Affirm spinoff Resolve raised $60m from investors including its parent company.. Sony's venture arm plans to look to Europe and beyond for backers when it launches its next fund as it expands to Africa and seeks content as well as tech the newly-appointed chief executive of Sony Ventures is planning to double down on an international focus for the corporate venture unit including inviting more international investors to be limited partners (LPs) in the next fund the team raises non-Japanese LP investors as well,” Hadano (pictured above) told Global Corporate Venturing in a recent interview so I would like to invite in some European investors.” the CVC arm of consumer electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony began taking in domestic banks and corporates as LPs for its last fund working on a fundraising plan set to be finalised within the next year It already has a global remit in its investments, with offices in Tokyo, India, Israel, Italy, UK and the US, and it recently launched an exploratory $10m Africa fund which Hadano took a key role in setting up so I would like to invite in some European investors” But now the team is looking to become more international in terms of the investors it recruits for its next fund The Sony Ventures move marks a significant change for the Japanese CVC sector as Japanese companies have often been LPs in US-headquartered funds but Japanese venture funds have traditionally been more inward-facing with their backers Sony Ventures is considering a global LP base but Hadano’s fondness for Europe stems from roughly four years he spent in Europe as managing director of the UK-based Sony Global Treasury Services before being appointed deputy chief executive of Sony Ventures last year moving up as outgoing CEO Gen Tuschikawa took on a chairman role The model, with Sony as general partner alongside outside LPs, began when Sony Ventures formed a partnership with investment bank Daiwa Securities for its $185m Growth Fund in 2019. It expanded to a wider range of backers for Innovation Fund 3, which has deployed less than half of the $210m it closed early last year and is still actively investing Hadano is already looking ahead to the next GP/LP fund “We need to think about the next funds that will be raised and that’s what we’re working on,” he says Sony Ventures is continuing to refine its global investment strategy It isn’t just about replicating the same model in each territory pretty much all our focus sectors are covered: entertainment rather than deep tech or any other solutions but now we are reviewing our investment strategy to cover other areas as well Sony’s African strategy is however completely different focusing chiefly on content creators across a range of fields but especially local music and manga which Hadano says is growing in popularity on the continent – a neat link with Sony’s home country “We need to somehow engage with local artists and creators,” he says our music business group should be able to reach out to those artists we should be able to get additional information through the community Because the most important thing for us is how to get to know the community there.” Sony Ventures is investing between $250,000 and $1m per deal out of the Africa fund and partnering with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation an organisation with a presence all over the continent It is also communicating with Sony Music – which has offices in South Africa Kenya and Ghana – and film and TV producer Sony Pictures over its activity Hadano will be discussing how to deliver on the strategic promise of CVC with Terry Doyle of Telus Ventures and MassMutual Ventures’ Samantha Santaniello at the GCV Symposium in London next week that’s complicated by having to also touch base with external LPs who are more concerned with financial returns than strategic advantage “It’s a little different from other CVCs; most CVCs just utilise corporate balance sheet money we are likely to utilise balance sheet funds but if it’s later-stage startups or follow-ons Sony Ventures has a planning committee that includes company executives and tech specialists and it speaks to the latter frequently to gauge their needs or get their input on technologies and whether they would be useful within the group “Or sometimes they can introduce the startups to us,” says Hadano In terms of how Sony Ventures is looking at new tech Hadano says the unit is examining the different methodologies of technologies like artificial intelligence together with the group’s business units to decide where it could be used most effectively that methodology lies in how to save energy and costs on the gas fees paid on transactions for Ethereum the second most widely used cryptocurrency worldwide a UK-based startup developing silicon quantum computing technology there are methodologies in quantum computing and we need to [find them] with our internal tech guys It’s quite difficult to assess and takes a long time to realise the monetisation process Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing Which corporates are backing which startups Find details about global CVC units in the CVC Directory Comprehensive data on the current trends in corporate investment GCV provides the global corporate venturing community and their ecosystem partners with the information insights and access needed to drive impactful open innovation Across our three services - News & Analysis and the GCV Institute - we create a network-rich environment for global innovation and capital to meet and thrive At the heart of our community sits the GCV Leadership Society providing privileged access to all our services and resources Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Gen Tsuchikawa (pictured right) has stepped up from chief executive to chairman for Sony Ventures the corporate venturing arm of Japanese conglomerate Sony Group formerly deputy chief executive of Sony Ventures He has been with Sony since 1997 in several finance roles across Japan Hadano concurrently serves as corporate executive officer at Sony Wireless Communications and chief financial officer at Sony Network Communications he held the role of managing director of Sony Global Treasury Services as he assumes the role of Sony Ventures CEO,” Tsuchikawa said in a LinkedIn post “It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to have been with Sony Innovation Fund since its inception and to have built a dedicated team of excellent investors I look forward to continuing our work together and contributing to the development of the industry.” Tsuchikawa has been with Sony Innovation Fund since its launch in 2016 when he was appointed vice president of corporate development and chief investment manager for the CVC initiative and tasked with building up the operations from scratch Before that Tuschikawa had had little corporate venturing experience He joined Sony Electronics US in 2004 as senior vice president of corporate development and treasury before shifting to manage M&A for Sony four years later Sony Mobile Communications took Tsuchikawa on board in 2014 and he spent eight years in functions including chief financial officer and chief strategy officer Tsuchikawa was promoted to CEO and chief investment officer for Sony Innovation Fund and the newly formed growth stage-focused Innovation Growth Ventures (later rebranded Sony Innovation Fund by IGV) Read more about Tsuchikawa’s approach at Sony Ventures here. Later, in February 2022, Sony Group created a separate entity, Sony Ventures Corporation, for all its startup investment programmes including Sony Innovation Fund: Environment, Sony