They are back. While the Chinese are busy grabbing all of the headlines, it's really the Japanese who are making the biggest moves. So far this year, they've very quietly spent $101 billion on overseas acquisitions in a global buying spree that now dwarfs the one undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s according to Edward Jones of Dealogic.

Bean lovers, your time has finally come! Wherever ye may be, let the wind blow free. And don't be afraid of reactions. Why? Simple! Because you're wearing Japanese textile company Seiren's latest creation: a revolutionary pair of pants that make bad odours undetectable. The underwear have a in-built technology system that neutralises the smell caused by flatulence. 

A humanoid robot that can mimic facial expressions is entertaining shoppers at a department store in Osaka, western Japan. The 160-centimeter tall android is called Minami. She was modeled on a real woman. Minami can smile, frown or show other emotions by adjusting her silicon skin with air pressure. On Friday, she was joined by a male android modeled on Osaka University Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. He developed the female android.