Japan

Japan has found the number of children per woman to avoid demographic extinction. Two thirds of the planet are very far

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A group of researchers in Japan He started studying What number of children by women could be understood as a key to “avoid extinction”, understanding this, not as prevention before a total apocalypse of our civilization, but as the prevention of statistical extinction of the lineages or family lines over time. They found two things: that the number that was presupposed above was very low, and that a large part of the population is late. Beyond the threshold. For decades, the magic number to keep the human population “stable” It has been 2.1: It was believed that, on average, each woman should have just over two children to ensure The generational replacement and avoid population decline. However, a New study warns that this threshold is outdated and insufficient. According to Japanese researchers, the true level of fertility necessary to guarantee the long -term survival of a human population is not 2.1, but of 2.7 children per woman. The reasons? This adjustment is due to the fact that the traditional calculation does not contemplate the Stochastic variability (that is, randomness) in factors such as individual fertility, mortality, sex proportions at birth and the probability that some people simply never have offspring. By incorporating these real fluctuations into population mathematical models (through Galton-Watson Model), The authors concluded that a higher rate is needed for Avoid progressive extinction of family lineages in generations of the future, especially in societies with low sustained birth. Map of when European fertility rates fell below replacement levels Ignored warning. The finding is especially alarming because currently two thirds of the population World Cup lives in countries with fertility rates below the old 2.1 threshold, and well below the new estimated 2.7. Among the most affected, many highly developed, are South Korea (0.87), Italy (1.29), Japan (1.30), Canada (1.47), Germany (1.53), United Kingdom (1.57), France (1.79) or the United States, with a rate of just 1.6 children per woman. These levels, which have remained low for decades, mean that almost all family lines in these countries are intended, statistically, to extinguish at some point in the future. Plus: The study clarifies that A slight bias Towards female births (that is, a slightly greater proportion of girls than boys) could marginally decrease the risk of extinction, increasing the probability of reproduction in future generations. But even that factor, by itself, would not be enough to compensate for a persistently low fertility rate. Map of countries according to global fertility rate Pronatalists Interestingly, this information reinforces the alarms that have sounded from certain sectors concerned about the future demographic. One of the most visible faces of pronatalism contemporary It’s Elon Muskwho has repeatedly warned that the low birth rates “will end civilization” and whose prolific paternity (at least 11 known children) is presented as a deliberate act in this fear. For pronatalists, raising birth rate is a Existential priority. However, this position is not widely shared by the general population. United Nations Population projections by location (the vertical axis is logarithmic and represents millions of people) Social realism. Fortune told that a Population Connection survey carried out at the beginning of the year showed that most people do not consider low birth rate An urgent problem. Only 15% perceived it as one of the main global challenges, while 45% expressed more concern about excessive population growth, given the fear that children are born in poverty conditions or with exhausted natural resources. More perceptions. Another more recent survey, Made by Yahoo News and Yougov revealed that only 8% of Americans were “very concerned” about the fall in the country’s birth rate, and only 32% expressed any degree of concern about it. In the background, another reality that We have been counting: a majority of those who do not have children, or have few, do not do it for apathy towards the future of humanity, but For practical reasons: The lack of institutional support, the loss of life, the high cost of parenting or the perception that the world is not a conducive place to form large families, they are also key. In addition, it generates an increasingly acute contrast between the demographic predictions of experts and the immediate priorities of the population. So? The warning of Japanese researchers seems clear: without a change of course, demographic extinction will be slow but inevitable in many regions of the world. And although the term “extinction” may sound apocalyptic, what is at stake, according to scientists, is not the sudden disappearance of the human species, but the progressive erosion of family and cultural continuity, in a process where future generations will be more scarce, more isolated and, in many cases, non -existent. From that prism, reproducing is more conditioned than ever to social, economic and environmental factors, and the figure of 2.7 children per woman may seem more a demographic utopia than an attainable objective. It does not seem that we are going to extinguish in the short term, at least not through “fertility”, but The study It puts the focus on the population growth to which many regions point out. Image | Pexels, JOHNSONRED, Korakys In Xataka | We thought we were 8,000 million people throughout the planet. Until some researchers began to make numbers In Xataka | In Japan there is no doubt that they live worse than 30 years ago. Literally, houses are getting smaller and smaller

Venice established a rate to combat tourism hordes. Japan has copied the strategy: the one that arrives, pays