Innovation Fund 3 and Sony Innovation Fund: Africa Global Corporate Venturing featured Tsuchikawa on its annual Powerlist five times from 2019 to 2023 “In my new capacity as chairman of Sony Ventures Corporation I am excited about the significant opportunities that lie ahead – particularly in enhancing our global relationships,” Tsuchikawa told GCV “I am looking forward to engaging in broader discussions and collaborative initiatives with prominent industry associations corporate venture funds and venture capitalists that will help Sony Ventures actively contribute to the ongoing advancement of our industry I anticipate that we’ll see progress and success from true category creators across a number of sectors – from deeptech and AI What will set these startups apart from others is the novel experiences they are bringing to end-users through technology Hadano added: “Since its inception in 2016 under Gen’s leadership Sony Ventures Corporation has been successful in supporting more than 160 innovative companies around the world I am excited to continue collaborating with Gen and the broader Sony Ventures team as we aim to accelerate our work in partnering with startups that are developing transformational technologies shaping the future of business “One area that holds immense promise is entertainment to India – creators of all kinds are re-imagining entertainment experiences through the integration of emerging technologies I anticipate that these novel experiences will gain traction among broader audiences and we will see the continued emergence of new creators we launched a new fund last year – Sony Innovation Fund: Africa we aim to support and nurture seed- to early-stage startups in the realm of entertainment.” Edison Fu is head of Asia development at Global Corporate Venturing By 2024-01-22T01:04:00+00:00 Techno Fresh Hadano is expected to commence operations in June 2024 Japanese vertical farm and development group has started construction on a new fresh-cut lettuce processing facility Techno Fresh Hadano the facility will be the first to implement company’s latest shelf-life increasing technology.  Techno Fresh Hadano will have capacity to process eight tonnes of lettuce per day and 85 per cent of its operations will be automated using technology such as an AI-based lettuce core remover. Notably the facility will implement Spread’s new Techno Fresh method which the company said can significantly increase the shelf-life of cut lettuce,  The method uses pesticide-free vertically farmed lettuce from Techno Farm in conjunction with Spread’s dedicated processing design to prevent bacteria increasing It will also prevent lettuce discolouration and browning Through this method Spread said it can enhance the shelf-life of its cut lettuce by up to two times and achieve a shelf-life of six days for a fresh-cut lettuce products.  According to a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and cited in a media release from Spread Japan threw away 8m tonnes of food in 2021 and is ranked 14th on the list of countries with the highest level of food waste Spread said one reason for this is Japan’s strict regulations around expiration dates including those placed on fresh-cut vegetables.   Japan requires the viable bacteria count to be lower than 1m per 1g of product the shelf-life for fresh-cut lettuce in Japan is commonly set at three to four days.  Techno Fresh Hadano is expected to commence operations in June 2024 and will produce and sell six types of cut lettuce under the Indoor Salad brand.  Site powered by Webvision Cloud Metrics details Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common and significant infection early identification is important for the initiation of appropriate treatment The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of blood culture Gram staining along with the finding of an ‘oozing sign’ to diagnose either Staphylococcus aureus or coagulase-negative staphylococci prospective observational study was performed from May 2017 to November 2017 We used routine blood culture bottles (BacT/ALERT FA and BacT/ALERT SN; bioMérieux Bacterial species were identified and the minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by using the MicroScan WalkAway 96 SI system (Beckman Coulter including 55 aerobic and 63 anaerobic bottle samples The overall sensitivity of Gram staining was 78.7% (95% CI: 65.8–94.3%) and the specificity was 95.0% (95% CI: 84.7–98.4%) The ‘oozing sign’ observed in Gram staining may be useful for the rapid prediction of S aureus in BacT/ALERT blood culture bottles Gram-stained smears from positive BacT/ALERT blood culture bottles showing Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci aureus (Gram-positive cocci in clusters with pink coloured ‘oozing) (b) ‘Oozing sign’-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis The Gram staining was evaluated by two examiners who knew whether the Gram staining was from either aerobic or anaerobic blood cultures but were blinded to the identification findings We then analysed the diagnostic performance of Gram staining of the blood cultures Mary’s Hospital Research Ethics Committee (Approval No Blood culture samples were collected daily as part of standard patient care Data analyses were carried out in two steps The second step was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity with/without covariates P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant All statistical analyses were performed with SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute A total of 136 samples were screened for study inclusion 13 samples with more than two species and five samples with species other than Staphylococcus including 55 aerobic and 63 anaerobic samples The results of the cultures were as follows: 50 S aureus (26 aerobic and 24 anaerobic samples) and 68 coagulase-negative staphylococci (39 aerobic and 29 anaerobic samples) There was 100% correlation between the aerobic and anaerobic bottles which was focused on the findings of cell size and cluster characteristics aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci and the specificity was 98% from BacT/ALERT blood culture bottles which is the same type of bottles used in our study aureus grew as small (< 1 μm irregular clusters containing many bacteria in the anaerobic bottles and as large (≥ 1 μm) clusters in the aerobic bottles our study just evaluated one simple finding ‘oozing,’ regardless of whether aerobic or anaerobic bottles were used Our method does not require measurement of cell size This method could be used in hospitals with limited resources and outside of Japan the results of this study were based on a subjective assessment approximately 10% of the assessments were not in agreement examiners may need to look at the slides together to obtain the best agreement the findings of this study are applicable only when using the same blood culture bottles and system as other blood culture bottles may not yield the same result Gram staining of the positive bottles was not performed at night and there is a possibility that the ‘oozing sign’ is a time-dependent finding we did not take a possible relationship with time into account we do not know what the ‘oozing sign’ is; therefore further research is needed to characterize this ‘oozing sign’ the ‘oozing sign’ observed in Gram staining is useful for rapidly identifying S The sensitivity and specificity of this simple finding are relatively high laboratories using the BacT/ALERT blood culture system should learn this simple and easy discrimination method for the rapid identification of S Predictors of mortality