On Monday, Japanese auto giants and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) joined forces to set up a common system to recharge electric cars, with the hopes to create a global standard.

The growth of the electric vehicle sector has brought questions over whether zero-emission cars or the networks of recharging stations should come first.

The Japanese Space Agency has unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s first solar powered sail spacecraft.

It will be launched together with the country’s first Venus orbiter on May 18. There is also a campaign you can be a part of in this project. Look below for information on how to get your name and a message into space.

Panasonic Corp. on Wednesday revealed the price for its first 3-D TV set, confirming that $3,000 is about what it takes to be among the first to watch 3-D movies in the home.

The Japanese company put its first 3-D sets on sale at an event in New York on Wednesday. Panasonic’s suggested retail price is $2,900 for a 50-inch plasma set, one pair of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. An extra pair of glasses costs $150.

It goes without saying that Japan loves robots. Japanese pop culture has had a love affair with our metallic friends since the ’50s, and slowly but surely science is catching up to their imagination. fuRo, a Japanese robotic research & development firm, has taken their first tentative steps towards realizing a glorious future of wirelessly controlled robotic surrogates.

A Japanese professor has come up with a method of delivering vaccines and drugs that he says is completely painless. Kanji Takada of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University says the device he developed uses micro needles that don’t break the dermis or second layer of skin, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. The needles are made out of a water-soluble polymer that dissolves when pressed into the epidermis, the very outer layer of skin.
Read the rest of the story: Japanese prof invents painless needles

Threatened with the disappearance of its culturally iconic cherry blossoms, Japanese scientists have used heavy ion beams to create a new breed of tree that blooms throughout the year.
The Japanese have for centuries celebrated the arrival of spring by sitting beneath cherry trees as their delicate blossoms open each year, but due to global warming and the impact of rising temperatures in cities caused by vehicle emissions, air conditioning units and other forms of pollution, the trees are blooming earlier every year.
Not only are they coming earlier – five …

Major electronics maker Toshiba is getting serious about the rooftop solar game, with plans to resell highly-efficient photovoltaic panels made by Bay Area-based SunPower. The two companies just struck a supply deal for 32 megawatts worth of panels in 2010 — enough to power as many as 32,000 homes.
The contract is significant for two reasons. Not only is it expanding SunPower’s global footprint and broadening its portfolio of projects, it also signals increased interest in solar energy in Japan, where Toshiba hopes to launch its residential solar business on April …

The new affordable, sporty hybrid Honda CR-Z is all set to go on sale in Japan.
CR-Z is short for “Compact Renaissance Zero”…and your guess is as good as mine on the name, but Honda is aiming the car at the younger generation, who want to go for a “green” car with a bit of flair and oomph. So what’s in a name? The car will go on sale in Japan today and in the United States and Europe by midyear.
Honda Motor Co. announced on Thursday that “the Japanese price would …

Japan has offered to enrich uranium for Iran to allow the Islamic republic access to nuclear power while allaying international fears it might be seeking an atomic weapon, according to a report Wednesday.
Read the rest of the story: Japan offers to enrich uranium for Iran

Researchers at Japan’s Kobe Gakuin University are developing a levitating chair that hovers on a small cushion of air.
The floating chair is being developed for elderly Japanese by Tsunesuke Furuta and others at the university’s rehabilitation department.
The prototype, inspired by arcade air hockey, seems to consist of an air compressor that shoots jets of air out of many openings beneath a sports-style car seat on a platform.
The seat can be swapped for a zabuton, a Japanese floor cushion. When kneeling on it, users can move around by dragging themselves across …