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It happened recently with the arrival of the “Holy Week.” Venice enhanced a little more That pioneering toll years ago. The figures that threw the input rate had gone so well, that the city He folded his price. A measure for which Italy sought to restore the balance between the rights of residents and the massive arrival of visitors. A nation has followed the popular enclave: Japan. Mass tourism and fiscal burden. We have been telling: Japan does not stop Receive touristsand given the unstoppable increase, a growing number of Japanese municipalities It has begun To look at the rates used in other enclaves Like Venice: Implement specific taxes for foreigners, in an effort to compensate for the growing costs that tourism activity imposes on local communities. According to Nikkeithese measures mainly include accommodation taxes per night, but are also expanding towards more innovative taxation forms that seek to exclude local payment residents, applying the principle of “who causes, pays.” The objective is clear: preserve fiscal viability of towns and cities that face a reverse demographic pressure (populations in decline in front of booming tourism) and sustain fundamental public services without moving the burden to those who live there permanently. Accommodation tax. Since Tokyo pioneered a pioneer fixed tax per person And by night in the accommodations, others 11 locations They have joined, the most recent of them Atamiin the prefecture of Shizuoka, which began to collect a tribute from 200 yen per night April 1. This tax, which will generate about 600 million annual yen, will serve to finance the new Atami Tourism Office and local activities such as fireworks festivals. The model adopted by most cities consists of fixed rates, staggered depending on the price of accommodation, to facilitate their collection and minimize the administrative load on hotels and hosts. However, there is a unique case with Kutchanin Hokkaido, which since 2019 imposes A 2% tax On the cost of accommodation in its resort area, a pioneering measure that other municipalities, such as Rusutsuthey study to replicate. Miyajima and the model. One of the most significant developments has been the tax applied by Hatsukaichi for access the island of Miyajimathat since October 2023 gravel with 100 additional yen to each ferry passenger. The measure, inspired by the principle of the so -called as “cause pays”seeks that visitors (not residents) absorb the costs derived from their presence, such as waste management, traffic and water and sewerage services. Unlike other rates aimed at promoting tourism, this is a general tax that can be used for any area of ​​the local budget. With a population of just 1,400 people and 4.85 million visitors in 2024, Miyajima was has become a symbol how mass tourism can overflow the operational capacity of a heritage enclave without adequate corrective measures. Biei: Combined taxes. Another illustrative case occurs in Bieialso in Hokkaido, who proposed A double taxation to balance the impact of tourists: a 200 yen accommodation tax per night and a parking charge in the Shirogane Blue Parkone of its main tourist attractions. With 2.39 million visitors in 2023 but only 158,000 overnight stays, most tourists are one -day hikers, which motivated A mixed scheme For everyone to contribute. Both measures are expected to collect more than 239 million annual yenresources that will be used both to maintain services and to support agricultural policies, in an attempt to reinforce the local economy from multiple fronts. Challenges and risks. As both prefectures and municipalities adopt their own variants of these taxes, new challenges arise, including the double taxation risk in areas where regional and local rates coincide. In addition, given that the fiscal performance of these measures depends directly on the concentration of accommodation facilities, the regions with the highest proportion of visitors without prolonged stay can be at a disadvantage, accentuating territorial inequalities. Solution? Some local governments (such as Sadoin Niigata) have considered alternatives such as Input taxes generalized to the island, which would simplify the collection and guarantee a more equitable distribution of the tax burden between short and long -term visitors. Local response to a global phenomenon. In short, the backdrop of this proliferation of tourist rates is still A paradox Increasingly common: destinations of international fame that at the same time face the collapse of their resident population and the overload of their services for the massive influx of those tourists once longed for their economies. As He counted in Nikkei Mneaki AokiProfessor at the University of Kanagawa and advisor to the tax systems of Miyajima and Biei, the “cause pays” adapts well to places where tourists exceed largely in number to the permanent inhabitants. Faced with tourism as a blessing and burden, these mechanisms seek a more pragmatic solution: conserve hospitality without sacrificing tax sustainability (or local quality of life). In that sense, Japan, with its meticulous normative approach, becomes a RARE Av of policy laboratory that could inspire other countries under the same dilemma, going from “copying” Enclaves like Venice to become a pioneer with their own initiatives. Image | Pexels In Xataka | Venice has just activated his plan against mass tourism: an entry rate that doubles its price In Xataka | Japan has realized that to welcome 60 million tourists, something lacks: workers in the hotels

Renault asks Japan to copy and make “small cars that people can buy.” The truth is that we don’t want them