in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia persistence in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: incidence Rapid identification of microorganisms from positive blood cultures by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry subsequent to very short-term incubation on solid medium Antimicrobial resistance: the example of Staphylococcus aureus The usability of a simple Gram stain procedure (Nishioka’s method) The statistical evaluation of medical tests for classification and prediction Rapid identification of Staphylococcus aureus from BacT/ALERT blood culture bottles by direct gram stain characteristics Download references The authors thank the clinical laboratory centre staff at St We would like to thank Editage (https://www.editage.jp) for English language editing The authors declare that they have no funding sources The datasets used and/or analysed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request All authors read and approved the final manuscript This study was approved by the institutional review board of St The requirement for obtaining written consent from study participants was waived by the IRB because of the observational nature of the study without any deviation from current medical practices The authors declare that they have no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Modelling sensitivity and specificity by the generalized mixed model Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-018-3412-2 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Unlock discounted publishing that highlights your organization and the peer-reviewed research and clinical experiences it produces Find out how channels are organized and operated including details on the roles and responsibilities of channel editors Offering a variety of advertising and sponsorship options for reaching influential specialists from targeted demographic splits efficient publishing and peer reviewing experience without sacrificing publication times Generate broad awareness and deliver relevant peer-reviewed clinical experiences directly to potential customers Dedicated Cranial Radiosurgery: Clinical Experience with New & Innovative SRS Technologies Real-Time Adaptive Motion Management on Helical and Robotic RT Platforms Please note that by doing so you agree to be added to our monthly email newsletter distribution list Metrics details its relationship to candidemia incidence is not well established Activities implemented by the Antimicrobial Susceptibility Team (AST) at Itabashi Chuo Medical Center (ICMC) in April 2018 resulted in a downward trend of broad-spectrum antimicrobial use This study evaluated whether the reduction of broad-spectrum antimicrobial use through the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship led to a deceased incidence of hospital-acquired blood stream infections (BSIs) due to Candida spp in an acute tertiary care hospital in Japan This single-center retrospective study was conducted at ICMC which is a 569-bed tertiary community-based acute care teaching hospital and teaching center with 34 subspecialties and a 12-bed intensive care unit The number of ambulance transports per year is approximately 10,000 This hospital has an active Department of General Internal Medicine and its average number of inpatients is approximately 80 per day This department manages cases with a variety of medical problems The Department of Transplant Surgery is also active and performs about 40 solid organ transplants per year The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Itabashi Chuo Medical Center (No The requirement to obtain written consent from all participants was waived by the Institutional Review Board because of the study’s observational nature without any deviation from the current medical practice The impact of our ASP on antimicrobial use and the incidence of hospital-acquired candidemia was evaluated between two periods (pre-intervention: April 2017 to March 2018 and intervention: April 2018 to September 2020) This data were retrospectively collected from electronic charts A multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship program was implemented in April 2018 (Table 1) It was staffed by three physicians (respiratory medicine a clinical pharmacist (1.0 full-time equivalent) a microbiology laboratory technician (0.1 full-time equivalent) an infection control nurse (0.1 full-time equivalent) and a part-time infectious diseases physician (0.1 full-time equivalent) AST members held a 1.5 h case conference once a week Inclusion criteria were defined as: patients treated with three broad-spectrum antipseudomonal agents (carbapenems and cefepime) and intravenous quinolones for more than 7 days The monthly aggregated hospital antimicrobial consumption was measured as days of therapy (DOTs) per 1000 patient-days for the broad-spectrum agents The monthly incidence of hospital acquired candidemia was measured between April 2017 and September 2020 The data used in this study were obtained from medical charts All episodes of hospital-acquired BSIs due to Candida spp were retrospectively reviewed by AST members The total DOTs per month per 1000 patient-days was calculated for carbapenem (CAR) and 3-antipseudomonal agents: carbapenem (meropenem) Meropenem was evaluated because its consumption was more than 98% of all carbapenems during this period were diagnosed based on blood culture specimens obtained after 48 h since admission Only the first episode of BSIs during the study period was included but a separate episode could be recognized if there was another episode of hospital-acquired BSI that occurred 30 days after completing a course of antifungal therapy The monthly incidence of candidemia was calculated per 1000 patient-days Changes were evaluated with an ordinary least-squares regression Harmonic terms were added to the models to account for seasonality Categorical data were analyzed using either the chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test and non-categorical data using the Student’s t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test A two-tailed p-value of < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant and the 95% confidence interval (CI) was used All statistical analyses were performed using the R software version 4.0.2 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing Austria) and SAS software version 9.4 (SAS Institute There were no significant differences between the two groups (p = 0.72) The number of hospital-acquired candidemia cases in the intensive care unit (ICU) were five cases (19.2%) and three cases (12.5%) Time series analysis of monthly antibiotic use Time series plot showing the monthly average duration of carbapenem use (DOTs/1000 patient-days) Time series plot showing the monthly average duration (DOTs/1000 patient-days) of use for three antipseudomonal antibiotics: carbapenem Time series analysis of candidemia incidence Time series plot showing the impact of antimicrobial use on the incidence density (per 1000 patient-days) of hospital-acquired candidemia In the sub-analysis in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting the median incidence of hospital-acquired candidemia in the ICU at the time of blood culture collection was 0.00 (IQR 0.0 to 0.00) per 1000 patient-days during the pre-intervention and intervention periods the relatively long study period and the decrease in the use of antimicrobials (especially CAR-DOT) may have contributed to the decrease in the incidence of hospital-acquired Candidemia This study showed that candidemia development can be decreased by reducing the