US drone company Zipline starts delivering medicine in Japan

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Zipline, an American company that specializes in using autonomously flying drones to deliver medical supplies, has taken off in Japan. They’re flying across the tiny Goto Islands, off the western coast of Kyushu, in southwestern Japan, delivering to pharmacies and hospitals. Zipline, founded six years ago, already is in service in the U.S., where it has partnered with Walmart to deliver other products at the retail chain as well as drugs. It is also delivering medical goods in Ghana and Rwanda. Its takeoff in Japan is in partnership with Toyota Tsusho, a group company of Japan’s top automaker Toyota.