TOKYO -- Hotel Okura will open the first new Japanese location of its namesake brand in 20 years to prepare for a tourism rebound after COVID-19 vaccines reach more people worldwide.

The facility, which will serve as an annex to the existing Kyoto Hotel Okura, is slated to begin operations in January 2022. It will be developed by Mitsubishi Estate.

A standard room will cover about 40 sq. meters and cost around 40,000 to 50,000

SHANGHAI -- China's once-popular technology companies are losing their shine, with their share prices plunging over the last few months, as investors grew nervous of government clampdowns in the sector.

The combined market capitalization of 10 leading IT and high tech companies, including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, has plunged by nearly 90 trillion yen ($828.57 billion) or almost 30% from a peak in February.

The Science and Technology Innovation Board, better know as the

TOKYO -- Prices of one key type of the sensors used in autonomous cars are falling rapidly, raising hopes of accelerating progress in the development of self-driving technology.

Velodyne Lidar, the leading manufacturer of lidar sensors, has developed a product with a price only one-hundredth of those up until now. This dramatic drop in price for the sensors at the heart of many autonomous car designs could rev up the speed of the evolution of self-driving vehicles.

Most of today's autonomous vehicles are equipped with

HANOI -- Vietnam is bracing for disruptions its tech manufacturing sector, the country's economic engine and a vital cog in global supply chains, after authorities detected a new variant of COVID-19 with characteristics of both Indian and U.K. strains.

The government has called for nationwide efforts to protect factories as two northern provinces home to industrial parks struggle to control outbreaks.

"For the first time in Vietnam, a new coronavirus variant with characteristics from the existing Indian and U.K. variants has been

TOKYO/NAGOYA -- Toyota Motor has agreed to partner with Jera, a joint fuel-procurement venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, in a bid to transform old batteries used for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles into power storage system for renewable energy, Nikkei has learned.

The new storage system will consist of a lithium-ion battery and a nickel-metal hydride battery. The two companies' objective is to establish a new technology that will enable storage batteries to operate more efficiently by combining different kinds of

TOKYO -- Local governments in Japan have been luring people to take ownership of the country's more than 8 million abandoned homes through a host of incentives, including millions of yen in renovation grants, new zoning laws and even giving away the structures for free.

As Japan's population steadily declines, many communities across the nation are facing a growing problem of empty homes with little prospect of finding new residents. But a close look at housing data shows that some towns and cities have succeeded in turning the blight into

JAKARTA -- Indonesia aims to expand its submarine fleet by as much a triple its current line up to 12 vessels, multiple defense sources here say, just a month after one of its subs was determined to be lost, killing its entire crew of 53.

The move comes in response to repeated Chinese incursions into its waters. Jakarta will also beef up its fleet of corvettes.

The country had deployed five submarines, but lost one, the KRI Nanggala-402. Indonesia ranks third in the world

TOKYO -- The Japanese government will include 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations for fuel-cell vehicles deployed across the country by 2030 in a draft of its growth strategy due to be hammered out in June, Nikkei has learned.

The plan to increase the stations sixfold from the current level is part of Tokyo's goal to have all new car sales be electric by the middle of the next decade. Hydrogen vehicles employ fuel cells to power electric motors and would be included in this target.

Admiral James Stavridis was 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and 12th Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He spent the bulk of his operational career in the Pacific, and is author of "2034: A Novel of the Next World War."

A great deal has been written about the possibility of a war between the U.S. and China. It tends to be measured in theoretical terms, and much of the analysis centers on exactly when it