use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials through the ASP This study has several limitations related to its retrospective and uncontrolled nature the study findings may not be generalizable to other settings this study did not measure the 30-day mortality of hospital-acquired candidemia and other hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant BSIs such as extended spectrum β-lactamase- (ESBL) producing or carbapenem resistant organisms catheter related blood stream infection (CRBSI) and resistance ratio between the periods was not considered in this study there were no outbreaks of CRBSI in the study period and specific infection control interventions to prevent the incidence of CRBSI were not performed A future multicenter study with a large number of clinical cases is needed to elucidate the relationship between the administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics and the incidence of hospital-acquired candidemia and multidrug resistant bacteremia a reduction in broad-spectrum antibiotic administration (especially carbapenem) by our AST reduced the incidence rate of hospital-acquired candidemia in an acute tertiary care hospital The datasets used and/or analyzed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request Implementing an antibiotic stewardship program: Guidelines by the infectious diseases society of America and the society for healthcare epidemiology of America Interventions to improve antibiotic prescribing practices for hospital inpatients Impact of antibiotic stewardship programmes in Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis Multicenter retrospective development and validation of a clinical prediction rule for nosocomial invasive candidiasis in the intensive care setting Risk factors and clinical analysis of candidemia in very-low-birth-weight neonates Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series studies in medication use research Long-term impact of an educational antimicrobial stewardship program on hospital-acquired candidemia and multidrug-resistant bloodstream infections: A quasi-experimental study of interrupted time-series analysis Eight-year experience of antimicrobial stewardship program and the trend of carbapenem use at a tertiary acute-care hospital in Japan-the impact of postprescription review and feedback Impact of an infectious disease physician-led carbapenem postprescription feedback on prescribing behavior in a Japanese tertiary hospital: A before-after study Effects of infectious disease consultation and antimicrobial stewardship program at a Japanese cancer center: An interrupted time-series analysis Impact of treatment strategy on outcomes in patients with candidemia and other forms of invasive candidiasis: a patient-level quantitative review of randomized trials Attributable mortality of candidemia after introduction of echinocandins Delaying the empiric treatment of candida bloodstream infection until positive blood culture results are obtained: a potential risk factor for hospital mortality The economic burden of candidemia and invasive candidiasis: A systematic review Download references The authors thank the clinical staff at Itabashi Chuo Medical Center for their excellent work Division of Infection Control and Prevention wrote the first draft of the manuscript; A.S. and assisted in the review of the final manuscript; all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19374-3 Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science is home to a style of pottery known as Hagiyaki when the local lord Mōri Terumoto brought two potters—the brothers Yi Sukkwang and Yi Kyeong—from Korea to Hagi where they established kilns to make pottery for the nobility The tradition was born from the techniques they brought to Japan Hagiyaki displays warm tones brought out from the natural colors of the relatively coarse local clay and glazes with very soft colors like pale salmon One of the defining characteristics of the style is a phenomenon called Hagi no nanabake or the “seven transformations of Hagi.” The glaze on Hagiyaki is webbed with tiny cracks that allow matcha to gradually seep into the porous clay during use in the tea ceremony This causes the pottery to shift in color over the years as acids in the tea react with the clay’s iron content These subtle changes, and the natural tones of the clay and glaze, have made Hagiyaki a prized style for traditional tea ceremony bowls. An apocryphal saying in the tea world apparently ranks Japan’s pottery centers thus: First Raku The area’s pottery has long had a devoted following domestically the pottery of Hagi today does not always fit so easily into that tradition the potters who work in this area have begun to resist the demands of tradition seeking creative freedom as artists rather than simply as craftsmen creating teaware Hagi potter Hadano Hideo at work at one of his wheels the children of the potter families started going to university and studying art they had new ideas about creativity and freedom that were restrained by traditional craft the Miwa potters in particular were the vanguard of a new way of thinking.” He explains that Miwa Jūsetsu (Kyūsetsu XI) saw the work being done by artists in Kyoto and other increasingly creative pottery centers and was inspired to explore new expression in his pottery This is how Kyūsetsu XI created Oni Hagi (devil Hagi)—a style that eschews the traditional softness of Hagiyaki with thick Robert Yellin—owner of Kyoto’s Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery and lecturer on Japanese ceramics—says that artists like the Miwa family have been influential in introducing abstract cultural pieces to this traditional style on a wider scale Hagiyaki remains a relatively conservative To further explore the balance between craft and art I interviewed Kaneta and another prominent potter about the balance of craft and art in their work and is the son of Saga Prefecture–born Hadano Zenzō who studied pottery in Karatsu before coming to Hagi to specialize in the local style Zenzō was named a Living Cultural Treasure by Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2002 Hideo studied art at Tama Art University in Tokyo then went to Kyoto to study pottery specifically He now works with his father at their kiln in the Hagi city center his work builds on the traditional Hagi style that his father exemplifies with novel approaches to texture and coloring When asked about his approach to balancing his work as objects to be used with creative pursuit he saws “I always think first about using the cups or plates I make whenever I’m making a guinomi [large sake cup] I imagine how sake will taste from it and how the shape of the rim will feel on the lips I always test one out myself!” He also fills tokkuri sake flasks to see how smoothly they pour or gets a bottle of his favorite sake to give his guinomi a full test “I don’t see a piece as finished without use A plate isn’t a plate until you put food on it That’s all part of what I consider when I’m making something.” The challenge is finding self-expression within that limit Hadano’s weathered workshop is the source of challenging pieces that meet both artistic and everyday needs Hadano’s works are distinct in shape with clear touches of design and character Artistic expression comes in the alteration of traditional shapes and experimenting with variations in natural clay The pieces on display in the Hadano Shigetsu Gama gallery are all recognizable in function They are still distinct and often striking in form “I do want to add artistic expression to my work I look at them and think I went too far.” In the large the