Robots at the International Robot Exhibition 2011 in Tokyo

The purpose of this paper is to review the International Robot Exhibition (IREX) in Tokyo, Japan 2011, with emphasis on the new trend of the Japanese robot industry.

This paper is based on in‐depth interviews with exhibitors and the reporter's insight into the Japanese robot industry.

A big change is observed in the direction of the Japanese industrial robotics in an attempt to cope with the increasing demand from the emerging nations and to create new business in domestic Japan.

This is the first report describing the change in the Japanese robot industry after the great earthquake and tsunami.