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Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

May 9, 2002

Prime greenery in the making

By Gerard Taaffe

Lying between Kyoto and Nara, Uji City straddles the Uji River, a tributary of the Yodogawa. This same river also drains Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake, though upstream -- where it passes through Shiga Prefecture -- its name is Etagawa.

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

May 9, 2002

Crafting public opinion to fit fisheries policy

By Stephen Hesse

Kind and gentle reader, I have a confession to make that may shock you. It is necessary to tell you this because, unlike many politicians and bureaucrats, I believe truth and transparency are essential. So here it is: I have eaten whale.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

May 3, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Himeamenbo * Scientific name: Gerris latiabdominis * Description: Water striders are common, semiaquatic insects, with bodies that are brown on top and silver-white underneath. They have three pairs of long legs, the front pair being well-separated from the others. Water striders use...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

May 2, 2002

20 years of writing on the wild side

By Mark Brazil

The biological exuberance of the equatorial region is staggering to behold. Walking through a temperate forest (as one might find in many areas of northern Japan, the northern United States or across much of central Europe), it is commonplace to have a clear view for hundreds of meters -- even to the...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Apr 26, 2002

Indian fritillary

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Tsumaguro-hyomon * Scientific name: Argyreus hyperbius * Description: This is a common butterfly in the nymphalid family. It has an orange body and distinctively marked orange wings with black spots (hyomon means "panther pattern"). The female, but not the male, has black wingtips....

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Apr 25, 2002

Savor 'Buddha's spirit' kept secret for a century

By Gerard Taaffe

The Arashiyama area in western Kyoto along the banks of the Katsura River is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and its glorious autumn foliage. Until this month, a less popular attraction had been the gardens of Hogonin Temple, a sub-temple of Tenryuji Zen Temple -- largely because they had been...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Apr 25, 2002

Japan: A land gone to the dogs?

By Stephen Hesse

Alex Kerr loves Japan as much as anyone, but he knows much more about it than most. With the publication April 25 of "Inu to Oni" (Kodansha) -- a translation of his book "Dogs and Demons" (Hill and Wang, 2001) -- Japanese, too, will be able to share his insight. As it says on the cover of "Dogs and Demons,"...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Apr 19, 2002

Copperhead snake

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese Name: Nihon mamushi * Scientific name: Agkistrodon blomhoffii * Description: Copperheads are reddish-brown, coppery colored snakes of the viper family. They have thick bodies, 40-70 cm long, with chestnut-brown rings. * Where to find them: In forests and surrounding farmland, from Hokkaido...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH

Apr 18, 2002

Back when the Badlands were lush

By Mark Brazil

Drive west from Calgary and rolling foothills dotted with aspen and white spruce rise steadily toward the mighty ridgeback of the Rockies, which dominate the view in this part of Canada's Alberta Province.

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER

Apr 12, 2002

By Rowan Hooper

* Japanese name: Zatokujira * Scientific name: Megaptera novaeangliae * Description: Measuring 12-14 meters, weighing 25-30 tons and with flippers up to 5.5 meters long, the humpback whale is unmistakable. It is black, with white patches on the flippers, which may also be encrusted with barnacles....

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Apr 11, 2002

Trip through time at Tokyo's verdant royal hub

By Gerard Taaffe

The Imperial Palace grounds are, without doubt, Tokyo's green heart. Located inside a 6.4-km ring of walls and moats that were once the inner defensive perimeter of Edo Castle, this verdant oasis now covers 115 hectares in all, with evergreen woodlands overlooking the moats and creating a very special...

Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH

Apr 11, 2002

NGOs and odd bedfellows point the way

By Stephen Hesse

Back in the 1960s, plastics were the future. As a result, a significant part of that future will be spent cleaning up after the past. So here is a tip for those of you making plans to help save the Earth: Consider a career in environmental economics. And if you're already working as an environmentalist,...

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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