It's over 40,000!

Employees at this brokerage in Tokyo cheered the Nikkei breaking the 40,000 level.

It happened very quickly after the benchmark hit a new all-time high.

Cheers to 40,000!

And this restaurant near the Tokyo Stock Exchange served free glasses of sparkling wine to toast the event.

It's surprising that the market is so strong.

The Nikkei Average has been going steadily higher over the past year.

But the pace has quickened since the start of 2024.

Analysts point to several factors.

Tokyo stocks have risen as New York shares climb on the AI and semiconductor boom.

Markets are also getting a boost from strong performance by Japanese companies.

Meanwhile China's sluggish recovery is spurring funds to shift their holdings to Japan.

The weak yen is playing a role as well.

It makes shares relatively cheaper for foreign investors, even at these record levels.

Market participants overseas now account for about two-thirds of trades.

But many in Japan see little cause for celebration.

I'm not invested in stocks, so I don't notice any impact.

Shares may be higher, but my pay isn't. So it doesn't feel real to me.

Unlike during the boom three decades ago when the economy expanded by about 5 percent on average,

Japan is grappling with negative growth.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has been trying to convince the public things are turning around.

Investors have had a positive assessment of the country.

This is a crucial moment, and the government will work to create a virtuous economic cycle

with structural changes including higher wages.

But there are worries that the market may be overheating.

And one expert says it could be vulnerable to US share performance and currency fluctuations.

"I don't think the market momentum in Japan will last unless US stock prices remain high,

so US monetary policy and the presidential election will be key factors."

"Many investors are also anticipating that the Bank of Japan will end its negative rate policy this spring,

and they're trying to determine how this could impact the yen."

Japan's stock market is charging ahead.

But if the real economy doesn't catch up, people will continue to feel left behind.

This cafe in Tokyo gets its water from a unique source.

It's taken from the air.

- It's mild and easy to drink. Is this how it always tastes?
- Yeah, it will have basically the same flavor.

- Even in Tokyo?
- That's right.

The water was produced with this device.

It was originally developed for use on outlying islands and in mountainous regions, where tap water is unavailable.

It draws in air and filters out impurities.

Water vapor is cooled in the condenser and turned into droplets.

It is then filtered three times to meet safety standards for drinking.

Minerals are added to enhance the taste.

At an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius with 60% humidity, the device can produce up to about 200 liters a day.

The machine was brought to Nanao City in Ishikawa Prefecture after the earthquake,

and was used to make meals for people affected by disasters.

"If commercial establishments, government facilities and evacuation sites use these machines regularly,

they could quickly be put to use in the event of a disaster."

The Noto Earthquake exposed the risk of long-term water outages.

Repairing water pipes can require digging up roads, dragging out the time needed to restore supply.

A lack of water also means toilets can't function properly.

But a startup working with a university is trying to find a solution...

The toilet can be used without access to power or running water.

The water in the tank is recycled so the toilet can be used even without a supply.

When flushed...

...solids are removed with a non-woven fabric filter.

The liquid is cleaned with activated charcoal and disinfected using chlorine.

Solar panels power the system.

A local official came to see the setup.

"This water was reused four hundred times."

"You really can't tell that it's been recycled so much."

It also emits little odor.

"I can't really smell anything."

One roll can last for a hundred uses.

They are easily changed, meaning it can be done by people at evacuation centers.

"We don't want evacuees to be so stressed about using the restroom that they avoid eating or drinking."

Companies are engineering clever ways to help people recover from disasters,

showing that no great solution will just come out of thin air.

Japan's space industry is abuzz after a successful probe was landed on the moon.

This ultra-compact robot that made the journey as part of the mission was created by a toy maker.

And a startup is using big data gathered by satellites to change the way farmers in Japan grow their crops.

Today's On-Site Report takes a closer look at some unique companies that are at the forefront of Japan's burgeoning space industry!

This is the largest space industry trade show in Japan.

This year a record 73 companies are participating, ranging from major general contractors to small startups.

This industrial construction company is setting its sights on building a lunar base.

At their booth, visitors can take a virtual tour of their moon base design.

Nearby, another company is exhibiting a robotic arm that it expects to be used in space.

One of the most popular displays at the show, however, was by toy manufacturer Tomy.

"SORA-Q," is a tiny spherical robot, which was installed on Japan's lunar surface probe, SLIM.

