Latest news with #Yamanashi
National Post
27-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Rigaku Completes New Building at Yamanashi Plant
Article content TOKYO — Rigaku Corporation, a global solution partner in X-ray analytical technologies and a Group company of Rigaku Holdings Corporation (headquarters: Akishima, Tokyo; President and CEO: Jun Kawakami; hereinafter 'Rigaku') completed an additional manufacturing building (hereinafter 'the New Building') at Yamanashi Plant, Rigaku's main production facility. The facility was established to serve as the center of Rigaku's production framework, in anticipation of global business growth and expansion in product demand. Article content Doubling of production capacity: a strategic base to support Rigaku's growth Article content Demand for X-ray analytical solutions has soared in recent years, both in Japan and worldwide. To respond to growing demand, Rigaku implemented this expansion with two key objectives in mind. Article content One objective is to further reinforce the Company's ability to serve the needs of rapidly growing fields such as semiconductors and electronic components; batteries and battery materials; and life sciences. The other objective is to dramatically expand Rigaku's production capacity for the components that support the Company's product lineup generally. The components are the crystallization of Rigaku's core technologies and the wellspring of its competitive strength. To accomplish the two objectives described above, Rigaku plans to double its overall manufacturing capacity by 2027 (compared with 2022, unit basis). Rigaku aims to achieve this goal by expanding production space, through the construction of the New Building at Yamanashi Plant in addition to the expansion provided by Osaka Plant and external partners, and by shortening lead time to reinforce its supply chain. Article content With the New Building's completion, Yamanashi Plant's floor space has expanded dramatically, almost tripling (2.7x) from 8,500 sqm to 23,000 sqm. Processes for manufacturing, assembly and shipping of X-ray diffraction systems, formerly distributed between Yamanashi and Tokyo, are now concentrated in spacious Yamanashi Plant, delivering a quantum leap in operational efficiency and ensuring stable supply of high-quality products. Article content Rigaku is also advancing proving tests for automation of production processes at Yamanashi Plant. The Company's aim is to transform the Plant into a 'smart factory' that achieves excellence in both efficiency and quality. Article content An eco-friendly 'plant in harmony with nature' Article content Rigaku used eco-friendly construction methods to erect the New Building, taking care to reduce CO 2 emissions. To minimize energy waste, the facility is outfitted with high-efficiency equipment and solar-power generation systems. The New Building is a 'plant in harmony with nature,' contributing to the achievement of a sustainable society by reducing environmental impact. Article content Jun Kawakami, President and CEO of Rigaku, offered the following comment: With this major floor space expansion, Rigaku is boosting manufacturing capacity and enhancing product quality to support its substantial growth. It also strengthens our ability to produce the components of our products, which are the foundation of Rigaku's competitive advantage. This facility is the key to ensuring that our existing customers continue to choose Rigaku, as well as helping Rigaku acquire new customers globally. Article content The New Building is slated to begin operation in early June, gradually strengthening Rigaku's production framework. Article content Since its establishment in 1951, the engineering professionals of the Rigaku group have been dedicated to benefiting society with leading-edge technologies, notably including its core fields of X-ray and thermal analysis. With a market presence in over 90 countries and some 2,000 employees from 9 global operations, Rigaku is a solution partner in industry and research analysis institutes. Our overseas sales ratio has reached approximately 70% while sustaining an exceptionally high market share in Japan. Together with our customers, we continue to develop and grow. As applications expand from semiconductors, electronic materials, batteries, environment, resources, energy, life science to other high-tech fields, Rigaku realizes innovations 'To Improve Our World by Powering New Perspectives.' For details, please visit Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content
CNA
24-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Gaia Series 87: Nippon Technology
