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UNESCO has decided to add 12 sites to the World Heritage list that are linked to the history of the country’s persecuted Christians.

The sites include the Oura Cathedral in Nagasaki, the oldest surviving church in the country which is already designated as a national treasure; and the remains of Hara Castle, a site of the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion that led to establishment of a national policy of seclusion and the beginning of the hidden Christians’ unique system to transmit their faith and beliefs by themselves.

Your next smartphone might just throw you a curve.

Picture this: You pull your phone out of your pocket and unfold it like a napkin into a tablet. You press your finger on the screen, and it unlocks. You switch to the camera app, and a spider-like array of lenses shoot simultaneously to capture one giant photo.

Scientists have recently discovered two exoplanets, Kepler-62f and Kepler 186f, which are located within the habitable zones of their respective stars, and the best part is that the planets probably have stable climates and regular seasons. The astronomers also believe that one of them is similar in size to our home planet. 

Productivity growth has slowed since 2004, and nobody is sure why.

Certainly, technology has done its job. In the wake of downsizing, budget cuts, re-engineering and outsourcing, it has filled in the gaps at company after company. As a result, supply chains are efficient and lean, the financial services industry is automated and manufacturing processes are flexible. 

Coffee is among the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. Because of its popularity, it has attracted a great deal of research over the years.

Scientists have now stacked up a fair amount of evidence proving that coffee can protect against certain diseases and may even extend lifespan. Studies have shown that moderate coffee consumption might protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, to name but three.

With the rise of A.I. and an endless sea of personal data available, some start to question, "How free are we?" Yes, it is true that A.I. will free us from many of the meaningless tasks that we are saddled with on a daily basis. However, there are serious concerns as to how our data is used for both positive and negative reasons.

Businesses in Tokyo are continuing to look for ways to get foreign visitors to spend their time and cash on the capital’s wide-ranging nightlife options. Travel agencies are arranging special events for foreign tourists such as taiko (drum) performances, while some hotels are extending the business hours of their restaurants to allow guests to socialize into the early hours.

The number of tourists to Japan has more than quadrupled since 2009, and the government aims to boost that figure to 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030. But the growing influx is likely to put a greater strain on Japan’s hospitals as many patients from overseas arrive without insurance and are unable to pay for treatment. 

The problem is not limited to cost, however. Communication is also a hurdle, both at hospitals and especially small clinics. While some facilities can conduct treatment in foreign languages, many can only do so in English or Chinese.

When asked to imagine a typical image of white-collar workers in Japan, salarymen in suits may come to mind. On the flip side, blue collar workers in "work wear" tend to be associated with less flattering stereotypes, dubbed the “3K”—kitsui (demanding), kitanai (dirty) and kiken (dangerous) in Japanese.

In 2008, research teams at Duke and Harvard surveyed 652 U.S.-born chief executives and heads of product engineering at 502 technology companies. They learned that, although a degree made a big difference in the success of an entrepreneur, the field it was in and the school that it was from were not significant. YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, for instance, majored in history and literature; Slack founder Stewart Butterfield in English; Airbnb founder Brian Chesky in the fine arts.

India is facing its worst-ever water crisis, a new report by a government advisory body has warned. The comprehensive study on the state of India's water warned of conflict and other related threats, including food security risks, unless actions are taken to restore water bodies.

Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, is best described as machine learning. Instead of programming a computer to perform a task, the computer will program itself.

As AI continues to grow it will enhance our lives. We can already see this in action with Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. Companies like Amazon are using AI in order to predict your next purchase. Another great example of AI in current use is with chat bots that you find in websites like Facebook, and in customer support apps.

In Takaoka, craft tourism adds to the city’s historical festivals and sights that, according to Toyama Prefecture, are already in the top 10 destinations in terms of increases in tourist numbers in the region. Although there are no official figures on Takaoka’s overall drive to promote local industries, the new Nousaku foundry alone has welcomed approximately 110,000 visitors since it opened.

Blockchain refers to an expanding list of blocks where each one contains records. They are secured and linked to each other using cryptography. Within each block, you will find at the most basic level a hash of the previous block, timestamp, and the transaction data.

The origins of the blockchain technology are mysterious. Legend has it that Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the bitcoin white paper, developed bitcoin, and was behind the implementation and deployment of the original bitcoin.

5G, or 5th generation mobile, is the next big leap in wireless communications. 5G will radically improve the bandwidth, capacity and reliability of mobile broadband, and will push mobile speeds from 100 Mbps to upward of 10 Gbps.  

But the real excitement over 5G comes with new uses that simply aren’t possible with today’s networks. Many of these involve the revolution in sensors, low-cost transmitters and cloud-based software known as the Internet of Things (IoT).  

In 2016 the Japanese government set ambitious targets for foreign visitors as a way to generate economic growth as the population ages and shrinks. The government is on track to reach its goal of 40 million visitors by 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympics.

But the rapid growth has brought problems, most obviously a shortage of labour. Relatively few Japanese are able to converse smoothly in English or other foreign languages. Most companies rely on point-sheets, translation apps or telephone services to communicate with guests.

Walmart and Rakuten will co-create an online grocery service in Japan that will launch in 2018. The service will be operated by Rakuten and Seiyu GK, a Walmart subsidiary, and will be called “Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper.”

Walmart, via Seiyu, has operated a grocery delivery business in Japan since 2000. This new co-branded service will replace that, the company says.

The New Zealand company behind a landmark trial of a four-day working week has declared it a success and will be adopting the new schedule full time.

It is enough to wake the tired eyes of the groggiest commuter. A striking white and pink bullet train themed around the Japanese cartoon character and marketing phenomenon Hello Kitty. The bespoke train began a three-month run between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka on June 30.

Renewable energy is set to be generating 50% of global electricity by 2050.

The New Energy Outlook (NEO) 2018 says that the continuing fall in the cost of batteries will massively increase the ability to store off-peak electricity and sell it when demand is high, which will enable renewable technologies--particularly wind and solar projects--to take an increasing share of the electricity market. 

Europe’s electricity market will be 87% renewable in Europe by 2050, while India’s will be 75% renewable, China’s 62% and 55% in the U.S., the report says.