It has a diameter of just 8 cm and weighs only 250 g.

This photo is what brought the miniature moon-going robot into the spotlight.

It shows the SLIM probe sitting on the surface of the moon.

Although it had attitude issues during landing, the craft managed to touch down with precision accuracy -

coming to rest approximately 55 meters from the targeted landing spot.

The image was taken by the tiny SORA-Q robot.

The small spherical rover was ejected from the SLIM lander during its decent,

with the goal of having it ready and waiting to photograph the main lander after it touched down on the lunar surface.

It performed way better than we could have imagined!

To be honest I was beyond surprised, I was speechless!

I never expected it to get such clear images!

Another aspect of the robot's design that makes it stand out, is its ability to transform.

When deployed from the spacecraft, it is in the form of a compact sphere.

However, after landing on the lunar surface, the rugged outer shell opens up,

revealing a center-mounted camera module and tail-like stabilizing bar.

The robot then propels itself to an ideal distance and location for taking photos of the main probe.

Tomy, the company that made SORA-Q, has decades of experience in creating toy robots that can transform into vehicles,

as well as other animal-like toy robots that can actually move on their own.

While this was the company's first time designing something for use on the moon,

their unique background in creating toy robots played a key role in the design process.

Not only did they need to make it compact, rugged, and light-weight,

it also needed to be able to navigate the challenges presented by the lunar surface.

Since it had to be extremely small and light,

figuring out how to make it able to climb hills covered in lunar dust was very difficult.

When thinking of a solution, we thought about the crawling movement of baby sea turtles when they climb up sandy obstacles.

By having the SORA-Q mimic that movement, we found that it could successfully go up sandy inclines!

In total, the development process took 8 years to complete.

The end result, however, was worth the wait -

as the design team managed to create the world's smallest and lightest lunar robot.

I think this is a huge opportunity to get even more children interested in space.

As a toy maker, we hope we can take what we learned during the development process

and use that knowledge to create even more innovative toys for children.

The vast and fertile plains surrounding the city of Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture are known for their rice production.

10th generation rice farmer Oshii Hidekatsu is currently growing a new variety of rice.

All these fields here are mine.

We call the rice I'm growing here "Space Big Data Rice."

This other-worldly sounding brand was created after a new variety of rice was developed in 2021.

This fast-growing, high-yield variety was developed as rice production is expected to decline

due to various factors, including global warming.

It was given the unique name of "Space Big Data Rice"

because a variety of satellite data was used to help decide where to plant and grow the new variety.

The company that provided that data and analysis is Tenchijin,

a space startup that was founded with funding from JAXA, Japan's space agency.

It specializes in offering agricultural and other business-related consulting services

that make use of over 4,000 types of satellite data.

By combining and analyzing a wide range of weather-related data as well as soil-related data from various satellites,

we can get a pretty good idea of the farming potential of the land we analyze and provide farmers or other clients with information

on the types of crops most suited for that particular farmland.

As the effects of global warming continue to shift the land suitable for growing certain crops northward,

it is becoming necessary for farmers to respond by growing crops more compatible with changes occurring in their regions.

The company that developed the new variety of rice asked Tenchijin to use its satellite data analytics

to find the most suitable area in Japan to grow it in.

In our search for the most suitable area to cultivate the new variety, we used a wide range of weather-related satellite data

such as: solar radiation levels, ground surface temperature, and precipitation.

At the end of our analysis, we found that the fields surrounding Tsuruoka City in Yamagata Prefecture were the most suitable.

The company used AI technology to analyze the massive amounts of satellite data they had gathered

and examine each and every plot of farmland across Japan.

They then pin-pointed farmer Oshii Hidekatu's fields as being the prime location for growing the new variety of rice.

It feels like this rice was meant to be grown here, so from a farmer's perspective, it makes things much easier!

It absorbs fertilizer efficiently and doesn't lean or fall over.

The quality is excellent, and in the end, you wind up with a lot of great-tasting rice -

the yield has been 10% to 20% higher than the other varieties that I used to grow here.

Even last year, when the quality of rice harvests was drastically reduced due to intense summer heat,

Oshii was able to keep his crops healthy and successfully harvested first-grade rice.

Not only are we facing climate change, but we are facing a labor shortage -

which is really putting the whole agriculture sector at risk.

We want to use big data gathered from space to help solve the problems that farmers are having trouble dealing with on their own.