traditional craft guides Hadano’s work and in fact he describes the tradition in almost reverential terms “Pottery is a nexus of nature and culture with clay shaped by skilled hands to fit people’s needs.” It connects to the very basics of life—eating and drinking He is the eighth generation Kaneta potter to work in Hagi and like many of his peers he studied sculpture at university before joining his father’s workshop he found himself dissatisfied with the traditional potter’s wheel and pioneered a technique called kurinuki in which he beats lumps of clay into a desired shape and then carves out the interior with spoon and blade to create vessels It results in a style that is uniquely powerful while still retaining the soft colors and texture of Hagi clay Kaneta’s work displays a daring sensibility while retaining the presence and coloring of the traditional Hagiyaki glaze “Kaneta Masanao is a visionary ceramic artist who was unafraid to move his ancient family kiln into the art world Being an eighth-generation potter and seeing his father’s very it took courage to break away from that and totally—and magnificently—reshape his family’s kiln and Hagi as well.” “I put creativity first,” Kaneta says when I ask him about balancing artistic expression with the eventual experience of the user “I expect the user to put up with the pieces I make some of my cups can be difficult to drink from I can imagine that after a couple of drinks you might just get mad at it and throw it at the wall!” he laughs The uneven lip and irregular triangular shape do seem to offer a challenge to regular use he mildly chides me for even asking about the idea of balancing the two The consideration of function isn’t part of the conversation when I’m making a vessel I’ll start to wonder whether it would work better as a visual piece and so I close up the opening and leave it like that What I want is to make something interesting!” When I ask Kaneta to show me a piece that he finds most representative he leads me to the entryway of his gallery and the centerpiece is a massive conical figure It resembles nothing more than a volcano sculpted of clay and the shape is too irregular to be a jug of any kind while the sculpted curves and jagged opening speak to strong artistic intent “It’s a battle between what I want to do and the results just aren’t very interesting.” Kaneta Masanao with some of his gallery pieces and others in his gallery—large wavelike shapes that look almost reminiscent of magatama beads blown up to a meter in length or like abstract boats balanced precariously on pedestals—seem to strain the limits of what Hagiyaki can be and the glazes recall those seen on other pieces but the shapes and scale are unprecedented there were older potters who refused to accept what I was doing as Hagiyaki Kaneta is not the only one who has struggled with definitions Hadano Hideo also uses unusual colors and techniques in his work There are heavy black clay guinomi with layers of pearlescent glaze vases shaped like cubes balanced on one corner and vivid orange rabbits that open to reveal bowls for traditional tea sweets “They might not look like traditional Hagiyaki,” he says “but it’s all local clay and local glaze.” So what else could it be This issue is not settled for the next generation of Hagi potters “There are younger potters who can pick up the phone or send an email and get clay from anywhere I don’t care what the old folks say!” says Kaneta is himself a senior figure in modern Hagi pottery I’m old enough to not care if others accept my work whether you want to call it Hagiyaki or something else.” He does worry about one label “I do wish people wouldn’t focus on labeling all this as pottery Or is it purely an evocation of those characteristics that connoisseurs value—the clay artists like Kaneta and Hadano are walking their own paths within this tradition and yet still rooted in over 400 years of tradition Banner photo: Hadano Hideo at work on a sake cup Hawaii Catholic Herald 10/25/2023 by OSF Special to the Herald This is the time to remember and to give thanks for all Mother Marianne and the Sisters of St Francis have done for the people of Hawaii 8 marks the 140th anniversary of their arrival here in 1883 Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: , Francis remembered for her compassion Honolulu-born Sister of St Francis of the Neumann Communities Francis Regis Hadano an educator and congregational leader known for her compassion and sensitivity She was 94 and a religious sister for 76 years Filed Under: Obituary Tagged With: , , 10/11/2023 by 140th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF MOTHER MARIANNE AND THE SISTERS OF ST FRANCIS 1883-2023 COME AND CELEBRATE ALL ARE INVITED BISHOP LARRY SILVA WILL CELEBRATE MASS CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF PEACE NOVEMBER 8 A mini reenactment of the arrival will precede the Mass Refreshments and fellowship follow Answers […] Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: , , 03/15/2023 by Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii celebrated National Catholic Sisters Week by honoring all of our Sisters of St Francis of the Neumann Communities on March 8 Our sisters living at the Plaza in Kaneohe and in Kalaupapa came to join our sisters in Honolulu […] 02/01/2023 by Sister of St Francis always looked for new challenges in religious life Sister Michele McQueeney who said she felt “fortunate to have been involved in a variety of ministries” in her 66 years as a Sister of St 10 at The Plaza in Kaneohe after a short illness Filed Under: Obituary Tagged With: , , 07/06/2022 by Francis served with a joyful spirit Sister Mary Candida Oroc as a Catholic school educator and hospital chaplain especially in her ministry with palliative care patients Filed Under: Obituary Tagged With: , , 05/25/2022 by Franciscan generously used her God-given talents Francis of the Neumann Communities Mary Ancilla Yim who had a long and varied career as an educator She was 95 years old and a religious for […] Filed Under: Obituary Tagged With: , , 07/21/2021 by ‘Journeying with God’ was a blessing for Hilo-born Sister of St a “Hilo girl” who served as a Catholic school educator for 50 years and is remembered for her “great sense of humor,” died July 6 at age 91 at the Plaza in Kaneohe after a brief illness 09/18/2019 by Seven decades after entering the convent together local Franciscan Sisters reminisce … and look ahead Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong OP Hawaii Catholic Herald Four island-born Sisters of St Francis of the Neumann Communities renewed their vows for the 70th time in front of family and friends at a special celebration Aug Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: , , 06/12/2019 by Shirley Tamoria Special to the Hawaii Catholic Herald The Saint Francis School graduation for 2019 was a heartfelt moment of a closing door with the hope of a new door opening The young graduates were full of energy and the transformation process was amazing I knew some of them as freshmen on the […] Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: , , Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in The Yokohama District Court on Friday sentenced a 40-year-old man to 23 years in prison for murdering two Chinese sisters and leaving their bodies -- stuffed in travel bags -- in woods near Tokyo last year Lawyers representing Tatsuya Iwasaki appealed the ruling immediately claiming he was not involved in killing and abandoning the remains of Chen Baolan The crime was conducted "with a strong intention of killing," judge Kiyoshi Aonuma said in handing down the ruling