Mark Brazil - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Mark Brazil

Meta

Mark Brazil

Mark Brazil, a Briton based in Hokkaido, has written about the natural history of Japan in his Wild Watch column for over 30 years. After careers in conservation and natural history television, Mark taught for nine years at a university in Hokkaido before going freelance. He now travels the world as a lecturer and leader on wildlife-focused expeditions.

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Mar 20, 2003

If you go down to the woods . . .

As I enter the wood, I cast a glance to the arching canopy above, my ears ever alert for the sounds of the season. I have observed this wood through the turning of the years, and as I step inside between the towering trees once more, I recall seasons past.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Mar 6, 2003

Fun guys can always find long-lasting allies

A coworker of mine in the Galapagos takes great delight in corny cracks and groan-inducing jokes, but as learning aids they are indeed memorable. Take his way of teaching the partnership involved in the lichen lifestyle and where they live. With apologies to Ron Sjostedt (and whoever he gleaned it from)...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Mar 2, 2003

Wild frontier in the land of fire and ice

Hokkaido is a rough-cut northern diamond, both in shape and in its hidden natural riches -- as well as the sparkle of snow and ice of its long Siberian winters.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Feb 20, 2003

How to label all life, and lichen?

I am an inveterate binocular user, rarely going anywhere without a pair. They are useful not merely for enjoying scenery, and birds and mammals in their natural settings, but also for the odd peregrine falcon perched incongruously atop an urban high-rise, or for admiring architectural detail in close-up...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Feb 6, 2003

Delving deeper into the snows

At the end of my column last week, there I was on the Antarctic Peninsula pondering the pink hue of "watermelon snow" and wondering where had I heard about colored snow before.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 30, 2003

Cold facts and urban myths

First of two parts Depending on where you live in Japan, you may only have experienced a brief flurry of snow this winter. Perhaps if you live in southwestern Honshu or Kyushu, you won't have seen any at all, except on the TV weather maps. Conversely, though, if you live on the Sea of Japan coast, or...

COMMUNITY

Jan 26, 2003

Golden ages' glitter may be gone

The first exhibit of foreign animals in Japan seems to have been of Asian elephants imported from Vietnam in 1725 by Gen. Yoshimune Tokugawa. Originally a pair, the cow died soon after its arrival in Nagasaki, but the bull survived the overland journey to Hamagoten in Edo (now Tokyo), where it was sometimes...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jan 26, 2003

Should zoos become extinct?

Though I prefer seeing animals in the wild, I confess to being intrigued by zoos. I'm certainly not alone in my interest, as the long and varied history of zoological institutions shows.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 16, 2003

Shame in a 'showcase'

Second of two parts I ended my last story by saying, "If it is wolves, or winter wilderness, you want to see, don't waste time wondering -- get to Yellowstone! But please, when you're there, don't rent a two-stroke snowmobile! I'll explain why in my next column."

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 3, 2003

Vast visions made real

First of two parts These days the United States may not be pulling its weight and taking any kind of responsible lead vis-a-vis climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. In the past, however, there have been undeniable -- if occasional -- grand American visions or strokes of inspired leadership. One such...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Dec 19, 2002

Surviving the season of cold

Plodding -- that's the only way to describe them. Deep snow blankets the winter landscape of the bison in Yellowstone National Park and plod they must through both the winter and the landscape. These mighty beasts don't waste a calorie of energy if they can avoid it.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Dec 5, 2002

Vital links in a flyway chain

Amazingly, we continue to take fresh water for granted. This precious resource is vital for our survival and that of a vast array of other species, from microscopic creatures and aquatic insects, to fish and hordes of birds. In Lake Baikal in Siberia, at 1,737 meters the deepest lake in the world, there...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Nov 21, 2002

Taking the high way through life

If you were an ant, multi-limbed with a ground-hugging body, a trip across the forest floor would present you with a daunting obstacle course. Each fallen twig would be a wall to climb; each wind-blown leaf a teetering trap poised to tip and sluice rainwater; each fallen tree and its tangled branches...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Nov 7, 2002

A venerable flash in the pan

Among Japan's amazing diversity of plants that can overwhelm a visitor from overseas, there are (thankfully) some familiar forms. Astonishingly, given the literally hundreds of thousands of plant species on Earth, some here will be familiar whether you hail from North or South America, from Europe, Africa,...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Oct 31, 2002

Birds' island havens failing whole species

Teuri-jima Island is a special place, being a legally protected breeding habitat of seabirds. It was also the main subject of a recent Japan-U.S. government-level symposium in the nearby mainland town of Haboro, Hokkaido. Shocking facts emerged from that meeting.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Oct 17, 2002

Ticks: playing a waiting game to gorge on blood

Being in the field for several months each year in search of wildlife to study, photograph and write about may sound wonderful, and it certainly does make for an exciting life. There is a downside, though, because there's also wildlife out there looking for me. Well, not me specifically, but warm-blooded...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Oct 3, 2002

Homing in on a sound of autumn

Thump . . . thud . . . and thump again. It's a perennial autumn sound -- the sound of falling fruit. Overripe on the branch, sometimes already rotting, apples, pears, persimmons and plums fall and burst, splattering strong-smelling juices that don't long go wasted.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Sep 19, 2002

Mind over matter and danger signals by design

Our emotions in relation to other living things are worthy of a whole lifetime of study.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Sep 5, 2002

One bat in the hand is worth flocks in the forest

Science sometimes moves forward by exceedingly small increments, yet to be involved in making one of those tiny steps can nonetheless be extremely exciting, as it was for me early this summer.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Aug 29, 2002

Prehistory still abounds in everyday life

In the course of a normal day, the word "fossil" may quite possibly never occur to you. Fossils are, however, crucial to many aspects of daily life.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.

The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan

By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports