What the world really thinks about Japanese robotics

Japan was once the the undisputed global leader in robotics, but that's simply not true today. In fact, with China and America dominating the spotlight, many question whether Japan is even still in the game. Well, last month I had the chance to find out what the world really thinks. At the inaugural Tokyo Humanoids Summit, I interviewed seven global leaders in robotics, and I asked each of them where exactly Japan stands and what Japan has to offer the rest of the world. I'm compiled all their answers so you can hear the full range of what people are saying about robotics in Japan. There are some great conversations, and I think you'll enjoy them. Show Directory and Links Junghee Ryu,  Founder and CEO of RLWRLD LinkedIn Company Site Leopold Beer, VP Sensing Division of Renesas Electronics LinkedIn Company Site Mehrdad Farimani, Founder and CTO of MERPHI LinkedIn Company Site James Wells, CEO of Sanctuary AI LinkedIn Company Site Rikiya Yamamoto, CEO of Yamariki Edge LinkedIn Company Site Hagen Wegner, Director at FEV Consulting LinkedIn Company Site Terence Bennett, Executive Director of Bay Area Robotics Association LinkedIn Company Site Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, Straight Talk from Japan's most innovative founders and VCs. I'm Tim Romero, and thanks for joining me. Last month, at the Tokyo Humanoid Summit, I had a chance to interview seven of the leading innovators in the field of humanoid robotics from around the world. Now, I'll be sharing the full interviews on Disrupting Japan's social channels, and I encourage you to check them out. There are some really interesting discussions there. Of course, with industry leaders flying into Tokyo from around the globe, there was one question that I wanted to ask all of them. What does Japan really have to offer globally? How can Japan compete and even regain its status as a global leader in robotics? I mean, is this even possible now? Well, I've collected all of their responses into a single, focused episode for you. You'll see that there are some common themes and also a few surprises. But overall, the world is feeling very optimistic about what's happening in Japan. But you know, my guests tell that much better than I can. So let's get right to the interviews. So we're sitting here with Junghee Ryu, the founder and CEO of RLWRLD, who's building dexterity models for robots. Ryu Junghee,  Founder and CEO of RLWRLD Tim: Thanks for sitting down today. Junghee: Thank you for having me today. Tim: You've got an office here in Japan. You've spent a lot of time in Japan. What unique strengths do you think Japan has in the area of humanoid robotics and physical AI? Junghee: One of the biggest pros of the Japanese market is the culture. Think about the US citizens. They hesitate to just embrace the power of the humanoid. But in Japan, I met a lot of their kind of C-suites here. They know the power of humanoid because you guys already experienced the early times and the robot like Ashimo or Aibo. And there are a lot of their animations like Atom, Gundam, Evangelion. So culturally, I think that the Japanese society is ready for embracing the human power. Tim: You know, that's a really interesting point, because in media and popular culture in Japan, robots and humanoid robots in particular are almost always positive and helpful. Junghee: Yeah, the companion of humankind. Tim: Right. And like in Hollywood movies, they tend to be very dangerous. Junghee: Yeah. The enemy of mankind. Tim: Right. You get the Terminator. So that's really interesting. And have you found that in your conversations in Japan and your pilots that companies are more willing and more open? Junghee: Yeah, because the Japanese society suffered about population cliffs since 30 years ago. So it's a long time. So mostly their industry leaders, they understand the urgency, the demands for automation, especially the focus on the humanoid. Already they automated almost everything. But the remaining things should be done by their human level dexterity and intelligence. That's why. Tim: Well, it's definitely exciting times. And it sounds like you guys are doing great things in Japan. Junghee: Not only great things for Japan, great things for all the mankind in this world. Tim: Absolutely. So thanks so much for sitting down. Junghee: Thank you for having me. Tim: I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Leopold Beer, VP Sensing Division of Renesas Electronics Tim: So we're sitting here with Leopold Beer, the VP and General Manager of the Sensing Division of Renesas Electronics. So thanks for sitting down. Leopold: Thank you for having me. Tim: So listen, with your time in Japan and at this Humanoid Summit, what unique strengths do you think Japan has to offer the world in terms of humanoid robotics and physical AI? Leopold: Definitely there are lots of things