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Tokyo, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press) Japan Post Holdings Co. plans to use its nationwide network of some 24,000 post offices as regional hubs, offering administrative services on behalf of local governments in sparsely populated areas, company President Hiroya Masuda said in a recent interview.
Japan Post Holdings will also accelerate discussions with Japanese cybermall operator Rakuten Inc. to collaborate on a new financial service, in addition to cooperating in the field of logistics, according to Masuda. Most of what I have done (since becoming president) is fixing troubles and damage on our clients as swiftly as possible, said Masuda, who assumed the position in January last year after the previous leadership resigned over irregularities in sales of Kampo postal life insurance products at post offices. This year, I will focus on the next growth strategy.
29 December 2020, 2:05 pm EST By
Due to the pandemic this 2020, services are trying to find ways to limit human to human contact to provide safety for their customers and employees, so it wasn t surprising when shops began delivering almost anything from food to necessities right at their customer s doorsteps.
Nevertheless, Panasonic wanted to take things a step further with a self-driving robot to do deliveries.
Trials at Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town
(Photo : Panasonic)
The autonomous delivery vehicle is being tested in the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town in Japan.
According to the Japan Times, the company has announced on Monday, December 28, that trials for the self-driving delivery robot will start in February at a residential area in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan Post Co. has begun accepting
nengajо̄ (traditional New Year’s greeting cards) for delivery on New Year’s Day with the hope that those who cannot return to their hometowns due to a resurgence of coronavirus infections will instead send greeting cards.
The initial issuance of the postage-paid cards issued for 2021 hit a record low of about 1.94 billion, down 17% from the previous year, falling for the 10th consecutive year and slipping below 2 billion for the first time, according to Japan Post.
The figure marked a record high of 4.45 billion for 2004. The number has dropped in recent years due to the use of email and social media. This year, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the trend, with the number of companies using such cards for advertising purposes plunging as part of cost-cutting efforts to respond to declining earnings amid the pandemic.
The robot will run on its own but will be monitored remotely by a control centre operator
Panasonic is testing an autonomous delivery robot in Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, the six-year-old urban development initiative in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The first phase of the trial, focused on testing a self-driving robot on public roads, began last month and will last until the end of the year. The second phase, which will start in February 2021, will see the robot provide home deliveries to residents in the area. It aims to “test the acceptability of the new delivery service experience”.
The robot will run on its own and can avoid most obstacles but it will be monitored remotely by a control centre operator, who can take over if necessary. It will travel at a speed of up to four kilometres per hour.