Science and Technology Policy Japan

Japan will deploy about 200 specialists to detect undeclared income gained from cryptocurrency trades, monetized videos and other new economy staples, the country's tax authority said Wednesday.

The government is considering having hospitals introduce a facial recognition system to identify patients using My Number tax and social security identification cards as health insurance cards, sources have said.

The Group of 20 major economies plan to agree on compiling additional steps by 2021 against money laundering and funding of terrorist groups through the use of crypto-assets, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

The Group of Twenty Agriculture Ministers Meeting concluded Sunday with calls to feed a growing global population and promote sustainable agriculture through new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and drones, and to increase cooperation among farmers, nonfarm businesses and academia.

Japan will require automakers to improve fleetwide fuel economy, including electric vehicles, by roughly 30% from the fiscal 2020 target by fiscal 2030, as it seeks to account for the environmental impact of Earth-friendly autos while still promoting their use.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday urged the government to consider a new law obliging technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC to disclose contract terms with vendors using their sites.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has for the first time compiled a strategy to foster professionals in artificial intelligence — key technologies for self-driving.

Japan plans to create a law to restrict gene editing of fertilized human eggs to basic research and ban such eggs from being returned to the uterus, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Japan will seek to increase the development of talent proficient in artificial intelligence to 250,000 people a year, up from just a few thousand today, according to a government plan laid out Friday.

It is necessary to protect social and economic systems from serious cyber-attack threats. The government must expedite arrangements to do so.