that Japan brings in already today and can bring in in the future. Starting from my company, Renesas, with the broad portfolio of semiconductors, we already serve lots of these applications. But when you look at the specific context of Japan, Japan always has been an innovator in terms of robotics and automization. And I think the Japanese society is much more open to technology than in some European societies. I'm not talking for the US, but in Europe, there's always a kind of skepticism. When you bring in a new technology, okay, what's the risk? And I think Japan is much opener to technology. So having the foundation of these strong technologies companies, and I name Renesas one of them, but there are others playing very strongly in the field of automization. And given this openness of the society, and as we heard this morning, even the willingness of the society to bring in more automation as a solution to solve social problems, but Japan is the perfect environment. Tim: And so do you see this openness on both the industrial commercial side and the consumer side? Leopold: Absolutely. I think there are two sides of the story. On one hand, of course, robot manufacturers, they want to push their solution. On the other side, there needs to be an acceptance and the pull from the market. And I think we have both in Japan. Tim: So Japan might end up being the perfect testbed, the perfect place for proof of concepts to figure out how to make all of this really work. Leopold: I would say yes. That'd be fantastic. Tim: Well, listen, Leopold, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down. Leopold: It was a pleasure. Tim: I've really enjoyed it. Leopold: It was a good talk. Thank you.   Mehrdad Farimani, Founder and CTO of MERPHI Tim: So we're sitting here with Mehrdad Farahmani, the founder and CTO of MERPHI. So thanks for sitting down. Mehrdad: Thank you, great to be here. Tim: With your time in Japan so far and what you've seen here at the Humanoid Summit, what unique strengths do you think Japan has to offer the rest of the world in terms of humanoid robotics and in physical AI? Mehrdad: Absolutely. So when I was very junior, young in robotics, Japan was the place to go for humanoids. We had Asimo and we had all these great robots from SoftBank and we had all these different companion robots and social robots. Tim: That was more than 20 years ago. Mehrdad: It was, right? Tim: It’s amazing. Mehrdad: And there were actually, to be honest, there were two countries who were really leading robotics. One was Japan, the other was Germany. So Germany or DLR in Germany, they created some of the greatest robots out there. So has Japan. And Japan was, of course, leading more. And then one of my surprises over the years was that what happens to both Germany and Japan. Germany also, they really slowed down. And actually, we had this funny conversation with a friend the other day and we were like, okay, is it that they slowed down or the other countries they kicked off? Because I remember in 2012 that there were only six countries that they were building humanoid robots. So of course, US, France, Germany, Japan, and we had Iran and then one more country, I don't remember. China was not even among them, right? And now we see that China is actually leading a lot in the human area only in this 15, 20 years. So one of the things is that for me, what has always been interesting about Japan is the culture that accepts robots. People who live with robots and they like robots. And one of the greatest robots, not a humanoid, unfortunately, but one of the greatest robots created in the history of robotics is a robot called Paro, P-A-R-O. It's a robot for elderly care. It's a companion robot. Tim: Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. Mehrdad: There's an amazing story behind it. Technologically, it's competing very well with today's technology and everything. But so what was the story? There was this research center. They built that robot. They built something around 3,000 units. They distributed all over the world. Actually, in Sweden that I'm living, we have a few of them. And they're in the museums mostly. And then they stopped. They stopped the production because they were like, yeah, this was a research project. Research is done. So we don't want to make money out of it. Tim: I see that happening so much. There's so much wonderful innovation and then it never gets fully commercialized. Mehrdad: Exactly. I have two reasons for that, actually, so today my job is mostly, to be honest, advising investors and startups mostly on the human area. And I usually think a lot about what are the underlying reasons behind this. One of the reasons is that robotic companies has historically been created by roboticists. Even today they are. It's only the few past years that they were created by business people or entering robotics. Engineers and roboticists,...