Have you been keeping up with 3D printing in Japan? Maybe not. According to Reno Tibke at Akihabara News, Japan’s additive manufacturing (AM) sector is rather small compared with other countries, 0.3% of the global share to be more specific. But, Tibke points out, that may soon change. Though Japan has had its own AM stories in headlines, including 3D printed fetuses and, possibly the first, 3D printing photobooths, its 3D printing power lags behind other countries. The US is the furthest ahead in terms of investing in 3D printing and other countries, including the UK and China have also invested significantly. At the same time, however, no one has quite figured out how to bring down the price on 3D printed metal technologies. At the moment, additive manufacturing with metal is isolated to a small range of processes, most notably selective laser-melting, which is extremely expensive and still has issues with reliability and consistency of results. Tibke proposes, with humor and irreverence, that To get back in the game, or rather to just get into the game, Japan wants to go metal – that’s the springboard – and if successful, it could alter the whole landscape.…
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