns over the sustainability of its massive investments in artificial intelligence. Shares of the Tokyo-based company fell 6.9% on Thursday, taking their drop from an all-time high struck on June 2 to 50%, with earnings from U.S. megacaps failing to ease the angst. After briefly overtaking Toyota as Japan's biggest company four months ago, its market capitalization is now about ¥24.7 trillion ($157 billion), smaller than that of Hitachi and Recruit. Global concerns over AI spending had accelerated after U.S.-based cloud-computing provider CoreWeave's bonds fell to levels associated with distress, exposing financing risks across the industry. "SoftBank's vulnerability stands out as investors increasingly scrutinize the financial health of AI-related companies, given the group's highly leveraged financial structure and growing borrowing costs," said Kazuyuki Muramatsu, head of investment management at Nagomi Capital.

They power our phones, cars, dishwashers--and the A.I. systems that prop up the economy. "We don't have a rating scale for complexity, but rockets are maybe a five," an investor said. His partner added, "Semiconductors are an eleven." There are a handful of truly monumental collective achievements in our history: Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, and perhaps, if we're being generous, the Roman aqueducts. Modern global civilization has made one contribution to this eternal pantheon. It is not the moon landing. It is the semiconductor supply chain. A microchip is a bauble of metal and refined sand. It doesn't appear to have epic proportions. Upon close examination, however, the epic proportions are there in miniature. Imagine a perfect replica of a sprawling metropolis, a Tokyo or a São Paulo, engraved at atomic dimensions on a tile the size of a fingernail. The urban details would be faithfully rendered to the last golf ball or egg--each reduced to ...

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa on Thursday praised the U.S. semiconductor plant project selected for the third round of Japanese funding in the United States under the two countries' tariff agreement. The project "holds great significance for Japan and the United States to work together to secure a competitive advantage in the age of artificial intelligence," Akazawa said during a news conference. In the agreement concluded last year, Japan pledged to provide the United States with $550 billion in investment and loans in exchange for U.S. tariff cuts for imports from the Asian country. Under the project, led by U.S. semiconductor contract manufacturer GlobalFoundries, two new plants are set to be built in the state of New York with funding of up to $21 billion.