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The automobile market has forgotten small and simple cars. It is a reality for which it should be a perfect mobility solution for the middle European citizen. Now, Luca De Meo is committed to prioritizing the “small cars that people can buy.” But do these words make sense? “We don’t do it”. Because they are “unproductive,” according to Luca de Meo. Of those who speak are of small cars, of those of smaller size that, for the CEO of Renault, have completely killed European regulations. “We have to make small cars that people can buy again,” he said in an interview with Auto.it. “It is difficult for a regulator to know more than an engineer which is the best solution. Let’s leave engineers the best solution to reduce the impact of CO2,” said Meo to the questions of the Italian medium. The problem? For the CEO of Renault it is clear: “European regulation in the last 20 years has failed.” And this has been because “it was driven by the Germans, who wanted to make the most complex cars, because it suited them. That has had a devastating effect in other producing countries such as France, Italy and a little in Spain where people buy small cars because they do not have money or do not enter the cities.” The solution? Have your own regulation that It resembles that of Kei Car Japanese. These cars are extremely small, they cannot exceed 3.4 meters long or 1.48 meters wide. Nor equip yourself with an engine greater than 660 cc or 64 hp. In return, cars are not considered as such and, therefore, They do not have restriction problems that traditional vehicles in large cities have. In return, MEO slides not only the idea of ​​promoting small vehicles with new legislation, it also chooses to reduce the mandatory safety elements in cars of this size. “We were forced to add a security equipment valued at 400 euros. That on a Renault Twingo is a lot of money, in a sedan it is much less.” Too expensive. It is a usual criticism of the price of cars. They are too expensive for the client to allow them. Actually, although in recent years the price increase has been very pronounced, a car is cheaper now than 50 or 60 years ago. However, the ability to access the low range has been reduced. Pressing for other expenses of enormous cost, such as housing, the Spanish average citizen is opting for low -end vehicles when acquiring a new car. In what we have been, The best -selling car is Dacia Sanderofollowed by the MG ZS, the two cheapest cars in its segment. He is accompanied by Nissan Qashqai who has recently dropped price and the Renault Captur and Seat Arona, cars that barely exceed 20,000 euros starting. It does not come profitable. In his words, Luca de Meo is part of reason. Match the cheapest cars in safety equipment with the highest cost Price irremediably increases of this type of vehicles. By European regulationsthe cheapest car that is sold in our continent must have, among other systems, emergency braking, lane output alert or rear camera. However, it is also unquestionable that this equipment is an extra security for drivers who put themselves at the controls of a car. Although from Dacia (from the Renault Group) They have removed value for these measuresthese types of obligations guarantee a minimum of possible accidents to all drivers. Do we buy them? Luca de Meo’s words sound very good but … are we interested? If we attend to the number of Enrollments in our countryurban vehicles (such as the aforementioned Twingo) barely register 1.4% of registrations. They are the compact and the C-SUV (comparable by size) the most purchased vehicles in Spain, accumulating 48.5% of registrations. A segment followed by the utilities and B-SUV, which total 39.6% of the enrollment. Expanding the views to the rest of Europe, Discriminate Acea to vehicles in traditional sizes. A+B for utilities and urban (those of smaller size), followed by compact (c), medium size (d) and luxury (e and f). However, take the SUVs out of these categories. According to these data, in 2023 segment A and B that De MEO considers among the best selling remained at 21%, while the SUVs accumulated 51% of the registrations (between three and four times more than a decade ago). The little ones (taking into account that they add two segments) are not so far from 15% that compact accumulate. Do we want them? It is the other big question. According to the registration, we prefer larger vehicles. But, in addition, there is another constant: commercial failures among smaller vehicles. Although most European citizens make their daily journeys in urban environments, cars dedicated exclusively to the city remain little dear. WE HAVE SMART EXAMPLEconsidered a car too expensive despite being extremely useful in the European cities of intricate streets in historical and difficult parking helmets. Photo | In Xataka | If you have 155,000 euros in your pocket, now you have another doubt: buy the new Renault 5 Electric Turbo or a Porsche 911

Japan has just been put in the career of quantum computers. And he has done it with his own technology

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China and the US are the countries that are dedicating more resources to the development of Quantum technologies. And also those who are reaching The most relevant achievements. However, no advanced country can afford to remain out of a technology with An indisputable rupturist potential in the medium term. In this field Japan is adopting a discreet position, but its contributions, although they are not as numerous as those of the other two countries that I have mentioned in this paragraph, are also very important. In 2023 a group of researchers from the Riken Center for Quantum Computing, in Japan, led by Professor Keisuke Fujii He devised a very advanced algorithm which dramatically reduces the computational complexity of some quantum procedures. His work was published in the scientific journal Physical Reviewand even today is the best available tool to efficiently reproduce the atomic level interactions that take place in some complex materials. The protocol designed by these Japanese scientists manages to deal with temporary evolution operators in a much more efficient way than the technique used so far, which is known as trotterization. In broad strokes these operators are numbers matrices that describe the very complex interactions that take place in quantum materials. In addition, the algorithm devised by Fujii and his colleagues is a hybrid solution that combines quantum and classic protocols, and has the ability to allow relatively simple quantum computers, such as those we have now, face very complicated problems. The Riken and Fujitsu center have made a quantum computer of 256 cubits Today, just a few hours ago, the Riken Center for Quantum Computing and Fujitsu They have announced which have developed in a joint project a superconductor quantum computer equipped with 256 cubits. A priori may not seem like a great achievement if we are in mind that IBM already has a condora superconductor quantum processor of 1,121 cubits, and also The Heron platform (5k) endowed with error mitigation. And the China Telecom Quantum Group (CTQG) and the Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed The Xiaohong quantum processor of 504 superconductor cubits. One of the most attractive assets of this quantum computer is that it allows efficient to scale the number of cubits However, the implementation of this Japanese machine deserves to be considered an undoubted success if we take into account that it uses technologies developed entirely in Japan. It does not use the hardware designed by IBM or Intel, which is what some research centers disseminated by Europe have done. One of the most attractive tricks of this Japanese quantum computer is that it allows Efficient scalar the cubits number No need to completely redesign all the architecture of the machine. In addition, the dilution cooling system used is, according to Fujitsu, more efficient than the solutions usually used in other quantum computers. This statement is credible because this 256 cubits machine works properly with the same cooling unit as the previous 64 -cubites quantum computer of the Riken center. It sounds very good. However, this is not all. The plan of the creators of this quantum machine is to have a computer of 1,000 cubits ready in 2026. If Japan get it, it will be placed in this field just one step from the US and China. Image | Fujitsu More information | Fujitsu In Xataka | Physicists believed that this quantum phenomenon was impossible. They were very wrong

