The size of the robot market, which encompasses the medical, welfare and daily living fields, is expected to reach US$7.7 billion (about 900 billion yen) by 2010 making Japan a highly lucrative and attractive market, with its state-of-the-art next-generation RT to foreign RT-related companies. (Based on data from the Japan Robot Association)
The Osaka Metropolitan area (KANSAI) is filled with robotics research centers and companies including Osaka University, ATR, Panasonic and others. Like Silicon Valley for business—Osaka will soon be known as the capital of the robotics world.