Why do people compare going to Japan with travelling to the future?
Technology is so advanced in Japan that many people compare visiting Japan to taking a time machine into the future. Hi-fi technology is used in almost every part of life in Japan, like super-fast bullet trains that travel hundreds of kilometres within an hour and super-fancy home appliances - the best in the world!
How come Japan’s so good with technology?
There are two reasons for Japan being a world leader in technology: 1. After losing World War II, Japan wasn’t allowed to spend money to grow its army. So, it spent that money on discovering new technology and building factories.
2. Most of the people in Japan are old and cannot or don’t want to do jobs like waiting tables, assembling cars, repair work, etc. So, if people aren’t doing these jobs, can you guess who is? Yes, robots!
Robots, robots, everywhere!
In Japan, it’s common to find robots as:
Caretakers/ security guards: These robots live with old people and take care of their medical and everyday needs. Butlers: These robots do housework like cleaning, laundry, etc. Waiters: These robots take people’s orders in restaurants.
What’s the newest robot in Japan?
Japan’s newest robot is like a real-life Transformer (remember the movie!?). It’s huge and super-strong. It can lift objects as heavy as 40 kgs up to 10 metres in the air. This robot was created to do things that were too dangerous for humans to do. The robot is operated remotely. This way, the person controlling the robot is not in any danger while the robot is working.
What if an evil genius decides to take over the world with these giant robots?
That stuff only happens in movies (hopefully). Right now, this robot is making the lives of people who work for the railways much safer! Maybe we’re not too far from a day when we see huge robots doing all the dangerous work, making life easy and safe for all of us!