Iwasaki had been romantically interested in the elder sister but murdered her after coming to believe that she was trying to use him to contract a fake marriage which added Iwasaki killed the younger sister to cover up the crime Iwasaki's lawyers have said he only cooperated in a plan to make it look like the two women had disappeared as the elder sister's right to legal residence was about to expire saying there was no sign of the involvement of a third person and that only Iwasaki was able to enter the sisters' apartment in Yokohama where the two were choked to death on July 6 last year Iwasaki abandoned their bodies in the mountains in Hadano the next day after packing them into travel bags To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks "Despite the global downtrend vertical farming has experienced in the past year in Japan more and more retailers and foodservice companies are keen on working with us due to rapid price changes and instability of the outdoor produce due to climate change decreasing agricultural population and other challenges," says Yurii Voronkov "We have an increasing number of inquiries from overseas as well I hope that we will have some exciting news to tell in this field," Yurii adds What's happening in 2024?As Yurii explains 2024 year is a very important year for Spread as both the abovementioned Techno Farm Fukuroi and Techno Fresh Hadano will start operations Techno Farm Fukuroi will produce 10 tons of lettuce of which 8 tons will go to the Hadano facility The Fukuroi farm will also have 80% of all operations fully automated while Hadano will have 85% of its operations automated such as an AI-enabled lettuce core removing robot Due to mass automation and even stricter hygiene guidelines the product will be extra clean and won’t require any washing before eating With the new INDOOR brand that Spread launched recently the team feels that customers value its product development strength and therefore Spread is looking forward to a lot of promises in the coming year fresh-cut vegetables require viable bacteria count to be lower than 1,000,000 for 1g of the product the shelf life for fresh-cut lettuce in Japan is commonly set at 3-4 days To remedy the perishability of the product the Techno Fresh processing method uses pesticide-free lettuce grown in a highly hygienic environment within Techno Farm and combines it with the in-house developed processing technologies that prevent bacteria from increasing Comparative Data for Techno Fresh (changes over time) *2Changes in viable bacterial count on Techno Fresh cut lettuceSample size: n=13 (Click here to zoom the photo) Spread was able to enhance the shelf life of the cut lettuce by up to 2 times and has become the first company to achieve a record-breaking 6 days shelf life for a fresh-cut lettuce product in Japan the Techno Fresh method prevents lettuce from discoloration The new facility “Techno Fresh Hadano” is not a vertical farm,but a salad processing plant that will produce fresh-cut salad using Spread’s vertically farmed lettuce The facility is located in an area of 4,800 m2 and will produce 8 tons of fresh-cut lettuce products per day Changes in visual appearance of Techno Fresh vs typical cut lettuce (Click here to zoom the photo) Spread let us know that 2023 was a year of preparations for them "We feel proud that we managed to proceed according to the schedule regarding Techno Farm Fukuroi’s development (start of operation planned for early 2024)." the team was rather happy to receive the 2023 Vertical Farming World Awards with the Techno Fresh processing method For more information:Spread Co., Ltd. Yurii Voronkov, Public Relations [email protected] www.spread.co.jp/en FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com “We have just begun in the headphone category” “I don’t remember any previous headphones of such naming” The new ‘special edition’ (hence the ‘SE’) model is a bold thorough redesign of its HP-1 from the mid-1970s which were not only the company’s first headphones but also one of the first pairs to implement a planar magnetic (Yamaha called it an ‘orthodynamic’) driver.  Fifty years later and following a several-decades-long absence of any such model in Yamaha’s catalogue the YH-5000SE arrive with a modern-day orthodynamic driver an aesthetic miles away from the HP-1’s Mario Bellini-designed one and a name (and price) reflecting not their heritage link but instead their enviable position within Yamaha’s flagship 5000 Series In a matter of months, the wired headphones have already made a legacy for themselves, winning What Hi-Fi?’s 2023 Temptation Award in recognition of their unprecedented sonic ability at this level a judgement shared by many other specialist audio publications and an even greater number of audiophile forum fiends With this in mind, you’d understand our desire to pounce upon the rare opportunity to talk to the engineers behind the YH-5000SE as well as its debut – and timely! – high-end headphone amplifier, the HA-L7A to shed further light on how such landmark products came to fruition Tsutomu Takeshita (product planning) and Kazuaki Ohsawa (global marketing) for their time and insights Not all masterpieces can be created as speedily as the Strange Case of Dr Hyde novel and Rocky screenplay (three days) though it may surprise you to read that the YH-5000SE were as long as seven years in the making that Mr Hadano found drawings of the HP-1 in the company’s old drawers and began studying its orthodynamic design – not so easy as there wasn’t much information available internally So he only had the drawings and some external web pages to go off none of the engineering team were around in the HP-1 days with only one having been born by that time – and only just Mr Hadano was considering new products for Yamaha at the time and recalls how he was “impressed by the technology and mood” of the ‘70s headphones The team was motivated by the idea to create a modern-day orthodynamic driver headphone that would “connect deeply with our customers (especially our passionate music lovers)” – even if the product would be rather niche Yamaha knew people had been waiting for the brand to come back into the audiophile headphone market not least those who still turn up to audio shows clutching their HP-1s we were able to create a ‘quick & dirty’ prototype of the YH-5000SE by getting hints from those past drawings and cooperation from engineers both in and outside the company,” Mr Hadano tells us The team tested the prototype’s sound and believed the orthodynamic design had the potential to withstand the music sources of today the task at hand was far from simple… “Ortho” in Greek means “correct” and “straight” and its first-generation orthodynamic driver was based on the idea of correctly driving the diaphragm for greater sonic accuracy So just briefly on how the orthodynamic (planar magnetic) design works: an ultra-thin diaphragm etched with a voice coil sits between opposing magnets so when a music signal flows through that patterned etching it generates magnetic fields that interact with one another to make the diaphragm (and voice coil) move and produce sound As a wider surface area is being driven and the design is lightweight the orthodynamic driver can offer greater responsiveness and lower distortion than the conventional moving coil one it was the result of hi-fi and headphone brands in the ‘70s experimenting with electrostatic and planar technologies in order to push the heights of consumer audio kit in line with the advancing studio recording ambitions of not only stereo tracks but also multi-channel (yes this was when The Dark Side