Japanese engineer and humanitarian Kiyoshi Amemiya's legacy of landmine-clearing technology gains new purpose in war-torn Ukraine. At the foot of Mount Fuji in Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture, a quiet revolution in humanitarian engineering is unfolding. The latest episode of Japan Hour follows the compelling story of Mr Kiyoshi Amemiya, a 75-year-old Japanese entrepreneur whose life's work has become a beacon of hope amid the devastation of Ukraine's ongoing war. Mr Amemiya, chairman of construction equipment manufacturer Nikken, is no ordinary businessman. Almost three decades ago, a trip to post-war Cambodia altered the course of his career. There, an elderly man who had lost a leg to a landmine took his hand and said, 'Please help the people of Cambodia.' That encounter sparked Mr Amemiya's enduring mission: To develop machinery that could safely and efficiently clear landmines. These so-called 'demonic weapons' continue to claim lives long after conflicts end. Using the foundation of construction equipment, Mr Amemiya pioneered a rotary cutter machine capable of detonating and destroying mines while shielding operators with reinforced cabins and bulletproof glass. Over the years, his technology has spread to 11 countries including Afghanistan, Vietnam and parts of Africa, with 151 units deployed. Despite the lack of government funding and sustained financial losses, he pressed on and offset costs with profits from his core business. Now, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, Mr Amemiya's machines are gaining renewed significance. With 140,000 sq km, nearly a quarter of Ukraine's land, contaminated with over two million mines believed to be buried, Ukraine has become one of the most mine-ridden nations in the world. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that 24 demining workers have lost their lives and 98 have been injured since the war began, with 415 civilian deaths and 982 injuries. In response to a direct request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in March 2023, the Japanese government purchased 12 of Nikken's machines to be donated to Ukraine. Modifications were made specifically for the terrain and threats in Ukraine, including more powerful rotary cutters and interchangeable tips capable of handling rubble, wood and even unexploded ordnance. A key part of this humanitarian effort is training. 14 Ukrainian demining personnel were invited to Japan for a two-week intensive course at Nikken's headquarters. Among them were Ms Iryna Komyshan, 25, the second-highest-ranking member of the group, and Mr Petrenko Vladislav, 24, a heavy machinery operator and fan of anime. Ms Iryna, who had never operated heavy machinery before, quickly adapted. 'What we learn from this training is extremely important for Ukraine's future,' she said. Training focused not only on machine operation but also on maintenance, a crucial skill given the absence of on-site technical support in Ukraine. Demonstrations included how the machines withstood 7kg anti-tank blasts. Mr Amemiya assured the team, 'Amongst all the machines we've shipped around the world, never once has a rotary cutter been broken, nor has a cabin been destroyed, nor has an operator been injured.' After their time in Japan, the team headed to Cambodia, where Nikken's machines are used extensively. The transition was symbolic. It was a journey from the ruins of Cambodia's past to the present danger in Ukraine. At a restricted demining site near Siem Reap, they underwent a month of practical training under the guidance of the Cambodian Landmine Action Centre, which operates 54 of Nikken's units. A test exercise using a dummy mine showed just how high the stakes are. Mr Petrenko, who operated the machine, failed to destroy the mine completely. He accepted the result with humility, saying, 'Yes. I'll do better next time.' Back in Ukraine, after a sombre official handing over ceremony in Kyiv, the machines were deployed across the country. Along the border with Russia, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ms Iryna teaches locals how to operate and maintain the machines. 'By teaching machine operation and maintenance, we can provide new jobs and responsibilities to people who lost their livelihoods in the war. That's an important part of my mission,' she said. Not all trainees returned to the front lines. Mr Petrenko, citing harsh working conditions and the threat of conscription, emailed from abroad. 'I went to Germany and was accepted into a refugee camp.' While the move violates Ukrainian regulations, Mr Amemiya responded with compassion. 'There's no point in blaming him. Or blaming Russia, or Ukraine. It's the war that's to blame.' Despite his age, Mr Amemiya continues to build his life-saving machines with quiet resolve. 'I want to build machines, new ones, and in doing so, help create places where people can live in peace,' he said. 'The technology I created can help save lives. It has become kind of a beautiful ideal for me. Perhaps it's my life's purpose.' And he's doing it one machine, one training session, one cleared path at a time.