An unexpected buyer is turning houses, temples and abandoned factories from Japan into tourist accommodations: China

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Something is happening in Japan for a while to this part, a phenomenon that began with waves of Chinese tourists who came to the nation To stayand then extended through zones, where the proliferation of “new chinatowns” was giving rise to neighborhoods with Chinese than Japanese. The theme became something more serious when this “chinification” reached one of the national bastions: Pop culture. The latest: Beijing is buying its most traditional architecture and turning it into Resort tourist. Kyoto as shuttle. He told him Nikkei weekend In an extensive report. In a Japan where modernity threatens to eclipse centuries of tradition, the figure of Yuichi Ishikura embodies a phenomenon as unexpected as decisive: the Rescue of the architectural heritage traditional by Chinese citizens. Born in the province of Fujian and raised from adolescence in Kyoto, Ishikura found her vocation after a personal experience in a guest house during her university studies in the United States. Upon his return to Japan in 2015, with just 23 years, he acquired his first Machiya (Typical narrow and deep wood housing built since the EDO period) for just over 10 million yen. He transformed it into a tourist accommodation and, in just three years, he had recovered his investment. Since then he has renewed More than 60 properties Similar, including the Shichikutei house, near the Kyoto station, and has declared its intention to become the number one operator of Machiyas throughout Japan. The threat of the Machiya. It is not a trivial theme in Japan. The Kyo-Machiya are architectural jewelry of the old capital, and are disappearing to the alarming rhythm of about 800 a yearpressed for the high cost of its maintenance, inheritance taxes and the real estate voracity that replaces them with apartments and floors. And while the Japanese seem to resign themselves to that disappearance, foreign investors (especially of Chinese origin) They are turning that crisis into the opportunity. Here, like Nikkei explainedFigures like Lee Wendy, a native restorative of Shanghai who have rehabilitated 40 Machiya and perfectly reflect this trend. The phenomenon has grown so much that, according to a study by the city of Kyoto, a 30 % of the accommodations Under municipal license are in the hands of some 500 foreigners, many of them Chinese buyers who have converted these traditional houses in tourist accommodations without losing their aesthetic or historical value. Temples for sale. The phenomenon is not limited to houses. In rural areas such as Shiso, in Hyogo Prefecture, Buddhist temples They have also started Change hands in the absence of successors priests. One of these temples, acquired by a Chinese buyer after the death of the main priest in 2017, has generated local controversy for the informal use of the enclosure. Meanwhile, other temples have had to publicly go out to Define rumors Sales disseminated on platforms as Rednotea Chinese social network in which deceptive ads circulate that promise tax benefits for acquiring religious properties. One of the most popular cases was the Jisso-in Monzeki templewith 800 years of history, which He denied categorically Be for sale, after detecting false publications aimed at Chinese investors. The fiscal attractiveness. Behind this fever for acquiring temples, sanctuaries and Japanese traditional houses Nikkei had That there is a double attraction: on the one hand, the cultural and architectural value that represents for many Chinese citizens a difficult heritage in their native country. On the other, and equally important, the favorable fiscal conditions For religious institutions in Japan, which attract investors with commercial vision. Real estate sector executives in Osaka confirm that they have intermediate in the sale of religious properties to companies based in Hong Kong and are currently promoting other enclosures in Kyoto and Nara. And the sake. The phenomenon has gone much further. The conservation of the cultural legacy has also reached other spheres. In 2019, Zhou Chunbao, Shanghai businessman, Matsuoshuzojo acquireda historic Sake distillery in the saga prefecture that was on the verge of closing due to management problems. Motivated by their desire that the Chinese people know the Japanese culture through the Sake, Zhou revitalized the company and its production, which in 2022 reached regional recognition by winning the highest award in the Junmai Daiginjo category. Zhou’s intervention saved from oblivion a local institution whose history goes back at the end of the Edo period, at a time when the sake industry is It has drastically reducedwith a 40 % decrease in the number of distilleries and a 20 % drop of its historical volume of national sales. The “soul” of Japan. Thus, and while the tangible heritage of Japan (from traditional houses to centenary temples and ancestral distilleries) faces a slow but constant disappearance due to the lack of successors, it seems that it is a generation of Chinese investors who are willing to assume the challenge of keeping it. What for some represents a loss of cultural control, for others it becomes an unexpected form of continuity. Thus, in the face of the passivity or inability of certain local sectors, new heirs (Chinese) are arranged not only to invest capital, but also to revalue with sensitivity and pragmatism that for centuries has been the material essence of Japanese identity. Image | GIVE CRUSE In Xataka | Japan is living something unpublished in its most emblematic neighborhoods: the “chinification” of anime and video games In Xataka | A phenomenon that has already happened in New York is spreading throughout Japan: neighborhoods with younger than Japanese

