With a rapidly aging population and an "aversion to immigration," Japan must deal with an inadequate labor force. They allow more immigrants to come and work, and they're also giving more attention to technology and . . robots.
Two years ago, SoftBank Robotics put 1000 human-resembling robots on the market for consumers and they sold out in one minute at the price of $1600.
The manufacturer pictured them being used to greet dinner guests and comfort hospital patients. Emotion-based behaviors, yes . . because they come "equipped with emotion-recognition software."
The government is not unaware of karoshi (death by overwork) and there have been attempts to deal with it. But there's a lot of work to do, and an inadequate number of working-age people to get it done. One out of four Japanese (that includes children) is over 65.
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