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November 21, 2024
 

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Stephen Hesse

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Stephen Hesse
Stephen Hesse is an educator and writer living in Tokyo. He graduated from Vermont Law School, where he received a JD and an LLM, and is now a professor in the Law Faculty of Chuo University, Tokyo, as well as Associate Director of the Chuo International Center.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 21, 2015
Inside the trenches of environmental rights
With the gruesome beheadings of journalists in the Middle East, an ugly truth is now common knowledge — being a reporter can be deadly.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2015
Words from the wise on our energy future
Another year has dawned, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been at the helm for more than two years and nearly four years have passed since the Fukushima disaster brought Japan to its knees. And still we wait for a realistic blueprint from the government for clean and safe energy independence, a plan offering...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 27, 2014
Business as usual or an energy revolution?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party won a snap election two weeks ago that caught opposition parties and the public off guard. The result was a record low turnout in which the LDP lost several seats, but kept a two-thirds majority in the Lower House.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 22, 2014
Climate change versus solution aversion
No doubt you are relieved to hear that climate change is no longer a concern. At least that's the consensus of powerful Republicans who will lead the newly elected majority soon to take control of both houses of the U.S. Congress.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 25, 2014
Understanding the complex web of life
"Biodiversity provides the foundation on which all life depends, including human societies," writes Nik Sekhran in the opening pages of "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development," a captivating book released earlier this month by the United Nations Development Programme.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 27, 2014
India and its incredible pollution problem
Incredible India! is the Indian government's marketing slogan to attract tourism. And I agree. India is truly incredible in countless ways, both captivating and heartbreaking.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 23, 2014
Tallying the environmental cost of meat
What are the costs of the meat we eat — the hamburgers, pork chops and chicken breasts?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 26, 2014
As species die, what valuable knowledge dies with them?
In mid-June, The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama intends to use his executive authority to create the world's largest marine protected area in the south-central Pacific.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 21, 2014
Too much, too little: Water crises abound
After creeping slowly northward for weeks, the rainy season finally hit Tokyo earlier this month. And rain it has.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2014
Youth seek new ideas to solve old problems
Young researchers today are in a pickle. Most of them have assumed that peer-reviewed science is fundamentally accepted until new, equally legitimate research proves those findings wrong. However, that was before politicians became self-declared experts on everything under the sun, from science to religion....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2014
A journalist who gets climate change right
Dr. Heather Goldstone is a rare breed. She's a journalist who insists on getting the science right, and she loves sharing it with the public.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 22, 2014
Energy debate challenges facade of wa
Torn between his nationalistic instinct to resurrect what he seems to regard as Japan's great bygone days of empire-building and the mundane demands of caring for the pressing needs of his nation, a remarkably caring soul might almost feel sorry for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his first months in...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 22, 2014
Can waste-made chic save the oceans?
Search online for "Pacific gyre" and you'll get about 455,000 results in 0.15 seconds. Try "Pacific trash vortex" and you'll get 474,000. Here's another: Do a search for "Pacific garbage patch" and, in 0.40 seconds, you'll have 593,000 hits.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2014
Is altruism our hope, and growth a curse?
My day job is at Chuo University in western Tokyo, and January at Japanese universities is chaotic, what with final classes, reports and grading as our second term comes to an end and the academic year winds down toward its conclusion in March. Among the words that come to mind, "happiness" is not usually...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 21, 2013
Protecting nature to protect ourselves
This month's column takes an intrepid look at efforts to expand protected areas in Japan and worldwide, areas that are essential to conserve biological diversity and mitigate natural disasters.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 23, 2013
Sendai Charter to aid conservation across Asia
Sendai is lovely at this time of year, its tree-lined streets alight with autumn colors.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 26, 2013
'Scary as hell' ocean-research storm breaks
'The long-held barriers between nature and culture are breaking down. It's no longer us against 'nature.' Instead, it's we who decide what nature is and what it will be.'
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 21, 2013
Upgrading from four wheels to two or three
Careening through the winding streets of Chennai, India, in the back of black and yellow auto-rickshaws, I am always amazed by the drivers' audacity — or perhaps a better term would be "death wish." These are the subcontinent's equivalent of New York's exuberant cabbies, but these drivers are much...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 24, 2013
Reflecting at leisure on who we are and where we live
My day job as a professor in Japan offers precious few chances to take a step back from work and give the old brain a bit of free rein. But August is one such golden opportunity.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 27, 2013
At home on the Maasai Mara range
Asuka Takita has a passion for Africa and its wildlife that took root during her childhood in Singapore and flourished in the soils of Kenya during her third year of university.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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