The more and less reliable car brands of 2025, in a graphic dominated by Japan and with a surprise: Tesla

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Buying a car is A authentic headache. It is logical if we consider that, usually, after the house, the purchase of a car is the greatest expense we make. There are many variables to take into account (motorization, securitymore or less screens …) and something that should be seen are the lists of the most reliable cars. There are several, Like those of Consumer Reports Or JD Power, who help us make the decision. And, precisely, in this graph elaborated by Visual Capitalist We have the list of the most reliable brands of 2025 according to one of these databases. JD Power. First of all, let’s see the context of this company. Founded in 1968, it has been specialized in handling big Databases that collect consumer data in various industries. One of them is that of the car, where they analyze all those data to prepare reports with achievements such as the discovery of a defect in the design of the rotary engines of Mazda in 1973, something that forced the company to remedy. In the automobile segment, they publish several lists, being one of them that includes the general degree of satisfaction of the owners of the different brands. On this occasion, it focuses on the United States, but as is the case in the Consumer Reports lists, although the US market is slightly different from the European, many of the brands and models are common in both markets. PP100. To understand the list, you have to know that the number of problems per 100 vehicles is detailed (problems per 100 or PP100) after three years of property. For example, in the Last year listJD Power collected the response of more than 30,500 people from cars bought in 2021 and, after three years, detailed the problems belonging to nine categories: Abroad Inside Seating Driving experience Air conditioning/air conditioning Controls Infoentrate system Engine Driving aids The best. Going to the list, we have a recurring company in the first position: Lexus. In different consumer surveys, Toyota’s luxury brand has been crowned as the company that has the most degree of satisfaction among its customers. In this case, although it has more errors than in the list last year, it continues in first position. The American Buick is the second and, thirdly, Mazda advances to Toyota. Nothing surprising: Japan continues to lead in the high satisfaction positions, but others like General Motors manage to sneak because they have varied the most with respect to the previous period. The biggest changes. Precisely, there are several changes in the list marked by that improvement or worsening in front of the 2024 survey. Mazda is one of the one that improves the most with respect to the last year, reducing its PP100 by 24 points. Ford reduced it at 31 points and Tesla starred in the biggest change by reducing it by 43 points. There are also changes worse, such as that of the aforementioned Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Hyundai, Acura or Jeep, something that surprises less if we see recent movements of the company in American territory, with policies that are not liking and other determining factors for this list. Worse. The really interesting, beyond the brands whose reputation improves or worsens in recent months, is the fact that, globally, the average errors per 100 vehicles has reached, according to JD Power, its highest average since 2009. This is curious because it was the year immediately later to the financial crisis of 2008 and the manufacturers may cut in components, but cars analyzed in 2024 They are built during the Covid-19 pandemic, which points to a correlation between a crisis moment and an increase in vehicle failures. More technology, more problems. The more options a device has, the more possibilities there is something fail. It is something that surely you have heard: do not buy you a washing machine because it surely fails more than a washing machine and a separate dryer (insert the example you want with a microwave-shock or whatever). Well, in the case of cars, according to JD Power reports, half of the main problems of the entire industry are related to the great novelty of recent years: integration with smartphones and systems ANdroid Auto and Apple Carplay. In fact, in surveys, 56% of users claim that they have not noticed improvements even after updates and that, the more software related to the Infoentrate It has the car, there is more likely that something fails. Obviously, Millions of cars are sold a year And many have that integration, but also owners or solutions such as Android Automotive and the units that fail represent a small percentage. But, in an industry that becomes more and more in this and Use of screens (With brands that are already reculating), It is normal for more mistakes of this type to appear. Choosing a car now does not go only motor or design, but also of stability in the software, and it is convenient that we keep it in mind when choosing. Images | Visual Capitalist In Xataka | There is a clear winner with the 25% tariffs to the car: it is called byd and represents everything that China has to win

The world’s most expensive coffee cup costs 300 euros and is sold in the only country willing to pay something like this: Japan

