C.W. Nicol - The Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Mar 30, 2020

With COVID-19 pulling the world apart, it's the people, from healthworkers to thoughtful neighbors that can bring it back together.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Dec 30, 2019

The fallen apples of Typhoon Hagibis

When the Typhoon Hagibis floods hit Nagano, it near-destroyed the apple farms for which the area is famous, with contaminants in the floodwaters making it impossible to salvage any of the surviving fruit.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Sep 29, 2019

A fine tree that's worth getting to know

In postwar Japan, the government's Forestry Agency claimed that the Japanese beech was a useless tree. That's utter nonsense — beech wood is great for interiors and the tree is not only important for wildlife water management, but it also produces edible leaves and fruit.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Jul 28, 2019

Will our insects keep on disappearing?

With concern, but little surprise, I read an article by Daphne Rousseau in The Japan Times on July 2 about a mass extinction of insects in Krefeld, Germany, near the Dutch border.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Apr 28, 2019

Growing old as the new era dawns

C. W. Nicol relects on more than 35 years of working to conserve the environment in Japan.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Dec 30, 2018

Young eco-warriors use their smarts to combat environmental concerns

The 7th AEON Eco-1 Grand Prix environmental competition highlights school kids' inventive solutions to environmental issues.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Oct 28, 2018

All hail Caesar's wild mushrooms

Many people make that distinction between 'good' mushrooms and 'bad' toadstools, though there's no scientific difference between the two — and there are some branded as 'toadstools' that are, in fact, delicious.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Aug 5, 2018

Living the slow life can be a religious experience

CW. Nicol visits Zenryoji temple in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture for a Candle Night public event, led by chief priest Tomonobu Narita, for a slow-life-themed evening.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Apr 29, 2018

A wetland works wonders in battered Tohoku

A proposed wetland nature center in Miyagi Prefecture would give wild birds a new home while attracting bird-loving tourists to Tohoku.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Feb 11, 2018

There's no business like snow business

A few weeks ago I had things to do in Tokyo and Yokohama, so I had a ticket booked for a late-afternoon train from Nagano on Jan. 22. Then that morning my manager in Tokyo phoned to tell me I should come early because "heavy snow" was expected during the day, meaning trains would be delayed and taxis...

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Oct 29, 2017

A return to Resolute: Exploring the wintry climes of northern Canada

We sailed from Greenland, across Baffin Bay, on Aug. 4, 2017. The sea was calm, and largely free of ice floes, although still dotted here and there with icebergs. The following day we reached the small community of Pond Inlet, more than 600 kilometers above the Arctic Circle in the north of Baffin Island....

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Jul 30, 2017

Don't be fooled, pests are a problem — no matter how cute they appear

I recently went out to my friend John Harris' country home in the Isumi district of Chiba Prefecture, about 100 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. His house is midway down the Pacific coast of the Boso Peninsula, close to the small town of Onjuku, which is known for its surfing and its (formerly) bare-breasted...

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

May 28, 2017

Come what may, we're doing just fine

Rain had started pelting the cherry blossoms when I returned from Tokyo last month, squelching the plans of countless would-be outdoor revelers.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Apr 1, 2017

Lypa's art speaks of life 'out on the land' in the Arctic

On the wide wooden sill of the large window in my living room here in Kurohime, Nagano Prefecture, sits a soapstone carving of a gyrfalcon by one of Canada's most famous Inuit artists, Lypa Pitsiulak.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Mar 4, 2017

Macaques might make monkeys of us all

In 1980, when I came to live here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture, we had neither deer, wild boar nor monkeys in this area because — so the locals said — there was too much snow in winter for them to find enough food to survive.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Feb 4, 2017

What's life without a sip and a song?

First of all, I'd like to thank so many readers for your kind messages to me over the past two months. I raise a toast to all of you.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Dec 31, 2016

Miyagi school opening aids 3/11 recovery

The official opening of Miyanomori Elementary School on Jan. 10 represents an important stage in restoring some normalcy to the city.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Dec 3, 2016

An adventure I'd rather not be having

The time had come. I checked into the Japan Red Cross Medical Center in central Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Nov. 7 and was shown to the eighth floor, where my airy private room has a shower and a sofa beneath the big picture window and a wonderful, multi-adjustable bed I'd love to have at home. Add a minibar...

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Nov 5, 2016

Campfire pleasures both old and new

My father went off to war and never came back to us. My mother remarried when I was 10 and my new Dad was in the Royal Navy. Until I was 13 he was mostly at sea, so lots of chores came my way.

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Oct 1, 2016

Passing on ancient steel production techniques

When the first Portuguese merchants and missionaries reached Japan in 1543, the warriors they encountered were armed with steel swords that were equal to, or better than, any being produced in Europe.

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