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November 21, 2024
 

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Winifred Bird

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Winifred Bird
Freelance environmental journalist Winifred Bird writes for publications including The Japan Times, Dwell, and the Christian Science Monitor. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in rural Nagano Prefecture with her husband, dog and flock of ducks.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 19, 2010
Rustic building fest spans two continents
Back in early August, as families across Japan were beginning to plan trips to their hometowns during the upcoming Obon holidays, Hannes Schnelle of Sarenseck, Germany, and 26 fellow Europeans were preparing for a Japanese journey of their own.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 22, 2010
Sarufutsu: As far north as you can go in Japan
If you're trying to get to Sarufutsu in a hurry, the best way is to fly into Wakkanai, a blustery little fishing town on the extreme northern tip of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, then rent a car or take the bus east. From Tokyo the whole trip takes just over three hours.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 27, 2010
Asahiyama's natural touch
Ivan the polar bear has been having relationship problems recently.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 27, 2010
Ongaeshi Project aims to give back to nature
Asahiyama Zoo's Jack, Lianne and 3-year-old Morito have whispy red fur, long graceful hands and eyes that are as searchingly intelligent as many a pair on the other side of their cage. These Borneo orangutans are likely the most frequently viewed members of their species in Japan — yet until last year,...
LIFE
Jun 27, 2010
Predator-prey relationships play large part in zoo's setup
For animals in the wild, life is defined by the relationship between predator and prey — but incorporating that dynamic into zoos can be extremely difficult.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 30, 2010
Grad-school boom for all
When Wakayama University set up a new masters program in economics last year at its Kishiwada satellite campus, 34-year-old financial planner Kenji Yoshida said he felt like "they created the program just for me."
LIFE
May 30, 2010
By definition, who are 'adult learners' anyway?
Defining "adult learners" isn't easy. After all, youths in Japan can vote and drink at the age of 20, yet when attending university they are not considered adults.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 30, 2010
Pearl farmers look to satoumi to save their way of life
One bright blue February afternoon, Akira Harajo stood on a concrete pier and surveyed Mie Prefecture's Ago Bay. With dyed black hair, a zippered sports shirt and immaculate V-neck sweater, Harajo, 75, hardly looked the part of the farmer that he is. Then again, his crop isn't exactly ordinary: Harajo...
Japan Times
LIFE
May 30, 2010
How can it get too late to learn?
Professor Ryusuke Yoneyama was in the middle of explaining to the members of his music-production class why Baroque-era violin bows, which resembled loosely strung archery bows, produced a weaker sound than their contemporary counterparts when he paused to ask a question.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 30, 2010
Entrance exam hell at 28
Six years ago, a 28-year-old former child-care assistant named Michiru Hanai decided she wanted to go to university to get a teacher's license.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jan 17, 2010
Learning old ways to build for today
For lovers of traditional Japanese architecture, a visit to Akihisa Kitamori's laboratory at the Kyoto University Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH) would likely evoke similar emotions to those felt by an animal-rights activist in a cosmetics test lab full of tormented rabbits.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 20, 2009
Waking up to a shipwreck
It's not every morning that a 169-meter-long ship gets knocked over by a giant wave and lands like a beached whale virtually outside the front door of your quiet seaside home.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 29, 2009
Mystery lure of woodland lords
When Hideyuki Yoshizawa goes into the woods, he doesn't wear the usual silver bells meant to scare off bears. He's given up smoking, too, to eliminate that tell-tale human smell. That's because he wants more than anything else to meet a bear in the forest.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 29, 2009
Fighting to return forests to nature
Just about everyone agrees that the postwar expansion of plantation forestry and the fragmentation of natural old-growth forests by roads, dams and tourist facilities play a central role in Japan's current bear problem. The Japan Bear and Forest Association (JBFA) is one national organization directly...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 29, 2009
Bearing the brunt
In a log cabin high on a wooded mountainside in Hiroshima Prefecture, Kazuhiko Maita, 61-year-old director of the nonprofit Institute for Asian Black Bear Research and Preservation, is puzzling over the fate of Japan's black bears.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Oct 18, 2009
Power for all the people
The all-electric home craze sweeping Japan with its typhoon of talking bathtubs, full-service toilets and flameless kitchens may finally have met its match.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 23, 2009
Japan's creeping natural disaster
In October 2010, government officials from almost every country in the world will meet in Nagoya for the 10th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10). The aim of the Convention, which came into effect in 1993, is simple but momentous: To maintain the richness of life on...
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 15, 2009
Recommendations from a Japanese cheese expert
Keiko Kubota selected and prepared the cheeses served at the 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido. A cheese sommelier and the manager of Restaurant Gentil in Shizuoka City, Kubota has written two books on how to become a cheese sommelier and is on the board of the Cheese Professional Association of Japan. Here...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 15, 2009
Japan embraces the big cheese
Ask the experts what makes a good cheese, and at some point the conversation is going to get down to grass. After all, cheese comes from milk, and the best milk comes from animals raised on grass.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 22, 2009
Oceans awash in toxic seas of plastic
Umbrella handles. Pens. Popsicle sticks. Lots and lots of toothbrushes. These are just a few of the items that make up the approximately 13 million sq. km Eastern Garbage Patch, an immense plastic soup in the Pacific Ocean that starts about 800 km off the coast of California and extends westward. Sucked...
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

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By Kathryn Wortley

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