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He price of a cup of coffee It is an excellent socioeconomic indicator. That “1.20 euros” of a coffee with milk in a conventional bar is the measure of measuring with which many Spaniards in recent years have compared the Daily Products Pricebut that rod has long since broke. The boom of chains like Starbucksspecialty coffee shops and trembling reality of the coffee market has caused the price of this delicious and healthy drink increase dramatically. But even if we pay more or less depending on the place where we live, there are so exclusive cafes that does not matter where we take it because its price will continue to be crazy. And one of those expensive coffees occurs on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The price? 315 euros. The cup, not the kilo. And even the most coffee experts do not know if it is worth it. Coffee that costs a third of the minimum wage We are talking about asking for a donut of a couple of euros to accompany a cup of coffee of more than 300 euros. It is complicated that many of us imagine something like that, but it is what happens with some coffees such as Nakayama Estate. And, within that it is a barbarity of money for a cup of coffee, I will turn to that xataka meme: it makes sense. Put the quotes you want here. Okinawa is just at the north limit of the so -called ‘coffee belt’, which makes it one of the most extreme areas where it can be cultivated. We have already told that coffee occurs mostly in what we know as the “coffee belt” and that, although the Climate change It is allowing coffee to develop in areas Like Sicily either Spainit is still a peculiarity that coffee occurs so to the limit of the optimal zone. In addition, Nakayama is not too high above sea level. To grow coffee, especially the Arabic varietywhich is usually used in the specialty coffee, the altitude to which it is grown must be between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level. In Nakayama, farms are between 150 and 500 meters. To round the formula, it must be taken into account that they use sustainable practices without pesticides and with Japanese employees who charge higher wages than those that farmers from other coffee producing areas can collect. In summary: they are not the ideal conditions, it is difficult to harvest and the wages are high, which directly impacts the price, but there is more. Nakayama Café is not only exclusive for the achievement of carrying out such a harvest, but for the low production they get every year. Brazil is the main coffee producer and in 2022 that production was more than 3,100,000 tons. Vietnam is the second, with almost 2,000,000 tons that same year. New Caledonia is one of the most producers weakwith two tons of coffee. Nakayama would not enter the graphics, because its production is 300 kilos a year. And if we add that very scarce annual production with the factors mentioned above since coffee has distinctive notes thanks, precisely, to that low height crop, we result in a cup that is exceptionally expensive. I would be unable to distinguish a cup of this select coffee from my coffee in Costa Rica every morning, but someone can: James Hoffman. We have ever talked about him, since he was named better barista in 2007, he has such interesting recipes –I have tried this– like that of a Donut coffee and, in addition, It is coffee toaster. It has, in short, a palate qualified enough to analyze something like a cup that costs more than 300 euros. To do this, he went to one of the most expensive coffee shops: Shotin one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in London, to try this coffee. There are only special coffees, such as private crops of islands like Kona in Hawaii, Santa Helena Café (one of the most remote islands in the world) coffee Kopi Luwak that is extracted from excrement from an animal and, of course, that of Nakayama. The letter has no prices, and we already know what this usually implies. Ok, very good, but … is it worth it? According to HoffmannNo. Not quite. “It is more acid than I expected and has a good texture, a touch of wood and is very fruity,” says the British YouTuber. “The barista has done really well, there is a good barista after this coffee and it is a mature coffee, well -processed, well roasted and well done, but I do not think that its flavor and its price are connected.” In addition, he adds that he does not think he has distinctive characteristics of other low -altitude coffees that he has tried. And, although this may seem devastating, really, as I said before, it makes sense. Because, as Hoffmann, the price and perception of those 300 euros for a cup of coffee (espresso, in addition, without milk), depends on the value that we give to things, something that is linked to the size of the portfolio. It occurs with virtually any product whose price is not objective and depends on what we are willing to pay. This Okinawa coffee, better or worse, is like an exclusive wine, fashion brands, chocolate, watches, cars and What can occur to us. Because, obviously, Shot has not cost so much money, but has revalued to the extreme the price of that coffee due to the aura of exclusivity that has to be of the few coffee shops in the world that has those grains in particular. The truth is that, after writing this, I still escape from my head to pay 315 euros for an espresso and I don’t know how many Bernabéus equivalent. But I know that for the price of that espresso, you can buy three games of Nintendo Switch 2 and you have left over for a coffee from the street end. … Read more

Renfe aspired to win 5,000 million euros with an AVE in the US copying Japan. His government has just kill him

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Unite the cities of Dallas and Fortworth with Houston. That is the project with which Renfe hoped to continue growing in his international projects. The construction of a high -speed line for just 386 kilometers that allows these cities to be connected in just 90 minutes. The project allows to connect the two most important Texas cities with a train that travels to 386 km/h, according to You can read on the Renfe website. The Spanish company has presented this project as Texas Advisor Central Railroadoffering their experience in “the stages of development, design and construction and in the commercial operation (operations, maintenance, promotion and sale of tickets)”, according to the company’s own words. Renfe went up to the train of this project in 2018 and his involvement grew in 2021 when he signed the contract to become an infrastructure operator. With this new high -speed line I expected to win more than 5,000 million euros from here to 2042, when the contract expired. However, the United States government has withdrawn all funds. A dead point project “I am pleased to announce that Fra and Amtrak agree that the financing of this project is a waste of taxpayers’ funds and a distraction of Amtrak’s main mission to improve their existing deficient services,” The statement indicates Sent by the United States Department of Transport. The words are from Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation of the country that has withdrawn the 63.9 million dollars of subsidy that the Federal Railway Administration (FR) dedicated to the high -speed railway corridor of Amtrak Texas, previously known as the Texas Central Railroad project. In the published information, Duffy emphasizes that the project was born with an exclusively private spirit but that with delays and unforeseen costs increased significantly. So much that they estimate that you can go to the 40,000 million dollars “What makes the construction unrealistic and a risky company for the taxpayer”, in words expressed in the statement. The high speed project to join these two cities re -enters the dead and is a setback for the Spanish company. They explain in Five days that Renfe became part of it in 2018, first with a job of Advice and Line Design. In 2021, The contract was extended and made the Spanish company a future operator of the same with which he hoped to win 5.3 billion euros before 2042. However, the issues With this high -speed line they had been accumulating long before. The creation of this line has its origin in 2009 under the company Lone Star High-Speed ​​Rail LLC. Three years later, the company changed its name to Texas Central Railway. After verifying that the costs were fired, it was accepted that public capital supported the project. In spite of everything, the calendar has breached again and again. Environmental and security permissions should have been achieved in 2020 but delays have been added to which the colon of the coronavirus crisis and an expropriation of land that follows in the courts have been added. In 2017, the United States government with Donald Trump to the head included the project as “a national transport infrastructure priority,” they point out in Five daysand with Joe Biden in command of the country State funds from the Infrastructure Plan were allocated To keep the project alive. Now, in Trump’s second term, the Department of Transportation has canceled it. Until now, the plan went to implement a small -scale replica of the famous rail system of Japanese high speed tokaido shinkansenoperated by Central Japan Railway Company (JRC). Thus, the train It could reach 386 km/h peak speed and join Dallas and Fortworth (separated by about 50 kilometers) with Houston in 90 minutes. You wanted to establish a regular service with a train every 30 minutes. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | Japan has just discovered one of the most lucrative businesses of your bullet train: the sale of food carts