of the Moon changed the world as our old engineers paid much attention to its development,” says the engineers today “But it's not good enough for now.” the HP-1 driver design was evolved in three key areas for the YH-5000SE the frame of the driver has a larger opening than the HP-1’s to allow for a higher sound passthrough from the diaphragm whereas the HP-1 had a fixed axis in the centre of the diaphragm (enabling stable manufacturing as well as an airtight seal for decent bass delivery) reducing the resonance it inherently causes and consequently allowing for greater dynamic and low-end expression the HP-1’s thick felt damping was replaced by a micropore damper for increased attack and agility as well as fewer losses in the mids and highs “a faster response than any other model we have developed in the past… the realism of the instrument's attack is outstanding” is rather unusual due to its truly circular diaphragm and spiral coil) to get there was fraught with challenges “To achieve both sound quality and mass productivity we tried over 1000 different prototypes of diaphragms and this is one of the reasons why it took so much time to develop this model,” says Mr Kobayashi Why didn’t the team give up on the orthodynamic after the 500th Because the headphones’ historical context was very important to the team “The moulding and pressing of the diaphragm film was very difficult,” explains Mr Hadano as he reaches for his box full of prototypes and tools to show us “It is very delicate to touch and easy to deform when removing it from the mould It took many trials and I crushed my mould many times The magnet gap of an orthodynamic driver is extremely narrow long time… we hit many dead-ends during development… but we eventually found one method of making this process Very few people in the company know the process.” In the interview room of five only two of them knew – Mr Hadano and Mr Kobayashi one of the internally trained ‘golden ears’ in Yamaha’s True Sound team which signs off on the sound of products.) Considering the manufacturing complexity involved it’s perhaps not surprising that the YH-5000SE are produced and assembled at Yamaha’s Kakegawa factory where its grand pianos and reference audio components are made “We have a lot of my factories – in Japan Indonesia – but we decided to manufacture them here,” says Mr Ohsawa but half a year ago there were still difficulties to overcome and as the factory is only a 40-minute drive away our best engineers could go there right away to fix something.” it’ll be harder for some more than others to perceive headphones costing as much as a second-hand car did we not mention the YH-5000SE’s £4799 / $5000 / AU$7499 price tag there you go.) That’s why Mr Kobayashi urges people to try them: “It's not only the sound but also the concept of the design – you cannot realise it until you wear them.” The team acknowledged that there are opinions about the price (!) but told us it was confident with the balance between it and the quality on offer such a figure will naturally rule out many head-fi fans as owners as we first asked ourselves no more than 30 minutes into our initial listening of the YH-5000SE will more accessible pairs come down the track Yamaha couldn’t reveal any solid plans with the team agreeing that it sees high potential in the market – a market that has a lot of dedicated shows around the world attended by many generations “We have just begun in the headphone category,” says Mr Takeshita “and will try to continue to challenge ourselves in the future.” Hadano adds: “The knowledge gained through the development of these headphones will be carried over to future Yamaha head-fi products.” So it seems like more a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ Yamaha’s hi-fi division turns 70 next year so we hope to see special things from the brand in 2024 The YH-5000SE are not so much ‘special edition’ headphones as a ‘special edition’ headphones package two types of cables – one 4.4 mm Pentaconn balanced one 3.5mm (XLR leads are an optional extra) and two pairs of earpads – one suede which undertakes various sensitivity assessments for everything from speakers to musical instruments to understand how people feel about them found that preferences were split across the two materials Yamaha decided to include both to cater for different sound signatures and listening environments allowing it to be a ground-up design and deliver sonic synergy between the two – though Mr Sato made a point of saying it was tuned using several other high-end headphones “We wanted it to drive all kinds of high-end headphones and bring out the maximum potential of all kinds of content,” he says That second point was crucial to the amplifier’s design too as the team realised that people nowadays listen to more than just music and so wanted to ensure the HA-L7A was a versatile performer for streaming TV shows and movies as well as various music That’s why Yamaha has included a Sound Field mode giving owners six DSP presets – including Cinema Outdoor Live and Concert Hall – designed to create optimal sound depending on the music or video source being played And it was one of the reasons it decided on a digital rather than purely analogue design we wanted to stick to our strong points,” says Mr Sato “The HA-L7A takes both the advantages of our hi-fi products which have been around for almost 70 years and our 35-year AV receiver history.” The ‘dimension’ brought by that unique Sound Field technology is reflected in the HA-L7A’s physical design which is certainly a talking point owing to its distinct ‘L-shape’ But that shape is central to its acoustic engineering too which the power supply uses independently for the minute-signal circuitry and the amplifier section They sit directly above the power supply board and this – plus the ground-isolated circuit boards and heavy-duty chassis design – is all in the name of eliminating noise “When you’re listening to speakers the noise is not such a big issue compared to headphone listening [where] noise can be very easily recognised,” explains Mr Sato And Yamaha is naturally confident in its ability at its price point of £3499 / $3999.95 / AU$6999: “We compared this product with competitor models using reference sources and headphones and found that the sound pressure range soundfield and localisation were as we intended,” Mr Sato concluded Read our Yamaha YH-5000SE review and hands-on Yamaha HA-L7A review My success story of the year was also the biggest surprise I've heard over 150 products this year, and these are my 5 hi-fi highlights During her 11+ years in the hi-fi industry from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices extending Indian Ocean reachBeijing looking for other basing opportunities in Africa China's homegrown Shandong aircraft carrier: The Djibouti base is capable of accommodating both aircraft carriers and the latest amphibious assault ships BEIJING -- China has completed a pier large enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier at a naval base in the eastern African nation of Djibouti which could potentially allow the country's navy to project power outside the traditional operating areas of the East and South China seas China's first and only overseas military base sits near the strategically important Bab-el-Mandeb Strait linking the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea It was built in 2017 as a naval "support facility" that Beijing said would be used as a base for anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and responding to accidents at sea Japanese version A Chinese patrol ship sails through the East