Japan's Dentsu to promote tuna-grading AI tech overseas
Advertising giant Dentsu will promote in foreign markets an artificial intelligence technology that can assess the quality of tuna.
Dentsu hopes that countries with tuna fishing industries will adopt the technology, called Tuna Scope, which has been put into practical use in Japan only recently.
Tuna Scope is a smartphone app that can immediately grade tuna on a three- or five-level scale. Dentsu and others developed the app through deep learning, feeding it with cross-sectional images of tuna tails that are often used to assess tuna quality, as well as data on grading given by veteran tuna evaluators.
The technology was put into practical use in 2019, mainly for frozen tuna. It has been utilized by Japanese fishery processing companies, conveyor belt sushi chains and supermarkets to score and sell tuna.
Some stores are displaying tuna sashimi with promotional materials touting that they are "AI certified."
This summer, Dentsu will launch a pilot project with support from the government-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency to see if Tuna Scope can be used to evaluate fresh yellowfin tuna in Indonesia.
The Southeast Asian country is the world's biggest tuna producer. According to Japan's Fisheries Agency, Indonesia's tuna output, mainly comprising yellowfin tuna, stood at around 345,000 tons in 2022, far exceeding the 197,000 tons logged by the second-placed economy of the European Union and Britain.
However, the Indonesian market "has few people who can grade (tuna), so it can't be said that the fish quality is evaluated appropriately there," a Dentsu official said.
The use of Tuna Scope will "enable local fishers to receive more appropriate compensation," the official added.
Indonesia exports a large volume of yellowfin tuna to Japan. A major destination is the Nagoya Central Wholesale Market's Honjo main market, where demand for the fish is high.
Wholesale prices in April varied vastly, ranging from ¥230 to ¥2,000 per kilogram.
"We can't be sure of the quality of the fish until they arrive, so we'd appreciate if the accuracy of graders (in Indonesia) would improve," a market source said.
A Dentsu team is set to visit the country as early as July to collect information. The company hopes that Tuna Scope will be introduced in earnest next fiscal year.
"We will make efforts so that Japan, the world's largest tuna consumer, thinks that Indonesian tuna is tasty," an official said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
BOJ expected to stick with JGB purchase decrease after April 2026
TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan, the country's biggest government bond holder, intends to continue reducing Japanese government bonds purchases after April 2026, allowing interest rates to be determined more freely by the market, Nikkei has learned. The original plan to reduce JGB purchases was to last through March 2026, but that will likely be extended. The central bank held 52% of all JGBs as of the end of 2024.
Asahi Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Share houses thrive offering affordability, modern twists
The living room of a share house near Asakusabashi Station in Tokyo's Taito Ward (Provided by Borderless House Corp.) When Masaya Kobayashi moved to Tokyo after graduating from a college in Kanazawa, he thought about renting an apartment at first. But he discovered that the monthly rent alone would cost around 100,000 yen ($685) along with an additional 300,000 to 500,000 yen in initial expenses. So, Kobayashi, 24, moved into a share house where he lives with other tenants who share common spaces such as a kitchen and living room. 'This place offers me an opportunity for international communications and English learning,' he said. The share house market is expanding in Japan amid rising rents for urban dwellings. The style of multiple people living in a single rental property is gaining popularity even among foreign visitors. Travelers increasingly prefer staying in share houses to conventional hotels, as these accommodations' room charges are rapidly rising. Against this backdrop, modern versions of share houses are steadily emerging to change their traditional image as 'cramped and dirty.' AFFORDABLE, RICH IN EXPERIENCES Kobayashi's co-living complex is a five-minute walk from JR Asakusabashi Station in Tokyo's Taito Ward. The second to fourth floors of the former hotel building were converted into residential spaces in fall 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen men and women from Japan and abroad are currently spending time together at the establishment. The residents are all in their 20s and 30s. Rents start from 86,000 yen, inclusive of utility expenses. The restroom, shower facilities and kitchen are communal, while the share house alike features private rooms with locks that range from about 4.5 to 7 tatami mats in size. Aspiring residents are required to show their 'willingness to interact with others.' The operator of the shared home stated that it maintains a 1:1 ratio of males to females and Japanese to foreigners. The common living room is furnished with a dining table and a sofa, providing a space for 'takoyaki' octopus dumpling parties and other almost weekly recreational events. Animated conversations in Japanese and English are always exchanged there. CONSTANT RISE IN URBAN RENTS Among the advantages of shared homes are cheaper rents compared with apartments and other such housing facilities. Figures from real estate information provider At Home Co. show the rent for a single-person property of 30 square meters or less in Tokyo's 23 wards averaged 99,083 yen as of March. The rental fee hit a record high for 10 consecutive months. Rents were increased by at least 3 percent year on year in such areas as Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka, too. 