Japan has been charging a 0% tariff to foreign cars. You will not find one among the 50 best selling

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Japan is a fascinating country, of those that it costs to understand from the point of view of a western one. Perhaps because we ourselves have turned our backs on Asian culture during our years of teaching or because, simply, they have historical and cultural peculiarities that we are complicated to assimilate. What is certain is that the Japanese have entrenched the consumption of the local product. You have to keep in mind that Japanese society is deeply nationalistperhaps because it is surrounded by other countries where this feeling is also entrenched as China or the Koreas, which has caused continuous tensions in the area. After the Second World WarThe United States financed the recovery of Japan, with the clear objective of putting a geopolitical cap to communism that threatened from China and Korea. A movement that could have diluted this nationalist feeling. Little by little, the country was growing and in the 70s managed to diversify its industry and, at the same time, apply technical novelties that placed it at the world avant -garde in many sectors. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Yen against the dollar, they decided to put all their effort into export as much as possible of your products. Those exports flooded the world product economy. One of the most significant were cars. In its technical innovations, the country prioritized the efficiency of its engines, key to flooding the market when the oil crisis. In front of American and European cars, The Japanese were cheaper and more efficient. It was at that time that the industry shot completely and Japan decided to make a decision: he raised tariffs on foreign cars. Pass and see Something like that should have thought of Japanese politicians in 1978. With the aim of being more competitive in the face of foreign markets, the country raised all tariffs for those who wanted to import a car to their country. That is, any foreign brand could sell its cars in Japan without paying a single extra euro. In Japan they should not be afraid of what was going to happen. Its industry was so powerful and cultural factors so decisive that foreign vehicles have not finished cauling in the market. For proof, In 2016 the European Union lifted the 10% tariff with which he taxed Japanese cars. The 3% paid by Japanese manufacturers to produce in Europe but use Japanese pieces, but also raised Japanese. In return, the European Union found the open door to sell other products, such as cheese or wine. So, The European Union He came from buying 575,000 cars worth 9,000 million euros while we were barely sold 279,000 vehicles for a value of 7.3 billion euros, they collected in The world. From Auqí we can get two readings. The European Union, a specialist in the export of cars, had barely placed in the country Japanese 279,000 cars in a market in which Five million cars were almost sold that 2016. Of the 12 best -selling brands that year in the country, only one (Mercedes in tenth position) was foreign. And none of the 30 best -selling cars in the country was a foreigner. The cars that the European Union managed to place in Japan were high -price vehicles. The average unit cost Japan more than 26,000 euros while those bought by the European Union cost less than 16,000 euros. That is, it costed Europe (and much) to compete by volume. When Japan opened its doors to the world, it had to be aware of the country’s particularities. The hard emission and space standards have made the center cars of large cities disappear. From the 60s The Shako Shomeishhothe obligation to have a space to park the car to have the right to buy a car. In a country that is concentrated in cities, the limitation is decisive. In addition, the Japanese client fully trusts his companies and has trouble opening to new technologies. The host of the hybrid car in front of any other technology (and the Resistance of Japanese firms themselves The electric car attests to it) is a good example of this. To this we must add that, by price, the great generalists cannot compete since local vehicles are sold much cheaper taking advantage of a manufacturing within the country that is more competitive than beyond their borders. The value of YEN, lower than the dollar, the euro or the pound, allows them to obtain large amounts of money for the development and manufacture of a product that allows them to lower prices in their local market. On the contrary, foreign companies that have to sell there face A cut market For emission regulations, the space regulations barrier and that have the obligation to change the production of the car since when driving on the left they need to position the controls on the opposite side. An added cost that puts another lock. The result is that Europeans and Americans end up offering Japan cars that do not interest. In addition, in Japan the minivans, contained on the outside and of wide interior space are religion. A type of car that has disappeared in Europe while in Japan the Toyota feels, the Nissan Note and the Honda Freed occupied the squares of third, fourth and fifth best selling car In the country. And you can keep going down in the list of the 50 best -selling cars in Japan In 2024. You will not find one that is a foreigner. Photo | Toyota In Xataka | The problem of US cars in Europe is not tariffs: they are not interested in the least