China Sea in this photo provided by the Japan Coast Guard BEIJING -- China on Thursday passed a law that imposes fines on foreign-flagged vessels for sailing in waters it claims as its own adding more enforcement powers to its growing maritime presence The National People's Congress standing committee voted in favor of an amended Maritime Traffic Safety Law which is meant to improve maritime traffic conditions and security Chinese soldiers launch a mortar during a live-fire exercise BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will employ force to unify Taiwan with China by 2027 an influential Chinese academic who advises Beijing on foreign policy told Nikkei a professor in Renmin University's School of International Studies notes that the People's Liberation Army already has a posture superior to that of the U.S to deal with a contingency involving Taiwan Kanagawa — Production of salt-pickled cherry blossoms has reached its peak in Hadano known for edible yaezakura double-flowered cherry blossoms please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent are now busy manually removing dust and dirt from picked flowers one by one The flowers are then soaked in salt and ume plum vinegar for about a month to complete the process The group makes about 300 kilograms of salt-pickled cherry blossoms a week during the peak time and ships them to be used as ingredients or garnishes “The flowers bloomed later than usual this year So it seems we will be able to produce beautiful and fragrant salted pickles,” said the 45-year-old head of the group Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun The second half of the Golden Week holiday period began Wednesday with traffic jams occurring on expressways around the nation in the morning Long lines of cars were seen on outbound lanes in the Kanto region at 10 a.m. according to the Japan Road Traffic Information Center Cars were stuck in a 40-kilometer traffic jam on the Tohoku Expressway starting near the Hanyu Parking Area in Hanyu Traffic was congested for 33 kilometers on the Tomei Expressway starting in the area between the Isehara Junction in Isehara and the Hadano-Nakai Interchange in Hadano A 31-kilometer traffic jam was seen on the Chuo Expressway starting near Kobotoke Tunnel connecting Hachioji cars were stuck in a 29-kilometer traffic jam starting near the Takasaka rest area in Higashi-Matsuyama Construction on disputed Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea is seen here in 2015: China's neighbors are worred about Beijing's efforts to assert control of the strategic waterway.  © AP BEIJING/HANOI -- Vietnam has lodged a formal protest following China's announcement the previous day that it is setting up two administrative units on islands in the South China Sea "The establishment of the so-called Sansha City and related activities are a grave violation of Vietnam's sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement on Sunday "Vietnam demands that China respect Vietnam's sovereignty and abolish its wrongful decisions." MENU GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 10 Sep) – A move to rename more than a dozen streets in this city with names of other localities in the country and abroad drew flak from residents who asserted there are more pressing matters that need to be addressed than renaming streets Among the proposed street names are Yong-In City Korea to replace Pina Street and Adelaide City Australia to replace Chico Street in barangay Dadiangas North in this city That would be absolutely confusing),” protested a tricycle driver The proposed ordinances were presented on first reading during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Tuesday The proposals include the renaming of at least 14 streets in the urban barangays of Dadiangas North and Dadiangas West who introduced the proposed ordinances to the City Council on Wednesday denied it was her idea to rename city streets pointing out that the proposals came from the tourism division of the City Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office who recently assumed the City Council’s Committee on Tourism Told about antagonistic reactions by residents on the proposal the veteran councilor said it is still best that the matter be presented to the City Council for deliberation and scrutiny “to see its advantages and disadvantages.” She said the renaming of the streets is in keeping with the thrust of the current city administration to pursue sisterhood ties among various cities which will have economic gains for the city which was developed following the forging of a sisterhood pact with Hadano City in Japan City officials also renamed Jersey a street here after forging sisterhood ties with Jersey City in the United States cautioned Bagonoc on her move because the renaming of streets falls under the purview of the barangays Nunez told the proponents of the proposed ordinances to first consult with concerned barangays “before you commit further errors.” The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) guidelines on renaming streets and other public structures mentioned only that “the sanggunians of component cities may in consultation with the National Historical Institute change the name of streets … within its territorial jurisdiction.” The NHCP guidelines mandate that the proposed names “must have historical and cultural significance,” should be “short and simple for practical and aesthetic reasons,” and discourages using names “which are complicated and confusing,” among others The same NHCP rule states that a public place cannot be renamed if the present name has attained a degree of historical association and has developed an importance of its own no portion of a street or road may be renamed if it would tend to disrupt the continuity of its present name The proposed street name revisions are as follows: Korea Street for Piña Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Adelaide City Australia Street for Chico Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Katherine town Northern Territory for Bayabas Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Manado City Indonesia for Macopa Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Shantou City Guangdong Province China for Pina Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Bacolod City Street for North-Purok 01-004 in Barangay Dadiangas North – Camiling Tarlac Street for Pili Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Dingalan Aurora Street for Apple Street in Barangay Dadiangas North – Mabalacat City Street for North-Purok 3-Road A in Barangay Dadiangas North “How can we instill historical sense and pride to our younger generations if we keep on renaming our roads and streets?” “Since General Santos is a city built by the fishing industry why not rename the streets with fish species?” remarked fish vendor Gilbert Pangamal of Barangay Bawing here No.: 082 297 4360 editor [at] mindanews [dot] com A lost dog climbed onto an Odakyu Line train platform and stepped into a Shinjuku-bound train at Tsurumaki-Onsen Station in Hadano The confusion caused services to be delayed up to 15 minutes a dog that appeared to be a Shiba Inu entered the front car of a local train as the doors opened Two station employees were able to get the dog off the train one employee was bitten and had to receive first aid The train departed the station nine minutes late Security footage apparently showed the dog jumping onto the platform from the tracks The dog is believed to have gotten loose while on a walk with an elderly man The dog was later reunited with the man at the Tsurumaki police box nearby Japanese version