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ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Feb 1, 2002

Japanese squirrel

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Nihon risu * Scientific name: Sciurus lis * Description: The Japanese squirrel is an arboreal species, which means it lives in trees. It has a long, bushy tail, large tufted ears and sharp claws. Its fur changes color according to the season. In summer, the fur is red-orange. In winter,...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 31, 2002

Taking a look at animals' 'me' and 'you'

By Mark Brazil

We take for granted our ability to easily recognize the people we interact with regularly. We also take it as a given that we can distinguish between the many thousands of other people we meet superficially during our lives, perhaps never learning who they are, yet knowing each one of them as a different...

ENVIRONMENT

Jan 31, 2002

Learning their ways makes sharks much safer

By Jack T. Moyer

During the blistering heat of last summer, which was accompanied by unusually warm waters to the east of the Philippines and the Nansei Islands, a juvenile hammerhead shark wandered into the Sea of Japan. After being sighted off Shimane Prefecture it was hunted ruthlessly -- but apparently never caught....

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 25, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Nihon kamoshika * Scientific name: Capricornis crispis * Description: Serows look like a cross between a goat and an antelope, with horizontal pupils and sharp, dagger-like horns. The ears are mule-like, narrow and tasseled, and are longer than the horns. Serows are the most primitive...

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Jan 24, 2002

Eco-tours venture into forests and 'forests'

By Stephen Hesse

Two weeks ago, this column introduced Stefan Ottomanski as an educator who thrives on uncertainty. However, he is the first to admit that he did not acquire this trait by choice: It is simply a necessity in his classroom.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jan 24, 2002

Twin peaks offer a double take on plants

By Gerard Taaffe

The summit of Mount Tsukuba in southern Ibaraki Prefecture has two peaks, one regarded as female and the other as male. Rising to 876 meters, with a shrine on the top dedicated to Izanami no Mikoto, the female creator deity, Nyotaisan is just 6 meters higher than Nantaisan, topped by a shrine to the...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 18, 2002

Great diving beetle

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Gengorou * Scientific name: Cybister japonicus * Description: This is a large, streamlined water beetle, highly adapted to an aquatic life. It is a powerful swimmer, with hind legs flattened like oars and fringed with long hairs. The body is green or black, with yellow-white bands...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jan 17, 2002

Adapting to living when the mercury falls

By Mark Brazil

While you were tucking into roast feathered dinosaur (turkey) with all the trimmings this Christmas past, I hope you spared a thought for how other avians make it through the winter. While we humans celebrate in various ways to dispel the gloom of midwinter from the encapsulated warmth of our homes,...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 11, 2002

Northern fur seal

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Kita-ottosei * Scientific name: Callorhinus ursinus * Description: Fur seals have bodies streamlined for life in the sea. They have four limbs (unlike dolphins and whales, which have only two), but the arm and leg bones are relatively short and are contained within the body. The hand...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jan 10, 2002

Plants for all seasons bring us midwinter cheer

By Gerard Taaffe

Little by little the days are starting to get longer, though with spring still a long way off this is a good time to do some armchair gardening. Whether you browse through gardening books or magazines, or search the Internet for your reading material, without stirring from your armchair there's plenty...

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Jan 10, 2002

Eco-tour program puts priority on people

By Stephen Hesse

First of two parts Stefan Ottomanski is a rare educator: He thrives on uncertainty and views obstacles as opportunities to teach both his students and himself lessons that were never part of the curriculum.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jan 4, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Akaushiabu * Scientific name: Tabanus chrysurus * Decription: This is a stout-bodied insect with huge, iridescent compound eyes (the eyes touch in the center in males but are separated in females). They have one pair of wings and are strong fliers, able to cover long distances. The...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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