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ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jun 21, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Monkagero * Scientific name: Ephemera strigata * Description: Mayflies are common, soft-bodied insects with short antennae and mouthparts that are vestigial (not used). They have two long cerci, tail-like structures growing from the end of the abdomen. They are easily recognizable...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jun 20, 2002

The ants' workaday world is wherever you look

By Mark Brazil

Despite the name, I didn't see any ants in Antarctica, though it's the only place I've been that I haven't seen any. Everywhere else, from Alaska to Australia, from Norway to New Zealand, I have encountered them. Ants are an extraordinarily numerous and successful group.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jun 14, 2002

Greater shrew-mole

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Himizu * Scientific name: Urotrichus talpoides * Description: The greater shrew-mole belongs to the mole family but, befitting its name, it has features of both moles and shrews. It has short, thick, dark-brown to black fur that conceals its small eyes and ears, a pointy nose and...

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Jun 13, 2002

'Dark Side' proved a lightning rod for readers' ire

By Stephen Hesse

Being a columnist can be lonely. Apart from doing interviews, researching and writing are pretty solitary activities and feedback is limited. Getting a handful of e-mails, be they cranky, critical or supportive, marks a successful column.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jun 13, 2002

Water, water irises everywhere

By Gerard Taaffe

For those who live in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, tsuyu officially began last week. Although in some years little or no rain falls in this rainy season, I personally always hope the heavens open to give some respite from the relentless heat.

ENVIRONMENT

Jun 13, 2002

Different folks have different remedies for strokes

By Laura Spinney

A popular explanation for recovery from stroke is that the healthy side of the brain assumes control of the functions lost from the damaged side. Most existing therapies are designed to encourage this transfer of function. Now, however, researchers in the United States are suggesting that the brain changes...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Jun 7, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Togarinezumi * Scientific name: Sorex gracillimus * Description: The shrew is the archetypal small furry mammal, resembling the first mammals that ever existed. It has brown fur with a white underside, a long tail, small ears and eyes, and a pointy nose. Slender shrews are 6-7 cm...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Jun 6, 2002

Don't go making a monkey of yourself, man

By Mark Brazil

Monkey, primate, ape; the terms slip so easily off the tongue, but just what do they mean, and how do they differ? And what does it mean to talk of New World and Old World monkeys?

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK

Jun 6, 2002

Why do forests flourish on fish?

By C.W. Nicol

Ever since I went on my first expedition to the Canadian Arctic in 1958 I have kept a notebook, and this habit is still with me. Now, with this column on the first Thursday of each month, you too, Dear Reader, can share in these jottings from over the years.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

May 31, 2002

Black soldier fly

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Amerika mizuabu * Scientific name: Hermetia illucens * Description: Black soldier flies look a bit like wasps, but they have no sting and are not interested in humans -- at least while we are alive. They are robust black flies about 15 mm long, with wings that lay over the body when...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

May 30, 2002

Puzzling over monkeys' many ways of life

By Mark Brazil

It was a faint and far-off sound, barely audible, like the distant rumbling of thunder. Something about it triggered memories, and I asked skipper Mike to cut our outboard motor. Even with the engine off and my hands cupped behind my ears, head turning like a radar dish, I was still not absolutely sure....

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

May 24, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Komori-gumo * Scientific name: Pardosa astigera * Description: Wolf spiders are dark brown, predatory and fast-moving spiders measuring 7-10 mm long. Females may continue to grow after they are sexually mature. They do not spin webs like many spiders. They have eight eyes, in pairs:...

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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