Artificial Intelligence: Japan installs its first LED illuminated manholes with anime motifs

Tokorozawa, Japan: A Japanese city neighbouring Tokyo has spruced up its manhole covers with fans' favourite anime characters.

Since August 1, manhole covers across the city were illuminated with solar-powered LED lights in designs borrowed from popular anime television series such a "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Gundam", the city's Waterworks and Sewerage department said. The 27 designs that cover a total of 28 manholes were installed by a Japanese publishing firm and were specifically made to drum up anticipation for the November opening of the city's new entertainment complex "Tokorozawa Sakura Town". 

The designs can be found on manholes stretching from the local Higashi Tokorozawa train station and light up from 5:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. in the morning every evening. Residents such as 22-year-old Kotaro Kodaira said they made daily commutes enjoyable.

"I can look at them on the ground so the (walk) time seems shorter than before," he said. City officials said they hope the illuminated manhole covers will help minimize crime and contribute to the neighbourhood's safety at night.

Olympics-Stranded Japanese honeymooners end up as Cape Verde's team ambassadors

Cape Verde: Japanese couple Rikiya and Ayumi Kataoka had their honeymoon wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic, but their resourcefulness in enforced exile in Cape Verde has won them appointments as ambassadors for its Olympic team.

The Kataokas had completed a third of their round-the-world trip when a suspension in long-haul flights stranded them for five months in the archipelago of 10 tiny islands off the coast of West Africa. Unable to resume their journey to Europe and then home to Japan and unwilling to head to the African mainland, where virus cases are spiking, they had to trade their skills with domestic businesses to earn funds in the absence of work visas.

But Cape Verde's Olympics officials were so intrigued by the ties the couple had built with locals that they decided to include the Kataokas in their team heading to the rearranged games in Tokyo next July. "They want me to be an ambassador of the Olympic team," Rikiya, 30, told Reuters via Zoom, speaking from the island of Sal.

Cape Verde, who have never won an Olympic medal despite participating in every summer Games since 1996, hope to take three or four athletes to Tokyo. Not only will the Kataokas be useful for their local knowledge but the islands' officials hope the recognition helps repay the couple for their work in promoting the islands, where their plight turned them into minor celebrities. "We felt the urge of giving back," said Leonardo Cunha, the islands' chef de mission for Tokyo.

Miles from home with dwindling funds, the Kataokas could easily have panicked, but Rikiya, who occasionally works as a videographer back home, made social media videos, tagging hotels and restaurants, in exchange for lodging and food.

Japan: Anti-Olympics protest in Tokyo on day of planned Opening Ceremony

Tokyo, Japan: Several dozen protesters in masks gathered in front of Japan's National Stadium on Friday, July 24, the day the Olympic Games should have begun, to protest against holding them next year given the danger of the novel coronavirus.

The Games were postponed in March as COVID-19 swept the world and the government is determined that they go ahead next year. But there's growing opposition in Japan to holding the Games, even next year, over doubts that a big sporting event can be held safely.

A recent poll by Kyodo News found that fewer than a quarter of respondents were in favour of holding the Games as scheduled next year, a dramatic turnaround from the excitement during Tokyo's successful campaign to host the Olympics back in 2013. At the time, support among Tokyo residents for hosting the Games was as high as 70%, a crucial component in Tokyo's pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The shift in public opinion comes as the Japanese capital sees a new surge in coronavirus cases after the government lifted a state of emergency.Tokyo reported a record 366 new infections on Thursday, July 23. Organisers of Friday's protest questioned whether Japanese companies, which raised a record $3.1 billion in sponsorship for the Games, should remain involved when they are under increasing pressure from an economic downturn caused by the virus.

The IOC has estimated the postponement will cost the committee $800 million. There has been no estimate for how much the postponement will cost Japan.

Organisers announce schedule for rearranged Tokyo 2020 Games

Tokyo, Japan: Next year's Tokyo Olympics will follow an almost identical competition schedule as the one planned for this year before the event was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, organisers said on Friday, July 17.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese government decided in March to postpone the Games until 2021 and organisers have been working to rearrange an event almost a decade in the making. The new date for the opening ceremony at the newly-built National Stadium- July 23, 2021- had already been announced but the full schedule was pending final approval until Friday when the Tokyo 2020 organising committee made a presentation to the IOC Session in Lausanne. The Games had been set to begin on July 24 this year.

"Today we are able to report that we have confirmed both the competition schedule and the use of all venues originally planned for this year, including the venue for the athletes village and the main press centre," said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto. The new schedule means women's softball will kick off competition at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) in Fukushima on July 21, two days before the Games officially open, with all events taking place a day earlier than the 2020 schedule.

There have also been some minor changes to session times. The Games are set to be the biggest ever in terms of events, with a record 339 medals available, before the closing ceremony on Aug. 8. One of the biggest hurdles for organisers was securing the 42 venues needed for the Games as many had already been booked for 2021. However, Muto said all the venues have been secured.

The marathon and race walking events will remain in the northern city of Sapporo after being controversially moved out of Tokyo because of the anticipated scorching summer heat.The next challenge for Tokyo organisers is developing measures to help prevent a COVID-19 outbreak from occurring during the Games and how much the delay will cost Japanese taxpayers.

Muto said decisions would be made on these issues in the autumn.

"We will be having a full-fledged discussion over COVID-19 countermeasures," he said. "But, as an example, the topics and themes we may discuss are immigration control, enhanced testing structures and the establishment of treatment systems and measures against COVID-19 in the areas of accommodation and transport."