Japan had in Mexico the perfect ally to fill the USA with hybrid cars. That is about to end

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In his battle for torpedoing every car that comes from outside the United States, Donald Trump’s government has imposed a hard 25% tariff to every car that is manufactured outside its borders. And he has also raised an economic wall for cars manufactured there with pieces from abroad. That measure is especially shocking for Europe, which sold vehicles to the United States by value of 38.9 billion euros in 2024. But, above all, it is for Japan. The country had in United States a sales reef. A huge market that was willing to buy its cars, especially hybrids. It is now in a real problem. Everything that comes from Mexico will have to pay tariffs. Everything that comes from Japan will have to pay tariffs. And its presence on American soil is minimal. The Japanese Balancing Game Complex The automobile industry for Japan is especially important. To understand it, just look at the size of its exports. Until last year, Japan was the country that sold more vehicles outside its borders. His companies have a huge tradition, from giants such as Toyota and Honda to smaller companies such as Nissan or Mitsubishi and others with great recognition such as Mazda or Subaru For its growth, Japan installed new vehicle factories in the United States in the 80s. They produced there but The pieces arrived from Japan So the costs were minor and, in addition, generated wealth in their local market. Now, Donald Trump threatens to destroy that way of working. Before they had already achieved the favor of Americans with good cars in the 60s and, above all, a perfect opportunity with the oil crisis in the 70s. Now the car represents 3% of Japanese GDP but cars sold to the United States added 28.3% of all exports made to the North American country. The impact of maintaining a 25% tariff is such that Reuters He points out that he can impact a 0.2% drop in the country’s GDP. The United States is, for half a century, the main market of its exports in the car market. In 2015, for example, They sold 1.7 million cars In the North American country, for the more than 700,000 units that sold throughout Europe. Its weight is such that in 2023 they sold cars worth 41,070 million dollars to the United States. The figure almost reached that registered throughout the European Union in 2024, when it placed in the US market 38.9 billion euros (42,560 million dollars) in vehicles. They are figures that take into account the production of cars in Japan but, in addition, Japanese firms have found an ally in Mexico in recent years. His proximity to the United States has allowed him to get huge performance to his cars. They offer more affordable vehicles than those sold by local brands and, in addition, they are manufactured at a much lower price. The path taken by Donald Trump has made Jump alarms Within the Japanese government. In fact, the United States already confirmed yesterday (April 7, 2025) that Negotiations with a Japanese delegation opened high level that had been sent to negotiate the terms of the new tariffs. It must be remembered that, in addition to cars, the United States has imposed an added tariff of 24% to all Japanese imports, which is a commercial attack on the largest foreign investor in the country, in data collected by EFE. In Bloomberg They encrypt a 0.59% drop to growth forecasts due to these tariffs. According to calculations echoing ReutersJapan could lose 17,000 million dollars as a result of these tariffs. In Bloomberg They emphasize that American manufacturers do not pay tariffs in the United States for their car sales but claim that strict security measures, among other regulations, prevent them from acting there competitively. It is a case similar to the European where the United States has difficulty selling its cars. On the contrary, the Customer Caladero that Japanese companies have in the United States is huge. Bloomberg points out that 23% of Toyota’s sales worldwide went to the North American country. The figure grows to 28% in the case of Nissan and … at 83% if we talk about Subaru. The country’s weight has been growing thanks to the fact that they have been turning with the Hybrid car salesa Japanese specialty. They are very bad news for brands like Toyota. However, the sanitized accounts of the Japanese giant allows you Reuters. The fall would be 8% for Honda. But the provisioning that Japanese companies make of pieces produced in Mexico They are a real problem for smaller companies or with more gloomy economic perspectives. Mazda and Nissan would be the most affected, with a 59% benefit drop for Mazda and 56% for Nissan. Nissan is, without a doubt, the one who has a more complicated horizon. The company is looking for a buyer who holds him from a dramatic fall in his income that It has taken 9,000 layoffs. The Japanese government has pressed without success for Honda to buy To the company. And now It is Foxconn that positions itself as the alternative that sounds more strongly. Focused on the hybrid car and with an almost testimonial presence among the electric ones, the Japanese need to reach an agreement with the United States urgently. In Europe they need to sell more electric cars if they want to meet the European regulations in 2027 Or, as a minor evil, reach an agreement with other manufacturers. At the same time, In China they have it more and more complicatedsince the market has moved to the electric car. And Chinese competition is, more and harder. Photo | Shahzin Shajid and Justin Cron In Xataka | While the world lives a dizzying race through the electric car, Japan goes to its own rhythm: the innovative dilemma

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