NHK
21-05-2025
- General
- NHK
Mount Fuji climbers could be charged for helicopter rescue
The government of Yamanashi Prefecture, which has a trail to Mount Fuji, has begun studying charging climbers of the mountain for emergency rescue operations using the prefecture's helicopters. The official climbing season for the mountain is usually set between early July and early September. A council of the central and municipal governments and others prohibits climbers without sufficient preparations from going up at other times. But a number of accidents are reported every year as some people attempt to climb when trekking trails are closed. Last month, a Chinese university student was rescued twice in a week on the Shizuoka Prefecture side. Yamanashi officials say they plan to study issues related to collecting the fee, looking at the case of a prefecture that already has an ordinance allowing the government to collect such fees. They include the period for charging fees, whether to collect fees from climbers of other mountains and how to handle cases in which climbers are rescued by other public helicopters, such as police ones. The burden rescue efforts put on the public purse is becoming an issue. Earlier this month, Mayor Horiuchi Shigeru of Fujiyoshida City at the foot of Mount Fuji on Yamanashi side asked the prefectural government to consider charging fees, pointing out that rescue operations are extremely expensive. Yamanashi officials say they will work on the plan to prevent reckless climbing although they are aware of the challenges involved in charging rescue fees.
Japan Times
18-05-2025
- Japan Times
1,400 photos donated to remember horrors of Aum Shinrikyo cult
A 97-year-old man from central Japan has donated about 1,400 photos taken during his years of confronting the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult. The former village of Kamikuishiki, currently the town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, was once home to the largest Aum Shinrikyo base in Japan. Kamikuishiki resident Seiichi Takeuchi waged a battle against the group from the time the cult set up the base in the village's Fujigane district in 1989. At the base, the group put up many facilities, called "satyam," some of which were used to manufacture sarin nerve gas. Aum Shinrikyo used the nerve gas in an attack on Tokyo's subway system in 1995, which left 14 people dead and over 6,000 others injured. The cult finally left the village in 1996, after the arrest of its leader Chizuo Matsumoto, who went by the name of Shoko Asahara, in 1995. Matsumoto was executed in 2018. According to Takeuchi, one of the first things the cult did after moving into the village was to build a 3-meter-high wall around a plot of grassland and start constructing facilities within it. Takeuchi, who was a key member of a group of local residents, lodged protests each time there was an issue involving the cult. Every time, the cult asked for evidence, prompting Takeuchi to carry around a camera and snap photos. Takeuchi said that the infamous guru directly told him that he was fueling anti-Aum Shinrikyo sentiment among local residents. He also found that his phone had been bugged. Despite the frightening situation, Takeuchi continued to take pictures on his camera until the cult's Kamikuishiki facilities were demolished in 1998. Some 1,400 photos include ones capturing the strange-smelling white smoke escaping from a window of a facility used to manufacture sarin gas and of discolored plants near the cult's base. Seiichi Takeuchi, who has donated about 1,400 photos he took during his years of confronting the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, speaks in an interview last month. | Jiji After a request from police, Takeuchi provided a photo of a car crash that occurred at the village. A truck that was in the background of the photo was the same vehicle later used in a sarin gas attack in the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture in 1994, which left eight people dead and over 140 others injured. Takeuchi has provided police and the Public Security Intelligence Agency with his photos over the years. Nearly 30 years after the cult left the village, Takeuchi donated his photos to the town of Fujikawaguchiko in March this year. "I hope people don't forget what happened," Takeuchi said, adding that he hopes many people will see his photos. The town government currently has about 130 photos, mainly those of the Aum Shinrikyo facilities, on display at a local educational center.
NHK
18-05-2025
- Climate
- NHK
Temperatures across Japan to rise sharply on Sunday, raising heatstroke risk
Temperatures are expected to rise sharply across wide areas of Japan on Sunday, with summer-like weather above 30 degrees Celsius expected in the eastern region of Kanto-Koshin. Officials are calling on people planning outdoor activities in the areas to be affected to take precautions against heatstroke, such as a frequent intake of salt and water. The Japan Meteorological Agency says daytime highs will reach 30 degrees Celsius in the cities of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture, Saitama in Saitama Prefecture and Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. Daytime highs of 29 degrees Celsius are expected in the cities of Kyoto, Nagoya and Fukushima, as well as central Tokyo, and 28 degrees Celsius in Kochi City. These temperatures are as high as those usually seen in late June to mid-July. The meteorological agency also expects that atmospheric conditions will become extremely unstable, mainly in the Kanto region in the afternoon, and the weather could suddenly change with the possibility of thunderstorms. Caution is advised against lightning strikes, gusts, and strong winds such as tornadoes, sudden downpours and hail. People are also advised to seek shelter in sturdy buildings when there are signs of thunderclouds approaching.