'Demand for rental properties once declined in the COVID-19 outbreak but has since recovered in earnest,' said an At Home representative. 'Ballooning construction and labor costs have additionally exerted a significant impact, so a sustained uptick in rents is expected from this point forward as well.' Due to the continuous rise in rents in metropolitan areas, shared housing complexes are seeing a surge in demand. A survey by the Japan Shared House Organization found that there were 6,123 such accommodations in 2024 nationwide, up 5.4 percent from the previous year. The number climbed for the third straight year, with there being 2.2 times more share houses than a decade ago. Buoyed by a rise in the number of unoccupied buildings throughout Japan, increasing inquiries are coming from owners who want to turn properties into shared houses. Borderless House Corp., which runs a total of 59 share houses mainly in Tokyo alongside Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Sendai, stated that these establishments' average occupancy rate was 90.5 percent in 2024. 'Our share houses are instantly filled as soon as they are put in place' in central Tokyo in particular, explained a Borderless House official. Taking account of the expansion in inbound demand, shared residence operators similarly roll out the red carpet for the growing number of foreign tourists who want to stay in Japan for a month or longer. Share houses specifically enjoy a good reputation among sightseers via their affordable prices compared to the rising hotel rates. The chance to casually experience Japanese culture through interactions with other residents also adds to the appeal of shared houses. Hidamari, which is responsible for 85 shared residential facilities mainly in the metropolitan area around the capital, said that the ratio of non-Japanese residents has lately jumped to 60 percent. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 90 percent of its share house users were Japanese. UNCONVENTIONAL IDEAS During the boom, unorthodox variations of share houses have successively been introduced. Boasting a 25-room shared home, the commercial complex OttO opened in April near JR Omiya Station in Saitama, close to Tokyo. It is equipped with a movie theater and cafe for residents' benefit. Tomore Shinagawa Nakanobu, a share house in the capital's Shinagawa Ward, provides its dwellers with not only private spaces in personal rooms marked by toilets and shower equipment but also a communal living room and kitchen. On top of this, a specialized area for remote teleworking is available. The unique amenities make Tomore Shinagawa Nakanobu something between an old-style share house and a rental apartment for single people. Amid the rise of shared homes, a challenge remains: the growing number of reports about conflicts between residents. According to the accounts of the Japan Shared House Organization, trouble often arises over the cleaning of common areas in recent cases. Other frequent sources of problems, for example, include noise and the use of communal spaces in daily life. 'We recommend that prospective residents should check the operator's countermeasures for cleanliness and other issues, as well as the rents,' noted Taku Nakahara, a public relations officer for the organization and a director of Hidamari.
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
Japan, EU eye launch of 'competitive alliance' scheme to boost trade
Japan and the European Union are preparing to launch an "alliance" framework to beef up their companies' competitiveness by promoting trade and economic security cooperation, diplomatic sources said Saturday, facing concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and Chinese trade practices. The creation of the "Japan-EU Competitiveness Alliance" is expected to be announced at a regular summit meeting being arranged for July, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is likely to host European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they said. The move will further align both sides' efforts to uphold a rules-based economic order, building on cooperation through a free trade agreement that removes tariffs and other trade barriers between the two economies, which account for 20 percent of the world's gross domestic product. Under the framework, Japan and the EU will work together to diversify supply chains for rare earth minerals in the face of China's export restrictions on the elements crucial for the production of smartphones and other high-tech products, according to the sources. They will also align subsidy conditions for environmental technology such as electric vehicle and hydrogen production to promote fair competition for manufacturers and reduce development costs. On the trade front, the two sides will seek to promote reform of the World Trade Organization that is deemed dysfunctional, with the United States dissatisfied with the global body's response to addressing Chinese trade practices and other issues. They will also seek to collaborate with the "Global South" emerging and developing economies as partners sharing values of free and fair trade as well as the rule of law, the sources said. The EU is also eager to cooperate with a vast trans-Pacific free trade agreement involving Japan and 10 other nations, plus Britain that joined the accord in 2023. Some inside the bloc have called for joining efforts in rulemaking, as members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership weigh better business environment for digital trade and climate change countermeasures. © KYODO
