Japan aims to power 2020 Tokyo Olympics using green & AI tech because kaizen

Plenty of ambitious projects are currently in the works.

Matthias Ang | September 22, 2018, 03:53 PM

The Japanese philosophy of kaizen -- or continuous improvement -- is well known.

After all, it created success stories like these:

In fact, one could say kaizen is the antithesis of China's chabuduo.

Now, you can expect Japan to improve itself further for the Olympic Games.

The 2020 Olympics will take place in Tokyo and preparations are well underway.

And if a video uploaded by the World Economic Forum on Aug. 30 is anything to go by, it appears that even with Japan's current track record, no effort is being spared in overhauling various aspects of both areas to cope with the expected surge in foreign athletes and visitors.

This is because the surge is expected to place a greater stress on Japan's environment and infrastructure.

The need to go green

Renewable sources of energy

As reported by The Japan Times, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee are actually aiming to "fully power the games with renewable energy."

This is because hosting the games incurs a massive environmental cost. The committee's Senior Director Sustainability, Yuki Arata, told The Japan Times that if no green measures are taken, the games will generate 3.01 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

In comparison, the 2012 Olympics at London generated 3.45 million metric tons, while the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro generated 3.56 million metric tons.

Moreover, there is also the 2016 Paris Agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions that will come into effect in 2020.

Wind and solar sources will be tapped to power the games.

Source: Gif of World Economic Forum Facebook Video

To top it off, part of the solar energy is expected to be drawn from "solar roads" whereby whole roads are converted into lengthy solar panel strips.

How? By covering the panels in resin so cars can drive on them.

Source: Gif of World Economic Forum Facebook video

Metal recycling

Meanwhile, medals will be made from recycled old gadgets.

The small amounts of precious metals found in the devices will be extracted and can create an estimated 5,000 medals.

Source: Gif of World Economic Facebook video

The Japan Times report added that this particular endeavour has involved launching a nation-wide drive amongst Japanese citizens to donate their used electronic devices. At the time of the report, up to 14,636 metric tons of electronic devices have been recovered from the donation of roughly 80,000 phones and other devices.

Of course, this is only half of Japan's approach.

Utilising AI for facilitating the movement of foreigners

Driverless taxis

One of the more worrying reports to emerge in May 2018 was that Japan's subway system, for all of its efficiency, would be unable to handle the upsurge in foreign visitors given that regular rush-hour commutes already saw massive crowds.

Exacerbating the problem is the fact that Japan is facing a shortage of taxi drivers as a result of its ageing population.

Enter driverless taxis.

Gif of World Economic Forum Facebook Video

According to Nikkei Asian Review, the vehicle is developed by Tokyo-based robot maker ZMP, operated by taxi company Hinomaru Kotsu, and partly financed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The aim is for the driverless taxi to begin commercial operations in 2020 once the Olympics begin, in order to help ease the transport crunch.

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Robot translators

Then there is also the issue of language barrier that the Japanese government is hoping to resolve through the use of robots.

The Japan Times reported that the robots which will be fluent in multiple languages and can assist in carrying luggage will be deployed at the airports.

The Asahi Shimbun also reported that there are plans to deploy robots throughout various venues at the 2020 Olympics by the organising committee, with a source quoted as saying, "We want to make the Games a showcase of robots".

Gif of World Economic Forum Facebook video

Robots and driverless taxis will not be the only use of AI however -- the Nikkei Asian Review reported that there are plans for the development of a small translation device shaped like a name tag or earphone to help foreign visitors navigate Tokyo during the 2020 Olympics.

The technology is being developed by The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).

What's the bill gonna be?

In all, the total expected cost of the 2020 Olympics is expected to reach ¥1.35 trillion (SGD16.36 billion).

However, the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has since confirmed as of January 2018 in The Japan Times that an additional ¥810 billion (SGD9.8 billion) is expected to be spent on “projects directly and indirectly related to the games.”

Top image collage from World Economic Forum Facebook